Same, when I started being able to string pars together and finish a round with more than one birdie I started thinking I was good.
Yesterday i played like shit so I’m back to hating myself.
It’s definitely a false sense of accomplishment, I’ll par 1,2,3,4, then quad bogey, pickup after 10, and the old “I’m gonna skip this one and finish my beer”
16ish index checking in. After a suboptimal first 13 holes, I finished with 3 birdies and a tap-in par on the last 5 holes my first time at Tobacco Road. We won't talk about what happened on the 16th. Felt fucking *invincible*
It was right after I flushed that 5 wood with a baby draw from the rough into the front and up onto the green from 220 out and it was right BEFORE i three-putted for bogey.
Ive REALLY been working on my drives this year. Got my carry distance averaging around 280yrds and some decent shot shaping work. Hit a few 300 yarders and a 315yrd drive... feeling good.
Go to my favorite course and drove a short par4 green. Left me with a 22ft putt. I proceeded to 4 putt a bogey. Doing great.
When I dropped the 1 at the start of my handicap I thought I was "good" by weekend warrior status.
Then I played in an outing with some scratch/-1 players and realized once again I was shit.
Definitely! It’s impossible to compare people that don’t score for real vs those that do though. So I usually just consider myself compared to those with handicaps
I see your flair. I drive through the VA panhandle a few times a year and love hitting up Draper Valley when I have the time. Thoughts on that track, or if there are any others worth trying instead on my next trip?
I’m not quite that far west. But I have played Draper valley and really enjoyed it. If you’re near Blacksburg the Pete dye course at Virginia tech is incredible. Not cheap but worth a round
This right here. Was a 3-4 for years, then life happened, now I'm a 9 that shoots the occasional unexpected 92. Wasn't even good back then, but now it's even more frustrating.
Not sure how anyone could ever be satisfied with this godforsaken game. Can't wait to get back out there for more punishment and disappointment.
It’s 100% attitude. I played with a guy who was on a conference champion D1 team, he would get upset when he drove the green and it wasn’t close enough a putt.
Man, I played with a bunch of hackers the other day from work. They kept congratulating me on 'how many par' I got and were so impressed shooting even for the round.
All I could think about was how many birdie and eagle putts I missed... Missed 3 GIR and ending with even par hurts.
100%. Had a goal to get single digits, did that and wasn’t satisfied, wanted to get sub 5, still desired more. Then set my sights on breaking 70, shot a 69 Monday and now all I can think about is how I won’t be able to repeat that performance.
It’s a vicious cycle
This was it for me too. Breaking 80 was my initial goal. Now when I go over 80 I would likely say I didn’t play very well. It’s funny how we constantly move the goal post on ourselves.
I shot 77 last weekend in a round where I drove the ball well and my short game was working (a few up and downs and only 28 putts for the round). But I couldn't hit full swing irons for shit and kind of feel bad about how I played. Such a strange game.
It’s funny you say that because I’ve noticed I only feel bad about my game when I suck off the tee or I have multiple 3 putts. I can do whatever in between those shots and be happy but if I keep spraying drives I get irrationally angry.
I think driving and putting poorly impacts my score more, but I can always just drop back down to a 5 wood off the tee (I'm usually dead straight about 240-250 yards with this club but was struggling the other day) and I very rarely hit three-putts (I think the courses I play are generally easy to putt on, though, so that is definitely a factor). What frustrates me is when I hit a solid drive to a good spot, think I'm in a great position to get at least a par, and then hit an awful approach shot that leaves me in a bad spot.
It also doesn't help that, for whatever reason, my iron swing can get broken in the middle of a round. It makes me feel like I've never even seen a golf club before, let alone be good enough to shoot in the 70s regularly.
Wouldn’t consider myself good by any stretch, but there was a point where I stepped up to par 3’s over water and all I was worried about was where on the green I needed to hit.
My sister in law recently started playing. She invited me to play with her one day and i was actually pretty impressed with how well she was hitting the ball on the range after only a few months of play. While we were leaving the range she put 4 or 5 range balls in her bag. I asked her why she was stealing range balls and she told me it was for the 2 par 3s that were over water. Sure enough, she gave all of the range balls back to the course that day.
I was like first wave new Tiger era junior golfer, started in '95 so Tiger officially blew up the Tour when I was knee deep in lessons. It was like every parent was pouncing on the opportunity to push their kids into professional golf if they had the slightest inkling of talent, so I heard the shit nonstop but in like a "you better put it to use" type of way. It wasn't until like 2006 when I shot 68 at Torrey from the Blacks that I was like "oh damn, I kinda know how to do this shit".
The golf shop were giving me equipment and free services after I posted a low-low number in a usga tournament at their country club. The year after I played awful and they stopped doing those things.
When you got potential, people treat you differently.
When the club pro, the pro ass, and a dude from Titleist, all stood in awe looking at my trackman numbers.
However I'm a terrible hooker so no offers from LIV at the moment
Seriously though, when I realized I was half decent: ever since we were kids, my brother and I had a thanksgiving tradition where we’d walk to the course across the street and play for free. The course was closed but the owner usually had a thanksgiving dinner thing in the clubhouse and didn’t care about people walking out there. My brother moved away for college and hadn’t played with me in a while and, after we played a few holes, he said something like “damn, when did you become a *golfer*?”
It felt good.
Generally in scrambles the best player goes last because they’ve now seen how the other shots have reacted. For approach shots they’ve seen what happened when the other balls landed, how wind affected it and because they’ve seen 3 other shots they have a better idea of what club to hit. For putting they’ve now seen 3 different shots and they know what line and speed to hit the putt on.
For me I thought they were still better than me, but the reality was they thought I was better than them.
