Everything depends, softer, hairier fairways run out is limited, harder fairways mid afternoons ball does go farther. Driver right now is 238-255 (Bashed one 2 weeks ago in the warmer afternoon round 289)… 3w is 14* and is 218-230, 20* hybrid (extended length) 205-215, 7w 23* 185-200. It all depends on the strike! But for a 63yo, that rebuilt mechanics not horrible. I can comfortably play a 6400 yd layout without stress… start getting longer than that…it will stress. I did switch balls this year to Bridgestone TourBRX… it makes a difference playing the correct ball. When it gets chilly, I play Callaway Supersofts. There is a 10yd diff between each of my irons and I only carry down to a 4i which will max out around 190ish. Tour Editions were manufactured by Spalding. I learned using Spalding Executives, Then purchased Bird on Ball Tour Edition Blades which I played until I had to cut down my playing and they invented perimeter weighted Cavity backs. I tried the Ping Eyes and they had a funny look to me, I tried Hogan Edge, they just felt heavy, (probably mental) I tried the RedLines and fell in love. So much so I have a full back up set just in case.
My driver carrying 235-255 ( depending on which driver I bag ), but my 8 iron is not anywhere close to 150 carry.
my 3 iron is about 190, recently had to switch to a 3/4 hybrid for the distance. It gets harder to be consistently do well with long irons. Gets tired and fatigued too often and too soon. Used to carry the deuce in the bag, a very useful club for 190-210. Now it collects dust. Come to think about it, I’ll box up a few sets of irons which I have not been using much these days. Maybe store them or let them go.
What has helped me a ton is GPS. depending in pin position and depth…if its a front position and I’m 135 out I will hit the 8, if it goes long it goes long, but it won’t be over the green, The 9iron has to be a perfect strike for me as my 9i is 130 to 140 depending. PW is 110 - 125, SW is 100 -110. Those are full swings I manipulate the lofted clubs alot more than mid irons on up. if that makes sense. I play with a margin of error… I learned that a long time ago… you will not strike the ball perfect everytime…leave that to the Tour guys!
Don’t think he said he has been playing for 3 years, just his worst round in 3. Different scenarios!
Hi man. I had a similar experience this summer, worst rounds ever at my home course in the club championship to come last. Won it two years ago. Felt like taking the rest of the year off.
8 weeks later, my HCI is on the way down and I’m loving golf again. For me its about my expectations. I was expecting too much from myself and putting all sorts of pressure on me to perform at my best all the time. Well, of course, I cant. No one can.
It may be that the sheer amount of effort you are putting in makes you feel like you SHOULD be doing better, you SHOULD be hitting Fairways and GIR, holing out from 8 feet and making birdies and pars all over the course. The trouble is, that maybe not realistic. But frustration is the death of good golf.
Maybe compare your stats to the average for your level, see if you are ahead of the curve or not and if not where are you losing shots. But remember its just a hobby, its fun, hard, frustrating, rewarding, horrible and wonderful all in the space of 4 hours!
I hear you. I feel like I struggle with consistency year after year, but this year has been worse than last year (stats don’t lie). I haven’t put a lot of practice in, but more than last year and I’m still playing worse. Oddly I’m making way more birdies and in other seasons I would be winning skins, but I have twice as many skins as last year with half the birdies…just bad luck/timing?
I just keep reminding myself that I am lucky to be playing golf. Some don’t have the health or finances to be out enjoying the game. I’ll figure out my swing and then lose it again. Even the pros go through that. It is difficult to keep that perspective. Maybe take some time away from golf and hopefully come back fresh? It sounds like you have been putting a lot of time and energy into it and maybe that’s drained you and you need to recharge.
"I just had my worst round in 3 years and I feel like I got kicked in the gut, repeatedly. ":
Sorry if I made the wrong assumption. To me it read like he had the worst round in 3 years and he had been working on his game diligently with instructor for 2 out of the 3 years.
There were many occasions when I felt like quitting the game in the past. Some of them came after battle fatigue as I guess this is what happened to the OP. There was a period of time between jobs when I spent all my money and spare time on the golf course. Burnt out! Not really looking forward to get on the golf course after 5-6 rounds a week for months.
There were a few times when I scored 20+ strokes higher than my average. It just seemed not excited to stand over the next shot at that point. Mental fatigue?
Trust me, the love for the game will come back with vengeance.
When either physically or mentally needing a break, take the break away from the game. I’d bet one will come back stronger after the R&R.
Like everything else in life, Too much of a good thing will diminish the value of the good thing.
With the exception of MJTortella who can eat steak everyday for the rest of his life.
July 16, did something I never did and my partners never saw in person. 3-3-3-3-3-4-4-4-4=31 (1 Bogey, 1 Eagle) Back 9 of of +2 for a 68. Same guy, same course almost identical pin positions 1 week later went 5-5-5-5-5-4-5-3-5=42 and a back 9 of 38 for a sparkling 80. Some people would do backflips to card an 80. It’s just fun. It’s GOLF=FLOG. we do it because we like self torture. The lows are frustrating. The highs are exhilarating. I did try bowling…it sux. Our swings belong to us. Each one is an individual effort. Even at it’s highest level, it’s very difficult to repeat time after time after time. Just have fun. Have fun getting there, have fun holding it there, have fun making an improvement. Have fun. Anyone here making their living at it… probably not. So just have fun, there is going to be eyerolls, there are going to be fist pumps. This game will bring you to your knees if you let it. So don’t let it. Every shot, Every hole, every round and every week are going to bring something different. Don’t worry about your round…when you are done the round the card says what it says. Play each shot smartly, you will hit a bad shot. What can you do to recover and only lose the shot you gave up. Just sayin! 
There be a lot more peaks and valley to cross if one stays in this game longer.
