Although the software says I have a 3w it's actually a 3 hybrid. It's my least reliable club - possibly because it was bought separately. I have tried it at that hole but never with much success. It often has a low trajectory and would either not make it past the bunkers or else would just skip past the green.

If I'm going to risk overshooting I'd rather use my driver. That at least goes fairly straight (hence the 62% of fairways) so I'd know what I was letting myself in for. With the 3h frankly it'd be pot luck. I could end up anywhere from the bunkers, to the right or past the green :-/


Yeah it'll be interesting to see what it suggests as it records more rounds. Currently the 'insights' section says:

Short Game
Increase your accuracy less than 25 yards from the fairway to lower your score by up to 3.01 strokes per round.

Putting
Practice your short putts less than 10 feet to lower your score by up to 2.3 strokes per round.

Off the Tee
Improve your tee shots on holes between 400-450 yards to lower your score by up to 1.25 strokes per round.

Approach
Work on your shots between 100-125 yards from the fairway to lower your score by up to 1.07 strokes per round.

The bold bit seems odd. I originally thought it was a typo and should have been 'from the green' but given the age of the software that seems unlikely. Perhaps it means approach from the fairway and short game from the fairway?

The equipment itself is easy enough to use. Just tap the butt of your club against your belt before you swing. You get a chance to edit the results before posting them so if you've tapped more than once or forgotten to tap you can correct it. Time will tell how long I use it.

For reference this appears to be the best recorded round for my club:
One over par.
A typical long hitter - he only gets 31% fairway accuracy but he gets 61% GIR and his scrambling is waaaay better than mine.

Actually thinking about it its comments for Rye Hill (longest course in the area) for Silverstone (my nemesis) could make for interesting reading. But I'm at my club again tomorrow hopefully with my buddy.

I can kind of do the same using my phone app. I just have to use my pebble watch to record where I'm playing shots but I tend to forget.

I'm doing 18 today so i'll try and remember and post. Then you can see just how erratic my game is.

Good round.
Presumably then, you don't have an official handicap?

A typical inconsistent round for me yesterday. 102 on par 68 course. Out in 53, back in 49.

Another question for everyone - what do you consider a reasonable price to pay for a round? Over the summer we tended to make use of weekend afternoon deals - usually paying around £20 or so for 18. And my local courses charged £14 and £12 respectively to play 9 weekdays.

Now that we've lost the sun we're forced to pay the more expensive midday tee off times at weekends - yesterday was £30. I'm arguing with my playing partners about not paying more than £35 a round but that limits where we can play now so I have a feeling i'm going to lose that battle.

Not yet

I was finally going to in August but discovered that it's not so easy. Something I'm going to raise at my club's AGM because it's almost like they've put obstacles in the way.

In order to get an official handicap I have to put in three cards for rounds played from the whites with a member that already has a handicap.

The first problem is that although over the years I've partnered up with several members I don't know many by name and have no way of contacting them to arrange for an official handicap round. I can hardly just walk into the club bars and ask if anyone wants to play a round with me - I'd probably be thrown out by the steward. Trying the same thing in the car park could get me into even worse trouble

The second problem was with their recommendation to play in a few comps. I can't win but that should allow me to get my three cards. Unfortunately I can only do that if it's not a team comp. It turns out that around half the comps played since August have been team comps. Worse still the only way to know if they are team comps is to ask at the pro shop. Except that as of this year the pro-shop closes at 5pm and I don't get there in the evenings until quarter past. I've tried calling the shop but I always get the assistants and they have been instructed not to discuss competition entry.

The one time I did get told it wasn't a team event turned out to be Captain's day and you can't play in that unless you have a handicap despite it being a solo comp (understandable but added to my frustration).

The competition entry forms do sometimes indicate that it's a team event because they will ask if anyone has a preference. Unfortunately the entry forms are kept in the pro-shop or (randomly it seems) in one of our two bars. They finally get posted on the notice board but that's two weeks before the event and signals that entry is closed.

So yeah - at the AGM I'm going to suggest that they indicate on the calendar which events are open to all. I'm also going to suggest that they formalise the competition entry process (maybe computerise it - we can book rounds online now). It might also be useful to have a system of 'handicap buddies'

http://www.cherwelledgegolfclub.co.u...greenfees.html

I didn't realise it was that cheap after 4pm during the week actually. That probably suggests I'm very borderline for getting my money's worth with my average of two weeknights a week during the summer. This winter though I'm trying to also play a practice round every Saturday so that will probably offset it.

That's fairly typical for courses around here although I would expect the cheap rate times to be adjusted now that the clocks have gone back.

Are there no societies at your course where you would be able to join and play official events that way?

Where I play there are official club events every Saturday but on Sunday's and Wednesday's there are society events and a lot of them are off the back tees.

