Trying to Break 100

[charley48]

Bingo! This is the case with me. I can spray my 3h as easily as my driver. My 4h is a bit safer than the 3h and as the clubs get shorter, they generally get a tiny bit safer. But I can certainly shank or top a short wedge shot a perfect lie into the water or weeds on occasions. I'd estimate poor decisions make up less than 5% of lost strokes.

I went back and looked at the last several rounds that were tracked and discovered that the penalties came from off the tee or from a good lie in the fairway or the short rough into what should be a safe target. Not saying I don't make poor decisions or at least in hindsight think about what an alternative choice could have been. But that simply doesn't happen very often.

I play the majority of holes for bogey anymore. Sometimes I get pars and the occasional birdie, but mostly I'm trying to keep every shot in play. If given an opportunity for a green in regulation, I pick a safe spot around the green as my target. If I'm too far out and the green is protected, It's unwise for me to go after the green with a hybrid. If the green is wide open and I'm hitting the hybrid well on a given day, that's a different story.

There are just too many instances where a simple layup fails... or a 3' putt... or a 10' lag putt or any number of possibilities. So that bogey I'd planned on becomes a double, triple or worse. When I do shoot in the mid 90's it's because there was better execution or less damaging levels of misses not because I was more conservative.

So it's all about improvement and knowing your capabilities. I don't play with others very often so maybe strategy is an issue with most, I don't know. But I know for a fact it has almost nothing to do with my scores.

Yup. The first hole I was an 8 iron out on my approach. A par 5. In the fairway with good lie. I needed to hit at least 120 yards to clear the water in front of the green. The 8 iron is my 140-150 club. A clean hit should have no problem clearing the water. It wasn't a clean hit. It was a little fat. It almost cleared it. It hit the bank on the back side of the pond and rolled backwards. The next hole a par 4, I'm another 8 iron out after a good drive. A better hit and I'm on the fringe with putter in hand. That is the life of a high handicapper. Some good shots. Some bad ones.

 

[Hamfist]

Yup. The first hole I was an 8 iron out on my approach. A par 5. In the fairway with good lie. I needed to hit at least 120 yards to clear the water in front of the green. The 8 iron is my 140-150 club. A clean hit should have no problem clearing the water. It wasn't a clean hit. It was a little fat. It almost cleared it. It hit the bank on the back side of the pond and rolled backwards. The next hole a par 4, I'm another 8 iron out after a good drive. A better hit and I'm on the fringe with putter in hand. That is the life of a high handicapper. Some good shots. Some bad ones.

And the sooner we accept it, the more pleasant golf becomes!

 

[charley48]

It looks like keeping the woods and hybrids on the bench is the play until I can figure them out a little better.

I'm in the same boat. I can't hit a fairway wood to save my life. Over the years I stopped golfing and picked it up 3 different times. This time I'm sticking with it. When I picked it back up the second time about 20 years ago the fairway woods were the strength of my game. I had a 3, 5, 7 and 9 wood in my bag. The 7 was my favorite. I felt more comfortable hitting it from 180 than a 9 iron from 120. Now, I only have hybrids. And they are inconsistent as hell.

 

[charley48]

And the sooner we accept it, the more pleasant golf becomes!

Actually, when I accepted that I will never be Arnold Palmer golf did become more enjoyable. I used to get so frustrated at bad shots. I'd be bashing myself throughout the course. I learned to go with the flow and enjoy it out there. I'm a high handicapper and I'm ok with it. Doesn't mean I won't keep trying to get better. It just not the end of the world if I don't.

 

[Hamfist]

Actually, when I accepted that I will never be Arnold Palmer golf did become more enjoyable. I used to get so frustrated at bad shots. I'd be bashing myself throughout the course. I learned to go with the flow and enjoy it out there. I'm a high handicapper and I'm ok with it. Doesn't mean I won't keep trying to get better. It just not the end of the world if I don't.

Yep. I can get irritated at bad shots, but, I don't get all hepped-up anymore.

 

[Frank559]

Hi everyone. New to the forums here — very happy to find an amazing golf community and hope to contribute to it.

I’m able to regularly break 100, though my usual score is in the high 90s, and sometimes will shoot over 100 maybe 25% of the time. Like many of you, consistency is my issue. And being able to execute the shot that I need to.

Here are my typical struggles:
- Hit a great drive off the tee? Then proceed to chunk the next shot with a 6-inch divot behind the ball…
- Drive went into the trees. I see an opening that I may have a chance to go for the greens or at least close to it. Whip out my 6i and my shot bounces off 2 other trees and lands maybe 10 feet in front of me…
- The dreaded 3 putt (or more). And a couple times a round I’ll have a 4 or 5 putt. Usually it goes like this: I get near the hole after the first putt. I’m feeling good staring at a fairly safe 4-foot putt but the hole is on a slope. I proceed to miss by half an inch and it rolls 10 feet past the hole in the opposite direction. And then it’s a 2 putt from there. So basically just went from a 2 putt to a 4 putt within 30 seconds.
- Ball in an awkward lie in a bunker, or the bunker is hard pan. My usual open face doesn’t work and I’m trying to square the face trying to pick the ball off the packed sand. Usually a thinned shot skidding across the green or it bounces off the lip of the bunker and winds up back in the sand.