Even the professionals are not immune to this syndrome. One has to break away from any type of activity to be able to maintain the longevity of the enthusiasm, dedication…
Hence we take vacation and time off from work, married couple will have brief separation away from being together 24/7 for decades.
Jack Nicklaus laid off golf completely for the Winter months ( according to his own words) until the next Spring and start from the fundamental fresh.
No one can grind in golf forever, well, maybe Ben Hogan was an exception because that man just love golf beyond anything else on Earth. His own wife said that she was afraid that her husband would love golf more than she.
So take some time off from golf. After a few weeks, I’d bet you’ll feel eager to get on the first tee again. it happened to all of us.
Variance is a big deal with this game. As it is with games involving few trials, and subtle differences between good and bad results. It’s also really tough to diagnose from the right perspective, when it’s happening to you.
I.e.: Do I suck now? Or have I been playing as well or even bettet than before, but I’ve just been unlucky?
Good Strokes Gained data should help answer the question, but even so, unless we’re playing a lot, and have a nice big dataset to work with, it’s still tough to reject that null hypothesis.
OP, if you haven’t read The Four Foundations of Golf yet, take it for a spin from your local library. Or buy a copy. Adjusting your expectations as a golfer, to what’s realistic, to what’s actually happening, is a big part of that book, IMHO. It’s really useful.
If you’re not having fun, I’d stop doing it. But maybe changing your feelings about the game instead, can bring the fun back.
I usually don’t have to worry about taking a break from golf. Work and family always take me away from it. And winter is coming ; ) I do feel a bit sick of constantly playing tournaments this season. Our club has grown and we have more tournaments than ever and many are now 2 or 3 days. It’s too much for me and I am skipping some of them to just go out and play.
Ain’t that the truth…
Got the stinkeye last night when my practice session went a skosh longer than I thought. So it goes. I don’t know how people who play 4-5 hour rounds, manage to pull it off. Guess good time management and scheduling are key.
Or being a member somewhere you can squeeze in a 2-2.5 hour round…
Amen. I usually try to sneak in a quick 9 at first light once or twice during the week before work - while the fam is asleep. Weekends are too busy with family stuff.
It’s rare that I play 18…just when I can get out with my dad or one of my brothers or close friends occasionally. I’d love to play more…but such is life.
Modern day practice on the driving range; hit off the mat, maybe the top tracer is overhead. Hit away half an hour with a large bucket ( 70-80 balls).
The way it used to be; hit off grass surface, 70-80 balls in an hour or so, take a look at the ball flight and think of the procedure. No rush and fully absorbed the practice session to maximize it effectiveness.
Very rarely we could find grass surface to practice near any metro area. All had gone to the low maintenance artificial turf now, and it is very different than hitting off real grass surface. Some brands advertising their artificial turf is similar to the real thing; not any where close. The packed in schedule for the modern day will not be a good fit for the game.
I don’t know how many times I had to walk off the golf course leaving a few holes unfinished because I had to allow time in the traffic to my next appointment or family obligations. No big deal, right ?
The first few years, I tried to push the group ahead of our group to speed up a little, then I realized, the only way to get the most of the time is to relax and take whatever it could give me. Typically walking off the course at 16th or whichever hole was closest to the club house.
Many times had to leave 4-6 holes on the table to have ample time to make the next appointment. Better to lose play with one additional hole than had to rush in traffic.
Quitting? Perhaps many times in the past. However, this game taught me one thing, amongst many other virtue; is to be patient and be courteous.
Great golf is hard. And just like other sports, not everyone can play great golf. Not everyone can hit a curve ball, not everyone can ice skate, and not everyone can run really fast. We all are not created equal. Maybe your Holy Grail is scoring 80 or 90? I have played with a number of professional athletes and while they were Hall of Famers in THEIR sport they definitely were NOT going to make the PGA Tour or LIV. So maybe you need to figure out, realistically, what you want out of playing golf and what your expectations should be. I mean we have all see guys out on the course and say " I am not sure golf is the game for him’. Baja 1000 is coming up and I have a friend who builds $1M trophy trucks that win a lot of races. Just in case you want to try something different.
One of the guy I know, who never going to be a single digit golfer. His best score ever was an 87 at his home course which is about 6100 yards from the white tee.
He text me last week that he would go play another golf course , asking me how should he expect from that track which he had not seen before.
I text him back telling him I played that track long ago and it is very short and very tight with some water hazards. From the back tee it is a par 65 at 4800 yards. We used to practice our iron game there.
He called me right after his game, all excited , telling me that he shot a 79, a first which he had gone below 70 at any regulation 18 hole golf course.
I was happy for him and didn’t want to burst his bubble by telling him it’s like an 85-86 at his home course without the par 5’s. It is an accomplishment for his level of play.
I congratulated him and told him to get more sub-80 rounds, since the ice been broken now.
As many had said it before, move up a set of tee if you can. You still need to chase the golf ball into the cup no matter how short the hole is.
Have some fun, play at your own level. Enjoy the time on the golf course.
Ha, when I went cold turkey on golf about 20 years ago, I started sports car racing, some of which was pretty high end. Best year I had I made about $100k but in doing so spent twice that. Racing is a good way to turn a good sum of money into a small sum
The only way someone MAKES money racing is using someone else’s money!!
Exactly! e.g. Norman using someone else’s money for his own purpose. You can tell many of the media posters are not golfers but they’re in to stir up the heat.
Racing cost a fortune. I heard story of many got into the racing because of their passion for the sports, not for the money. Sponsorship is usually the one who’ll shell out the money. Not sure if racing is as popular as decades before. Seems less audience and fans these days.
In a selfish way, I think golf will go through this ups and downs , maybe that will bring down the green fees for the retiree .