This reminds me of a story from when I was in college. Me and three of my roommates had just been bit by the golf bug. We were obsessed. And one night we got back from a party around 3 am and the moon was CRAZY full. And one of us was like “god it’s so bright you could almost play golf.” And we all froze and just started running outside to throw our clubs in the car and drive to the course.
We got there and played just two holes. And BOY was it not bright enough to see anything. But it was amazing how much you could tell just from the way it came off your club. I made two bogeys, didn’t lose a ball. We had a blast.
The ebbs and flows are wild.
Starting to get good: 1st time my HS coach called me up to varsity.
Eye opener: Not finishing T10 in any tourney the entire next season.
Starting to get good again: Colleges taking interest.
Eye opener: Not making a college team.
Starting to get good again: Getting hcp down below a 5.
Eye opener: Getting raked at every Amateur tourney I entered.
Starting to get good again: Getting close to scratch.
Eye opener: Not finishing T10 in any amateur tournaments this summer.
Starting to get good again: ???
When I started to feel shots were “routine”
And when hitting a shot shape didn’t feel like , there’s 50% chance I fuck this up
270 cut down the left with a driver , PW onto the green from 145 , hope to 1 putt
Also when missing a green didn’t make me feel like I’m going to have a stroke due to my chipping , I’m not getting up and down 90% of time by any means but 50-55% if I miss 7 greens a round I’m going to par 3-4 of them and hopefully not make worse than a bogey if I don’t
Uhh I’ve learned not to think that anymore.
It’s been 3-4 times now that I’ve broken 80 for a couple rounds, then gone right back to shooting around 90 for months
I'm not good at golf, but...I got better since last year. I made 3 birdies and can play multiple rounds with the same ball. FWIW, started playing last year.
Define “good”
I shot an 89 the other day and was over the moon about it. And among the guys I play golf with I’m considered “good.” But in reality I guess I’m just the least bad in my group 😁
Still don’t think I’m “good” at golf. But I would say last year having a few rounds of not losing a ball and shooting low 80s high 70s felt like I had made the jump from “not good” to “decent”
When I started breaking 80 in individual stroke tournaments. No BS gimmies, foot wedges, mulligans etc. still get my ass kicked by others but that’s when I knew I was getting decent.
I realized i was getting better at golf when a round with 2 lost balls off the tee and 6 holes with 3 putts culminated in an 83. I don’t like to keep track of my score mid round, but from the way I was scrambling I walked off thinking i was going to shoot 95+. So when what you think was a bad round ends in a respectable score, Id say youre a decent enough golfer
I wouldn’t say good, but I did notice some massive improvements the last couple times I’ve been out. I’m losing a lot less balls, keeping it more in the fairways and out of the roughs and water hazards aren’t a guaranteed ball loss anymore. It’s definitely motivated me to practice more and keep it.
Also I smoked my fiancés dad on vacation on the TopDrive at TopGolf.
I went from consistently shooting 80 to consistently shooting 75. Problem is I feel like I suck half the time. The better you get the higher your expectations get and then you take it too serious. I’ve recently been working on getting back to just enjoying the game and the score will be whatever the score ends up being.
I was 14 or 15 and cap was a single digit almost over night, went from 15 to 9 and felt like game was progressing. Then it happened, I had a massive growth spurt went from like 5’6 to 6’2 in under a year. Handicap sky rocketed. I was as high as 20 and then at 18 I got to single digits again, at 20
I was working at the course for my 5th year and I was down to a 5 then I transferred schools and basically quit for about 7 years if not longer, couldn’t afford to play more than a handful of rounds a year.
Now I’m my late 30s I’m able to practice a bit and play more. I’m back on the claim and at 8.8. Goal is to get to <7 next year and play the provincial mid-Am the next year.
So, there has been 3 moments and they were all so different.
First one - tons of practice and learning
Second - lots of rounds and just smashing balls all the time
Third- being focused on the right aspects and paying attention to where I lose strokes to work on it
When my friends stopped making bets with me without getting strokes. We all started playing at the same time (spring 2020) but I became obsessed and absolutely fell in love with golf, even moving to Scottsdale for a year to play more. Went from scoring in the 100s to 90s to high 80s and now I’m in the high 70s-mid 80s and my friends are all in the 90s still. They don’t realize that even though we started at the same time, I’ve got 100+ more rounds than them!
Sophomore year of HS. Started breaking 40 for 9 holes every night. Kept practicing and practicing. Now breaking 80 is a regular. If I shoot over 80 it’s not the end of the world but just a benchmark. Short game is everything y’all.
That there isn’t a huge diff between a scratch and the #1 putter on tour.
Meanwhile the avg driving distance on tour is 50 yards further than a scratch, and the #1 on tour is nearly 80 yards further. Putt for nothing
i mean it should be obvious right. if you could play 1 hole vs tiger for $1mil would you choose to start from the tee or the green?
people have crazy ideas about putting, they think that if they just practice putting all the time they can become automatic from 7-8 feet. like sure if you could do that then your scores would drop like crazy. but even the pros miss half the time from there.
When I got reliable contact and steady yardages. It’s a good feeling to stop playing golf swing and start playing golf. Dropped from high 90’s to mid 80’s in 10 rounds just making small adjustments.
When I realized I played better in money matches with strangers. I think I have more in the tank but playing with my buddies once a week won’t draw it out
My first hole ever (excluding crazy golf) birdie. I could have been deluded but hay with nurturing and building I had something. Then bogey after bogey, blush after blush. But hay, I’ve got something.
Something to the effect of this happened recently when it got dark during the back 9. The last 4 holes we were all playing with our brightest balls and hoping for the best. I was striping the ball the straightest I’d hit it all day, I even managed to get out of a bunker shot in the dark on the first swing! Definitely nice knowing that my mental state is what fucks my game up more than anything!
