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Trying To Break 90 Club

Well still at it this year trying to break a 90. Worked really hard on my short game last week and can tell my putting and chipping really improved. Where I messed up this weekend was some bad shots that landed in some hazards. First was on this par 5 that my second shot landed in a stream ditch but was lucky enough to pitch it out, so that cost me a stroke. Then the darn next shot I hit into the water left of the hole UUUGGHHH. Ended up carding a 9 there. Then onto the next hole shor a nice 210 drive with the 3 wood on this par 4 dogleg right hole. Well when I got to my ball I noticed i was short of the bend and had a tree in my way. So I thought I am going to play it safe and hit a 50 yard shot up the fairway so I can have a great 3rd shot to the green. Well what do I do, freaking hit it thin into the woods left of the fairway in some crappy bushes. Ended up costing me 3 strokes trying to play out of it. Should have just dropped it for 2 strokes. But after that it costed me 9 on that hole to... So right now I am going to continue on the short game of practicing and work on my 7 and down irons so I can get more GIR's. Driver isn't working for me now but the 3 wood is so I think I will keep at it with it. Say If I can get 210-220 fairway everytime off the tee box, hey i'll take it, over a 220 slice from the darn driver.
 
44-45 to just slide in under the benchmark. A week after hitting 6 balls OB, 5 teeshots & a sliced 5 wood, only lost 1 driver tee shot & a hooked hybrid off the tee. Of course the week before I made 6 putts from 6 to 40 feet, this week one.

I was really flushing the driver today. After hitting a few warmup balls on the range, where everything was either straight or a 10 yard fade, I felt comfortable going to the 1st hole and lining up down the left side. I smash a draw into the rough but find it and play a decent shot pin high left of the green. I line up a little more down the middle and hit the next driver 20 yards right, again finding it in the rough. Two more drives down the right side, more or less first cut. Choke down into the wind on #9 and go down the middle straight. Same thing on #10. #11 require a straight shot or long draw and I lost a ball thru the fairway into the woods. Another one into the wind on 12 that held onto the right side. Finished with 3 straight center fairway drives that left me feeling as confident as I have all year.

Putting was a little off, but the greens were inconsistent. Some were still slow, others were very dry & fast. Chipping was on. Hit a couple nifty 20-30 yard shots.
 
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I love that people are giving descriptions of how/why they are struggling. It's not only cathartic to get it written down, but it also shows that we all have much different issues to work on. I think we'd make a pretty good scramble team :)
 
Well...first round of the season...a very ugly 112. Though it was rainy and muddy. Biggest problem: 9 penalty strokes... 9. Only 1 on the front side, but from the #12 on 1 extra stroke per hole. There were some bad shots, plus every bad break I could have gotten. It wasn't a complete disaster though, I hit some really good wedges most of the day. And despite 37 putts, most of the bad ones were mis-reads vs. bad strokes. Not the best start but there is hope.
 
I had my first two rounds of the season and both were very different. First round my driver was great, I hit 10/14 fairways and 7/7 fairways on the back nine. My chipping was very rusty after a winter of Optishot golf. I shot a 108. Second round was Easter Sunday and was the compete opposite. My driver was terrible but my chipping is getting to mid season form. Because of the very wet ground I hit a lot of fat shots and I am swinging into my shots with my body too much. All these are winter rust problems so I am not concerned. Shot 107.
 
huhhh said:
Well...first round of the season...a very ugly 112. Though it was rainy and muddy.
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I noticed that I was hitting a lot of chunks when on the soft muddy ground. I think, at times, you are literally sinking as you setup to swing. I'm 205-210 so I know its possible. Everytime I was on soft ground I was trying to account for it, then I would top a shot. The course was much firmer yesterday and contact was better all day.
 
baldguy said:
I love that people are giving descriptions of how/why they are struggling. It's not only cathartic to get it written down, but it also shows that we all have much different issues to work on. I think we'd make a pretty good scramble team :)
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We would. At this level, we are able to put in a few really good shots, even if there are many bad in between.

For me, I seem to be uncapable of forgetting the last shot and approach the next one with a fresh mind. On last round, I hit a ball in the woods, re-teed, over-corrected and hit another to the woods on the other side. Three times. You are not going to score, if you are laying four and still in the tee box on a few holes. The right line of thinking would be "You didn't make your good swing. Forget that. Now your good swing, you know how to do that. Let's show it."

Also: A duff. Dang, let me try again. (You dummy, that setup didn't work the first time, why would the exact same thing work the second time?) Instead I should "Forget that. Now, pay attention to your setup and ball position."
 
I have played some wildly inconsistent golf this year, everything coming in from 96 down to 87. I have been trying to play a couple of tough holes at my home course "smart". Laying up instead of trying to drive the creek thru a narrow chute or hitting hybrid on a par 5 that requires three tactical shots to reach anyways.

Funny thing is at least half the time, I think I relax my focus and end up hitting a poor shot instead. Pop one up a 100 yards, hook it into the woods. Slice it behind some trees blocking the next shot. My smart plays leave me scrambling more than the normal bomb & gouge method I take. (and the scores end up about the same)
 
DaBuckBoys said:
I have played some wildly inconsistent golf this year, everything coming in from 96 down to 87. I have been trying to play a couple of tough holes at my home course "smart". Laying up instead of trying to drive the creek thru a narrow chute or hitting hybrid on a par 5 that requires three tactical shots to reach anyways.