In each of those situations I can execute well like 60% of the time so I am tempted to perhaps go for a higher degree of difficulty shot than I perhaps should. And I’ve also been burned by playing it conservative, trying to lay up, by hitting it fat. I feel like I don’t have any shot that I can truly trust 95% of the time… but those amazing shots we hit a few times a round keeps us coming back for more. Such is the life of a high handicapper!

 

[charley48]

Hi everyone. New to the forums here — very happy to find an amazing golf community and hope to contribute to it.

I’m able to regularly break 100, though my usual score is in the high 90s, and sometimes will shoot over 100 maybe 25% of the time. Like many of you, consistency is my issue. And being able to execute the shot that I need to.

Here are my typical struggles:
- Hit a great drive off the tee? Then proceed to chunk the next shot with a 6-inch divot behind the ball…
- Drive went into the trees. I see an opening that I may have a chance to go for the greens or at least close to it. Whip out my 6i and my shot bounces off 2 other trees and lands maybe 10 feet in front of me…
- The dreaded 3 putt (or more). And a couple times a round I’ll have a 4 or 5 putt. Usually it goes like this: I get near the hole after the first putt. I’m feeling good staring at a fairly safe 4-foot putt but the hole is on a slope. I proceed to miss by half an inch and it rolls 10 feet past the hole in the opposite direction. And then it’s a 2 putt from there. So basically just went from a 2 putt to a 4 putt within 30 seconds.
- Ball in an awkward lie in a bunker, or the bunker is hard pan. My usual open face doesn’t work and I’m trying to square the face trying to pick the ball off the packed sand. Usually a thinned shot skidding across the green or it bounces off the lip of the bunker and winds up back in the sand.

In each of those situations I can execute well like 60% of the time so I am tempted to perhaps go for a higher degree of difficulty shot than I perhaps should. And I’ve also been burned by playing it conservative, trying to lay up, by hitting it fat. I feel like I don’t have any shot that I can truly trust 95% of the time… but those amazing shots we hit a few times a round keeps us coming back for more. Such is the life of a high handicapper!

We appreciate the company. Obviously a trying to break 100 thread is one high handicapper can relate to. What you described is what we all go through. Last year I thought I was getting close to discussing my game in the trying to break 90 thread. Then the scores creeped back up. Again. Seems I go through this every so often. I have a stretch where's I'm playing better. The scores are dropping. Then back to upper 90's with an occasional 100.

The thing is, sometimes I feel like I'm hitting the ball as well as I did when the scores were dropping. But there is always something that causes it to go up. Some rounds I only have maybe one triple bogey but hardly any pars. Just bogeys and double bogeys. Other rounds I have more pars but more triples.

I always wondered if I have the discipline to try a strategy. Any club longer than the 7 is iffy. Some good. Some bad. The 7 and shorter are more consistent. So what if I hit nothing longer than a 7 after the drive off the tee? The driver is consistent enough to play that strategy for me. I easily hit more than half the fairways. Averaging in the 230-240 range. And I'm more comfortable chipping from 20-30 yards than I am 5-10 yards.

But if I'm a certain distance and give up a chance to hit the green, would I score better more times than not? Lets say I'm 165 yards out. That is 6 iron distance. But my 6 iron is so inconsistent. The 7 would get me to a comfortable chipping distance. But I likely throw away any chance at par because I don't one putt very often after a chip from that distance. But I would also likely avoid a double because I can easily shank the 6 iron it into a trouble spot. Its an interesting dilemma. One that I have thought about but haven't had the discipline to try.

 

[TheDoctor]

Single figure handicap here, but see my responses below.....

Hi everyone. New to the forums here — very happy to find an amazing golf community and hope to contribute to it.

I’m able to regularly break 100, though my usual score is in the high 90s, and sometimes will shoot over 100 maybe 25% of the time. Like many of you, consistency is my issue. And being able to execute the shot that I need to.