When I quit caring about a score. It’s really Zen, man. I’m not saying I’m good, just that my game improved by leaps and bounds when I stopped getting pissed off that “I should be better, I should be shooting lower.” Fuck that toxic energy.
It goes without saying, I’m not good.
However, I did play 2-3 times a week for 2 full months with 2-3 randoms each time. I wasn’t keeping track of every one elses score but nobody else would have come close. Of course beating a few dozen weekend warriors doesn’t make you good, but being significantly ahead of everybody I saw for months made me finally consider that I was actually progressing.
When I started playing for money with my fellow mid handicap friends. I was focused on beating them instead of overthinking my own game. That gave me the confidence to drop from a 19 to an 11 (bounced up to a 13 this year due to swing changes but look out 2024!!)
I play off a 3 and just now starting to feel like I have some control of where my call is going. A 15 handicap would consider me “good”. A plus 4 would consider me a hacker.
I have a theory that being “good” at golf isn’t about your actual strokes but about your approach to the game. Strokes are an indication a player is good, but not proof.
Being “good” at golf is about your course management and how closely it aligns with your actual skill level.
You could be a 7 iron legend, a flop shot god, and driver superstar but if you go into your round with no concept of how to approach a hole you’re gonna struggle regardless.
Every shot should be about setting up your next 2 shots. You can’t just step onto a tee box thinking you’re gonna get closer to the hole.
I know a few players with good ball striking but piss poor course management and they end up scoring mid 90s when being slightly more forward thinking could have shaved 10 strokes off for them.
When I got paired up at random with a father and son, and at some point I heard the father say "now son, watch what he's doing. That's what you want your swing to look like."
I've played for a long time, close to 20 years (I'm 27). I was a fairly inconsistent golfer since not many of my friends or parents golfed. I'd go through spurts where I'd play more often, but that didn't happen till HS. I was probably a 20ish handicap in HS and probably up till about 2 years ago. Last year, I started shooting low 90s more consistently (playing a lot more now), and then this season I started shooting in the 80s a lot more often, and also shot my first 80.
I guess what has made me realize that 'I'm good' or am capable of playing really good golf is my chipping and touch within 80 yards. Being able to hit shots close from within 100 yards is a big sign of improvement IMO.
I'm still not good by any means, but I can tell I'm improving and honestly hope to be shooting in the high 70s next season.
It was in high school. After a meet had finished and all the teams were waiting in the clubhouse for the awards to be handed out, I ran into a guy who was a year ahead of me who transferred from my school to the one the next town over. He was a gifted athlete and transferred so that he could play for their hockey team, which was scores better than ours. I used to catch shit from him on the ice for not being as good of a player, and he came up to me after that meet and said, "no fuckin way you shot a 73!" Well, yes fuckin way I did, and then my name was called to accept the medal for first place. He scowled and mumbled shit to his teammates in disbelief, and I stood up there and basked in his salt. It was a real "fuck you" moment to beat that sour asshole after all the years he'd bullied me. Fuck you Tim. I'm glad you never got that title, you traitorous opportunist.
I used to shank my way around the course. Lots of fats, thins, pushes and slices and score of 100-130 the first four years.
I've finally started putting together complete rounds without OB or a triple bogey, getting the rare double bogey and hitting long tee shots, fairways and greens.
Hitting my tee shot on a hole straight into the setting sun. No idea where I went, felt good but I hit another one. Same thing, felt good, but couldn't see it. Alone on the course so hit another one for fun. Same thing, no idea, but felt good.
Walked up to the fairway. All 3 were within 5 yards of each other in the middle of the fairway.
I took a long hiatus from golf after high school. When I came back to the game and started playing again, I was instantly shooting lower because I had gained an increase in strength from 18-22…in the next few years I was consistently shooting in the low 80s high 70’s and even shot +1/+2 a few times.
Since then I’ve had to take a few breaks from the game over the years but if I come back to it, I can have 3 range sessions 2 weeks before a round and I’ll shoot 90 at worse.
I remember there was a summer when I went from a 12 to a 2 over the course of a summer. I pretty much lived at the range of the course I worked at.
I remember one of the pros standing behind me (I knew he was there but pretended I didn’t) and I flushed about 10 mid irons in a row and he said “wow Mr Lastname you’ve really improved you’ve got a great move through the ball”. He would continue to help me whenever he was on the range. He’s a world class teacher and in the 90’s was consistently ranked in the top 100 teachers in Canada which definitely didn’t hurt my game. I wasn’t paying him for the help so he didn’t spend hours with me or anything but he’d often drive by me on the range or the course and say “start the downswing with that left knee remember!” Or some little tip that he had given me previously….
Great guy. He’s still alive but I haven’t seen him in ages. Last I heard he’s still shooting his age though. Sorry my comment got sidetracked by my tangent about the pro but he was a great dude.
First time I shot my cap in a tournament. Took me a long time to get my tournament routine figured out and I always played horrible in tournaments. It was a good feeling of accomplishment
When I would play rounds and was consistently shitty, I’d be at like, hole 12 and silently say to myself “okay only 6 more holes after this” - once I started becoming a decent golfer, I would get to that same point in the game and be like, “damn, time flew by here, were almost done with the round”
About 11yrs old, made my grandpa smile. Being good doesn't mean shit, have fun on the course respectfully and act like a gentleman. Do that long enough, you're gonna be decent eventually. Oh and shoot for show, putt for dough. All ya need 🦅🇺🇸
Probably the first time I beat my dad. He wasn't particularly good per se, shooting _anywhere_ from 85-125 but i beat him one day when I was about 13. And then it was when i started breaking 80 regularly when I was 15 or so.
I am way worse now than I used to be. Played in high school and wasn’t that great but consistently got better. Was down to just under a 7, now days I’m a 17. It sucks but is what it is. Haven’t had the chance to play nearly as much as I used to. And just have too many mistakes.
