I’m still a beginner golfer and am working to break 90. I still hit some bad shots each round and I expect most people do. So say my goal is a bogey on a par 4, 3 shots to the green and a 2 putt but on my second shot I hit top it. Should I just move on and accept the double bogey or try to make up for it? Also should I be more aggressive off the tee to make up for this, where if I hit two good shots I could be on in two but leave myself room for error? Say the hole was 366 par 4. Should I break it up into a drive, approach, and chip or iron, iron, pitch. Sorry for the ramble. I’ve been taking the approach of driver and 3 Wood off the tee for as much as I can if I’m going to keep it in play. I guess my overall question is how do you account for the inevitable bad shot?
I love that you have essentially made bogey your personal par, if that makes sense. It’s a great mentality for a beginner, and as you improve begin altering your expectations appropriately.
Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer beyond it depends on the hole. The common saying is “there are no pictures on the scorecard” so whatever it takes to get the ball in the hole. Some holes that might mean laying back off the tee, others it means hitting driver. All depends on you!
Just move on… a bad shot happens. Keep working on reducing them, but focus on the good shots!
Put yourself in a position to get the ball in the hole, regardless of strokes or anything else… just focus on minimizing strokes forward.
If you are making consistent mistakes, improve on them outside the round.
Thanks, that was actually what I was expecting, that it depends on the hole, the danger, and my tendencies.
This might be a good topic too (mental), how do you cope with when you get to a hole where it hurts your chances of getting to your goal. So say that par 4 I hit a bad shot and 3 putt and make 7. Just accept it and keep on with the plan for the rest of the holes? Just thinking about breaking the next barrier and every shot counts.
Also bad shots happen to everyone. Rahm cold shanked one last Thursday. Just happens to us hacks a lot more often
Have to move on, don’t press. As one of @jon’s articles recently said (or maybe it was a post) - the golf ball doesn’t care about the prior shot. You are where you are and you need to do the best with the shot in front of you. Don’t press because you topped it and now have a harder time making bogey. If you do that you’re going to compound the mistake most of the time and make triple instead of double.
They are 100% inevitable unfortunately. We all have them unless you are a tour pro. But Youtube has plenty of pro bad shots too. Adam Long topped a 3 wood this past weekend playing with Phil and Tiger lol. The difference with that though is he hit the next shot on the green and made an 11 foot putt for birdie.
It’s hard to give advice other than don’t let it get you down. Especially being new to the sport if you are breaking 100 then I salute you. Going lower and lower it gets harder and harder to improve. The more you practice the less errors you will make. The more control you will have with your shots and decision making.
That one made me feel good. I top my 3-wood about 5-7 times a year. Can’t remember the last time I’ve done it with any other club in my bag.
This is actually a really huge thing about breaking 90 and eventually 80.
And I’m going to say something and I’m not tweeting my own horn. I shoot under par pretty regularly. I hold a +1.6 hdcp. I play and win tournaments.
I hit a s**t ton of bad shots. I hit bad shots all the time. I’m not immune to tops and chunks.
The single biggest thing that took my game to another level was the mental switch from, “I hit a bad shot, so I’m screwed and my round is finished” to “I hit a bad shot, so now what can I do to save par?”
You gotta forget the bad shot and look at what’s in front of you. You can top a drive 20 feet on a 425 yard par 4 and make par. Plot out your best recovery shot. Advance the ball. Find what you need to get the ball as close to the hole as possible on your third. Drain a putt.
Never let a bad shot defeat you.
You have to forget about the previous shots and hole and concentrate on the shot at hand. Yesterday shanks led to a 9 on the par 4 tenth Then another shank on the 11th tee. Got back on track and parred 16 with a long putt after being in a bunker and 18 with sw out of a fairway trap and 7i from 150m then up and down from the back fringe. Shot 95 Check the miracle shots post. Most miracle shots are recoveries after hitting bad shots. https://forum.practical-golf.com/t/share-your-most-memorable-miracle-shots/
Ugh I did it yesterday, off the tee too. So embarrassing, it went into a brush area, had to hack it out. Hit it solid for my third shot, chip and two putt for a double. 288 yard par 4. Easy birdie hole to double just like that, it happens 
I agree with @Bigdadenergy though. Mindset after these shots will separate you from higher handicap golfers. I did par the next hole so that was a plus!
