Sup world,
Sorry for the delay on this one. My plan is to write these on Thursday nights and schedule them to be sent out to your inboxes for your Friday morning coffee but I got home late last night and had absolutely 0 creative motivation. No excuses tho I'll do better.
Alright, in this newsletter I'm gonna be dropping my thoughts on what I've observed about the game of golf / scoring. These past few weeks I've had rounds in the 90s and I've had a round in the low 70s, and there are some things that I noticed that I'm going to be writing about. Enjoy.
Current Index: N/A
Most Recent 3 Scores
• 82 - Native Oaks
• 75 - Golf Club of California
• 88 - San Vicente
Scoring Well is Kinda Boring
Hitting bombs, firing at every pin, high spin flop shots. That's what every one of us is trying to do out there on the links. That's when golf is the most fun!! When we have a tight lie 50 yards out in the middle of the fairway looking at a back pin location and we pull our favorite wedge out and try to hit a shot that takes one bounce and stops at the pin. Or we pull up to a Par 3 and see a pin tucked in the back right behind a high lipped bunker. Do we play to hit the big part of the green??? Be honest. That shit is fucking boring hahahah. When we're out there, our egos are telling us we can accomplish anything. As you should. You just dropped ~$100 on a prime time green free on the weekend. You got some new irons you just got fit for at Club Champion. And you're 3-4 beers deep feelin' niceeeeee.
The truth of this situation is, yes, you are capable of hitting these shots. But how often are you executing? It's absolutely a lot more fun going for these low percentage shots, trust me I know. But I recently learned it's also the reason why I have rounds in the high 80s and low 90s still... Not only do scratch golfers execute these tough shots on a more regular basis, but they also know when to play these shots. Yes it's more boring hitting iron off the tee to put yourself in the fairway, or putting the 3 wood away on a Par 5 and playing it as a 3 shot hole. But these decisions really do take the doubles and triples off of the card!
What I basically got my past few rounds is: choose the golfer you want to be for the day. If you're playing for score and gambling some change out there, be smarter with your decisions. If you just want to have fun and let loose and attempt some fun shots, you can do that too. But you can set the expectation that your score isn't gonna be perfect. No need to get all pissed at yourself. You chose that life for the day!!!
Characteristics of a Scratch Golfer
I've had the opportunity to watch and play golf with some really good golfers. Also, now that I'm on a nice lil' journey to become a scratch golfer, I've also been watching the top amateurs tournament footage on YouTube. US Amateur Footage, College Golf, etc.
What I've noticed and observed from these guys is that even just their mannerisms are different than the weekend golfers we are used to playing with; everything from their pre-shot routine, to how they carry themselves on the putting green. I've noticed they have a consistent pre-shot routine before every single shot. Their tempos are also a lot more relaxed than the normal golfer. You can tell they are focused on executing on the shot they just visualized before they even stepped up to the ball. When I play with newer golfers it's pretty apparent they're stepping up to the ball, swinging, and just "seeing what happens." I'm pretty guilty of that as well and want to get out of that habit. What's that quote? Don't keep doing the same things and expect different results. The same things I'm doing that are making me shoot in the 80s won't get me scratch.
Add me on the 18Birdies App!!
New Surf App
Lastly, before I let you guys go. I've been trying to start surfing again and actually get good. With that I've been trying to learn more about how the ocean works. Swells, tides, all that shit. What are the best apps out there for surf checks and also learning how to understand them? The apps I've used in the past are Surfline and Magic Seaweed. I just got an ad this morning from an app called Lazy Surfer and the ad was kinda funny, so I downloaded it. I'll write an update in a later newsletter.
Hit 'em straight this weekend and I'll see you guys next week.
Cheers,
JR Montes
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