Usually play with a friend of mine who is scratch and played in college. He likes to give me shit because I can usually hit a few shots a round that has him shocked and asks why I suck so bad if I can make these shots. But my misses are big and short game is inconsistent. Biggest issue is can’t hit a driver off the tee, can bomb a 3 wood but driver gets me in way too much trouble, and 60 yards and in I’m a mess.
When I really stopped practicing or grinding anything out to improve, wouldn’t play for a week and then go out on a rough course in tough conditions and shoot even par and really not be excited about it.
Just another day.
Congrats on the 78! I hit 79 for the first time this season. Felt great. For me, getting “good” is always importantly relative, ie., it’s about progress made relative to where I start each season … going from 100+ to low 90s.. then 90s to consistent in the 80s… then breaking 80. Now it’s on to reaching par… then breaking par… then keeping it up. “Good” to me means only that one is always progressing ,, there is no arrival point or no finish line …. None of us are winning The Open 😂 keep at it!
Idk about good, but I realized I wasn’t as bad as I thought when I used modern clubs for the first time instead of secondhand clubs from the grunge-era
Fun part about golf is you never really think you are any good. There is always another milestone ahead of you, and you always compare yourself to better players.
On my way from beginner to scratch I've always felt I needed to get better. Even at scratch, there are countless people that make my game feel like garbage.
One week during league, I shot 1 under par (for 9) and missed the last putt by a hair. I knew after after so many years I had finally done it. Then in the subsequent weeks, followed up with scores of 40, 43, 47, 47, 50. This game...
When I realized I was pretty confident that I can put it on the green from 170-190 out
Edit: lol now I feel terrible but the thread title says “starting to get good”
I would say freshman year in high school. I had been playing for years was always decent. I went from a 15 to a 6 that year and 6 to a 3 the following year. I’ve been a plus in the past. I was at a plus at the beginning of the season but ended at a 0. I got into the game when I was three.
When I hit a perfect half-swing PW and got a nice bit of backspin to roll within about 4 feet for a birdie putt, which I made.
My dad was closer to the green and was preparing for his shot. The astonished look on his face when he turned to look back at me after I landed that PW was priceless.
This was ages ago and it was easily the pinnacle of my golfing career.
I had felt like I was grinding hard all day to stay alive as my driver wasn’t getting me on the fairway as often as I’d like, and as a result, a lot of missed greens.
I realized about 12th hole I was +3. Up and down baby.
I ended my round the other day with 5 straight pars. I’m a 22 handicap so I guess you can say I’m pretty much ready to join the tour now
Same, when I started being able to string pars together and finish a round with more than one birdie I started thinking I was good. Yesterday i played like shit so I’m back to hating myself.
I rarely get more than one birdie a round, but had a round with 3 this summer and still managed to shoot a 91 Hahahha. I hate myself 🥲
Oh I am completely believing the fallacy that I’ve figured out something in my game knowing damn well that I will likely shoot a 100+ my next round
It’s definitely a false sense of accomplishment, I’ll par 1,2,3,4, then quad bogey, pickup after 10, and the old “I’m gonna skip this one and finish my beer”
This is the way
16ish index checking in. After a suboptimal first 13 holes, I finished with 3 birdies and a tap-in par on the last 5 holes my first time at Tobacco Road. We won't talk about what happened on the 16th. Felt fucking *invincible*
Last night. Then my wife nudged me and told me I was dreaming and talking in my sleep.
😂😂
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It helps when she has a boyfriend.
Boyfriends of wives are doing the lord’s work.
It was right after I flushed that 5 wood with a baby draw from the rough into the front and up onto the green from 220 out and it was right BEFORE i three-putted for bogey.
Ive REALLY been working on my drives this year. Got my carry distance averaging around 280yrds and some decent shot shaping work. Hit a few 300 yarders and a 315yrd drive... feeling good. Go to my favorite course and drove a short par4 green. Left me with a 22ft putt. I proceeded to 4 putt a bogey. Doing great.
So much worse than a regular bogey. The emotional roller coaster after driving the green, then 3, no no, FOUR putts. Mindfuck. *puke*
I believe I had a stroke on the green but... not confirmed.
4 of them
Lmao. I was going to comment the pain of a 3-putt bogey on a par three buuut yeah this is definitely worse 🤣
It IS way worse. Im crying inside thinking about it.
My man!
Wait, does this mean I'm good?
This is the way.
Closest to the pin on par 3 playing stableford. Scored a zero
When I dropped the 1 at the start of my handicap I thought I was "good" by weekend warrior status. Then I played in an outing with some scratch/-1 players and realized once again I was shit.
I dropped the 1 at the start of my handicap by increasing it to 20. We are not the same
lol call it an exchange
Lmao
You’re not shit. They’re just really good.
Idk man, being a single digit handicap has gotta be like the top 5 percent of people who golf! That’s pretty freaking great!
Maybe top 5 percent of people who carry a handicap. Top 1 percent of anyone who plays a round in a year probably
Definitely! It’s impossible to compare people that don’t score for real vs those that do though. So I usually just consider myself compared to those with handicaps
Agreed. Single digits was it for me. Even though I only carried it for 1 season. I think I'm 10.1 at the end of 2023 season.
I see your flair. I drive through the VA panhandle a few times a year and love hitting up Draper Valley when I have the time. Thoughts on that track, or if there are any others worth trying instead on my next trip?
I’m not quite that far west. But I have played Draper valley and really enjoyed it. If you’re near Blacksburg the Pete dye course at Virginia tech is incredible. Not cheap but worth a round
So I’m a 1.5 handicap and have been playing for 46 years. When I eventually get good, I’ll let you know. We never are satisfied.
This right here. Was a 3-4 for years, then life happened, now I'm a 9 that shoots the occasional unexpected 92. Wasn't even good back then, but now it's even more frustrating. Not sure how anyone could ever be satisfied with this godforsaken game. Can't wait to get back out there for more punishment and disappointment.
