Trying To Break 90 Club

Through the 1st three rounds of 2012 and firmly entrenched back in the Break 90 club. 93-94-93. The greens are in horrible shape and I could not be a worse putter. Driving the ball has been solid, 9 or 10 out of 13 tee shots have been in the short grass. My focus there has been to focus on swinging to right field, getting the face square at impact and releasing into the followthru. After knocking the snot out of one on #11, it took off like a rocket and split the fairway with a little draw. The next 3 holes I proceeded to overswing into more of a hook, that stayed in play at least. #16 is a short downhill right to left hole with sets of bunkers to roll into if you hit anything straight over about 180 yards. The week before I flew into the middle one and sunk the ball 3 inches deep into the mud/sand. This week I tried to go about 80% and drew a really nice 200 yard carry that rolled all the way down to sign directing carts to the side of the green.

It was easily my most succesful day off the tee on Par 3 holes ever. Hit 4 out of 5 greens. The 5th was pin high a couple yards left of the green on #6. Between figuring out the distances of the Burner irons I got last year and working on a proper wrist set & full shoulder turn I couldn't have been happier with all 5 shots. Actually backed up a Penta TP about 8 feet on the 135 yard #14 with a 9 iron. The scoring on the Par 3's left a lot to be desired. Four 3-putt 4's & and chunked flop shot led to a 5...

Two weeks ago it was 42-52, last week 45-48. Hopefully the greens continue to improve and I somehow remember how to lag putt. The course has new ownership and they seem commited to getting the course in top shape. Now only if I could say the same about my game...
 
Congratulations to the posters who just recently broke the 90 barrier. I've shot 90 before, once, but I'm stuck in the high 90s right now.

I'm throwing away shots in putting and chipping mostly. But I've got to be mentally stronger as well because when I get myself in trouble, I stay there rather than recovering. So my scores can be Par, Par, Bogey, Quad, Triple.... One bad shot leads to another bad shot, leads to a bad hole, leads to another bad hole. I will break 90 before the end of this year though.

Just remember, once you break 90, it becomes easier to do it again.
 
Congratulations to the posters who just recently broke the 90 barrier. I've shot 90 before, once, but I'm stuck in the high 90s right now.

I'm throwing away shots in putting and chipping mostly. But I've got to be mentally stronger as well because when I get myself in trouble, I stay there rather than recovering. So my scores can be Par, Par, Bogey, Quad, Triple.... One bad shot leads to another bad shot, leads to a bad hole, leads to another bad hole. I will break 90 before the end of this year though.

Having a tidy short game was the hardest barrier to break for me. What did it for me was to apply conservative course management all the way down to easy chips. Short game can be crazy mental. I remember widening my target from hole to 6 feet around the hole with chips and little pitches. Once I started hitting that 6 foot radius with extreme regularity I became more and more confident.
 
91 93 in Palm Springs at courses I had never set foot on before (Eagle Falls and Indian Wells Celebrity) hit 9/14 and 12/14 fairways and respectively but just didn't put any irons really close (I think it was 2 greens in regulation both days...) About -0.75 each day in Putts Gained so that didn't hurt me too bad either... Need to stick some irons closer and part of this is swinging more freely rather than trying to control things... Feel like I'm closing in... and it should be easier to break 90 on a Par 70 layout like Stanford, or an easier course like Palo Alto Muni so while the driver is working I need to take advantage.
I'm definitely part of this club... Shot 89 twice about 10 years ago on a pretty easy layout in the Chicago Area (Countryside up north) and want to get back to better golf now.
Good luck to all the other club members!
 
Just remember, once you break 90, it becomes easier to do it again.

Having a tidy short game was the hardest barrier to break for me. What did it for me was to apply conservative course management all the way down to easy chips. Short game can be crazy mental. I remember widening my target from hole to 6 feet around the hole with chips and little pitches. Once I started hitting that 6 foot radius with extreme regularity I became more and more confident.

Thanks for the tips and encouragement, I appreciate it. I've taken to visualizing playing my favorite local course at night when I can't sleep. Sort of a compilation of my best holes over time. Turns out I'm capable of shooting an 81! I know because I've done it before, just never on the same day.

