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Trying To Break 90 Club

Snowman said:
Good post. When trying to break 90, it's not so much about how many birdies you get on your scorecard - it's more about how many doubles (or worse) you keep OFF the scorecard! Trying those hero shots or low percentage recovery shots for birdie or par is going to hurt you a lot more than playing it safe and just settling for the bogey.
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Absolutely, spot on. You can play BOGEY golf and have 1 par and break 90. Crazy how simple it really is to break 90 when you break it down, instead of trying to go low and having MUCH more risk vs reward.
 
Smryan12 said:
Absolutely, spot on. You can play BOGEY golf and have 1 par and break 90. Crazy how simple it really is to break 90 when you break it down, instead of trying to go low and having MUCH more risk vs reward.
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I still haven't broke 90 yet. But my game has improved from upper 90's/low 100's to low/mid 90's for this reason. I'm playing every hole for bogey. I will never complain about bogey. I play very conservative now. I take my medicine when I'm in a bad spot. And quite a few times it turns what used to be a triple to a double.

I've cut down on triple bogeys a whole lot these days. The conservative approach and improved short game is the reason. There used to be several triples per round. Now its maybe one. Less pars but that is ok. If I go on a nice bogey run for 7 or 8 holes it helps me keep the scores down where I'm satisfied.
 
Shot a 91 today. 48/43. Getting really close. I feel like when I finally do it it will be with a 86 or 87. I wasn't tracking today really. Otherwise I would have been really mad at my bogey to end the round after a perfect drive to the middle of the fairway and then hitting my 150 approach about 20 yards right of the green. I assumed I was shooting a 95-97 with how I started the day. I was honestly surprised with the 48 on the front. I kind of thought I was going to be in the 51-54 range. Started double double, triple, double. I knew I played sub bogey golf on the back while I was doing it.

I think today was almost entirely driven by not warming up pre-round. I played pretty darn well after my body loosened up. My 3rd swing of the day was my first drive. Didn't roll a single putt before. Usually I at least do a couple of those. I was just running late and the starter got us out 10 minutes early so my arrival 12 minutes before my tee time didn't help.
 
Well, after shooting in the low 90's or mid 40's for nine holes I did have a setback. Shot a 98 the other day. 50 on the front. 48 on the back. But I'm not as disappointed. I feel like I hit the ball well enough. It was absolutely the putting this round. I had the putter in hand for par or better on 14 of the 18 holes. And no triple bogeys. Just too many 3 putt double bogeys. It was a very steady round. Just not enough pars to offset the doubles.

Missed more fairways than usual. But not by a lot. Most misses were in the first cut. And during the winter there isn't a lot of difference between the fairway and rough. So overall the driving was good. I hit a lot of high right pushes with no fade whatsoever. A little further than usual too.

What is encouraging about my game is I've eliminated the total shanks. I used to be good for several in a round. 150 yards out with a good look and chunking it 30 yards. I don't do that anymore. I don't hit as many crisp shots as I'd like. But the worst that happens is I miss the green and have a decent look with the wedge. And I'm pretty much hitting the green every time now when I chip. Not in one putt range, but putter in hand is good enough for me.

I just need to get out and work with the putter. I didn't hit one putt under ten feet. I can understand when there's some break. But a few were dead straight. I also need to work on getting the feel for the lag putting. Too many times I put myself in a tough position to make that second putt.
 
Well, played 9 holes today. All I can say is, wow! Best 9 hole score in a long time. 4 pars, 2 doubles and 3 bogeys for a solid 43. Again, no triple bogeys. This time I had more pars than doubles. This was after a double bogey on the first hole.

What really makes me happy is how far I'm hitting the driver. The last 3 holes with the driver went 265/275/275. I haven't hit that long in years. I've been spending more time just swinging the club harder. I swing it like I'm swinging the baseball bat as hard as I can during the practice swings. Been doing that at home too. It seems to have increased my swing speed.

As you can tell, I'm pretty excited about my round today. And how far I'm hitting the ball. Not to mention I just got my Medicare card a few days ago. My son in law says if I upgrade my driver I should be able to hit even further. I've been using a 2016 model Cobra F6. I bought it in 2017 because it was so cheap being the previous year's model. I'm not sure I'm ready to move on from it. Its been the most forgiving driver I ever had. But the idea of hitting even longer is intriguing.