Here are my typical struggles:
- Hit a great drive off the tee? Then proceed to chunk the next shot with a 6-inch divot behind the ball… Yup, been there, done that more times than I would care to count
- Drive went into the trees. I see an opening that I may have a chance to go for the greens or at least close to it. Whip out my 6i and my shot bounces off 2 other trees and lands maybe 10 feet in front of me… See response to previous point
- The dreaded 3 putt (or more). And a couple times a round I’ll have a 4 or 5 putt. Usually it goes like this: I get near the hole after the first putt. I’m feeling good staring at a fairly safe 4-foot putt but the hole is on a slope. I proceed to miss by half an inch and it rolls 10 feet past the hole in the opposite direction. And then it’s a 2 putt from there. So basically just went from a 2 putt to a 4 putt within 30 seconds. I have 3 putted the 18th hole at my home course from around 10-12ft the last 2 rounds
- Ball in an awkward lie in a bunker, or the bunker is hard pan. My usual open face doesn’t work and I’m trying to square the face trying to pick the ball off the packed sand. Usually a thinned shot skidding across the green or it bounces off the lip of the bunker and winds up back in the sand. More often than not I will end up with the thinned shot when the club bounces

In each of those situations I can execute well like 60% of the time so I am tempted to perhaps go for a higher degree of difficulty shot than I perhaps should. And I’ve also been burned by playing it conservative, trying to lay up, by hitting it fat. I feel like I don’t have any shot that I can truly trust 95% of the time… but those amazing shots we hit a few times a round keeps us coming back for more. Such is the life of a high handicapper!

Welcome to THP and the wonderfully frustrating world of golf

 

[That post]

Ok this is a really long post but I hope it will help. Years ago it REALLY helped me. It’s not swing tips. It’s a course management philosophy. True Bogey Golf. Read on….

I’m not a single digit capper (yet). But in the last few months I’ve chipped (literally) away at it. Down to a 14.5. This philosophy can really help you get better and improve you scoring.

Don’t play for Par. Play for Bogey. On every hole. Length? Doesn’t matter. Play for BOGEY.

When I first started out it took me a year or more to adopt this philosophy. Once I did though, breaking 100 was a guarantee and breaking 90 eventually became possible. I’m now trying to break 80 consistently.

Here it is. Add one stroke to every hole. I can see some of your eyes rolling. But trust me. Just commit and try this for a 3-4 rounds. I have it broken down by hole type and then short game/putting.

Par 3s- (4 Holes)
You have 2 shots to get ANYWHERE on the green. Aim away from trouble and forget about the flag. Find the best spot to “miss”. Especially long Par 3s. Lay up. Where is the best place to chip from that keeps you away from trouble shots like having to chip over a bunker ect/short siding ect? Aim there and leave room for error.

Par 4s- (10 Holes)
You have 3 shots to get ANYWHERE on the green. Tee shot? What club is the best one to use? Depends on you. If it’s a hybrid, 5 wood, 5 iron? Fine. Use it on all tee shots. Don’t hit driver/3 wood unless you KNOW you will find the fairway. Forced carry off the tee? Just find dry land on the other side. Second shot? See Par 3s above. Forget about the green and lay up to that spot.

Par 5s- (4 Holes)
Tee shot? Same as Par 4s above. 2nd shot? This shot can make or break your score on a Par 5. Find what long/longer club you hit best off the deck and use it. Distance doesn’t matter. Find the best angle to be at to prep for the 3rd shot. Aim for that and leave room for error. 3rd shot? See Par 3s above. Forget about the green and lay up to that spot.

Short Game
Assuming you handled the strategy above. And even if you didn’t (had a miss hit ect). When you get here try this:
Chip/Pitch for a 2 putt. What do I mean? Get the ball ANYWHERE on the green. Closer is better of course but don’t take a risk to get there. If you can putt it from off the green then do that. Wack it up there. Use a 7 iron and use a putting stroke. Use whatever club you have that you KNOW will get you safely on the green somewhere.

Putting
Now if you follow this strategy, then you now have a Par Putt. Doesn’t matter how long it is really. You are somewhere on the green in regulation Par. This is the key to True Bogey Golf. So then focus on getting in the hole in 2 putts. If it’s outside of 15ft don’t overly try to make it. Pretend the hole is 3ft wide. It’s a manhole. Get inside that and you are golden.

Now after you do all this for a year and start to become almost bored with making bogey and shooting in the 90s every round you can take what you have learned and work to the next level. Breaking 90. In my opinion if new golfers try to break 90 before they can effortlessly break 100 each round they will struggle (like I did) getting to the 80s. And the great thing about this philosophy is if down the road (when you are in the 80s consistently) and you are having a bad round to start the day you can fall back on this until you find your groove.

Playing this way takes a tremendous amount of pressure off of a player. You will find that you are playing within yourself and avoiding triples/penalty shots ect. And those are what keeps you out of the 90s and makes you force other shots to try and “make it up” somewhere else.

Hope that helps somebody out there. Try it for a while. And while yes, it may seem conservative ect. You will find yourself shooting lower scores. And ultimately that is the goal in golf.

I really like this strategy. It sounds a lot like the YouTube guy ‘Sidekick Golf’ approach to zen golf. His videos can be somewhat cheesy but I’ve enjoyed them.

 

[Frank559]

We appreciate the company. Obviously a trying to break 100 thread is one high handicapper can relate to. What you described is what we all go through. Last year I thought I was getting close to discussing my game in the trying to break 90 thread. Then the scores creeped back up. Again. Seems I go through this every so often. I have a stretch where's I'm playing better. The scores are dropping. Then back to upper 90's with an occasional 100.

