I only keep a mental score if playing by myself - especially if I'm also taking practice shots.

If your club or usga section is not accepting scores for posting at this time of year, then do whatever you feel like doing. That is the great part of playing rounds without having to post the scores.

I play lots of holes that I don't score. Occasionally that's because they are very early season rounds and I'm just getting my rhythm back. Alternatively I may not be scoring the hole because I'm changing equipment and trying different shots. I also may just simply be practicing for a few holes. A prime example of this is practicing fading the ball to the back right of the green. All of this practice is important and you cant necessarily do it as effectively on a driving range. I say just decide if you want to play a practice round or a round for score and then play accordingly, if it's practice then practice but if it's for score then grind and put up a number.

Hi Darryl. I almost always keep track of my scores and stats during off-season (non-qualifying) rounds, unless conditions are truly atrocious or are not representative of that course's typical presentation.

Living in the Washington, DC area, I find it interesting that the Virginia SGA maintains year-round play while the Maryland SGA has seasonal play between March 15 and November 14. This is a separate conversation for another forum, but I wouldn't mind seeing more fragmented intra-state season jurisdiction, particularly for states like Virginia and Maryland where certain counties have the climate dynamics to support year-round play while others do not.

Hi Darryl
I've always played with card when practicing with friends simply because I want to test myself as if I was in a competition .
The new rules on handicap which are going to come in say you can put these in for handicap purposes . Stuart l

Since we don't have a non-season here in southeast Texas, I can't really address your question. When I go out for practice rounds, however, I will often play multiple balls or play from different locations to work specific portions of my game. The main thing is to not disturb the flow of play on the course, so I yield whenever a group comes up behind me. On those occasions, I don't keep score as there really is not one to keep.

When I lived in northern VA, however, we played as often as the weather would allow us, and as long as the courses were open. For those rounds, we kept score because, as you noted, we played games within the round. We just did not report those scores for handicap purposes.

For me it depends - sometimes I'll play and keep a score however more times than not I tend not to keep score as I am more apt to try things on the course without the overhang of my handicap (flop shots, going for long par 5s in 2, working on long irons).

I don't always post or keep scores. Just lazy/don't care sometimes.

Scoring is totally up to you. If you're playing by yourself you can't post to GHIN (assuming it's in season where you live), so scoring is completely arbitrary.

Personally, I always keep some kind of score. Lots of times I'll play multiple balls from two sets of tees, or drop a ball somewhere in the fairway, or go for it in two vs lay up and keep both scores. Obviously I only post legitimate scores, but there's no harm in keeping your strokes or stats when you're playing by yourself or for practice.
IMO numbers provide insights to your game, and you can use them when you have to make decisions during rounds that mean something. For instance I learned that I'm much better from 90-110 than I am from 70-90 yards, so if I'm laying up I try to give myself that 90-110 number.

We don't have an off-season, but if my goal is to practice, hit multiple shots/balls then I don't see how you could really keep score or post them if you do. If you must, then you would have to have one ball you play first and then the others are practice, but I still would not agree with doing that. It's either practice, or it's not.

It just depends what I'm working on in the off-season. Typically this time of year I won't keep score because I'm working on my swing. Trying to hit shots- fades, draws, high & low. By the end of March I will work on scoring & keep score.

I post all my scores in season (even if I play alone - I hate that USGA rule change about not posting when playing alone)