We're going back out tomorrow for another 9 holes. If it isn't too busy we'll play the back nine and combine the score with the front for an 18 hole score. I want to say I always do better on the back nine. But last time I said that I butchered the first 3 holes and never recovered shooting over 50. So we'll just see what happens.
 
Shot a 44 today with 4 pars in the last 6 holes (after starting out double/triple/double bogey:mad:).

I'm pretty happy with the start to my season - in past years this would be midseason form & the best I could expect. A couple things are encouraging me to expect I can go lower on a more regular basis:
1) recovery shots are improving and becoming more consistent: Using 5 iron, 6 iron, etc. to hit low punch shots from under trees, etc. is saving strokes over the round.

2) bunker shots are much better: Shot of the 9 was a 25 yard bunker shot to 1 foot to save par on the #1 handicap hole. I'm not afraid of being in bunkers any more. That alone should lead to lower scores lol!

3) I'm making better contact with mid irons & longer clubs (hybrids, 7W). I feel like I'm covering the ball & compressing it a lot better. Shots are going farther, higher, and straighter.

Not every time - but for the third time out this year? I'll take it.
 
With my streak of 96-99 and a couple of 100s I’m out of this thread for a while. But I’ll be back by end of April. Just need to work on 20-30 yard chipping.


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My first real round of the year last Wednesday and I shot a 96. Putting was the high point of my round at 31 putts with no 3 putts. The low points of my round were failure to keep the ball in play off the tee, including 2-water balls (my home course has 5 forced carries over water off the tee), and poor recovery shots. By avoiding those "unforced errors" I could have broken 90....its as simple as that.

My only golf this week will be practicing, which will include developing a reliable punch shot with my 4 Utility club, continuing to work on wedges and drills to improve my tempo.

The quest begins.....
 
Breaking 90 has always been a goal of mine. Shortly after finding THP I seriously flirted with this notion. But in reality I was not prepared to break 90 nor consistently do it without the aid of a mulligan or three. nearly two years later, I'm back on the right side of 100, have gain a lot of fundamental knowledge about my swing adn how to better play golf. I've had a few close calls. (42 front 9....). Since late March, by cap has dropped from the high of 26.4 to my current 23.4 index.

I've been playing twice a week for most of the year and truly feel that I can accomplish this goal soon. To do that I have to keep working to re-find my easy tempo every time I loose it on course. Play with in myself.

My tee game was what used to hold me back. I was a mental wreck standing there. However, for the last few weeks I feel I found something. Last round playing with a stranger he commented on how good my tee game and general iron striking was.......Putting is now the new focus area to improve.

I used to be a reliable 2 putt/hole putter. I feel that was fools gold because I was always out of position, so that 3rd or 4th stroke got me closer to the hole for easier 2 putts. Instead of a higher rate of GIRs which leads to more longer / wrong tier first putts. So the 3 putt holes has gone up. That same stranger saw I was getting wristy with my putts. I was feeling that too. then he pulled out a putting mirror and blew my mind.

I set up too far back from the ball, so my eyes are not over the ball, on the line of my intended putt. Standing over that mirror, even on the cart path, I could see the difference. The way my putter looks when I'm properly over the ball is really different and the pop off the putter when I putt a smooth stroke on it was so much more efficient. I need to put in the work, but my ability to break 90 is to improve my putting. last round I shot a 46/48 with 22/19 putts! if I can just get back to "only" 36 putts....
 
I still have some things to clean up to to consistently have a chance at breaking 90. I went 92, 90, 93, 94 and 97 in my last 5 rounds during April. I should have broke it 2 of those rounds. I had some really bad putts in my round of 90 and 93. In my 90 I 3 putted inside 15 4 times on the back 9. As a 20 HC I definitely will have some 3 putts from 15 but I shouldn't have 4 in 9. Same with my 93. I Tripled the 18th from 120 in center of the fairway. Had 2 other doubles in my last 5 holes.

My 92 and 94 were actually good scores for how I was playing. My 97 was a Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde round. I should have shot a 105 honestly the way I was striking. I just was lights out inside 50 and had a hole bunch of up and down 1 putts.
 
After a couple of rounds back in March (both low 90's), I had a little accident with a lawn mower and lost just shy of an inch off the middle finger on my left hand (right handed golfer). Yesterday was 6 weeks since I last played as the finger is still very sensitive but 90% healed up at this point.