The thing is, sometimes I feel like I'm hitting the ball as well as I did when the scores were dropping. But there is always something that causes it to go up. Some rounds I only have maybe one triple bogey but hardly any pars. Just bogeys and double bogeys. Other rounds I have more pars but more triples.

I always wondered if I have the discipline to try a strategy. Any club longer than the 7 is iffy. Some good. Some bad. The 7 and shorter are more consistent. So what if I hit nothing longer than a 7 after the drive off the tee? The driver is consistent enough to play that strategy for me. I easily hit more than half the fairways. Averaging in the 230-240 range. And I'm more comfortable chipping from 20-30 yards than I am 5-10 yards.

But if I'm a certain distance and give up a chance to hit the green, would I score better more times than not? Lets say I'm 165 yards out. That is 6 iron distance. But my 6 iron is so inconsistent. The 7 would get me to a comfortable chipping distance. But I likely throw away any chance at par because I don't one putt very often after a chip from that distance. But I would also likely avoid a double because I can easily shank the 6 iron it into a trouble spot. Its an interesting dilemma. One that I have thought about but haven't had the discipline to try.

Thanks and I think you hit the nail on the head. I’m also more consistent with the 7i and shorter clubs, and I think if I tried to just hit driver and then 7i and in all the time — on average the score is probably going to be lower.

But mentally I’m not sure I can do that with discipline. Bc I know I can stripe a 5i and hybrid/woods half the time or more it’s so tempting to just go for it. If I can never hit a hybrid then I think I’d be more agreeable to just abandon that ship, but the times we hit it well are always in the back of our heads . But that strategy is definitely worth a try over several rounds.

 

[Jason89er]

I really like this strategy. It sounds a lot like the YouTube guy ‘Sidekick Golf’ approach to zen golf. His videos can be somewhat cheesy but I’ve enjoyed them.

I haven’t watched those but sounds like something Id like!

 

[Hamfist]

Hi everyone. New to the forums here — very happy to find an amazing golf community and hope to contribute to it.

I’m able to regularly break 100, though my usual score is in the high 90s, and sometimes will shoot over 100 maybe 25% of the time. Like many of you, consistency is my issue. And being able to execute the shot that I need to.

Here are my typical struggles:
- Hit a great drive off the tee? Then proceed to chunk the next shot with a 6-inch divot behind the ball…
- Drive went into the trees. I see an opening that I may have a chance to go for the greens or at least close to it. Whip out my 6i and my shot bounces off 2 other trees and lands maybe 10 feet in front of me…
- The dreaded 3 putt (or more). And a couple times a round I’ll have a 4 or 5 putt. Usually it goes like this: I get near the hole after the first putt. I’m feeling good staring at a fairly safe 4-foot putt but the hole is on a slope. I proceed to miss by half an inch and it rolls 10 feet past the hole in the opposite direction. And then it’s a 2 putt from there. So basically just went from a 2 putt to a 4 putt within 30 seconds.
- Ball in an awkward lie in a bunker, or the bunker is hard pan. My usual open face doesn’t work and I’m trying to square the face trying to pick the ball off the packed sand. Usually a thinned shot skidding across the green or it bounces off the lip of the bunker and winds up back in the sand.

In each of those situations I can execute well like 60% of the time so I am tempted to perhaps go for a higher degree of difficulty shot than I perhaps should. And I’ve also been burned by playing it conservative, trying to lay up, by hitting it fat. I feel like I don’t have any shot that I can truly trust 95% of the time… but those amazing shots we hit a few times a round keeps us coming back for more. Such is the life of a high handicapper!

 

[LLIB]

I posted this in another thread but thought it fit here also since I've hung around 100 most of the year. I'm hoping that now that I know the clubs are a good fit I can trust my swing more and finally play some good golf.

Went for a fitting yesterday. I wasn't looking to change anything if I didn't need to, just more or less looking for conformation that my self fit was good. Lucky for me it was. We dialed in driver pretty quick. Just a couple of hosel adjustments and was good. My swing speed and distance is down because I was focusing on swing and contact. I’ve learned from past fittings that just bashing ball after ball as hard as you can doesn’t lead to very good results. I've been working on some tips @KY Golfer gave me and I've went from hitting a fade/slice to a draw/hook.

I've never been able to hit a draw so I'm having a hard time trusting it. My fitter noticed that too. He's the first fitter that has ever discussed club length with me and took some measurements. I had adjusted my club lengths to -1/2" and he said that's what he would've expected to fit me to. He liked the shafts and shaft weight I'm playing. He had me hit some and watched the ball flight and TrackMan. Sure enough, weak pull hooks off the toe. He checked my lie angles. 7i was 63.5. I normally play 61. He adjusted it to 61.5 and all of a sudden I’m hitting nice tight draws off the center of the face. He went ahead and adjusted the rest of my clubs. I think the results speak for themselves. I won’t be able to play for a couple weeks but I’m excited to see if this translates to the course.

