The Chink In My Golf Armour

/ The Grateful Golfer

Every golfer has a weak point in their game. If you asked, I am sure many would have several…..I know I do. This being the case, we develop other skills to protect against our weaknesses and hopefully are smart enough to manage our golf shots protect our overall golf score. Unfortunately there are days when no matter what we do or how which plan we use that day, nothing seems to help. That is when the chink in our golf armour really shines through like a beacon of light in a dark room.

Ben Hogan

This particular aspect of my game ebbs and flows. I feel it is the area of my game the suffers the most by being a member at a single golf course. I love playing at Osprey Links, but I know for the most part what club I am going to use on every hole. Of course, I mix it up from time to time, but generally my strategy remains the same. I just have to hit the ball properly to succeed.

The hole in my course management skills really comes to light when I play a different golf course. I sometimes overlook the necessity to focus on what I want as the next shot and just bash away. This has hurt my scores over the years and something that has not really improved over the years. Unfortunately, I play very few golf courses other than my home track that I do not see this improving anytime soon.

As a known limitation, I rely on my shots off the tee and my short game to make up for my other weaknesses in my game. Hitting the ball straight, for the most part, works well to stay in play, but knowing how far to hit it is important as well. Some courses I have played in the past forced me to work the ball or be faced with a long approach shot. I have my ball through a fairway many times because I did not stop and think for a minute on what shot I need/want after my tee shot. If only Ben Hogan sat on my shoulder when I played!

Weaknesses in our golf game is nothing new. I have several others (relatively speaking) and continuously work to improve. It is a golf journey I enjoy and as such helps provide endless enjoyment when swinging a golf club. Additionally, this path of self-improvement helps fix the chinks in my golf armour so I can be a better player and not have to suffer the frustration of preventable poor scores.

Do you have a chink in your golf armour?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

7 thoughts on “The Chink In My Golf Armour”

  1. Pingback: Practice Reveals Problems – MyBreaking90

  2. I find the topic very interesting. Complacency tends to develop when playing primarily on the same course and I find playing other courses, especially difficult ones keeps course management skills sharp.

    Last year I played on more than thirty different golf courses due to travels, Golf Historical Society events and Clublink Players Club membership. All of the latter are courses with high slope ratings. Typically tough courses have challenging green complexes meaning that just gripping and ripping it will largely result in a long day. That being said, the most difficult shots for me are half to three quarter shots (I know that I am not alone). Playing a full club in will result in better scores as paying attention to what side of the fairway to approach from.

    I find playing my hickory clubs makes me pay more attention to course management even on my home course. Another way to do that is try playing with a shorter set of clubs. I play with a lot of different golfers in a given year and I see far too many Lob wedges being used (and badly). Try taking the lob wedge out of the bag for a while and restrict your sand wedge to sand traps exclusively and I guarantee that you will give course management greater thought. Or just play hickory golf from time to time, that is my solution.

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  3. Jim, I have chinks all over the place. Of most concern is the shot from 30-50 yards. As you mention, the best remediation is to manage around it. I need to take special care on the par-5s not to immediately pull 3wd on the second shot and select the club that will leave me between 50-100 yards. I can definitely get it closer with a lob wedge from 65 yards than from 35.

    Also, very valid observation about players staying on a single course. If possible, our games benefit being confronted by as many different looks as possible.

    Thanks!

    Brian

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  4. Having never been a member anywhere, and having so many courses to choose from, I think I am better suited to play a new course fairly well then you “feel” you are, but after having played a lot of them through the years, I’ve learned that it’s just not fair to expect too much of yourself scoring wise when you’re on a course you’ve never played before. There are just too many things you have to find out the hard way the first few times around. Our golf decision tree works better with experience and our faith is strengthened by it as well. That leads to better scores with familiarity. So I wouldn’t call that a chink in your armor (I’ll use the American spelling, yours has too many letters and I’m lazy 😂), it’s just part of the game and the nature of our species.

    The two courses on this property were new to me back in February. It took a few rounds before I started feeling like I played it well even though both are small courses. They still have teeth and I got bit a few times in the beginning because I didn’t recognize all of them the first few times around. So if that’s a chink in our armor, it’s a chink none of us can really expect to fix. We can learn to deal with it a little better maybe through experience, but we can’t ever expect to make it go away.

    So the first time or two around a course should be just for the joy of playing a new course and nothing else. Well except for remembering what you learn while your out there. Taking that attitude and embracing it likely won’t save you from all of the teeth, but I think it helps me play better than I would otherwise.

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