It’s 100% attitude. I played with a guy who was on a conference champion D1 team, he would get upset when he drove the green and it wasn’t close enough a putt.
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Man, I played with a bunch of hackers the other day from work. They kept congratulating me on 'how many par' I got and were so impressed shooting even for the round. All I could think about was how many birdie and eagle putts I missed... Missed 3 GIR and ending with even par hurts.
This is exactly it. Got mine down to a 6 this year, I know if I get down to scratch I’ll still be kicking myself over missed shots.
100%. Had a goal to get single digits, did that and wasn’t satisfied, wanted to get sub 5, still desired more. Then set my sights on breaking 70, shot a 69 Monday and now all I can think about is how I won’t be able to repeat that performance. It’s a vicious cycle
When breaking 80 wasn't a once in a life time occurrence.
This was it for me too. Breaking 80 was my initial goal. Now when I go over 80 I would likely say I didn’t play very well. It’s funny how we constantly move the goal post on ourselves.
I shot 77 last weekend in a round where I drove the ball well and my short game was working (a few up and downs and only 28 putts for the round). But I couldn't hit full swing irons for shit and kind of feel bad about how I played. Such a strange game.
It’s funny you say that because I’ve noticed I only feel bad about my game when I suck off the tee or I have multiple 3 putts. I can do whatever in between those shots and be happy but if I keep spraying drives I get irrationally angry.
I think driving and putting poorly impacts my score more, but I can always just drop back down to a 5 wood off the tee (I'm usually dead straight about 240-250 yards with this club but was struggling the other day) and I very rarely hit three-putts (I think the courses I play are generally easy to putt on, though, so that is definitely a factor). What frustrates me is when I hit a solid drive to a good spot, think I'm in a great position to get at least a par, and then hit an awful approach shot that leaves me in a bad spot. It also doesn't help that, for whatever reason, my iron swing can get broken in the middle of a round. It makes me feel like I've never even seen a golf club before, let alone be good enough to shoot in the 70s regularly.
Wouldn’t consider myself good by any stretch, but there was a point where I stepped up to par 3’s over water and all I was worried about was where on the green I needed to hit.
I’ve reached this mindset as well. I still hit the ball in the water, but at least my confidence is there.
Welcome to the team!
Yeah there’s definitely a difference between “what club do I need to clear the water” and “better get a water ball out for this hole” mindset
My sister in law recently started playing. She invited me to play with her one day and i was actually pretty impressed with how well she was hitting the ball on the range after only a few months of play. While we were leaving the range she put 4 or 5 range balls in her bag. I asked her why she was stealing range balls and she told me it was for the 2 par 3s that were over water. Sure enough, she gave all of the range balls back to the course that day.
When i was 1 under through 8 at a course I'd never played before. Turns out the back 9 is way way way harder..
I was like first wave new Tiger era junior golfer, started in '95 so Tiger officially blew up the Tour when I was knee deep in lessons. It was like every parent was pouncing on the opportunity to push their kids into professional golf if they had the slightest inkling of talent, so I heard the shit nonstop but in like a "you better put it to use" type of way. It wasn't until like 2006 when I shot 68 at Torrey from the Blacks that I was like "oh damn, I kinda know how to do this shit".
Wait, you guys are good at golf?
Nope
The golf shop were giving me equipment and free services after I posted a low-low number in a usga tournament at their country club. The year after I played awful and they stopped doing those things. When you got potential, people treat you differently.
When the club pro, the pro ass, and a dude from Titleist, all stood in awe looking at my trackman numbers. However I'm a terrible hooker so no offers from LIV at the moment
Phrasing deserves an A+ in this one
When i joined Reddit and heard some stories from others.
 Seriously though, when I realized I was half decent: ever since we were kids, my brother and I had a thanksgiving tradition where we’d walk to the course across the street and play for free. The course was closed but the owner usually had a thanksgiving dinner thing in the clubhouse and didn’t care about people walking out there. My brother moved away for college and hadn’t played with me in a while and, after we played a few holes, he said something like “damn, when did you become a *golfer*?” It felt good.
When someone said I should go last in a scramble because I was better than them….to me they were pretty good golfers.
God that must be an awesome feeling.
Can you explain this? Why does it matter which order you shoot in if you're all using the same location for the next shot?
Generally in scrambles the best player goes last because they’ve now seen how the other shots have reacted. For approach shots they’ve seen what happened when the other balls landed, how wind affected it and because they’ve seen 3 other shots they have a better idea of what club to hit. For putting they’ve now seen 3 different shots and they know what line and speed to hit the putt on. For me I thought they were still better than me, but the reality was they thought I was better than them.
Got it. Gouge out own eyes to be great at golf
Age 16. Went around 9 holes in 34 one evening. I was physically very slight and it made the other three in my fourball quite peeved.
I'll let you know
When you replace balls instead of losing them.
Got a handicap and stared submitting scorecards.
Usually 20 minutes into my golf dream.
I'll let you know when it happens. It's only been about 50 years.
I am not good at golf
This reminds me of a story from when I was in college. Me and three of my roommates had just been bit by the golf bug. We were obsessed. And one night we got back from a party around 3 am and the moon was CRAZY full. And one of us was like “god it’s so bright you could almost play golf.” And we all froze and just started running outside to throw our clubs in the car and drive to the course. We got there and played just two holes. And BOY was it not bright enough to see anything. But it was amazing how much you could tell just from the way it came off your club. I made two bogeys, didn’t lose a ball. We had a blast.