Funny thing is at least half the time, I think I relax my focus and end up hitting a poor shot instead. Pop one up a 100 yards, hook it into the woods. Slice it behind some trees blocking the next shot. My smart plays leave me scrambling more than the normal bomb & gouge method I take. (and the scores end up about the same)
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Because your forcing yourself to take the "smart" shot, you might be making yourself over think that shot when you approach the ball. Sounds like you execute the home run swings more naturally and when you go for the safe shot you don't approach it as naturally, making you hit a bad shot. Make sense lol?
 
DaBuckBoys said:
I have played some wildly inconsistent golf this year, everything coming in from 96 down to 87. I have been trying to play a couple of tough holes at my home course "smart". Laying up instead of trying to drive the creek thru a narrow chute or hitting hybrid on a par 5 that requires three tactical shots to reach anyways.

Funny thing is at least half the time, I think I relax my focus and end up hitting a poor shot instead. Pop one up a 100 yards, hook it into the woods. Slice it behind some trees blocking the next shot. My smart plays leave me scrambling more than the normal bomb & gouge method I take. (and the scores end up about the same)
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for me, the difference between a 96 and an 87 could be as little as 3 bad swings. I have a nasty habit of blading shots over greens and picking up an extra 2-3 strokes as a result. For the same reason as mentioned above - I get to the next shot and overcorrect, leaving the ball short. Or, that bladed shot could be in a hazard (happened three times in last two rounds) so even if I do recover on the next shot I have the penalty. Sometimes I will hit a tee shot out of bounds then lay up and end up hitting my 4th from a spot much more difficult than I should have been hitting two. My game is a bit better than bogey golf on 15-16 of the 18 holes, with 2-3 big mistakes each time out. The first time I complete a round without those mistakes, I will be under 90 :)
 
Finally Broker 90 last night WOOHOO, shot a 88. What I did was leave the driver in the bag and just played some conservative golf and didn't risk anything. Came out with a great outcome and I look forward to keep working on it. So happy I know I can do this now.
 
Congrats buck boys and coers!
 
Thanks man, just gotta play smarter and more conservative golf and you can do it. I think if I can get my driver back to working I could see the score keep going down.
Smallville said:
Congrats buck boys and coers!
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For me it is putting. My ball striking has been pretty good but I have had over 40 putts in all 4 rounds this season.
 
coers said:
Thanks man, just gotta play smarter and more conservative golf and you can do it. I think if I can get my driver back to working I could see the score keep going down.
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Great job, I have to keep telling myself this.
 
I have been pounding myself on this. I would rather hit a 7 iron on the fairway than risk hitting a driver I will probably slice. Say if you can get on the green in 3 with the 7 iron that is one conservative way. Yeah might not be cool or fun but hey it will sure help your score.
Golds said:
Great job, I have to keep telling myself this.
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I don't avoid the driver, it's actually a pretty consistent club for me. More like picking a 6 or 7 iron for my second shot rather than grabbing my 3 wood trying to get it as close to the hole as possible. I played smart last year but my irons were so bad that I couldn't commit to playing smart. This year I had no distractions and worked on my swing all winter to get my irons back to how they were 2 seasons ago.
 
Just my two cents guys....1. Don't have expectations...just play and react SHOT TO SHOT.
2. Don't keep the score, let someone else do it.
3. Take your medicine...a bogey is better than a double or triple after trying that low percentage shot!
4. Most importantly...have fun....nothing super serious here.

Sometimes having too many club options in the bag is a mental fubar waiting to happen...play a round with only the odd or even number irons in the bag...you'd be surprised.
 
Dscvrr St Louis said:
Just my two cents guys....1. Don't have expectations...just play and react SHOT TO SHOT.
2. Don't keep the score, let someone else do it.
3. Take your medicine...a bogey is better than a double or triple after trying that low percentage shot!
4. Most importantly...have fun....nothing super serious here.

Sometimes having too many club options in the bag is a mental fubar waiting to happen...play a round with only the odd or even number irons in the bag...you'd be surprised.
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This...agreed in so many ways.

Every time I get excited and go to the course filled with expectations to play the round of the rounds, I end up with so many unnecessary shots. Play for fun, don't count the score (just write it up and forget about it), don't THINK about the final score, next shot is everything you should think about, and you'll do fine.
 
I don't avoid driver either, unless I expect a hazard to come into play. I hit my driver pretty well... I probably trust is as much as or more than anything else in my bag. That's not to say all drives are perfect, because that's not true. But, I hit a lot of fairways and I hit it long. My extra strokes come from the shorter clubs. My card usually looks like a bunch of pars and bogeys, with the occasional birdie and double thrown in and a nearly guaranteed triple or worse every round. Usually two. One of the many reasons golf is a 4-letter word :)
 
Shot an 89 this weekend. After taking two penalty strokes with my driver I put it away for the round and used my 5i. Kept the ball in play and hit the rest of my irons really well.

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I will most likely get out there for the first time this year saturday, I have been breaking 90 regularly by the end of last season, but 89 will be my target for the first few games of the year.
 
ns1189 said:
Shot an 89 this weekend. After taking two penalty strokes with my driver I put it away for the round and used my 5i. Kept the ball in play and hit the rest of my irons really well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
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congratulations on the 89!
 
yep, shot an 87 for a pb. the 2 games before that were 90, 90. for those three games a had single penalties, one lost ball, hit fairways, greens, and putts, landed a 225 yard 3 wood 5 feet from the pin. i played again a couple days ago and it was AWFUL. i stopped keeping score after hole 5 and for the first time playing the game i was miserable and mad. that sucked, need to let the bad chit go, it's only a game.
 
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