When you're good at one course

[medger]

I play lots of courses, some more than others. I'm playing a tournament at a course (which I personally know from hole 1 to hole 22) not only difficult but physically taxing. I'm friends with the course designer and we've played it many times while he was developing it. I wreck that course.
Why do I have so much trouble at way more open courses that have lots of less trees? Driving distance is not the issue.
Please advise

 

[medger]

I play lots of courses, some more than others. I'm playing a tournament at a course (which I personally know from hole 1 to hole 22) not only difficult but physically taxing. I'm friends with the course designer and we've played it many times while he was developing it. I wreck that course.
Why do I have so much trouble at way more open courses that have lots of less trees? Driving distance is not the issue.
Please advise

Because I've played it enough to know what disc/line to throw on each hole? Not necessarily because I shot 5 birdies in a row, 3 of them lines that the course designer didn't know existed. It's not just knowing the course.

 

[medger]

He turned his head on my drive but then we walk up and he's like "WTF?"

 

[MikeK]

 

[brutalbrutus]

When you are used to playing a wooded course and then play an open course, it can cause a lack of concentration. You let your guard down knowing you don't have to be as exact with your lines. Also, wind doesn't have as much affect on wooded courses.

 

[ilmcgee]

As with any sport, there is a mental aspect. Sounds like you are holding yourself back.

 

[DougCrawford]

I'm gonna guess it's confidence.

 

[jcf5083]

I had the same thing happen at my first points series tournament of the year. We played a newly installed course on bolf property, and many of the holes were wide open and long. For me, I think a lot of it was a lack of concentration on upshots. I was leaving myself a bunch of 40' putts that, had I thrown the same distance from the tee at a short course, would otherwise be parked.

 

[jeremyhilss]

See I had the opposite problem.... my home course which I learned to play on, has a lot of really open shots; I'd get to a wooded course and be screwed.

I'd also say you may let your guard down mentally. When I'm on an open hole, I try to picture a line of trees around where I want to throw, leading towards the basket, as if it was a densely wooded hole.

 

[mark996]

I had this problem until I stopped playing each hole, and started playing the shot, if that makes sense. I used to know what disc I wanted to throw, and I'd have it out ready to go on my home courses. I stopped doing that. Now I'll walk to the tee, or my shot, and take a second to assess the shot before even deciding. I'll decide what line I want, and then I'll choose my disc based on that. I'm also pretty lucky to have decent, and 1 "championship" course within 15 minutes of my house, all offering something a bit different, wooded, open, mix, etc. I also think field work helped with this. Instead of know what disc does what on a hole, I know what a disc does out of my hand.

 

[esc1]

Concentrate on your line more. Dial in your hyzer in some field practice.

 

[BuzzzChief]

I had this problem until I stopped playing each hole, and started playing the shot, if that makes sense. I used to know what disc I wanted to throw, and I'd have it out ready to go on my home courses. I stopped doing that. Now I'll walk to the tee, or my shot, and take a second to assess the shot before even deciding. I'll decide what line I want, and then I'll choose my disc based on that. I'm also pretty lucky to have decent, and 1 "championship" course within 15 minutes of my house, all offering something a bit different, wooded, open, mix, etc. I also think field work helped with this. Instead of know what disc does what on a hole, I know what a disc does out of my hand.

I think this is a good attitude. I have one championship-level course that I play often, much more than any other course. I find that if I go too many times in a row to the same course, my scores actually begin to suffer a bit. When I get around and play a few different courses with more varied shots, I end up throwing better.

You're right that it's easy to fall into a rut where you always throw X disc on Y hole. Maybe a different disc is working better for you that day/week/month, and it would be better to mix it up. There are lots of ways to get the disc in the basket.

 

[tdschrock1]

In Golf is Not a Game of Perfect the author says that one key to playing well is to:

- look at your line
- pick your (club) disc
- pick your route
- do what you envisioned

This tends to be easier when you've done it before and when you are comfortable with what you are attempting.

In the last year, I tended to play more unfamiliar courses than hometown ones and also do a lot more field work and putting. Since doing this, I now tend to shoot pretty well (compared to my skill level), even playing a course blind

 

[mark996]

In Golf is Not a Game of Perfect the author says that one key to playing well is to:

- look at your line
- pick your (club) disc
- pick your route
- do what you envisioned

This tends to be easier when you've done it before and when you are comfortable with what you are attempting.

In the last year, I tended to play more unfamiliar courses than hometown ones and also do a lot more field work and putting. Since doing this, I now tend to shoot pretty well (compared to my skill level), even playing a course blind

Great book, maybe that's where I learned to do that, it's been so long since I read it maybe I need to refresh.

I noticed the same when I played blind courses. If you work in the field and learn shots, instead of learning a particular hole on a course, you have an arsenal in your bag for whatever shot the hole presents. I played a course blind yesterday and ended up shooting a 53 in 20mph winds, average score for the course is 56, so I was pretty happy with that.

 

[SD86]

See I had the opposite problem.... my home course which I learned to play on, has a lot of really open shots; I'd get to a wooded course and be screwed.

Same here. My close-by home course has a mixture of open and wooded holes, but mostly open. When I played a couple of all-wooded courses, I realized where I need some work.

I had this problem until I stopped playing each hole, and started playing the shot, if that makes sense. I used to know what disc I wanted to throw, and I'd have it out ready to go on my home courses. I stopped doing that. Now I'll walk to the tee, or my shot, and take a second to assess the shot before even deciding. I'll decide what line I want, and then I'll choose my disc based on that. I'm also pretty lucky to have decent, and 1 "championship" course within 15 minutes of my house, all offering something a bit different, wooded, open, mix, etc. I also think field work helped with this. Instead of know what disc does what on a hole, I know what a disc does out of my hand.

Very well stated.

And one more note: the other day I played a course I had not played for several months. Maybe it was because of what mark996 said above, but I found that by playing the shots, I was +6 on the round (and that with a triple on one hole ) But in the overall, I was happy that the range work I'd done and knowing my discs better than the course helped me a lot, and I shot a better score than I expected to...

 

[skizzle34]

Another aspect that people forget to take into account when it comes to open vs wooded courses is depth perception. When you are in the woods you subconsciously measure your way down the fair way from one obstacle to the next. It is easier to tell when you are 150' when there are trees every 20' or so as compared to being 150' out with absolutely nothing between you and the basket.

 

[The Shide]

Another aspect that people forget to take into account when it comes to open vs wooded courses is depth perception. When you are in the woods you subconsciously measure your way down the fair way from one obstacle to the next. It is easier to tell when you are 150' when there are trees every 20' or so as compared to being 150' out with absolutely nothing between you and the basket.

Yup, exactly this. Wide open holes tend to confound me for this very reason. To compensate for overthrowing the basket on an upshot, I try to dial it down a little & it seems to work out (sometimes).

 

[Cgkdisc]

Yup, exactly this. Wide open holes tend to confound me for this very reason. To compensate for overthrowing the basket on an upshot, I try to dial it down a little & it seems to work out (sometimes).

That's why some pros will throw spike hyzers for long approaches on open holes since it seems easier to judge the right amount of energy for the distance.

 

[threevok]

This may have already been mentioned, but when playing a course that has windows that you are familiar with to hit it is different than playing an open course with no windows.