Before adjustment
View attachment 9016362
After adjustment
View attachment 9016365

 

[Jason89er]

Thanks and I think you hit the nail on the head. I’m also more consistent with the 7i and shorter clubs, and I think if I tried to just hit driver and then 7i and in all the time — on average the score is probably going to be lower.

But mentally I’m not sure I can do that with discipline. Bc I know I can stripe a 5i and hybrid/woods half the time or more it’s so tempting to just go for it. If I can never hit a hybrid then I think I’d be more agreeable to just abandon that ship, but the times we hit it well are always in the back of our heads . But that strategy is definitely worth a try over several rounds.

I’ll say this. The name of this thread is about breaking 100. And ultimately about shooting a lower score. If that’s your golf goal then playing “smart” is the way to go. I play the percentages. Is it fun to “go for it”? Hell yes. Of course it is. But generally speaking it’s a low percentage play. And it’s definitely not a path to consistent lower scores. For me what’s fun is shooting a lower score. So as much as True Bogey Golf is a course strategy, it’s also a playing mentality. For me now it’s True Par Golf. I’m not trying make birdies. I’m trying to make Pars. And on tough holes I apply the TBG strategy. Again to eliminate a big number. I haven’t had a triple in months. And I get a birdie here and there. Usually because I’m a good putter. Not because I played a low percentage shot and pulled it off.

 

[ULEWZ]

Played 9 holes this morning before the heat set in and hit a par on every single par 3 hole, but I screwed up the three par 4 holes with 2 bogies and 1 double bogie. My bump and run got me to within 4 feet of the pin like 5 times, so that was good. My irons were perfect, but my pitching was bad. Chunked every one. Three good pitches and I get even par. Oh well, figured out what I was doing wrong, so that is a plus. Note to self, turn hips.

 

[[snow]]

47 through 9 today.
Blew up the 2nd with an "other" (9) via some military golf on approach shots 3/5. Aligned wrong, hit straight into penalty area. Rehit from same spot, aligned for the pin on the left side of green, got the draw and OB it went
Otherwise quite content with how my day went. Putting is a work in progress, but progress is being made. Had 3 long range efforts on wet greens today that i definitely need to stop closer to the hole. Also sank a few that weren't kick-ins, however

Gave Driver another chance. 1 well struck on 2, 2 "meh" but not catastrophic on 4 and 5.
Even on the good shot, i only just snuck it to the corner of our par 5 second.

Driver is fun, but i don't think it's worth it for me at the moment. Even the 1 in 10 miracle shot can't safely get me around that bend.
For the other 9 in 10, i'm better off with the 5w or 4i. Hey ho, back to the caddie box it goes.
I find my irons and woods much easier to hit, and make more noticeable improvements using them.

Probably got to book a lesson for driver eventually

Actually, why not add a budget recap of the whole round. No fancy GPS watch for me... yet. 3putt on 7 was really silly, basically missed a tap-in
Yellows on 6 and 8 were set on the far side of the red/blue tees today

 

[wadesworld]

We appreciate the company. Obviously a trying to break 100 thread is one high handicapper can relate to. What you described is what we all go through. Last year I thought I was getting close to discussing my game in the trying to break 90 thread. Then the scores creeped back up. Again. Seems I go through this every so often. I have a stretch where's I'm playing better. The scores are dropping. Then back to upper 90's with an occasional 100.

The thing is, sometimes I feel like I'm hitting the ball as well as I did when the scores were dropping. But there is always something that causes it to go up. Some rounds I only have maybe one triple bogey but hardly any pars. Just bogeys and double bogeys. Other rounds I have more pars but more triples.

I always wondered if I have the discipline to try a strategy. Any club longer than the 7 is iffy. Some good. Some bad. The 7 and shorter are more consistent. So what if I hit nothing longer than a 7 after the drive off the tee? The driver is consistent enough to play that strategy for me. I easily hit more than half the fairways. Averaging in the 230-240 range. And I'm more comfortable chipping from 20-30 yards than I am 5-10 yards.

But if I'm a certain distance and give up a chance to hit the green, would I score better more times than not? Lets say I'm 165 yards out. That is 6 iron distance. But my 6 iron is so inconsistent. The 7 would get me to a comfortable chipping distance. But I likely throw away any chance at par because I don't one putt very often after a chip from that distance. But I would also likely avoid a double because I can easily shank the 6 iron it into a trouble spot. Its an interesting dilemma. One that I have thought about but haven't had the discipline to try.

I think learning the discipline is a big part of learning to score lower and it's something I'm going to start concentrating on.

Everyone thinks they'll score lower when they build more consistency, can split the fairway and can fire their approach shots in tight to the pin. There's certainly truth to that. However, I'm starting to realize I leave shots on the table because I don't have scoring discipline.

Take this hole for example. It's a long, uphill straight par 4 that I play pretty often. It's usually a 6-iron or more for me into this green.



