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Trying to Break 100

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Annhl8rX said:
I shot a 97 today, but it was on a strange course. It's a nine hole course with two sets of tees and split greens on each hole. It's also only a par 66 course, so I'm still searching for my first sub-100 round on a real course (my only other one was on a par 70 course). It would have been quite a bit better, but I threw it away with an eleven (!) on the last hole.

I had a 102 on a real course Tuesday, so I'm getting closer.
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dude - double par is the limit on any hole. throw out that 11 and replace it with double par!
 
BuckeyeMark said:
dude - double par is the limit on any hole. throw out that 11 and replace it with double par!
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For those here that aren't aware of ESC:


f10d4ff4-50d3-4c21-9805-dc905269c1de.gif
 
BuckeyeMark said:
dude - double par is the limit on any hole. throw out that 11 and replace it with double par!
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That would still be a 10, so it's fairly inconsequential.
 
-CRW- said:
For those here that aren't aware of ESC:


f10d4ff4-50d3-4c21-9805-dc905269c1de.gif
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I'm aware of ESC but haven't started using it yet. Partly because I don't really know how to figure out a course handicap, but mostly because I'm new enough that I want to keep track of my actual progress. There are at least one to two holes each round that I exceed the ESC limit. As long as I'm not holding anybody up I finish it out and keep my real score.
 
IMO ESC is used for post round scoring prior to entering a score into the hdcp system for people with an established hdcp. It doesn't reflect during the round a persons actual score.
 
Annhl8rX said:
I'm aware of ESC but haven't started using it yet. Partly because I don't really know how to figure out a course handicap, but mostly because I'm new enough that I want to keep track of my actual progress. There are at least one to two holes each round that I exceed the ESC limit. As long as I'm not holding anybody up I finish it out and keep my real score.
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  1. Determine a course handicap by multiplying the Handicap Index by the Slope Rating (from the course and tee you choose) and dividing by 113 (standard difficulty rating). Round the result to the nearest whole number. The following assumes an index of 12.5 and a Home courseslope of 120.
 
emart2173 said:
IMO ESC is used for post round scoring prior to entering a score into the hdcp system for people with an established hdcp. It doesn't reflect during the round a persons actual score.
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The first part of that is correct. It is applied after a round and is determined by your course handicap. But if you are playing by the rules of golf, then the score with equitable stroke control applied is your "actual score".

For example, if I post a 90 on my home course in GHIN using the score only method it will post as a 90. But if I had a 10 on a par 5 on that score card and entered my score in hole by hole into GHIN the posted score would automatically become an 88 and would be posted as such (assuming I had no other holes where ESC would be applicable and using my HC which is in the 20-29 range for my home courses).
 
We will have to agree to disagree somewhat on this and I don't use or have familiarity with GHIN. A person should record their actual score on a hole regardless of hdcp so if someone gets a 10 they should record a 10 and not a 7 if they have the 10-19 hdcp, add of the round and whatever they scored they scored. Then like i said in my post deduct the necessary strokes and enter the score into whatever hdcp system a person uses.

I get some people use ESC during a round when they reach their max score which is great for pace of play and I have no problem with that.
 
emart2173 said:
We will have to agree to disagree somewhat on this and I don't use or have familiarity with GHIN. A person should record their actual score on a hole regardless of hdcp so if someone gets a 10 they should record a 10 and not a 7 if they have the 10-19 hdcp, add of the round and whatever they scored they scored. Then like i said in my post deduct the necessary strokes and enter the score into whatever hdcp system a person uses.

I get some people use ESC during a round when they reach their max score which is great for pace of play and I have no problem with that.
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I'm not disagreeing with you. I said you were right, it's post round. I'm just saying whatever your score card said isn't your official score if ESC is applicable.

I'm also okay with people picking up their ball and moving on for pace of play. In that case you would write down the ESC score with an asterisk next to it.

And, if you don't use GHIN or other official service your handicap is probably wrong. I've found that just about every app doesn't have accurate course/slope ratings for every course I've ever played. I've also found that most have their own way of calculating a handicap. I have Golf Logix on my phone and went in an entered my rounds hole by hole and manually edited the course/slope rating for the tees I used so that they matched what was posted in GHIN. GHIN says I'm a 23.2 and Golf Logix says I'm a 17 something.
 
Since we were discussing ESC I thought I'd share this email content from my home club:

USGA Handicap Tip

Last week I started a series of handicap tips. The focus was on the purpose of the handicap system, two basic premises for it, what constitutes an acceptable round and the need to post ALL your scores. This week the focus is on the mandatory application of Equitable Stroke Control...ESC.



ESC is the method whereby high hole scores are reduced for handicap purposes in order to make handicaps more representative of a player's potential. This applies to open play as well as tournaments and if it is not properly applied one's handicap index is not valid.


ESC is used when a player's score on a hole exceeds a certain value and is based upon the following ranges of handicaps. Also it is based upon the player's Course Handicap (CH) for the tees played. So, the following applies in using ESC. I'll list the CH followed by the maximum score that can be taken. CH of 9 or less, double bogey; CH of 10-19, 7; CH of 20-29, 8; CH of 30-39, 9 and finally CH of 40 or more, 10.