So, of course I go out an birdie the 1st hole making a 25' putt from the fringe. Mostly hacked it around the rest of the way but hit some really good iron shots and putted pretty well to finish 44-46. Would have broke 90 if I could have found my drive on the 18th hole. Knew where it went but it must have gone down a rabbit hole as we lost it in the shaggy rough. Wasn't a bad score in the conditions. The course was soft and shaggy all over except the greens which were in good shape. There was a decent amount of wind at times as well. Should be playing Friday and Saturday this week weather permitting.
 
First.....OUCH!


Second, glad you're back out there and playing golf!
 
Lately I've been back on the wrong side of 100. Yesterday was a good example of the Jekyll and Hyde rounds which I've had so far this year as I shot 57 on the front (par 36) and 46 on the back (par 34). My ball striking on the front was a disaster, with 10 wasted shots (water balls, thins and tops and a couple of "s-words"). I was able to right the ship on the back with only 3 wasted shots, none of which was related to a penalty. My putting was only OK, although the greens are pretty so-so, having been aerated a few weeks ago and recently slit seeded, they don't roll true yet and I left 2-3 on the lip and had 2 which burned the edge. In general, my green reading and speed control needs work.

My one bright spot was chipping and partial wedge shots which were solid.

The message which I am taking from all of this data is that I need to spend much more time on my full swing motion and actually on the putting green (most of my practice has been with a PuttOut mat).
 
Well....It happened. The stars aligned and I put together a nearly complete round of good golf. The result, an 88! 43/45. As I've stated before, my goal is to become a bogey golfer. So in my mind playing to a bogey is a successful hole. Sure I try to outperform that, but on in 3 and 2 putt is a win in my current book. One of my biggest faults as a golfer is to rush myself and get tense. Yesterday, my legs felt dead after my warm up and the 95F full sun was already getting to me as I was waiting to tee off. So I had no expectations going into the round. Almost just hoping to survive.

I was paired up with three other random single strangers. They were all very good golfers and played the tips. I moved up a box to play my normal 6300 set of tees on my home course. The vibe with the group was really chill, but there was a real sense that all of them took golf seriously and expected to perform. It turned into a really relaxing mood, which helped me immensely. Just enough banter and conversation to pass the time, but stay focused in the moment.

That focus was probably the most critical aspect of me breaking 90 for the first time. When I first saw a poll on THP about what percentage of golf is mental verses skill, i was blown away at how high of a percentage the collective THP placed the mental aspect of golf. After yesterday, I really get it. While I always try; and I like to think my way through each hole, picking targets (not always the correct ones). Yesterday, that focus went to a different place.

One thing I know I should do, but don't all the time, is after determining where I want my ball to end up at the end of my shot, is to then find a small target on my line a few feet in front of my ball, use it to set up and "swing too". I was committed to that on every shot not just the tee box. That exorcise really helped make me be in the moment preshot, but more importantly, dropped the noise when I stepped into the play box.

I was very good at forgetting each shot so that I was in the moment for each current shot. bad shot...doesn't matter, "you can still get on and two putt for bogey" so, I forgot and moved on. Good shot, big exhale and forget it, what's next.... That mental focus was truly what set this day apart. I did not have what I would call my best ball striking day. But I had good misses. And never let myself feel out of a hole. I choose the safe/correct play situation by situation. And putted very well.

My last round, I puked my way to a 94 with 44 putts. I was very mental with my putting and all my mechanics broke down. It was pointed out that my eye line was not over the ball and that I was using my writs to putt instead of my torso. I was convinced that I needed to redo my complete approach to putting. While researching putting mirrors and proper set up, I re-found a video about how to determine where one should set up to address the ball when putting. Ball 10 ft from hole, with line aligned to a tee 6 inches from ball and on direct path to hole. Then find your head position that make them all line up. When I did this, I do need to be "off the line". There was one more tip in that video. Your job is not to make the ball go in the hole. Your job, as a putter, is to roll the ball end over end on your intended line. So that was how I approached my putting. Once you pick the line and pace, forget all about the hole and just focus on the stroke. boom, only 1 three putt.

I had a lot of good breaks during this round. This one on #14 (highlighted below) may have been the biggest. I pulled my tee shot way left, but it was a good miss. This green is elevated and sloped to the water. There is no flat fringe on the water side and it's a severe slope about 4-6 ft down to the water. I planned to hit my 7i short of the green and let it roll on or be safe if it checked up. However, I thinned it. It did land short of the green, but it had some heat. It rolled across 2/3 of the green, then the miracle. It somehow stopped on that slope, a miss cut piece of grass held it there until I could get up there to hit my chip. The ball was perched a foot past the "point of no return", yet it was sitting there. I choked way up on my old school 8i chutt and rolled it to tapin par distance. The best round of my life keeps on moving. The next hole, I hit a perfect 6i to pin high, 30ft right. Fair lag putt, good 6ft for par.

