This feels like a stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyhow in the hope that someone has some kind of answer I'm not thinking of. What does it take to play everywhere like you do your home course?

My home course, in that I play there more than anywhere else, is Queenfield Golf Club. If I take the average score for each hole at Queenfield in 2012 (this takes into account that some of my rounds are 9-holes), it works out to a 102.7. My scoring average for all of my last 20 rounds is a 106. Obviously that's a significant difference, and if you were to take the Queenfield rounds out of that 20, it would be even more of a difference.

Now, obviously since Queenfield is where I play more than any other course, it makes sense that I would score better there, right? And, I don't expect to score that well the on a completely unfamiliar course. But, I can't even seem to take that level of play to other courses that I know well! There are probably two other courses that I know almost as well as Queenfield, but it seems like I end up with more bad shots at those courses, leading to poorer scores.

For the record, Queenfield is no slouch of a course, either. From the tees I play, it's a tad on the short side, but that's really due to two short holes. The course has a 69.1 rating and a slope of 125.

Why do you think you score better at your "home course"? Is it...

-Comfort level
-Knowledge of the course (course management)
-Other

Any ideas for me, or is this just how golf works?

I'd say the biggest is comfort level. Even when I play my favorite local course, if I'm not comfortable with the people I'm playing with, I tend to not play as well.

Case in point: 2 rounds last year, within a couple weeks of each other at the same course. I shot 90 and 98. The first round (90) I played the entire round by myself. It was a quiet weekday, and I made a last minute decision and was able to get out as as single. It was fun, it was relaxing, and it was a pretty good round (for me). The second (9 was a foursome I booked with my wife's 2 brothers and one of their friends. Compete opposite of the previous round. I felt like I was looking over my shoulder the entire round, trying to make sure we weren't holding up the course. It was one of the worst experiences I've had. I rank it right up there with the 150+ I shot on my first ever 18 hole par 72 round.

I usually play better at other courses than on my homecourse. At home, I know each and every corner. I know how I played when I birdied any of the 18 holes in the past. The problem is, those where the exceptions. One less than optimal shot and it won't work. Playing at home adds pressure IMHO.

On other courses, especially those that I played once or maybe twice before, I don't take that risk, instead I play it safe. Get a stroke-saver to base your gameplan on, don't take shots that are beyond your possibilities. I'm more focused because I don't know the course. OTOH, I am a day out of the office and out of the known environment, usually more relaxed.

Every one learns how to manage the home course. It is natural to develop a plan of attack that helps you take what the course will give you. We all have or should have an innate ability to not short side ourselves or to know where the bailout ares are. Some golfers do all of this automatically while others have to work at it. Playing a strange or occasional course doesn't allow us to develop the same approach. We all learn how to avoid the penal areas of our home courses. Playing a away course a few times we seem to press harder to score just because we are more uncomfortable.

for me, it's been a matter of experience (playing more rounds to get comfortable) and learning some basic course management.

I look at the yardage of the hole and where I can and can't miss and then try to aim accordingly. I'm usually paired with other people since I go out alone, and I will often ask people for their advice on the tee box on where I should aim and where I can't afford to miss, i.e. - where the trouble is, if it's not obvious. Almost always, they've played the course before and are more than willing to provide some helpful tips, like free caddying. In the rare circumstances I play alone, I take a good look at the hole layout and oftentimes will use the handy OOB GPS overhead view to get distances.

I've also started doing this when I can't see my target (elevated green or if I've sprayed it into an adjacent fairway), I'll look at the GPS map and it helps to see what tree or other landmark (cartpath fork) I should be aiming to hit it over to land it back in the fairway knowing the carry. It takes an extra little bit of time, but worth it in the end.

I don't have this problem because, well, my home course is the hardest course I've ever played. I've even started playing from the reds.

I play a LOT of different courses. I'm usually able to beat my handicap on other courses. I have rarely beaten my handicap on my home course.

Bryan K wrote:

I don't have this problem because, well, my home course is the hardest course I've ever played. I've even started playing from the reds.

I guess that's something I should consider -- maybe my home course is too easy, despite the legitimate rating and slope? Or, at minimum, maybe it just plays to my strengths?

I play from the white tees, which measure out at 5,812 yards. The blue tees measure to 6,400+ and the tee box placement is MUCH more difficult, so with my current golf abilities I just don't belong back there.

With thick woods on all sides and the lines of brush everywhere, the course demands some precision (or at least avoidance of totally wild shots) but doesn't require that you hit the ball a mile to score well. Given my issues with my three and five woods (can't hit them with any reliability) it may just be that the lack of any really, really long holes plays to my game a little more than most courses.