There is no limit on the number of holes that ESC should be applied during a round. Also, use your CH regardless of whether it may be reduced by some amount in a particular tournament.


A couple of examples to illustrate are....a player has a CH of 8 so the maximum score on any hole that player can record for handicap posting purposes is a double bogey. Of course if that player is in a stroke play tournament and makes a 9 on a hole, the 9 is recorded for the tournament score but if it happened on a par 5, the score recorded for handicap purposes would be 7.


A second example is a player with a CH of 10 is playing in a tournament and all handicaps are reduced by 20% for that particular tournament. So, his tournament handicap is 8 but for handicap purposes it remains a 10 so the maximum score he can for record for handicap is a 7.


Once again, the purpose for this mandatory procedure is to yield handicaps that are more representative of a player's potential ability. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to give us a call.
 
I appreciate this discussion of Equitable Stroke Control ... but IF I COULD DO A LITTLE BETTER JOB WITH STROKE CONTROL I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS THREAD!!! HA!
 
Took a 30 minute lesson from my pro on Putting/Chipping/Pitching and then stuck around for an hour of practice. Never got a lesson on any aspect of the short game. Shot a 100 yesterday. I was trying to tweak my swing with the driver, which was a bad idea, it cost me 4 strokes in penalties, and a risky shot with my 2H cost another 2. If I had just played my game, I would be, potentially, looking at a 94-98....
 
Boston_golfer said:
Took a 30 minute lesson from my pro on Putting/Chipping/Pitching and then stuck around for an hour of practice. Never got a lesson on any aspect of the short game. Shot a 100 yesterday. I was trying to tweak my swing with the driver, which was a bad idea, it cost me 4 strokes in penalties, and a risky shot with my 2H cost another 2. If I had just played my game, I would be, potentially, looking at a 94-98....
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If I could put all the "watch this - I'm gonna save this hole" and "I'm fixin' to be a hero" shots in the bottom of the bag I'd prolly have shot 105 a bunch by now...
 
Any time you find yourself in a "Hold my beer and watch this..." situation, just do the right thing.
As soon as I decided to stop taking shots that are beyond my skill level, I saw a dramatic drop in strokes. Then, when I started to consciously set myself up to hit a favorable club to the green, rather than just hit the longest club for every hole, I also saw another drop in score.
 
BuckeyeMark said:
What a day yesterday ... greatness and a dumpster fire.

Got off early at Waterchase with some nice cloud cover and shot 55 on the front. That included a couple of lost balls that just went long on me. I was hitting it super well and some of my clubs were just longer than usual. Could've been a 50 easily. Made a PAR on the toughest hole out there (actually had an 8 footer for birdie). I was rolling. I love golf. Isn't this game fun?

And then I did it. I said, as we came to 9, "I don't have an 8 today."

Well I did after that. Made 8 there and on the par 5 tenth (not too bad). But it really unraveled from there. I made double par ON EVERY HOLE ON THE BACK NINE BUT ONE. I hit out of bounds. I took three to get out of the sand. I have developed a colossal left hook that would make Ali jealous. By 17 I couldn't get off the tee box, hitting two in the water and just picking up and saying "I'll drop with your ball" to my partner to get the round finished. On 18 I hit THREE balls in out of bounds off the tee box, all in different directions. Flummoxed, frustrated, furious - it was definitely a day when if someone had offered me five bucks for my clubs he would have had himself clubs, bags, tees, balls and my gps watch dumped on him on the spot. GRRRRR!

I don't know where it goes when the wheels fall off like that?! Humiliating and embarrassing. Maybe I ran out of gas. We started at 9 and by the time we got to the back nine it was past lunch and really warming up. It can get warmish here in Texas in July. Maybe I just ran out of gas and bonked (as runners say when you hit the wall). Maybe I'm just a terrible golfer. To go from such a good (and fun) front nine to not being able to get off the tee box is ridiculous.

Really tried to regroup mentally and just string three good holes together. Nada. What a day.

Looking back I should've shelved the three wood off the tee box sooner and just hit a six iron (the club I have the most confidence in). Should've gone to a three quarter slow swing and just try to make good contact and get in the fairway. But I had hit it so good - and then couldn't hit it at all. GRRRRRR!
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Happens to the best of us. One key I've found to playing better is to not try to hit a score. I don't care about the overall score, I don't care about scores on past holes, I don't even care about the score on the hole I'm playing. I try to only care about the shot in front of me. Doesn't matter if it's from 20 feet in front of the tee box, I just want to hit that fairway wood to my target. As soon as you let your past performance get in your head, you're done. It's incredibly hard putting your bad shots behind you, but you *have* to get in the mindset that you can make the next shot every single time. Me personally, I picture the best shot I've ever hit with the club in my hands and remind myself that if I could do it once, I can do it again.

Edit: Oh yeah, and NEVER EVER EVER make hero shots. You can't make them, you're not good enough. If you were, you'd be trying to break 70, no 100. That one took a while to sink in for me too, but when it did my scores dropped from the 120s to pushing 100.
 