I had my worst drive of the day on #17. It was bad. Block right slice. I did launch it, so it cleared the trees never to be seen, so I had to tee off again. But then the matra of the day mantra of the day proved again.....just play the next shot. I was still way out of position after my second drive, so play smart and don't try to hero it over the trees to an elevated green way out of your attack range. leave an easy chip and putt. if you save double great. if you two putt....it OK.

I really which the last two holes would have been more aligned with the rest of the round, but can I really be that disappointed? I had ONE blow up hole. Even that Blow up, I managed the damage and played relaxed. It feels so great to know I can play this well and score. Now the real work starts. finding my way back to that state of mind and level of golf execution.



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Had a chance yesterday to break 90, but 2 DB's and 1 horrible TB on the front nine derailed me and I ended up with 49-44 for a 93. Two biggest issues for me were landing in the sand on eight holes, despite most of them being the result of good shots - I made really solid contact but just barely missed location-wise. I got out of some bunkers well but a couple really hurt me. The other issue was my chipping - despite me chipping just fine before the round began, during the round I hit almost everything off of the hosel or heel (uggghhh) and my most of my chips went 45 degrees to the right. For my one TB, it was a long par 5 that I played beautifully to start with, getting myself in position where a decent chip gets me on the green in 3...but I chip into a bunker, then struggle to get out, and in the blink of an eye my chances at a par go down the drain.

I have another golf lesson tomorrow and I will be sure to go over chipping again with my instructor. All in all, though, I definitely hit the ball well enough to break 90 had a few things gone my way, and that's very encouraging.
 
I played 9 holes Friday night and wasn't nearly as sharp as the previous outing. My left elbow is stiff & sore. Probably from not doing much since the aforementioned finger incident. I think I'm just not getting any extension on swings, especially with driver. Anyways, shot a 44 with 3 pars to finish, so I had some positive momentum going into Saturday afternoon's 18.
Well, we had to start on the back 9 (maybe a light frost which affects the front 9 more) and its a much tougher side already. Started out with slice into the rough on a bad slope, out of position and led to a triple. Another slice would have been a lost ball, but somehow a tree must have knocked it down and found it 10 feet right of the cart path. Hit a couple decent shots to get back in position but duffed a chip and lipped out a short putt for another triple. Hit a wormburner on the next hole that only went 70-80 yards. Had 218 to the green and put a mean swing the ball with my HW that never left the pin and came up just short on the front fringe. A little strong with the putter and missed the comeback for a bogey. +7 after 3 holes... My partner is fairly new to the game and was playing his 1st round of the year. He was +4... yikes. I grinded my way to a 51 and looked for a better side on the normal front 9.

Well another slice into the tall grass on the normal first hole, also sliced a provisional even worse. Lucky I found the 1st... a couple decent shots and the putter came around. I finally hit a decent drive on the par 5 #4, kind of a weak fade that sat up short of a fairway bunker but a good lie. I had 236 to the center of the green which is guarded by two front side bunkers. The group ahead wasn't moving real fast and I didn't think I could carry the ball onto the green, let alone to the back where they were putting. So after a few extra practice swings I let one fly with the 4W. Well I did indeed fly it onto the green, where it rolled pin high about 25' left of the pin. Waived and apologized as the group finished and walked to their carts. They waived and hollered great shot! Left the eagle about 2 feet short it was a little offline but breaking the right way. Bumped in the birdie which felt pretty good. Really only had a two more bad swings the rest of the round, both on the same hole which led to a triple. It was the only score worse than a bogey for a 42, 93 total. Some positive things at the end of the day. If I can get this elbow loosened up and back on track with the driver, some parts of the swing are coming around.

I'm still having some chipping yips. The stiff elbow doesn't help that either. I did hit a 25 yard one hop & stop that got the attention of the other guys in my group. Wouldn't normally play that shot but had the wedge and didn't feel like going back for a mid-iron which I'm pretty consistent with from off the green. My wife has an outing on Friday so we're heading to the range this week. My plan is get the elbow loose and extending with the driver swing then work on that chipping stroke. Just need to release the swing...
 
Finally did it. 44-45 89. Did it with my B old man game too. I was done after 63 holes the last two days and almost didn’t play today. Just hit 2 clubs up all day and made bogeys.
 