I'll keep the tips in mind and work on my short game especially. I'll follow this thread as I expect I'll be posting an "I DID IT" message sometime this Spring.
 
For me what took breaking 90 was just playing A LOT!!! I got much better by actually being on the course and not just beating balls on the range. It's all about the short game to shooting lower than 90 consistently. Since how often do you practice chip shots on the range? Also another thing that really helped was not trying to over power the ball. Once I focused on making the 3/4 swing back and a full swing through, my ball striking greatly improved. Now I am knocking on the 80 door consistantly. Hopefully soon the velvet ropes will part so I can be allowed in the 70's club. :p
 
Havent been under 90 yet this year after doing it quite a bit in the summer, to where I was in the breaking 85 thread, didnt even sniff it in Vegas, and thus far Ive hit 90 twice and had a bunch of 9 hole scores around 47...better get it together, GHIN season starts Sunday
 
I have never broken 90, but this is the year that I do it. The area that needs the most improvement are my second shots. I'm decent of the tee and usually good around the greens, but I panic over that second shot. My last three rounds were 98, 107, and 97.
 
For me what took breaking 90 was just playing A LOT!!! I got much better by actually being on the course and not just beating balls on the range. It's all about the short game to shooting lower than 90 consistently. Since how often do you practice chip shots on the range? Also another thing that really helped was not trying to over power the ball. Once I focused on making the 3/4 swing back and a full swing through, my ball striking greatly improved. Now I am knocking on the 80 door consistantly. Hopefully soon the velvet ropes will part so I can be allowed in the 70's club. :p

not overpowering the ball keeps me in the low 90s. When i take smooth swings i make better contact. i will give up distance for accuracy anyday.
i am hoping to break 90 again this year sinceast year the one time i hit 85 i wasnt even paying attention, just enjoying the day with a friend.
 
What a frustrating round of golf i had today. The good news is that I finished Par, Bogey, Bogey, Par, Bogey. The bad news is that Ten of the thirteen other holes were double bogey or worse! I even took a two stroke penalty for hitting a playing partner's ball. That lame move probably just proved my head wasn't in the round today.

Looking on the bright side, there were decades that I would have considered a 99, which I shot today, a successful round. Now it just bums me out, because I know I threw away 8 shots easy on stupid moves and working on my putting will save another 3-4 for sure, so I'm strategizing on how to reduce all the wasted shots and get on track to regularly shoot in the 80s.
 
Finally shot sub 90 after three rounds of 90 yesterday. First time this year.
 
Finally shot sub 90 after three rounds of 90 yesterday. First time this year.

That's great Smalls! Glad to hear you've reached the 80s so soon in the season.
 
That's great Smalls! Glad to hear you've reached the 80s so soon in the season.
Thanks! I've been playing all winter, but doing a lot of experimenting. Seems like every round I was doing something else. It's started to come together the last couple of weeks. The three 90s and the 88 were in the last 5 or 6 rounds.
 
Just remember, once you break 90, it becomes easier to do it again.

Fact.

Did it once, it's happened dozens of times since then. Now I don't even think much of it to shoot mid 80s.
 
Finally shot sub 90 after three rounds of 90 yesterday. First time this year.

Great job Smalls! Leave them in ruins at TMC even if you're on the wrong squad :D
 
Lots of people reaching their goals, good to see. Keep practicing and we'll on be in trying to break 80 club.

I'm going to join this group for my home course. I play there 3-4 times/month for the last 3 years and have never broke 90 from the blue tees (which is the tees we usually play). I don't know why it always has my number. Last year my goal was to break 90 there 5 times. Shot 90 a few times. But this year I going to break 90 5 times.
 
I was a longtime member of this club and I wish everyone the best of luck. I remember when I got close to breaking 90 it seemed the world was out to get me and keep me from getting there. I had many heartbreaks but my most spectacular was one summer about 4 years ago, I was on fire through the front nine. It was a nice day and everything was working. I was clicking so well, that I never once thought about my score...I was in the zone, making pars without breaking a sweat. I made the turn with a 2-over 38! By far my best at that time.