I've discovered that chipping into the fairway helps me regain some mental composure and sets me up for a decent recovery. Hero shots just lead to more trouble and frayed nerves.
 
Had a not so good round yesterday. Went out in 48 (which included two triples, including one on #9). Struggled at the start, but made three successive pars on 6, 7, and 8 and then stumbled on 9. Par'd 10 and then things fell apart. Wound up in the sand five times, and it took me 8 shots to get out ... so that tells you all you need to know about that. Also tired down the stretch and closed up with a 57 (oof). In some regards, the game is coming along ... in others I am still struggling. My current biggest issue (aside from getting off the tee) is accuracy. I'm getting good distance on my irons (reliable distance for me, and I'm fine with it), but I pull a lot of my iron shots resulting in less than ideal ball placement for a two putt par. Oh well ... another lesson hopefully next week. I'll get this sorted by the end of the summer. Staying optimistic despite two bad rounds in a row.
 
deuce said:
Had a not so good round yesterday. Went out in 48 (which included two triples, including one on #9). Struggled at the start, but made three successive pars on 6, 7, and 8 and then stumbled on 9. Par'd 10 and then things fell apart. Wound up in the sand five times, and it took me 8 shots to get out ... so that tells you all you need to know about that. Also tired down the stretch and closed up with a 57 (oof). In some regards, the game is coming along ... in others I am still struggling. My current biggest issue (aside from getting off the tee) is accuracy. I'm getting good distance on my irons (reliable distance for me, and I'm fine with it), but I pull a lot of my iron shots resulting in less than ideal ball placement for a two putt par. Oh well ... another lesson hopefully next week. I'll get this sorted by the end of the summer. Staying optimistic despite two bad rounds in a row.
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What was your score using ESC? Somewhere before your 8th shot in the sand you probably should have picked up the ball.
 
Dave Alvarado said:
What was your score using ESC? Somewhere before your 8th shot in the sand you probably should have picked up the ball.
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5 times in the sand, eight shots total. Wasn't eight shots out of one bunker. Rest assured something would have snapped (my sanity or my club) after the third attempt out of a bunker.

At my handicap (24.9) my ESC is an 8 and I had only one snowman. It's the triples (and a quadruple on one par 3 ... thanks to reenacting Tin Cup over a forced water carry) that killed me on the par 4's yesterday. Four par's, 5 bogey's, 2 double's and 7 others. When I was ok, I was ok ... but when I wasn't ... I stunk bad!
 
deuce said:
5 times in the sand, eight shots total. Wasn't eight shots out of one bunker. Rest assured something would have snapped (my sanity or my club) after the third attempt out of a bunker.

At my handicap (24.9) my ESC is an 8 and I had only one snowman. It's the triples (and a quadruple on one par 3 ... thanks to reenacting Tin Cup over a forced water carry) that killed me on the par 4's yesterday. Four par's, 5 bogey's, 2 double's and 7 others. When I was ok, I was ok ... but when I wasn't ... I stunk bad!
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Ah sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you were saying you had a big ol' beach party. :act-up:
 
62 and 60 this morning - far better than last week's 138 or whatever that disaster was. Too many fluffed chips, and too many penalties. Lost seven balls in seven holes (!). Finally got going with that Jetspeed 3w on the back nine and just cranked some drives up with it. That club can hit and is fun to hit. But too much topping the ball and too many putts. Hope next week will see a round back in the 110s.
 
Played a good round the other day and almost broke 100, but daylight didnt hold out long enough for us to finish. I shot 86 thru 16 holes. If i use the partial round rules from the handicap guide i would take double bogey for my handicap on the last two holes i was unable to play. That would give me a 99, but since i didnt actually play them all i am not counting it as my first round under 100. Maybe next time!
 
Busy day, but I managed to play 9 today and scored a 55.

The first three holes went pretty well and I even managed to shoot par on #1! Then on #4 I hit the edge of the green from the tee and a crow decided it liked my e6 and I watched it fly away with my ball. That kinda threw me for a loop and I made some mental errors that cost me several strokes on the next couple of holes.

Much fun was had.
 
putting, pitching it close, chipping in close. that'll save you 5 strokes easily. for sand, use the same swing as you would for a pitch or chip, and add 5 to 10 yards to that. but you're in the right direction for your backyard practice. for short shots, crisp contact is the most important, because you will be in all sorts of lies and stances.
 
Tuesday night I went out and walked 9, shot a 55 on what I learned Wednesday was a sprained wrist. I wish I could blame it on the wrist, but mostly it was my short game, I just couldn't get the ball where I wanted it. Couple of thinned wedge shots that went over the green, couple of fat shots that went no where. I did manage to fix the swing issue that sprained my wrist, and didn't seem to make my wrist any worse by playing.

It's been a rough season for me. It's my first one after 7 or 8 years off, so I'm having to relearn a lot of things. I am starting to get back in the swing of things as it were. My goal for next year is to be hitting in the 80s consistently, we'll have to see how that goes.


Sent from the magic know everything box in my pocket
 
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