Joshnoble01 said:
Finally did it. 44-45 89. Did it with my B old man game too. I was done after 63 holes the last two days and almost didn’t play today. Just hit 2 clubs up all day and made bogeys.
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Awesome!
 
Joshnoble01 said:
Finally did it. 44-45 89. Did it with my B old man game too. I was done after 63 holes the last two days and almost didn’t play today. Just hit 2 clubs up all day and made bogeys.
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Congrats!!! That is awesome.
 
Well it should have been easy to break 90 today! I started on the back with a 43 but ended up with a 49 on front! A couple of penalties as in bad chip shots and OMG on a par 3, first shot landed about two yards short AND it look 5 more shots to finish! So yeah a couple of bad holes kept me from breaking 90...
 
I had a pretty wild 50-46 yesterday. First time playing a different course than what I call "Home" course this year. It's a significantly longer and more difficult course, so I won't cry about a 96. What I will cry about is wildly inconsistent play. I drove the ball pretty well all day. Some of my best drives were followed by the worst of my approach shots. Topped fairway woods, fat irons... like so fat I don't think the club touched the ball but actually pushed the giant divot thru the ball causing it to roll 30 yards. Went to #16 a reasonably flat 149 yard par 3 with 8 iron in hand, light wind at my back and hit so far behind the ball it just rolled off the front of the tee box. Incredulous.

The next hole #2 handicap, I hit a decent drive but was blocked from hitting down the fairway on the right. Played a 7 iron that didn't cut like I hoped, and had 140 to an elevated green. Pulled that same 8 iron from a decent lie in the rough and putt the ball 20 feet past the pin. I hit two shots from fairway bunkers from 130 & 110 that both ended up on the green/fringe. Those are supposed to be hardest shots in golf, right?

So for all the bad shots, I felt like the score could have been much better. Just need to work on consistency.
 
47-41=88. First hole jitters resulted in a TB, and had an ugly DB on a par 3 on the front nine (I hate bunker shots), but managed to drive the ball well enough to keep me afloat until I settled down. Back nine resulted in four pars and a birdie - really managed to strike the ball well enough on my 2nd shots to put me in some great spots.
 
I managed to cross the 90 barrier today, and in fairly convincing fashion. I noticed something in my swing yesterday with my driver, and adding one little move in my downswing really brought my ballstriking to a solid place. I caught fire this morning as my golf party and I played our 4th round in 2 days (first 18 at 1PM Wednesday, finished our 4th at noon today) at Acushnet River Valley. Wound up breaking 40 (39) on the front 9 for my first ever sub-40 on a legit course 9 hole score. The wheels came off a little on the back as I finished with double, (extremely lucky) par, double, double, but still managed a 45 to come in at a solid 84. That's probably my best 18 hole score in 15-20 years. Fun story on the extremely lucky par. I hit a nice drive to about 110 in the rough, not a great lie but manageable. I proceeded to cold shank my full swing 54* wedge 45* right into the woods, and it kicked off a tree and directly back into the fairway at 52 yards to go. Regroup and drop a pitch with said 54 to 2 feet for the luckiest par of my life. I told the guys it must just be my day 🤣. Very excited to be back in the 80s and really hope I can stay there for the rest of the year.
 
thewilderside said:
I managed to cross the 90 barrier today, and in fairly convincing fashion. I noticed something in my swing yesterday with my driver, and adding one little move in my downswing really brought my ballstriking to a solid place. I caught fire this morning as my golf party and I played our 4th round in 2 days (first 18 at 1PM Wednesday, finished our 4th at noon today) at Acushnet River Valley. Wound up breaking 40 (39) on the front 9 for my first ever sub-40 on a legit course 9 hole score. The wheels came off a little on the back as I finished with double, (extremely lucky) par, double, double, but still managed a 45 to come in at a solid 84. That's probably my best 18 hole score in 15-20 years. Fun story on the extremely lucky par. I hit a nice drive to about 110 in the rough, not a great lie but manageable. I proceeded to cold shank my full swing 54* wedge 45* right into the woods, and it kicked off a tree and directly back into the fairway at 52 yards to go. Regroup and drop a pitch with said 54 to 2 feet for the luckiest par of my life. I told the guys it must just be my day 🤣. Very excited to be back in the 80s and really hope I can stay there for the rest of the year.
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When I broke 90 I had some good breaks. They are part of golf. Just like the bad breaks.
Great round!
 
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