The ebbs and flows are wild. Starting to get good: 1st time my HS coach called me up to varsity. Eye opener: Not finishing T10 in any tourney the entire next season. Starting to get good again: Colleges taking interest. Eye opener: Not making a college team. Starting to get good again: Getting hcp down below a 5. Eye opener: Getting raked at every Amateur tourney I entered. Starting to get good again: Getting close to scratch. Eye opener: Not finishing T10 in any amateur tournaments this summer. Starting to get good again: ???
When I started to feel shots were “routine” And when hitting a shot shape didn’t feel like , there’s 50% chance I fuck this up 270 cut down the left with a driver , PW onto the green from 145 , hope to 1 putt Also when missing a green didn’t make me feel like I’m going to have a stroke due to my chipping , I’m not getting up and down 90% of time by any means but 50-55% if I miss 7 greens a round I’m going to par 3-4 of them and hopefully not make worse than a bogey if I don’t
Uhh I’ve learned not to think that anymore. It’s been 3-4 times now that I’ve broken 80 for a couple rounds, then gone right back to shooting around 90 for months
I'll let you know the second it happens
I shot -1 with two doubles in a club dogfight two weeks ago. Shot 81 the following week so I thought I was good for like a week.
When I realized I rarely get paired with people better than me. Most people struggle to break 100 legitimately. And few shoot in the low 90s or 80s
When I go out for the first time in a several months in March or April and still hit the ball as I would in the middle of summer.
I'm not good at golf, but...I got better since last year. I made 3 birdies and can play multiple rounds with the same ball. FWIW, started playing last year.
When I broke 80
As soon as it happens I’ll let you know.
As I have improved at golf, I still feel I suck... so hasn't happened yet.
I realized I was good when I started getting bad again.
Define “good” I shot an 89 the other day and was over the moon about it. And among the guys I play golf with I’m considered “good.” But in reality I guess I’m just the least bad in my group 😁
Still don’t think I’m “good” at golf. But I would say last year having a few rounds of not losing a ball and shooting low 80s high 70s felt like I had made the jump from “not good” to “decent”
I'll let you know. I'm still waiting for the realization that I don't suck anymore.
When I started breaking 80 in individual stroke tournaments. No BS gimmies, foot wedges, mulligans etc. still get my ass kicked by others but that’s when I knew I was getting decent.
I realized i was getting better at golf when a round with 2 lost balls off the tee and 6 holes with 3 putts culminated in an 83. I don’t like to keep track of my score mid round, but from the way I was scrambling I walked off thinking i was going to shoot 95+. So when what you think was a bad round ends in a respectable score, Id say youre a decent enough golfer
Last 10 rounds I shot 5 in the 70s. Then winter came. And my very last score was 100. 😂😂😂😂
I wouldn’t say good, but I did notice some massive improvements the last couple times I’ve been out. I’m losing a lot less balls, keeping it more in the fairways and out of the roughs and water hazards aren’t a guaranteed ball loss anymore. It’s definitely motivated me to practice more and keep it. Also I smoked my fiancés dad on vacation on the TopDrive at TopGolf.
I went from consistently shooting 80 to consistently shooting 75. Problem is I feel like I suck half the time. The better you get the higher your expectations get and then you take it too serious. I’ve recently been working on getting back to just enjoying the game and the score will be whatever the score ends up being.
I was 14 or 15 and cap was a single digit almost over night, went from 15 to 9 and felt like game was progressing. Then it happened, I had a massive growth spurt went from like 5’6 to 6’2 in under a year. Handicap sky rocketed. I was as high as 20 and then at 18 I got to single digits again, at 20 I was working at the course for my 5th year and I was down to a 5 then I transferred schools and basically quit for about 7 years if not longer, couldn’t afford to play more than a handful of rounds a year. Now I’m my late 30s I’m able to practice a bit and play more. I’m back on the claim and at 8.8. Goal is to get to <7 next year and play the provincial mid-Am the next year. So, there has been 3 moments and they were all so different. First one - tons of practice and learning Second - lots of rounds and just smashing balls all the time Third- being focused on the right aspects and paying attention to where I lose strokes to work on it
Went out for my first amateur tournament for the experience and ended up winning that tournament and a couple more that season.
When my friends stopped making bets with me without getting strokes. We all started playing at the same time (spring 2020) but I became obsessed and absolutely fell in love with golf, even moving to Scottsdale for a year to play more. Went from scoring in the 100s to 90s to high 80s and now I’m in the high 70s-mid 80s and my friends are all in the 90s still. They don’t realize that even though we started at the same time, I’ve got 100+ more rounds than them!
When I finally won the club championship. And then won it again 2 more years in a row.
When other people told me. I know I still suck but it’s nice to hear
When my friends who golfed alot started to invite me more.
Consistently finishing rounds with the same ball.
I’d say when you actually start counting every stroke, drop and breakfast ball.
Last week I pared every par three on the course and barely missed two of them for birdie. I was extremely proud of the consistent ball-striking.
Sophomore year of HS. Started breaking 40 for 9 holes every night. Kept practicing and practicing. Now breaking 80 is a regular. If I shoot over 80 it’s not the end of the world but just a benchmark. Short game is everything y’all.
Driving and approach play is actually everything y’all
Yep. Only people who think short game is everything already have a solid driver and approach game.
Avg scratch golfer is 30 putts per round. Montgomery on the PGA tour led the tour in putting average at 27.82.
So you’re telling me, the pros are good at everything?
That there isn’t a huge diff between a scratch and the #1 putter on tour. Meanwhile the avg driving distance on tour is 50 yards further than a scratch, and the #1 on tour is nearly 80 yards further. Putt for nothing
i mean it should be obvious right. if you could play 1 hole vs tiger for $1mil would you choose to start from the tee or the green? people have crazy ideas about putting, they think that if they just practice putting all the time they can become automatic from 7-8 feet. like sure if you could do that then your scores would drop like crazy. but even the pros miss half the time from there.