We stopped in the clubhouse to pick up some drinks and hot dogs, we were inside maybe 5 minutes. When we went back outside, the blackest, noisiest cloud you've ever seen blew up right over the clubhouse and Mother Nature herself took a big dump on the greatest round of my life! Lightning to beat the band. We waited two hours to get back out, but it became obvious it was not gonna stop that day. I had to go home absolutely demoralized. And this happened right in the middle of the worst drought year in Georgia history! So you can't convince me that there are no Golf Gods and that they don't have a twisted sense of humor.

As somebody else said in an earlier post, the key is the short game. Work on the chipping! You don't have to hit a bunch of greens to break 90. Get confident with your chipping and you'll wonder why you thought 90 was such a tough barrier.
 
I will relish the day I leave this club. Seem to always put a front or back nine thats on pace to break 90 only to see a couple blow up holes on the second 9 to derail the round. Good luck to all in this club.
 
Im in ive shot 90.. blew it with a 5 foot putt that came in and rolled out heartbreaking moment:at-wits-end:
 
I have gotten close but can not seem pull through. Plenty of good nines only to hit a rough patch and blow up. Man I want to shoot in the 80s consistently.
 
I broke 90 several times last year until I got hurt and had to take 2 months off and I don't think I ever saw it again. This year I broke it once and that was like the second or third round of the year. I am currently taking lessons trying to get back there and stay there, that is my goal for the year!!!!
 
I've broken 90 once in my life -- an 89 about 10 years ago. But this year I've got new clubs and a new attitude, and more importantly, a better swing (I'm finally able to relax my arms and swing more with my body). I'm going to break 90 this year -- and I'm going to do it more than once!
 
Okay, so after a few rounds (10+) I find myself keeping similar scores in the low 90's. 5-6 times I hit 93 and it doesn't matter if we play white or blue tees. I'm still pretty happy with those scores considering I was high 90's-100's on blues last year. I dipped in the 80's a few times this year already with pretty difficult courses so I'm very happy with that too. I think a lot of it it is from minimizing penalties and topping the ball. Also, I think that improved short game and putting has helped too. I'm able to get the ball within my 10ft goal around the green to give myself a chance for Par when I don't hit GIR. I've been able to increase my 1-putt stats when I'm within 10 ft. One time I had (8) or so 1-putt and total putts was only 28. I think that's my best so far.

Anyway, I look forward to the rest of the season and I hope to be in the high 80's by end of the season. For now, I'll hang out here. :)
 
Good grief... Its probably tough to break 90 with 40 putts? After a week off the greens were markedly improved last weekend at the home course... The rough was kind of high and I lost a couple balls that should have been found. Continue to miss 4, 5 & 6 foot putts. Ball striking was solid overall.

I did chunk one into a pond on a par 3 into the wind. Should have gone back to the cart for the 7i, but thought I'd try to rip the 8 and caught it fat...

The only decent putt I made all day came after two of the ugliest shots all year. I had a great drive on #9 then managed to slip or something on the approach hit it straight left towards the 18th green... Had a good lie between cart paths and chunked the chip back to the #9 green. Chipped on and made a downhill 12 footer... u-g-l-y
 
Good grief... Its probably tough to break 90 with 40 putts? After a week off the greens were markedly improved last weekend at the home course... The rough was kind of high and I lost a couple balls that should have been found. Continue to miss 4, 5 & 6 foot putts. Ball striking was solid overall.

I did chunk one into a pond on a par 3 into the wind. Should have gone back to the cart for the 7i, but thought I'd try to rip the 8 and caught it fat...

The only decent putt I made all day came after two of the ugliest shots all year. I had a great drive on #9 then managed to slip or something on the approach hit it straight left towards the 18th green... Had a good lie between cart paths and chunked the chip back to the #9 green. Chipped on and made a downhill 12 footer... u-g-l-y

Yeah 40 is a lot of putts, Im not having that many, but many of man I can not make a 4-6 footer to save my life
 
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