Difference between an 80 golfer and a 90 golfer

[greenOak]

So you basically never take more than 2 to get on a par 3, 3 to get on a par 4, or 4 to get on a par 5?

Honestly, things don't add up. You hit the green half the time, and are on the green in regulation + 1 the other half. You average 33.6 putts per round. On a par 72 course this should mean that you average 78.6, not 85.

 

[BroD]

I'm an 80's - 90's guy, (one 79 this year) ,,, and my problem is.. at the last second not having confidence in a shot,, and not sticking to my swing routine.

 

[JonMA1]

As a habitual 90's player who would occasionally break 90 (until this year), there isn't much that stands out between upper 80's and upper 90's rounds. More than anything, the overall shot execution is a little better throughout every skill (full swing, approach, around the green, and putting) and the misses aren't as severe. That's about it in my experience.

I do track my stats on a high percentage of rounds and it's hard to find a common issue when looking at FIR, GIR, Putts per hole and Scrambling. Unless one really digs, I think stats can be overrated as a means to determine areas of improvement. I think using tour stats to try and determine what's needed for me to shoot in the 80's is insane. I went down that road for several years and it likely did more harm than good towards improving.

Without the use of stats, I can objectively determine what caused a poor round. While there is sometimes a single issue, it is rarely the same issue from one bad round to the next. And looking at my stats from a long-term perspective, I just don't see any single area that is the cause.

I sound like a broken record, but the root cause (again, just for me) is an inability to execute on a consistent enough basis and with every part of the game.

Here are a few examples of 80's scores with a variance in stats...

88 SCORE 43% FWAY ACC 22% GIR 1.78 PUTTS/HOLE 43% SCRAMBLING

89 SCORE 64% FWAY ACC 28% GIR 2.11 PUTTS/HOLE 15% SCRAMBLING

86 SCORE 50% FWAY ACC 56% GIR 2.28 PUTTS/HOLE 0% SCRAMBLING



And here's a 90's round where the stats look great....

97 SCORE 78% FWAY ACC 38% GIR 2.11 PUTTS/HOLE 0% SCRAMBLING

Without even looking at the round in GameGolf, I know penalties had to be the issue with the last score. I'm going to guess they were distributed between tee shots and approach shots just because my home course is not forgiving with left/right dispersion or duffs. But if you looked at stats alone, it might be easy to assume that was a decent round.

The areas that are consistently poor in my game are putting and penalties - especially with longer clubs, IMO. But as is the case with the occasional 100 yard approach shanked or duffed into the swamp, or the chunked or bladed chip, more than anything it's the inability to execute any type of shot to the level of consistently getting "OK results" throughout a round of golf. That is what prevents me from breaking 90. The stats from GameGolf will often get that wrong.