Failing that I'd ask a committee member about going out with someone to mark a card for you. They should be able to sort you out with someone to play a couple of rounds with. That's how I got my first handicap.

No, just the club itself. To be fair it is a friendly place and if I was retired there'd be few problems. The issues are mostly of my making - I can only play in the evenings and I'm just not particularly sociable. Still I know from talking to other people that I'm not the only one struggling with this. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that I'm not the only one who just can't quite summon the strength to jump over all the hoops

That's an idea but I don't know how I'd ask a committee member. I don't have contact details for them and outside of the AGM I never meet them. Frankly you probably know as much about my club's committee as I do right now

Hence why I think it ought to be brought up at the AGM. I don't think it's a deliberate attempt to establish a clique but I do think they could do with a better 'process' to help integrate players into the club.

When I was a member of a club a few years back I did look into getting an official handicap, but then I never hit below 30 over so I didn't really see the point.

That's normal.
I'd be pretty dismayed if my Club didn't help and encourage me to put in three cards and I can't believe the Pro's won't discuss competitions - that sounds ludicrous.
Clubs need members and "customers".
When I joined a few years back I simply put my name on the weekly Saturday comp sheet and turned up to play with strangers.
I can understand if you don't relish that challenge but I experienced only encouragement despite my then poor state of play.
I turned up one day to find I was playing with two single figure HC's when I was off 28.
I managed to play well and received terrific encouragement.
It's why I enter every comp.

I do think your club has a responsibility to assist you in achieving a handicap.
The game needs to encourage new blood and younger players.
Do make a point of bringing up the matter in your AGM.
The fact that you bother to attend should be applauded.

The first card I submitted for handicap was 140+.
I asked the Pro not to look at it until I'd left the car park 😱
Then one day you break 100.......
Then one day you break 90.........
Getting a handicap and striving to bring it down through competing with other handicap players is the best way to improve. Otherwise you're just knocking a ball around socially.

No it's not the pros who won't. It's the pro shop assistants. They are usually just kids, probably fresh out of college and just earning a bit of pocket money.

I think one of the problems is the separation between 'the club' and 'the course'. The pro shop is part of 'the course' and managed by the course owner. The comps are run by 'the club' who happen to be the official club for the course. Now the pros get involved in comps and teaching so yes they can help but the kids in the shop are just there to take money for the course owner. Comps are not really their problem.

This arrangement all came about earlier this year and that may be contributing to the problem. 'The club' used to help run and finance 'the course' but apparently wasn't too good at the financing bit. Now all 'the club' does is organise the golfing.

That's what I'd like to do but to do that:
* Firstly I have to pick a comp that isn't a team event and they aren't marked on the calendar so I have to find someone to ask.
* Then I have to find the comp sheet. I've only ever seen the sheet once. Sadly that was for a team event so I couldn't enter. I've asked for it in the bar a couple of times but it seems to be left in the pro shop when it closes (bloody stupid, eh?)


Did I say I had qualms about that? I would love it. I have only ever enjoyed my experience of partnering up with club members they are good folks. The problem is just the logistics of finding that stupid sheet and getting my name down.

Yup.

Quite a few people do which surprised me. The members filled their entire second dining room.

I don't think it's deliberate. I just think most of the members have been there a while and just following well established tradition. It just doesn't occur to them how difficult it is for new members to work their way in.

sounds ridicuously complicated when i would have thought it was in the best interests of the club to encourage people to participate in club competitions and then maybe get more involved in supporting the club in general

can only speak for my old club but the sign-up sheet for competitions was on a pin board in the gents locker room, it was divided into blocks of time and anyone could just add their name to a block

the handicap secretary and competition co-ordinator then did a "draw" on a thursday evening assigning people to 3 ball groups and giving an exact tee-off time that was within the block you signed up for

if you were playing for your handicap you just marked "F/H" behind your name when you signed up

Did they make it easy to determine which comps none-handicaps could play in?

I should say that my club doesn't ban none-handicappers from team events it's just that as you can't win, nor can your team mates and if you're in a team of none-handicappers you can't sign each others cards

But yeah as you and Toby have said it is complicated and more difficult than it should be. Just three things would go a long way to help:

* A symbol against comps in the calendar where none handicappers can play.
* A fixed location where the entry form can be found at any time.
* A sheet in the membership bumf outlining the procedure.

not sure what you are defining as a "team competition" tbh

we had a competition every saturday between the start of april and end of september, the only ones that you couldn't play in to get a card towards your handicap were pairs events and the sign-up sheet for those were different and they were clearly marked on the calendar

all others were just medal rounds and even ones that were qualifiers for things like matchplay events or sponsored events you could still play in, you just couldn't qualify as you didn't have a handicap yet

we had some open events on sundays and a few team competitions where we played other clubs on thursdays or sundays, but they were signed up for in a different way and again fairly clearly marked

When scores are awarded to groups rather than single players.