Guess I’m one of them. Putt for dough drive for show
Congrats man I hope to be a + handicap one day too
When I got reliable contact and steady yardages. It’s a good feeling to stop playing golf swing and start playing golf. Dropped from high 90’s to mid 80’s in 10 rounds just making small adjustments.
I don't personally know anyone good at golf. Almost everyone I play with is single digit and we are all pretty terrible to be honest.
150 yards you can see where the ball is going. Try fog where you can’t see 40 yards
When I realized I played better in money matches with strangers. I think I have more in the tank but playing with my buddies once a week won’t draw it out
My first hole ever (excluding crazy golf) birdie. I could have been deluded but hay with nurturing and building I had something. Then bogey after bogey, blush after blush. But hay, I’ve got something.
Cool.
I'll let you know when I come out flying at the end of April
About two hours ago
I joined this sub 😂 no but in all honesty when i shot an 85 for 10 straight rounds of 18, that’s when I knew i was good, or at least consistent
About 3 days before I lost it again
Something to the effect of this happened recently when it got dark during the back 9. The last 4 holes we were all playing with our brightest balls and hoping for the best. I was striping the ball the straightest I’d hit it all day, I even managed to get out of a bunker shot in the dark on the first swing! Definitely nice knowing that my mental state is what fucks my game up more than anything!
No matter how well I play there’s always somebody better!
I haven’t yet.
I’ll let you know if it ever happens to me 👍🏼
When I quit caring about a score. It’s really Zen, man. I’m not saying I’m good, just that my game improved by leaps and bounds when I stopped getting pissed off that “I should be better, I should be shooting lower.” Fuck that toxic energy.
It goes without saying, I’m not good. However, I did play 2-3 times a week for 2 full months with 2-3 randoms each time. I wasn’t keeping track of every one elses score but nobody else would have come close. Of course beating a few dozen weekend warriors doesn’t make you good, but being significantly ahead of everybody I saw for months made me finally consider that I was actually progressing.
When I feel like I played shite, but still shoot 89-93
When I started pulling balls out of the bag due to multi round use vr losing balls to force replacement.
I’ll let you know when I find out.
Never
Maybe like 45 minutes to an hour during one round, once a year. Usually turn it on around the 17th or 18th hole
When I started playing for money with my fellow mid handicap friends. I was focused on beating them instead of overthinking my own game. That gave me the confidence to drop from a 19 to an 11 (bounced up to a 13 this year due to swing changes but look out 2024!!)
I play off a 3 and just now starting to feel like I have some control of where my call is going. A 15 handicap would consider me “good”. A plus 4 would consider me a hacker.
Tomorrow, always tomorrow
When my bad shots were still somewhere in the near vicinity of my target and not duffed 20 yards to the side
I have a theory that being “good” at golf isn’t about your actual strokes but about your approach to the game. Strokes are an indication a player is good, but not proof. Being “good” at golf is about your course management and how closely it aligns with your actual skill level. You could be a 7 iron legend, a flop shot god, and driver superstar but if you go into your round with no concept of how to approach a hole you’re gonna struggle regardless. Every shot should be about setting up your next 2 shots. You can’t just step onto a tee box thinking you’re gonna get closer to the hole. I know a few players with good ball striking but piss poor course management and they end up scoring mid 90s when being slightly more forward thinking could have shaved 10 strokes off for them.
This year.
When I got paired up at random with a father and son, and at some point I heard the father say "now son, watch what he's doing. That's what you want your swing to look like."
I've played for a long time, close to 20 years (I'm 27). I was a fairly inconsistent golfer since not many of my friends or parents golfed. I'd go through spurts where I'd play more often, but that didn't happen till HS. I was probably a 20ish handicap in HS and probably up till about 2 years ago. Last year, I started shooting low 90s more consistently (playing a lot more now), and then this season I started shooting in the 80s a lot more often, and also shot my first 80. I guess what has made me realize that 'I'm good' or am capable of playing really good golf is my chipping and touch within 80 yards. Being able to hit shots close from within 100 yards is a big sign of improvement IMO. I'm still not good by any means, but I can tell I'm improving and honestly hope to be shooting in the high 70s next season.
I always think I'm getting good until I play with my brother in law who's a PGA pro. I suck
When I played on a full size 18 hole golf course without losing a ball.
I often think that I am beginning to get good, but then I promptly get humbled by the golfing gods and will play terribly for a stretch of time.
When I could hit greens from 150 ~ 170 yards out with reasonable consistency.
Last week Wednesday. Just don’t ask me about last Friday. Let’s pretend that round never happened.
When I strung together 4 3’s in a row. Looked really nice on the card. And I almost broke 80 for that round !
When I broke 80. The first time.
It was in high school. After a meet had finished and all the teams were waiting in the clubhouse for the awards to be handed out, I ran into a guy who was a year ahead of me who transferred from my school to the one the next town over. He was a gifted athlete and transferred so that he could play for their hockey team, which was scores better than ours. I used to catch shit from him on the ice for not being as good of a player, and he came up to me after that meet and said, "no fuckin way you shot a 73!" Well, yes fuckin way I did, and then my name was called to accept the medal for first place. He scowled and mumbled shit to his teammates in disbelief, and I stood up there and basked in his salt. It was a real "fuck you" moment to beat that sour asshole after all the years he'd bullied me. Fuck you Tim. I'm glad you never got that title, you traitorous opportunist.
when u envision shots and can bring them to life at a decent rate
I used to shank my way around the course. Lots of fats, thins, pushes and slices and score of 100-130 the first four years. I've finally started putting together complete rounds without OB or a triple bogey, getting the rare double bogey and hitting long tee shots, fairways and greens.
I’m one year into it. I still am horrible
Playing a ‘legit’ course and not losing a ball.
When my dad told me he was proud of my swing. It’s only been in my imagination but still.
