15 Comments

1. 

   Jack Nash

   Nov 21, 2018 at 12:48 pm

   Make more birdies or make fewer mistakes. Like they say “golf is a game of how good your misses are”.

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2. 

   Obee

   Nov 21, 2018 at 11:52 am

   Great post. Thanks. You MUST be able to make 12 – 16 pars per round on a regular basis to play below scratch golf. And the other 2 to 6 holes should be bogeys or birdies the overwhelming majority of the time.

   Simple game when you think of it that way, but the devil is in the details, of course.

   WHY do so many otherwise talented, athletic players make so many bogey and doubles?

   The answer completely depends on each player. For some, it often starts with poor decision or a poor state of mind. For others, lots of bogeys and doubles are inevitable because they have a pronounced swing flaw(s) that will simply result in very inconsistent ball-striking.

   They key is to identify each player’s weaknesses and develop a strategy for that individual player to make MORE pars and fewer doubles (which, consequently, will almost always result in more birdies as well).

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3. 

   Ron

   Nov 21, 2018 at 11:37 am

   Good article – with numerical support to back it up (esp. since golf is about numbers!)

   Speaking of numbers, I’m 78, a low single-digit, and this year have my lowest scoring average ever. How? Several ways. I practice wedges a lot. I play the appropriate tees (~6000 yd courses). But mainly, I’ve learned how to salvage bogeys on holes if I get out of position: Put the ball back in play, try to get within 100 yards of the green, accept getting down in no more than three from there and move on. Not as exciting as cutting the corner of the dogleg or going over the hazard or some other hero shot, but – on average – lowers scores. Do I make a lot of birdies? Occasionally. But I’ve also had birdie free rounds with only three or four bogeys.

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4. 

   Adrian

   Nov 21, 2018 at 2:58 am

   I am torn by this article because I believe that every golfer as they improve will learn to keep big numbers off the scorecard but there must come a time when you are capable of making your fair share of birdies or your improvement will stall. If you can make birdies in bunches it is a matter of time before you eliminate big numbers. Birdies or better are the only eraser on the scorecard and the better you get at the game the fewer doubles or worse you make and the more birdies or better you will make…hopefully !!

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5. 

   Peter McGill

   Nov 21, 2018 at 1:23 am

   But if I can turn those triples and doubles into birdies…?

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6. 

   Stephane Barras

   Nov 21, 2018 at 12:57 am

   Could Erin, the author, give us an answer about Alexdub comments ?

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7. 

   PSG

   Nov 20, 2018 at 2:40 pm

   This article is kinda nonsensical because it assumes the goal is to shoot the best score possible and not to win the tournament (which are not the same thing).

   If -10 wins the tournament, who cares if the college or LPGA player keeps “bogies off the card” and shoots -2? They still lost. Better to shoot +4 at least trying to shoot -10.

   The goal of competitive golf isn’t to post the best score you can every round. Its to win the tournament. For a dude who shoots 95 on a Sunday this is pretty good advice. For a dude who is trying to get through Q-School or keep his card this is awful advice, as all that matters is how he does *Relative to the other players*.

   If you are trying to make your personal bests (good for you!) then this is right. If you are trying to beat a field (where someone is likely to go very low) then this is wrong.

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8. 

   Taylor

   Nov 20, 2018 at 9:37 am

   When I tried to turn the corner, I had a guy tell me “give yourself 13-14 birdie putts a round. Pretty much guarantees and even par or better round as long as you stay away from the big numbers

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9. 

   TheCityGame

   Nov 20, 2018 at 8:36 am

   Any advice that starts with “make more birdies” or “avoid more bogeys” is basically looking at symptoms and not cures. It’s often presented like bogeys and birdies are in opposition to each other. . .as if gunning for birdies on every hole leads a player to too many doubles.

   It doesn’t work like that. Players who make more birdies are also players who make fewer bogeys. This is true of amateurs and the pro tour (go look at stats for bogey avoidance and birdie rate. . .it’s almost all the same guys at the top of the list and they’re also the best scorers. https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02414.2018.html and https://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.156.2018.html)

   Advice should be “get better” — whatever that means for an individual player — and when a player “gets better”, she will make more birdies and avoid over-par scores a lot more.

   I will agree. . as I’ve gotten better, and more regularly shoot in the low/mid 70’s, the most important thing in scoring is over-par avoidance.

   But, that hasn’t come from a strategy of not trying to make birdies. I’m still trying to make birdies all the time. And I make more than I used to. I also avoid big numbers more often.

   So, no, “make more birdies” is not really the best advice to shoot lower scores, but neither is “make fewer over-pars”. The best advice to shoot lower scores is be a better golfer (more accurate, longer, better short game, etc.)

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10. 

    Murv

    Nov 20, 2018 at 8:30 am

    Pretty much stating the obvious for average players.

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11. 

    Duffy McHackster

    Nov 19, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    Nice to see an article that makes sense to us less skilled types. I manage about a dozen birdies a season, so not at all realistic to expect much improvement there. We can learn to play smarter, manage the course better, and work on the things we can realistically improve. As we get older, we aren’t likely to gain distance, so we need to understand our limitations and and not bite off more than we can chew.

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12. 

    alexdub

    Nov 19, 2018 at 10:09 am

    Am I missing something? Looking at the first data table concerning average birdies per round, the difference between the first spot (2.7) and the seventh spot (.33) appears to be 2.37 — not the 1.09 stated in the article.

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    • 

      Josh

      Nov 19, 2018 at 10:47 am

      Think he meant top and second.

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    • 

      Josh

      Nov 19, 2018 at 10:48 am

      I can’t type. He meant second and seventh.

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13. 

    BL

    Nov 19, 2018 at 9:58 am

    This is by far the smartest post ever on this site! Well done Erin!

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