The green slopes diagonally from back right to front left and it is very elevated. Let's say the pin is back right. If you miss the green short you've got a tough sand shot with the green way above you. Taking two shots to get out is not out of the question, or you could end up where a two-putt is not a given or even chipping. If you miss long or right, you've got a tough pitch to a highly-elevated green which is running away from you. Getting it on and making sure you two-putt will take three well-executed short-game shots.

My typical approach has been to rip one at the green, whatever I've left myself. It could be a 6-iron or a 5-wood if I've hit a poor tee shot. I mean, it's a par 4, I have to get it on the green, right? Well, what if I didn't? If I've hit a poor tee shot and I've got a 4-iron in, or if I'm in deep rough or I'm just not hitting the ball very well, what if I just hit something out to the front left, chip on and 2-putt with a chance of a 1-putt? Sure, I take away any realistic chance of a birdie, and I also lower the chance of a par, but without a great tee shot, it's definitely not a birdie hole and probably not a par hole. I think too often I end up going for it by default. Reality is hitting a long iron into this green, the chances are pretty massive I'm going to put myself in tough position and a double or worse will result unless I hit some very high skill-level short-game shots. Perhaps sometimes I should realize this is not a scoring hole and do everything I can to ensure that bogey is the worst possibility.

It's like when people say "I enjoy trying the hero shot. It's fun when they succeed." Yeah, great. But if your hero shot succeeds 1 time in 4 and the other 3 times you made double or worse, you gave up a lot of shots because the hero shot was "fun."

The same thing goes for par 3's. I try to be smart. Pin on the left, I'm typically going to aim at the center of the green and hope I can hit a little draw that works over to the pin. But what if I aim at the right-center of the green and play for a little draw that will take me to the center of the green? Yeah, I may be taking birdie off the table. But I may be increasing my odds of par and reducing the chance of a shot that leaves me in poor position and has me making a dreaded double or triple on a par 3 for Pete's sake. Occasionally I'm going to start the ball left of where I wanted or draw it more than I intended and end up with a birdie opportunity through good fortune.

And yes, I get that you can hit the ball front-left of a green and then duff your chip and still three putt. But it's a whole lot easier to learn how to hit a passable chip than it is to learn to fire a 4-iron from 190 and hit a 20-yard diameter safe spot. So get short game instruction and practice your short game so you can utilize this strategy.

I'm going to incorporate this in my game - learning when the risk is simply too high and taking the percentage play. Yeah, we all lay up when it's 260 to carry the water, but for myself, I think I can probably knock some shots off my score by saying "too much red light - let's make sure bogey is my worst outcome" even on seemingly easy and straightforward holes. Yeah, when you've got an 8-iron or less in and the pin is in the center, go for it. But think about how many times double or triple may have resulted when it didn't have to.

 

[Hamfist]

I posted this in another thread but thought it fit here also since I've hung around 100 most of the year. I'm hoping that now that I know the clubs are a good fit I can trust my swing more and finally play some good golf.

Went for a fitting yesterday. I wasn't looking to change anything if I didn't need to, just more or less looking for conformation that my self fit was good. Lucky for me it was. We dialed in driver pretty quick. Just a couple of hosel adjustments and was good. My swing speed and distance is down because I was focusing on swing and contact. I’ve learned from past fittings that just bashing ball after ball as hard as you can doesn’t lead to very good results. I've been working on some tips @KY Golfer gave me and I've went from hitting a fade/slice to a draw/hook.

I've never been able to hit a draw so I'm having a hard time trusting it. My fitter noticed that too. He's the first fitter that has ever discussed club length with me and took some measurements. I had adjusted my club lengths to -1/2" and he said that's what he would've expected to fit me to. He liked the shafts and shaft weight I'm playing. He had me hit some and watched the ball flight and TrackMan. Sure enough, weak pull hooks off the toe. He checked my lie angles. 7i was 63.5. I normally play 61. He adjusted it to 61.5 and all of a sudden I’m hitting nice tight draws off the center of the face. He went ahead and adjusted the rest of my clubs. I think the results speak for themselves. I won’t be able to play for a couple weeks but I’m excited to see if this translates to the course.

Before adjustment
View attachment 9016362
After adjustment
View attachment 9016365

Nice! I used to fade everything, had my lie moved more upright, and boom, slice is now a nice straight flight or a draw.

 

[Hamfist]

I’ll say this. The name of this thread is about breaking 100. And ultimately about shooting a lower score. If that’s your golf goal then playing “smart” is the way to go. I play the percentages. Is it fun to “go for it”? Hell yes. Of course it is. But generally speaking it’s a low percentage play. And it’s definitely not a path to consistent lower scores. For me what’s fun is shooting a lower score. So as much as True Bogey Golf is a course strategy, it’s also a playing mentality. For me now it’s True Par Golf. I’m not trying make birdies. I’m trying to make Pars. And on tough holes I apply the TBG strategy. Again to eliminate a big number. I haven’t had a triple in months. And I get a birdie here and there. Usually because I’m a good putter. Not because I played a low percentage shot and pulled it off.