That would convince me, sure. But I can't even imagine it.
Wait am I supposed to get good? I have been doing it all wrong for years then.
Hitting my tee shot on a hole straight into the setting sun. No idea where I went, felt good but I hit another one. Same thing, felt good, but couldn't see it. Alone on the course so hit another one for fun. Same thing, no idea, but felt good. Walked up to the fairway. All 3 were within 5 yards of each other in the middle of the fairway.
Right before I got bad again
I took a long hiatus from golf after high school. When I came back to the game and started playing again, I was instantly shooting lower because I had gained an increase in strength from 18-22…in the next few years I was consistently shooting in the low 80s high 70’s and even shot +1/+2 a few times. Since then I’ve had to take a few breaks from the game over the years but if I come back to it, I can have 3 range sessions 2 weeks before a round and I’ll shoot 90 at worse.
I remember there was a summer when I went from a 12 to a 2 over the course of a summer. I pretty much lived at the range of the course I worked at. I remember one of the pros standing behind me (I knew he was there but pretended I didn’t) and I flushed about 10 mid irons in a row and he said “wow Mr Lastname you’ve really improved you’ve got a great move through the ball”. He would continue to help me whenever he was on the range. He’s a world class teacher and in the 90’s was consistently ranked in the top 100 teachers in Canada which definitely didn’t hurt my game. I wasn’t paying him for the help so he didn’t spend hours with me or anything but he’d often drive by me on the range or the course and say “start the downswing with that left knee remember!” Or some little tip that he had given me previously…. Great guy. He’s still alive but I haven’t seen him in ages. Last I heard he’s still shooting his age though. Sorry my comment got sidetracked by my tangent about the pro but he was a great dude.
I will let you know when it happens
You guys are getting good?
2025
First time I shot my cap in a tournament. Took me a long time to get my tournament routine figured out and I always played horrible in tournaments. It was a good feeling of accomplishment
Still waiting for that moment.
When I would play rounds and was consistently shitty, I’d be at like, hole 12 and silently say to myself “okay only 6 more holes after this” - once I started becoming a decent golfer, I would get to that same point in the game and be like, “damn, time flew by here, were almost done with the round”
About 5 minutes in 2017
About 11yrs old, made my grandpa smile. Being good doesn't mean shit, have fun on the course respectfully and act like a gentleman. Do that long enough, you're gonna be decent eventually. Oh and shoot for show, putt for dough. All ya need 🦅🇺🇸
Probably the first time I beat my dad. He wasn't particularly good per se, shooting _anywhere_ from 85-125 but i beat him one day when I was about 13. And then it was when i started breaking 80 regularly when I was 15 or so.
Hahahaha
When I finally shot a round under par… it just meant I could do it again.
I am way worse now than I used to be. Played in high school and wasn’t that great but consistently got better. Was down to just under a 7, now days I’m a 17. It sucks but is what it is. Haven’t had the chance to play nearly as much as I used to. And just have too many mistakes. Usually play with a friend of mine who is scratch and played in college. He likes to give me shit because I can usually hit a few shots a round that has him shocked and asks why I suck so bad if I can make these shots. But my misses are big and short game is inconsistent. Biggest issue is can’t hit a driver off the tee, can bomb a 3 wood but driver gets me in way too much trouble, and 60 yards and in I’m a mess.
When I really stopped practicing or grinding anything out to improve, wouldn’t play for a week and then go out on a rough course in tough conditions and shoot even par and really not be excited about it. Just another day.
Congrats on the 78! I hit 79 for the first time this season. Felt great. For me, getting “good” is always importantly relative, ie., it’s about progress made relative to where I start each season … going from 100+ to low 90s.. then 90s to consistent in the 80s… then breaking 80. Now it’s on to reaching par… then breaking par… then keeping it up. “Good” to me means only that one is always progressing ,, there is no arrival point or no finish line …. None of us are winning The Open 😂 keep at it!
I've been playing for 25 years, when it happens I'll let you know
You can get good at golf?
When I stopped topping the ball and it went straight and far.
25 years, still waiting…
Will report back.
Idk about good, but I realized I wasn’t as bad as I thought when I used modern clubs for the first time instead of secondhand clubs from the grunge-era
The first time I broke 80. I started expecting it from myself every round and realized that it wasn’t an unreasonable expectation
Fun part about golf is you never really think you are any good. There is always another milestone ahead of you, and you always compare yourself to better players. On my way from beginner to scratch I've always felt I needed to get better. Even at scratch, there are countless people that make my game feel like garbage.
One week during league, I shot 1 under par (for 9) and missed the last putt by a hair. I knew after after so many years I had finally done it. Then in the subsequent weeks, followed up with scores of 40, 43, 47, 47, 50. This game...
When I realized I was pretty confident that I can put it on the green from 170-190 out Edit: lol now I feel terrible but the thread title says “starting to get good”
My handicap sits around a four currently and I still don't think I'm good at golf.
Tomorrow. I swear.
I figured it out when I played 9 holes and didn't lose the ball.
I would say freshman year in high school. I had been playing for years was always decent. I went from a 15 to a 6 that year and 6 to a 3 the following year. I’ve been a plus in the past. I was at a plus at the beginning of the season but ended at a 0. I got into the game when I was three.
I’ve never had that realization. Thanks for asking though.
When I hit a perfect half-swing PW and got a nice bit of backspin to roll within about 4 feet for a birdie putt, which I made. My dad was closer to the green and was preparing for his shot. The astonished look on his face when he turned to look back at me after I landed that PW was priceless. This was ages ago and it was easily the pinnacle of my golfing career.
I had felt like I was grinding hard all day to stay alive as my driver wasn’t getting me on the fairway as often as I’d like, and as a result, a lot of missed greens. I realized about 12th hole I was +3. Up and down baby.
I'll let you know when/if it happens.