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Trying to Break 100

Played 18 holes yesterday. Nothing spectacular, but nothing worse than double bogie. My drives were 90% great (thanks again Teem Tour Edge 220 driver), two sand traps were successful (one 5 feet from pin, thank you Teem Tour Edge 56 wedge). Putting was so so, two pars, my fairway woods were great, but chipping so so. All in all a great day and ended up shooting a 97. Almost back to precovid scores, but my drives are way longer, so I am hoping for great things.
 
After my 110 yesterday I took another crack at the same course this morning. The round was infinitely more frustrating, but the number at the end was actually better. I ended up with a 104 today. I was still slicing the driver, with the exception of tho shots. Unfortunately I was trying to counteract the slice on those, so my straight shots went out of play. I still really struggled with my irons. I managed to hit two or three decent iron shots, but a lot of fat ones as well.

The difference between yesterday and today was the fact that I played 14 holes fairly well yesterday. I have either two or three pars and a lot of bogeys. Unfortunately I also had two 10s.

Today was just consistent lousiness throughout the round. I didn’t have a single par and just a few bogeys. Mostly doubles and a few triples with one snowman on a par 4.

Today’s result was better, both on the scorecard and in avoiding blow ups. It was just incredibly frustrating that I couldn’t put a single decent hole together. I hit a perfect drive in one par 4 and left myself 125 out. It took me another three shots to get in the green from there. I can’t wait for the holidays to pass so I can get back out for another lesson and get a diagnosis for my problem.
 
Played 18 today and had 41 putts. I did not hit one putt over 5’. Just burned edges all day.


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Bought myself a new wedge for Christmas. No other golf news. Getting hammered at work, so go in at 8, come home anywhere from 7:15- 8:30. Watch some golf videos, pass out.
 
Bummer.

Unless by saying "getting hammered at work" you mean this:
 
I bounced back from Saturday’s poor putting with a much better round on Sunday.

I finally figured out that it is impossible to hit irons off fairways that are basically just dirt. So I am embracing the bump and run with hybrids on really tight lies.


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If you haven't watched Golf Sidekick on youtube, I highly recommend it; especially these recent videos about breaking 100 & breaking 90. I think if you're struggling to break through, this can help a lot.

 
The Breaking 100 is a six-part video, but there is a lot of good stuff in there!
 
I wish breaking a milestone was as easy as changing my mindset or approach to a round. I do think his videos are helpful towards lowering unreasonable expectations though.
 
tehuti said:
Played 18 today and had 41 putts. I did not hit one putt over 5’. Just burned edges all day.


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Putting from 5 to 8 feet has been a problem for me lately. I don't expect to make every one. And I can understand if there's a lot of break to it. But I'm missing too many straight uphill putts. Most of them I tend to pull left. But when I focus not to pull they sometimes push right. I'm using the automatic putt back at home trying to get some consistency. But this dang back can only last a few minutes at a time. That particular bend hurts my back more than anything.
 
Happy New Year B100, you guys are going to break some PB's this year. Hoping for great golf from all of you.
:golf2:
 
Grins said:
If you haven't watched Golf Sidekick on youtube, I highly recommend it; especially these recent videos about breaking 100 & breaking 90. I think if you're struggling to break through, this can help a lot.

Click to expand...

His videos are great, a lot of good and useful information in them. He's also very personable and funny, makes watching the videos enjoyable.
 
Snickerdog said:
Happy New Year B100, you guys are going to break some PB's this year. Hoping for great golf from all of you.
:golf2:
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I WILL set a new PB this year, and I’m gonna make a run at breaking 90. I don’t have any delusion that I’ll do that consistently, but I think doing it at least once is a realistic possibility.
 
Annhl8rX said:
I WILL set a new PB this year, and I’m gonna make a run at breaking 90. I don’t have any delusion that I’ll do that consistently, but I think doing it at least once is a realistic possibility.
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That is a great mindset!!! Once you do it once it will become easier. Best of luck and I will be watching for it. :golf2:
 
Annhl8rX said:
I WILL set a new PB this year, and I’m gonna make a run at breaking 90. I don’t have any delusion that I’ll do that consistently, but I think doing it at least once is a realistic possibility.
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After watching a few of the Golf Sidekick videos (the latest ones are focusing on course strategy and mental focus more than anything) - I am convinced that most of us can get into the 90's - and probably pretty consistently - if we play smarter, leave the ego at home, and practice putting & wedge play.

You got this!
 
Can you imagine how much better you'd play if you had someone like Michele Low giving you advice? I know the Golf Sidekick guy (Matt is his name) is a really good player compared to us, but think about how many strokes Michele saved him during this round. She was like a Zen master, or a young Yoda out there.

I personally feel this is the stuff most golfers need to work on - at least as much as the technical, swing-building stuff (and probably more). Save the "golf swing" mentality for the range, and use what Michele is doing on the course.


What do you think?
 
Forgot to point out a couple of highlight on that Michele Low video:
10:50: Matt: "I've hit 3W 3 times on this hole before, always went right." Michele: "Then why would you want to hit 3W?"

8:35: "It seems like golf is not about hitting a golf shot. It’s about distracting yourself with other stuff and in the process, hitting it."

9:44: Michele confirms my thought that I'm better off hitting driver off tee - I tend to eff up 3W off the first tee - always.

13:05: Explaining the difference between picking a small target in the distance vs picking intermediate target a few feet in front of the ball. Good stuff!
 
Grins said:
What do you think?
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How important the mental game is depends on the individual.