This is the thing that jumped out to me. If I eliminate the triples, and double, I'm gold.

 

[Hamfist]

I think learning the discipline is a big part of learning to score lower and it's something I'm going to start concentrating on.

Everyone thinks they'll score lower when they build more consistency, can split the fairway and can fire their approach shots in tight to the pin. There's certainly truth to that. However, I'm starting to realize I leave shots on the table because I don't have scoring discipline.

Take this hole for example. It's a long, uphill straight par 4 that I play pretty often. It's usually a 6-iron or more for me into this green.

View attachment 9016428

The green slopes diagonally from back right to front left and it is very elevated. Let's say the pin is back right. If you miss the green short you've got a tough sand shot with the green way above you. Taking two shots to get out is not out of the question, or you could end up where a two-putt is not a given or even chipping. If you miss long or right, you've got a tough pitch to a highly-elevated green which is running away from you. Getting it on and making sure you two-putt will take three well-executed short-game shots.

My typical approach has been to rip one at the green, whatever I've left myself. It could be a 6-iron or a 5-wood if I've hit a poor tee shot. I mean, it's a par 4, I have to get it on the green, right? Well, what if I didn't? If I've hit a poor tee shot and I've got a 4-iron in, or if I'm in deep rough or I'm just not hitting the ball very well, what if I just hit something out to the front left, chip on and 2-putt with a chance of a 1-putt? Sure, I take away any realistic chance of a birdie, and I also lower the chance of a par, but without a great tee shot, it's definitely not a birdie hole and probably not a par hole. I think too often I end up going for it by default. Reality is hitting a long iron into this green, the chances are pretty massive I'm going to put myself in tough position and a double or worse will result unless I hit some very high skill-level short-game shots. Perhaps sometimes I should realize this is not a scoring hole and do everything I can to ensure that bogey is the worst possibility.

It's like when people say "I enjoy trying the hero shot. It's fun when they succeed." Yeah, great. But if your hero shot succeeds 1 time in 4 and the other 3 times you made double or worse, you gave up a lot of shots because the hero shot was "fun."

The same thing goes for par 3's. I try to be smart. Pin on the left, I'm typically going to aim at the center of the green and hope I can hit a little draw that works over to the pin. But what if I aim at the right-center of the green and play for a little draw that will take me to the center of the green? Yeah, I may be taking birdie off the table. But I may be increasing my odds of par and reducing the chance of a shot that leaves me in poor position and has me making a dreaded double or triple on a par 3 for Pete's sake. Occasionally I'm going to start the ball left of where I wanted or draw it more than I intended and end up with a birdie opportunity through good fortune.

And yes, I get that you can hit the ball front-left of a green and then duff your chip and still three putt. But it's a whole lot easier to learn how to hit a passable chip than it is to learn to fire a 4-iron from 190 and hit a 20-yard diameter safe spot. So get short game instruction and practice your short game so you can utilize this strategy.

I'm going to incorporate this in my game - learning when the risk is simply too high and taking the percentage play. Yeah, we all lay up when it's 260 to carry the water, but for myself, I think I can probably knock some shots off my score by saying "too much red light - let's make sure bogey is my worst outcome" even on seemingly easy and straightforward holes. Yeah, when you've got an 8-iron or less in and the pin is in the center, go for it. But think about how many times double or triple may have resulted when it didn't have to.

As I read somewhere, it's much more important to not give strokes away, than it is to get them.

 

[LLIB]

Nice! I used to fade everything, had my lie moved more upright, and boom, slice is now a nice straight flight or a draw.

I'm hard to fit. Usually the complete opposite of conventional wisdom is what works best for me. The dude definitely earned his $.

 

[TheDoctor]

This is the thing that jumped out to me. If I eliminate the triples, and double, I'm gold.

And as your handicap gets lower, you first try to keep doubles off the card, and once you get below an 18 handicap, the aim then changes to try and eliminate a bogey for each stroke under the 18 handicap

From experience, my first aim is to completely eliminate the double as that is a bad hole for me, and I try to limit the bogeys to no more than 5 per side if possible (current playing handicap is 9 at my home course)

 

[BigMac]

Yup. The first hole I was an 8 iron out on my approach. A par 5. In the fairway with good lie. I needed to hit at least 120 yards to clear the water in front of the green. The 8 iron is my 140-150 club. A clean hit should have no problem clearing the water. It wasn't a clean hit. It was a little fat. It almost cleared it. It hit the bank on the back side of the pond and rolled backwards. The next hole a par 4, I'm another 8 iron out after a good drive. A better hit and I'm on the fringe with putter in hand. That is the life of a high handicapper. Some good shots. Some bad ones.