Again, though, it's perplexing to me that I can't seem to carry much of the game I play at Queenfield to other courses. That must be the "comfort" part of the equation.

SteveMM wrote:

Why do you think you score better at your "home course"? Is it... -Comfort level -Knowledge of the course (course management) -Other

In my experience it's a conglomeration of all three - other being subconscious knowledge and things you "just do" out of habit at a course. Aimpoints, etc.

When you play a course a lot, you tend to know things about it that someone who is not a regular player doesn't know. Hidden traps, subtle breaks, prevailing winds, etc. Generally, i know i'm more confident on courses i've played before. Dunno why, the hazards haven't changed, it's just that i know what's out there and i tend to make a more confident swing.

All of those are the reason i generally don't like to play any one course too much during the season. i've been breaking that with a couple of the local courses here but only because i have to get out on the course to practice and i can't drive the distance i normally like to.

Certain courses fit one's game. There are a handful of courses on which I tend to score well and another small group on which I rarely beat my handicap. The rest are sort of "pot luck" and I may or may not play well.

For me, courses with a small number of 400+ yard par 4's tend to make scoring easier. Places where a slight fade is better than a slight draw work in my favor.

Another player might find courses that are long but open favor their game over my short/accurate game.

So I would think about what features of your "home" course are more friendly to your game. Then play similar courses or work on the areas of your game that don't work on other courses.

bkuehn1952 wrote:

Certain courses fit one's game. There are a handful of courses on which I tend to score well and another small group on which I rarely beat my handicap. The rest are sort of "pot luck" and I may or may not play well. For me, courses with a small number of 400+ yard par 4's tend to make scoring easier. Places where a slight fade is better than a slight draw work in my favor. Another player might find courses that are long but open favor their game over my short/accurate game. So I would think about what features of your "home" course are more friendly to your game. Then play similar courses or work on the areas of your game that don't work on other courses.

I'm really starting to think that this with a little of the "comfort" thrown in, has as much to do with the scoring difference I'm seeing than anything else.

All good thoughts, everyone ... thanks.

I wonder if there is a subconcious connection between the course we play most frequently (if we're not a memeber somewhere) and the state of our game at a particular time.

When I first started playing, I considered my "home" course to be one of the easiest courses I've ever found to play. It was wide open, with very little penalty for wayward drives. It called the "Prarie" course for a reason.

As I improved, gas became more expensive, and my time and money became diverted to more important things, I found closer courses, less expensive courses, and courses that could be played in less than 5+ hours.

Let's face it, if we play a course that doesn't fit our game, wether it's too tight, the greens are too fast/slow, too much water, too many doglegs, etc, it's usually not going to be much fun.

Alternately, you can occasinally find a course that leaves such a great memory, regardless of the way you played, that you go back, again and again, and your game starts to fit that course.

Both have happened to me. At this point, I don't care what I shoot, as long as the course is fairly inexpensive, and I can get around it in less than 5 hours, I'm happy.

Funny thing about Queenfield is that there was a time when I thought it was too difficult to bother with. I couldn't stand the place. It's not a forgiving course, and it's very punitive if you slice or hook. There's not much rough to slow a ball down before it goes into the woods, and if it goes in there you can forget trying to hit it out as it's just not going to be possible.

I still have a friend or two who won't play the course.

I don't have a home course, I haven't played too much this year due to financial reasons and I'm not that good, but having said that, in my humble opinion I think you can only get better playing different courses, which, at the end of the day is our goal.

As the guy's above me have mentioned, if you play your "home" course all the time, you get comfortable with it and you end up knowing exactly how to play it, therefore your scores will reflect that.

I play about equal at other courses even ones that are "harder" what I lose on misplayed shots I usually make up on the greens. The greens on my home course are not the same from hole to hole, one might be fast, then next slow and the 3rd in the middle. Makes it very hard to dial in your putting stroke. My home course is a 115 slope and another local course i sometimes play is a 131. I par'd 7 of the 18 on the harder course, I'd feel good to do that well on my home course any day of the week!

SteveMM wrote:

Funny thing about Queenfield is that there was a time when I thought it was too difficult to bother with. I couldn't stand the place. It's not a forgiving course, and it's very punitive if you slice or hook. There's not much rough to slow a ball down before it goes into the woods, and if it goes in there you can forget trying to hit it out as it's just not going to be possible. I still have a friend or two who won't play the course.

Interestingly, I can tell all of that just by looking at the rating/slope. I doubt I would like the course very much at all. Low rating plus high slope usually means very little room for error.