Certainly, none of us wants to think too much about mechanics during a competitive round... maybe a single swing thought at the most. As far as on-course decisions, I would be surprised if anyone could save me significant strokes - and I'd gladly be proven wrong about that. 90% of my strokes lost are due to a failure to execute the correct shot - one I am perfectly capable of making. And I think we'd all agree that hitting a series of safe layups all the way down every fairway is no way to play the game.

I've experimented with rounds where I used a more conservative approach and others where I took a bit more risk. For me, it comes down to ability... it's far more physical.

That said, we can all learn little things that will help and I'll take a stroke anyway I can get it. In this video, I liked the part about picking an intermediate target as opposed to one in the distance. Also, taking the water into consideration when choosing a putting line is something I've never heard explained with such detail.
 
Grins said:
Forgot to point out a couple of highlight on that Michele Low video:
10:50: Matt: "I've hit 3W 3 times on this hole before, always went right." Michele: "Then why would you want to hit 3W?"

8:35: "It seems like golf is not about hitting a golf shot. It’s about distracting yourself with other stuff and in the process, hitting it."

9:44: Michele confirms my thought that I'm better off hitting driver off tee - I tend to eff up 3W off the first tee - always.

13:05: Explaining the difference between picking a small target in the distance vs picking intermediate target a few feet in front of the ball. Good stuff!
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I've been thinking of jumping in on this thread for a while now, so I'll start. I like that first one a lot. I think (for a higher handicapper) there is a lot to just not playing the clubs you can't hit well and managing the course to capitalize on the ones you do hit well and that's what I do. It got me from something like a 34 down to a 24 at my low of the last couple years. There's certainly something to be said for working on your game so you can use more clubs more effectively, but some people don't have time, or at least, can benefit from not using the clubs they don't hit well when playing a round until they start doing better with them.
 
I love Michele’s comment “Can we just accept the fact that there are good days and bad days in golf”. Great attitude.
 
Kind of a mediocre solo round on a par 62 executive course today. But I did have a few good takeaways. I’ve been struggling with my irons lately but I hit them much better today.

Only one 3 putt all day, and I burned a few edges on other putts as well. Driver was erratic all day. I hit a few decent drives with it. But also a few complete mishits or severe slices.

The CBX2 50° was my pitching/chipping machine. If this keeps up I will only pull my 56° for bunker shots.

I drove the green on the par 3 18th with my 4w and 2 putted for par. Avoiding my usual meltdown on 18. Only one disaster hole where I put two approach shots in the pond.


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tehuti said:
Kind of a mediocre solo round on a par 62 executive course today. But I did have a few good takeaways. I’ve been struggling with my irons lately but I hit them much better today.

Only one 3 putt all day, and I burned a few edges on other putts as well. Driver was erratic all day. I hit a few decent drives with it. But also a few complete mishits or severe slices.

The CBX2 50° was my pitching/chipping machine. If this keeps up I will only pull my 56° for bunker shots.

I drove the green on the par 3 18th with my 4w and 2 putted for par. Avoiding my usual meltdown on 18. Only one disaster hole where I put two approach shots in the pond.


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Sounds like a pretty decent day. It's nice to walk off the course feeling like you're finding a a bit of a groove. Congrats!
 
JonMA1 said:
How important the mental game is depends on the individual.

Certainly, none of us wants to think too much about mechanics during a competitive round... maybe a single swing thought at the most. As far as on-course decisions, I would be surprised if anyone could save me significant strokes - and I'd gladly be proven wrong about that. 90% of my strokes lost are due to a failure to execute the correct shot - one I am perfectly capable of making. And I think we'd all agree that hitting a series of safe layups all the way down every fairway is no way to play the game.

I've experimented with rounds where I used a more conservative approach and others where I took a bit more risk. For me, it comes down to ability... it's far more physical.

That said, we can all learn little things that will help and I'll take a stroke anyway I can get it. In this video, I liked the part about picking an intermediate target as opposed to one in the distance. Also, taking the water into consideration when choosing a putting line is something I've never heard explained with such detail.
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I think you just emphasized her point there: "90% of my strokes lost are due to a failure to execute the correct shot - one I am perfectly capable of making."

Generally, even higher handicappers can hit some golf clubs decent-ish. Why can't they do it when it counts? Because they tie themselves into knots with technical swing thoughts: "keep my left arm straight", "keep my head down", etc. If, instead, they focused on where they want the ball to go, they would tend to hit much better shots. Harvey Penick called it "Taking dead aim." And I think if Michele went a round with you, your scores would drop too. (Really, it could be any good teaching pro.)

And if you can hit the ball straight, repeatedly, at least 150 yards, then yeah - why not do that vs spraying driver OB? If I can break 90 doing that, I'm gonna do that. I don't think of it as laying up, I think of it as avoiding penalty shots and trouble.
 
And I don't want to give the wrong impression - the Golf Sidekick dude & Michele Low both want golfers to work on technique & get better with driver, FW woods, etc. Just don't work on technique during the round.
 
Grins said:
Just don't work on technique during the round.
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Agree 100%.

Grins said:
And I think if Michele went a round with you, your scores would drop too. (Really, it could be any good teaching pro.)
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If you're talking strictly strategy, we will have to agree to disagree.

This video will help a lot of inexperienced players... get them to start thinking. Few of us have the physical ability to score really low, but we all have the ability to understand our abilities and weaknesses and then make correct decisions based on that knowledge. There's no reason we can't think our way around the course as well as a pro, in my opinion.
 
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