I've got news for you - that is the life of a mid-handicapper too! My handicap currently hovers around 13-14 (with an all-time low of 11.8 earlier this year), I regularly shoot in the 80s and have broken 80 on my home course a handful of times this year, and I still hit some real craptastic shots and usually have at least a couple double bogeys every round. I'm also perfectly capable of stinking up the course - I shot a 90 yesterday, a 99 a couple weeks ago at a tough course I'd never played before, and I have my share of rounds up in the 90s this year.

A year ago today my handicap was 18.4, and I'd attribute most of the the drop over the past year to two things: 1) Keeping the ball in play more often, even if that means taking a more conservative approach, and 2) Wasting less strokes from 100 yards in, especially around the green.

For the former, that means laying up if I have doubts about being able to pull off a carry, trying to miss to the safest place when there's trouble in the way of my next shot, and accepting that bogey is better than double or triple bogey, especially on holes that don't play to my strengths. Taking on that carry over water, a waste area, etc. can be costly - if I don't pull it off on a second shot, I'm lying 4 and hitting 5 on my next stroke, with the same trouble facing me again....if I'd taken the safe shot and laid up or bailed out to safety, I'd be lying 3 and hitting 4, with the trouble being less dangerous (or non-existent) and a chance at getting on/close to the green.

For the latter, it means getting that pitch/chip somewhere, anywhere on the green rather than trying to be cute and hitting a low percentage shot to hunt for pins. Hit the simplest shot you can hit for the situation, the one that's most likely to have a putter in your hand for the next stroke - wasting two or three (or more!) strokes around the green because you skulled it clear into the far rough or chili-dipped it and left it 4 inches in front of you in the same lie are score killers. There's no reason to fly a high shot in and try to stop it next to the pin when there's no trouble in front of you and you could have used a simple bump and run; there's no reason to attempt a flop shot from the rough (if you're not really good at flop shots) when a simple, basic toe-down chip would get it on the green and have you putting. Don't try to emulate what the pros do - there's a reason they're pros and we're weekend hacks. Our games don't need to be full of highlight reel shots, especially when they're shots we can only pull off 10% of the time. It's fun when they work, but it sucks when they don't and you have to write that big number on your scorecard. You can easily be a consistent 90s/high 80s shooter playing "ugly golf".

As I read somewhere, it's much more important to not give strokes away, than it is to get them.

That's very true, especially for a mid/high handicapper. For the low caps/pros, it's all about birdies and eagles because they have the skills and consistency to do it and don't often hit the true stinkers that we do - and on the rare occasion that they hit the stinker, they're usually good enough to recover from it and minimize the damage. For us mere mortals who don't have under par rounds in our sights, it's all about managing our misses and not blowing up the scorecard, because we don't have the capability to go shoot a bunch of birdies to make up for them. You don't need birdies and eagles to break 100 (or even 90) - what you need is to not have a scorecard full of doubles and triples!

Be realistic about your game and play accordingly. If you're not a good ballstriker, aim where you have the most room to miss; if you get in trouble, get your ball back in the clear and on short grass with the easiest, lowest stress shot possible, even if it means hitting backwards. Understand when it makes more sense to take a drop for an unplayable lie rather than wasting 3 or 4 shots hacking out of a bad spot - sometimes that drop will save you strokes rather than cost you! Play to your strengths and work around your weaknesses, even as you work to improve them.

On the other hand, if your enjoyment in golf is hitting those highlight reel "hero" shots, hunting pins and going for broke, then by all means go with it and have fun with it! Some people enjoy playing that way and don't care about the scores that come with it, and that's fine too.

 

[Dartgod]

I had a fantastic night at league last night. My previous best nine holes on this course was 51. Last night I came in with a 44! I was off to a slow start with a couple of doubles but then got in a groove and finished with four pars on the final seven holes. Putting was exceptional with only 11 putts (technically 12, but one was from the short stuff just off the green). I left myself with a 35 footer on the final hole and drained it for a par.

I've been much better with GIR lately. I average less than 1 GIR per 18 hole round, but my last 3 rounds have been 4 (18 holes), 5 (18 holes) and 3 (9 holes). This game is a lot easier when I'm not duffing chip shots just off the green

 

[charley48]

Weather's nicer today. Around 100. That is still hot but nothing like the weekend. My wife and daughter decided to have some mother daughter bonding. They spend last night at the casino. So I woke up early this morning decided to hit the course. I didn't have a tee time but they let me play with a group of 3.

Today's round shows how crazy this game is. Last week's 94 was the best round of the year for me. Today I shot a 95 but I feel like I played better than last week's 94. I hit a lot more good shots today. The driver was off early in the round but settled in nicely on the back nine.

The low handicapper I played with thought I shot better than 95. He said I had a lot of good hits today. He couldn't figure out why I didn't break 90 the way I played. Its not one consistent problem with my game. Today, I had too many putts. I had a lot of par putts, but almost all of them were not reasonable one putt range. I didn't miss any 4 footers. The 3 putts were bad lags on the first putt.