Way to go! And thanks for the positivity!
I’ve got to respectfully disagree with @Bigdadenergy (a little bit) 
For a plus handicap, you can reasonably find a way to make par after topping a drive 20 feet on a 425 yard par 4. I am a 3 handicap, and I’ll tell you what my reaction is if I hit that shot: I’m now playing a 418 yard par 4 (if my ball is still on short grass) or a 418 yard par 4.5/5 (if my ball is in the rough or in a bad lie).
Once you’ve gotten yourself in trouble or otherwise given up a stroke, I think the worst thing you can do is force yourself to play for a score on a hole based on conceptions regarding par. “Par” changes all the time on a hole!
@ScottFawcettDECADE will tell you that for a PGA tour pro, when you hit into the trees on a par 4, it takes 3.8 shots to get into the hole from there. 3.8!!! So what are you doing trying to pull off a miracle shot to try and make “par”? Take the punch out, advance the ball, maybe you get up and down for par, probably you’re walking away with bogey.
I think the easiest path to shooting lower scores - certainly to break 90 - is to eliminate your “leaky” shots. That second stroke to get out of the trees. That second stroke to get onto the green when you tried that flop shot you’ve never practiced to a short-sided pin. That topped driver-off-the-deck when you were still thinking about that 20 foot drive you just hit.
I will very much agree with @Bigdadenergy that I hit a s**t ton of bad shots, and you should never let a bad shot defeat you. This past weekend, according to @ScottFawcettDECADE’s Decade app, I hit 10 shots that cost me more than 0.5 strokes-gained. I’m pretty proud of the fact that on 8 of the 10 subsequent shots, I had positive strokes-gained, mostly by just punching out or otherwise not being stupid, which ultimately led to a 74 (which is a darned good score for me).
Unless your driver and 3 wood are incredibly wild and you’re bringing penalties into play, hit those clubs off the tee as often as you can. Golf is always easier with shorter 2nd shots. I’d bit driver as much as you can. The bigger head will make it easier to guarantee you get it airborne.
So on a 366 yard hole, hit driver ~200 yards. Then you probably have a hybrid or mid iron to cover the rest of the distance and get around the green. Even if you top it or chunk it at that point, you’re still looking at a shorter 3rd than you would be had you played conservatively.
Nice discussion and interesting viewpoint.
5-7 times a year! As opposed to a month, Aiming to reach your level eventually, LOL! I’m reading “The Secret of Golf” and Tom Watson said to look at the LIE of the shot just made, before planning the next shot, taking that to heart also.
I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn’t talking about attempting hero shots. Rather simply recovering and advancing the ball. If you’re hitting a poor tee shot and already thinking bogey or worse, you’re losing. I’ve seen and made pars from the worst of situations. Not by trying something stupid and getting lucky, but by picking and executing the best available recovery and putting myself in position to have a shot at the green on my third and a putt for par, regardless of how long or unlikely the putt is. Will you make par? Probably not, but you had a chance and you minimized the damage by not viewing that hole as a total loss.
I don’t care how bad a position you’re in off the tee. Double or worse should never happen. If they do, it was either because of poor decision making or additional poor swings.
And I think it goes without saying that if you’re making repeated poor swings then improving should be your focus. That’s universal.
I’ll echo a thought I’ve shared before, Tiger’s best scoring year wasn’t because he made more birdies, it’s because he made less bogeys. I think as new golfers we get tunnel vision and think about the wrong things. The fact is, we just need to treat each shot as it’s own shot and make smart decisions off of the shot that is in front of us and not try and chase a score. I’ve done this all too often and it just leads to more mistakes, frustration, and heartbreak. Keep at it though, you’ll get there.
I agree with the mentality of playing the hole as an added shot hole. Over swinging costs me lotsa strokes per month. But the “gotta get there” attitude flares up a few times a round. 