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Breaking 90...

carolinaborn82

carolinaborn82

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Ok, I'm a guy who shoots in the low 90's. I have broke 90 twice in my life. All you guys who have been in my shoes, what was the main thing that got you to consistently break the 90 brick wall?

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carolinaborn82 said:
Ok, I'm a guy who shoots in the low 90's. I have broke 90 twice in my life. All you guys who have been in my shoes, what was the main thing that got you to consistently break the 90 brick wall?

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there is a whole thread on that subject here, but I'd say for me it was staying out of trouble off the tee, mostly from course management
 
Short game and making putts from 4-6'
 
No penalties, no two chips/pitches to get on the green, and no 3 putts.

It's even easier if you can chip/pitch well enough to ensure a 1 putt on several holes.

Remember, to shoot 90 you only need to play bogey golf. Sprinkle in a few pars and you've reached your goal.
 
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two main things:
* reduce penalty strokes. this usually means a better tee game, but can also mean smarter approach shots.

* no more than one shot to get on the green if you miss in regulation. no flubbed chips. no balls left in bunkers. no bladed pitch shots.

then to go from 80s to 70s it's no more 3-putts and getting up and down more often.


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Join us in the thread that Marty referenced and you will find a lot of great information there. I personally have benefited from reading and posting in that thread over the years.

Mental was a big part for me, I started going into each round with a simple goal. Shoot 45 for each 9 holes, and if I can make a few pars on par 3s or par 4s then I will be on my way to breaking 90. Just something I thought was small but has made a huge difference for me.

Good luck and hope to see you over in the breaking 90 thread
 
-CRW- said:
No penalties, no two chips/pitches to get on the green, and no 3 putts.

It's even easier if you can chip/pitch well enough to ensure a 1 putt on several holes.

Remember, to shot 90 you only need to play bogey golf. Sprinkle in a few pars and you've reached your goal.
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This ^

If there is a long par 4 that will take you 2 good shots to reach the green, play clubs you are comfortable hitting to reach the green in 3 and you never know, you may find yourself in a position to sink the putt for a par, or hopefully at worst a bogey

Don't try to reach a par 5 in 2 shots, again, play it as a 3 shot hole - I did this for my old course and found I scored a lot better this way than trying to reach in 2 (especially with OOB and water around the greens) as 3 good shots would then give me a look at a birdie rather than trying to play a recovery shot for my 3rd out of trouble that may or may not end up giving you that same chance

Limit your mistakes as much as possible and play to your strengths, even if it then means a bogey is probably the score you will get - if you can grab a par on a single hole and bogey the rest you have broken 90 (assuming a par 72 course)
 
carolinaborn82 said:
Ok, I'm a guy who shoots in the low 90's. I have broke 90 twice in my life. All you guys who have been in my shoes, what was the main thing that got you to consistently break the 90 brick wall?

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I think you said the answer in your own question...."consistency"
I am in the same boat have scored sub 90 many times but simply cannot stay there. I think it all comes down to consistency and just where (within ones game) it suffers the most. Imo the first thing one needs to do is have themselves a decent amount of pars on a regular basis especially to offset the doubles or worse. And to accomplish this imo is to firstly get ourselves at least near (if not on) most greens in a regulation amount of strokes. You just cannot be sitting on or near a green and already spent 3,4 or possibly more strokes. The math to break 90 just simply cannot work in that scenario. Then we have to be good enough to get on the greens when missed. We just cannot burn 2,3 whatever strokes trying to get on the missed green. The math just doesn't work in that scenario either. It also doesn't work if we cant sink enough putts nor lag putt well enough to sink most second putts. So it all needs to be efficient enough ("consistent" ebough) and it depends just where we are the most inconsistent that we then imo need to work on improving.

Getting on some while also near enough most greens in regulation amount of strokes often enough? Then if we are not efficient enough at short game and putting we will not stay under 90. It just cant work.
Not getting on nor being near enough most greens in regulation amount of strokes often enough? You don't stand a sub 90 chance either.
 
A couple things have really helped me consistently break 90...
1) Keeping the Driver in the bag. I am much more comfortable with my 3 wood, only lose 15-20 yards and keep it in the fairway most of the time.
2) Short game practice. Work on the shots from inside 125 yrds and pitching / chipping just off the green.
3) Putting. No more 3 putts! Always challenge yourself... try to keep your first putt within 6' of the hole. once you're consistently inside of 6', tighten the circle to 4', etc...

Good luck! You can do it!!
 
Tee shots for me. Getting off the tee consistently allows you to have a better shot into the green, also means you don't waste a shot or to getting back into a position to go at the green.
 
-CRW- said:
No penalties, no two chips/pitches to get on the green, and no 3 putts.

It's even easier if you can chip/pitch well enough to ensure a 1 putt on several holes.

Remember, to shoot 90 you only need to play bogey golf. Sprinkle in a few pars and you've reached your goal.
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agree with your post but for one problem. The OP is talking sub 90 and also stay there on a fairly constant basis. That is somewhat better than just bogey golf. Reason being is because (generally speaking) a 90ish player has more than their share of inconsistent play. If one were to be a very consistent nature then yes bogey golf with a handful of pars per round would work and give or take a stroke would shoot 87,88 consistently. But who (especially at the 90ish level) does not vary at least 5 or so strokes up/.down per average round. Even good consistent players vary that much. So for the 90ish player he/she is certainly going to have his/her fair share of doubles in any given round and even worse on a hole or two even if in a well played round. So imo one needs to play something noticeably better than just bogey golf with a few pars sprinkled if they are to stay sub 90 on a consistent basis. They will need a good share of pars and the occasional bird too, all that in order to offset the doubles (or possible worse) in their average round in order to keep most rounds in the 80's. One has to play pretty good (relatively speaking) golf to stay there. They need to be efficient enough at most everything they do. Failing just enough at any given thing will prevent the sub 90 rounds from happening or at least prevent them from happening on a consistent basis.
 