So pairs or foursomes. Or curiously a sixsome in early August.

Most of our qualifying comps for H/C purposes are three balls. There's a smattering of "team games" that aren't qualifyers - this Saturday is a four ball Texas Scramble but it's non qualifying off the yellows - £5 entry and prize money shared out.
Three ball qualifiers tend to comprise three pals who play together so "breaking in" can be difficult but I used to get to the comp sheet when it was put up at 7pm on a Friday for 15 days hence and just bung my name on a blank time or with anyone else signed up. Then you submit your card.
Nowadays entry is on a computer at 7pm in the club foyer then from 9pm online.

PS - When I said I can understand you not relishing such a challenge it's because you'd earlier said you weren't particularly sociable - I took that to mean you wouldn't relish playing with strangers.

I still say that if you're a paid up member of a golf club they have an obligation to assist you get a handicap and should actively encourage you to do so.
I know that our Pro's would ensure that.
In our club, if you play with a member who has a handicap just socially, not in a comp, you can submit a card scored by that member provided you declare your intention to the Pro before teeing off.

Yeah we can do that and don't need to tell the pro. I think in the past I was a bit reluctant to play off the whites because some clubs don't like it outside of comps. I found recently though that ours has no such rule. You can play whatever coloured tee you want outside of comps.

Not a bad round today at Rye. We played off the whites and the last three holes were played with rain to add to the cold and the wind. I think 95 is pretty reasonable. My driving wasn't so good today but I blame that on wearing two pairs of gloves. And winter gloves at that.

I''d say that yesterday was the first proper 'winter' conditions at the course this year. Well, it was cold enough for me to wear my jumper for the first time

Played a different course down in Hampshire for the first time. Extremely well maintained and good layout - only 6,000 odd yards from the yellows but it felt longer.

Had a pretty bad round - 114 in total. I was consistently getting to within 40 yards of the pin 'in regulation' however then taking between 4-6 shots to get down. I must have 3 putted at least 10 of the holes and my chipping was an embarrassment. It's a bit odd as with my long shots being so poor over the last few months I've really had to work hard at my short game to keep my scores below 120; but now that I've recovered some of my swing that has fallen apart.

My putting can be partially explained by the fact I hadn't played the greens before and they were a lot firmer than i'd gotten used to the last few weeks - however I have no idea what's going on with my chipping. I've been using a technique shown to me by my pro for a few months and it had been steadily improving - yesterday I was doing the classic beginners thing of hitting from one bunker to another.

Greens are a bit odd around here at the moment as well. I think a lot of it is that most of them have been hollow tined for winter. Another aspect is that although the surface is damp from condensation the ground hasn't had much water and in colder weather is quite firm.

The result seems to be bumpy greens that don't roll particularly fast but that don't hold a bouncing ball much. Although my chipping wasn't too bad yesterday I did notice that the ball was bouncing well but checking up quicker than I expected. Some of my chips were slowing almost as much as my partner's and he actually puts back spin on his.

But my failing yesterday was my tee and fairway work. I think two pairs of gloves and extra clothing was throwing me off. For some reason I kept pushing or pulling shots. Luckily my putting perked up once I started to pay proper attention to it. I think that was what saved my round from my inaccurate tee and fairway work.

I suppose any change to our golf set up can have a knock on effect!

Typical hole for me yesterday - A 360 odd yard par 4 with a dogleg left at around 200 yards.

I hit my drive a bit high and right so it end up in the light rough at the turn, around 220 yards from the hole. I hit a recovery 5 straight but a bit of duff to leave myself 100 yards from an elevated green. I have a tendency to under hit my wedges but I wanted to take a full swing so I got the SW out and went fully through the ball - which proceeded to fly high above the green and drop 30 yards behind it!

So I get the lob wedge out and (as i'm hitting up onto a fairly high green) over judge the power again and sail 10 yards over the green. I then manage to chip on and putt out for 6.

just trust yourself and dont over-think how hard you need to hit your pitches

i'm probably not going to explain this very well but there is a subconcious element to distance control where you just instinctively know how hard to hit a shot based on what you see in front of you, and that instinctive element gets better the more often you are in that situation

every time you play and/or practice you are "teaching" yourself that judgement as well as the more technical/mechanical aspects

Yeah, my 'feel' for distance is getting better but I have the problem that i'm still getting a very inconsistent contact with the ball. Sometimes I take a full swing with the SW and it barely goes 50 yards and other times I hit it flat and it goes 130 yards. So it's hard to judge what to do each time.