Is that your ACTUAL score ?

I played golf with my father-in-law last week ... and based on a discussion with a friend of mine at work, I decided to keep an HONEST score (no mulligans, no extra shots, etc.) regardless of what I shot.  That way I'll really know if what I'm shooting is getting better over time.

On the very first hole I was on the green in 3 shots (par 4) so it looked promising that I could 2-putt for a one-over 5 (which is my goal on every hole ... just play one-over golf).  But I chunked my first putt and left about 12 feet to the cup.  Then my second putt was what my dad calls an "Alice" (when you hit the ball way too soft and it has no shot to go into the hole).  I saved a double bogey with an 8 footer that broke quite a bit right-to-left.

I was very tempted to "cheat" and try that very first putt again to see if I could score better ... but I didn't.  I took the 6 and we moved on.  And the rest of the round was SO much better!  (Until the 8th hole that is, but I was cocky by that time and deserved another double bogey to humble myself!)

Overall ... I shot a 44 for 9 holes !!!



The check marks on the bottom section were to
keep track of "fairways" hit off the tee
(or "greens" hit in regulation).

I kept coming up short on the greens on my approach shots, but my chipping was about the best it's ever been and I was able to one-putt 4 of the last 5 holes to salvage two pars and two bogeys.  It was a fantastic round and likely the last I'll play this calendar year, so that's a great way to "end the season."

I know this won't necessarily continue (I mean the personal best scores, not the honesty of keeping score which will continue) but it was great to know exactly what I had shot on the course.  Thanks Mark F for the good "chat" on honest golfing.  I think the pressure of knowing I had to "own" what I shot made me play better.

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