Keep the ball in front of you, always in play. Never take more than three shots from inside 100 yards.


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I was like you for a long time. What got me shooting in the 80's was practicing my short game a lot.
I also realized that I can play bogey golf. It takes the stress out of trying to make par on every hole. Throw in a few pars and you're golden. I also broke it down that I just have to get a 5 on all holes to hit 90. A few strokes less over the round and you're in the 80's.
it's all about short game and course management imho.


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Tee game and short game. Probably more on the tee side. Irons are great, but you can still make a bogey missing GIRs if your short game is even just ok. The better the short game the more room for error you have.
NONE of that is possible, however, if you are constantly taking penalties off the tee, or punching out from under trees or rough. Then you have to make longer tougher shots (to hit the green) to even have a chance at bogy. The % goes way down, even with a good short game.
 
Another tip is to treat every hole as 1 stroke more than stated par. So a par 3 becomes a par 4, par 4?becomes a par 5 and par 5 becomes a par 6. This is bogey golf on a par 70 you shoot an 88, par 71 an 89 and par 72 a 90. Idea is to keep ball in front of you so if you struggle with tee game play a club that keeps you in play. If you make pars that's a bonus and helps get you below 90 on par 72. If you play a 400 yard par 4 with your most consistent club off the tee that gets you to a comfortable distance or as far down as possible without causing a penalty stroke. Then based on distance choose the most consistent club you need to get to a comfortable distance or reach the green.

While I agree with thesis who say consistency will help it's about course management. Is this less exciting as hitting driver or 3w off tee if they aren't a consistent club and puts you in trouble? Not all all. If you to,shoot lower scores it will help,you do that
 
We have some athletic fields with a lot of open land around them where I live. I am going to start using the softball infield as a green and work hard on 100 yds and in.

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There are so many factors. Once you're in the 80s, you're playing pretty solid golf.

Minimize penalties. 1 per round happens to every one, but none really helps you score. More than that and you're in the 90s.

3 putts are score killers. No matter if you hit the GIR or not, 3 putts pile up strokes. If you have 3 or more, you're in the 90s.

Double chips are the most avoidable. The main goal of chipping is that your next stroke is a putt. Chili dips, and mega thins can be ironed out with a legitimate chipping strategy. Too many 90s golfers just walk up without any real strategy.

Hero shots are dumb. How often to you hit a green from the woods? How often do you hit a tree branch and have to play from there again? Pitch out and hit 80s.
 
I'm at about the same point as you, around 92-4 is an average round for me, I've dipped into the 80s a few times in the last month. The thing that would dramatically lower my score is putting. If i could turn my 3 putts into 2 putts and my 2 putts into 1 putts (both of which aren't hard when you look at the putts I miss) I would be 10 per round better player at least
 
khaos288 said:
There are so many factors. Once you're in the 80s, you're playing pretty solid golf.

Minimize penalties. 1 per round happens to every one, but none really helps you score. More than that and you're in the 90s.

3 putts are score killers. No matter if you hit the GIR or not, 3 putts pile up strokes. If you have 3 or more, you're in the 90s.

Double chips are the most avoidable. The main goal of chipping is that your next stroke is a putt. Chili dips, and mega thins can be ironed out with a legitimate chipping strategy. Too many 90s golfers just walk up without any real strategy.

Hero shots are dumb. How often to you hit a green from the woods? How often do you hit a tree branch and have to play from there again? Pitch out and hit 80s.
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What do you mean by "legitimate chipping strategy "? Because that's an area I really struggle in.

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carolinaborn82 said:
What do you mean by "legitimate chipping strategy "? Because that's an area I really struggle in.

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When you walk up to a chip, 8 feet of fringe, 20 to the hole. What's your strategy?

For me. Sand wedge is my chipping club at any distance. I only change my swing length. Feet close together. Weight on left foot. Lots of lag. Hinge and hold. Nice and smooth.

Here's a good basic strategy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bL4geyqu-2Y

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khaos288 said:
When you walk up to a chip, 8 feet of fringe, 20 to the hole. What's your strategy?

For me. Sand wedge is my chipping club at any distance. I only change my swing length. Feet close together. Weight on left foot. Lots of lag. Hinge and hold. Nice and smooth.

Here's a good basic strategy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bL4geyqu-2Y

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I need that. Sad to say, but I have no such strategy. I'm never comfortable around the green so I have no plan. I'm betting that's why I'm not comfortable...no plan.

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carolinaborn82 said:
I need that. Sad to say, but I have no such strategy. I'm never comfortable around the green so I have no plan. I'm betting that's why I'm not comfortable...no plan.

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Yeah man. Get out to a practice green. Find a stroke you like. Hit 30 right off the green. 30 10 feet back. And 30 20 yards out. You'll be one putting in no time.

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khaos288 said:
Yeah man. Get out to a practice green. Find a stroke you like. Hit 30 right off the green. 30 10 feet back. And 30 20 yards out. You'll be one putting in no time.

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What loft is your sand wedge?

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carolinaborn82 said:
I need that. Sad to say, but I have no such strategy. I'm never comfortable around the green so I have no plan. I'm betting that's why I'm not comfortable...no plan.

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Around the fringe I use my hybrid a lot, I find it pretty effective
 
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