Trying to Break 100

[wadesworld]

Wise words, Wade. (and brilliant alliteration on my part.)

All I could hear is you whispering "Sha-a-a-a-w-w-w-n-n-n Cl-e-e-e-me-e-e-n-n-nt", though.

I do love me some Shawn Clement. But through the years I've learned that even when the lessons are correct, it's hard to know whether you're doing them right without someone watching. You think you're doing the right thing but not seeing results. Five years later, you realize you were never doing it right at all.

 

[Hamfist]

I do love me some Shawn Clement. But through the years I've learned that even when the lessons are correct, it's hard to know whether you're doing them right without someone watching. You think you're doing the right thing but not seeing results. Five years later, you realize you were never doing it right at all.

This could be applied to so many facets of my existence.

 

[Mikey Lawless]

Back in the late 80's I played Sherwood a few times. My memory is a little fuzzy but I remember this one hole where the trees were almost touching each other from both sides of the fairway. I was thinking "How am I gonna hit a driver through that narrow gap?" I thought about punching a low shot with my 6 iron. But I hit the driver and it woulda been good in any other fairway. Hit a tree and ended up a 75 yard drive.

Yep, like I said, they don't call it Sherwood Forest fer nuthin'!
I used to be a member there in the late 80s. Maybe there were times we were both on the course at the same time!
Back then, I was finally able to shoot a few rounds in the high 80s. But I haven't broken 100 there since my return to golf after a 20 year plus lay-off.
Now, they have done some tree trimming, but many fairways still require a semi accurate tee shot.....as well as a decent fairway/approach shot. There are maybe four or five holes where the fairway is wide. But there are some that are much like your description, although I can't think of any that have less than a 20 yard wide corridor...which ain't very wide at all!
But honestly, it was not ALL the course's fault. I was topping a higher percentage of approach shots than normal. Then, I reckon overcompensating and diggin' a trench under the ball on some. Those alone probably cost me several points. Maybe as many as eight or ten. It was ugly. And frustrating that it was happening so frequently.
I will not give up, even though I left that day with my tail tucked. I will break 100 there. Someday!

 

[Mikey Lawless]

I was off the fairway to the left, just short of the green. Sitting behind a tree, but with enough of an angle that I could punch out past the trunk to the green, if not the flag. Punch shot goes straight up, hits a branch, and bounces behind me and to my right about ten yards. OK, same shot, different spot. Second punch goes straight up, hits the same branch, and bounces behind me and to the right about 10 yards. I pick up my ball and give it a toss out to the fairway. Chip on, 2-putt, give myself a 5.

Ouch! I can imagine your frustration! We all can!

Well, that ball was stupid! Didn't know where the hole was. It's good that you chucked it as not infect other balls!

 

[DudeMott]

Oh man, what a two sided story today turned out to be. Hit 5 fairways and 8 GIR! But then I also had 47 putts.......

Still turned in 94! That marks a new PB!

Now just figure out what the heck happened with my putting and I could go pro next year lol.

 

[[snow]]

Put in an hour on the range and half an hour of chipping practice before venturing on another tour round the front 9.
Naturally did not carry swing from range to the course, suddenly hit most shots left, but it wasn't all miserable either.

* hit a 5w straight down the fairway from the first tee - for the first time this season with witnesses around to make me nervous.
* hit it into the woods off the tee twice, quickly found the ball twice. Looking at the scores, probably shouldn't have found it either time, but getting the ball out of odd situations is good practice at least. Also i should read up on what the rules currently allow in terms of relief with or without penalty so i spend less strokes chopping weeds.
* tee shot hit the downslope just behind the green on hole 7. Must have got some crazy bounce from there, ball gone. Course revenge for recovering my balls from the trees previously?
On my way up the next fairway i saw the group behind me stomp around the same general area, with what i assume must have been mirror images of my own puzzled expression
* Took home another par on the 9th

For the first time i noticed how much the course rating affects my handicap - i get SIX strokes added going off my old handicap, wow. That puts me at 104, which isn't that far from current shape. Came round with 53 today (taking a 7 on the par 3 i unexpectedly did not find my ball on) Neat little motivation boost.

 

[JonMA1]

Shot 49/46 95 (22.9) today. Had 2 birdies to offset a couple of quads.

I'm starting to see some consistent trends in strengths and weaknesses. Driving was fairly dependable again today and the short game has become a strength. I had some trouble keeping the ball inside the ropes today but felt like I could get on the green and get a bogey from almost anywhere because of the wedge game. The two birdies came as a result of partial 9i approach shots (100-115 yards) to go along with a birdie last week from that same club. So there's a lot of confidence with that club/swing.

While I hit two greens with my hybrid clubs today - a 200 yard 3h and a 166 yard 4h - those clubs remain a liability in the form of topping. Lag putting wasn't very good and there were several 3 putts today. I'm also failing to hit my distances with my irons which requires pulling more club - and even missing short a couple times by doing that.

Honestly, I'm satisfied shooting in the 90's, it just requires work to stay here. I hope to learn to get closer on chips. If I can 1-putt a couple times per round due to better chipping, that'll help offset the full swing weaknesses.

 

[Steve-O]

Played my 3rd round of the year yesterday and finally broke 100 with a 46/49-95. Honestly, had my short game been better I could have broke 90. I drove the ball well, including 71% FIR on the back nine. Iron play may have been the best ever. I think I had maybe 2 really bad iron shots. I parred 2 of the first 3 holes and even had a birdie! I was cruising along on the back and after the 12th hole I thought to myself, "Hmmm, I haven't had a triple bogey yet". You can guess what happened next. Triples on the 13th and 16th. Water balls on the 16th and 17th. Some truly bad greenside play as well.

I posted this in the Live thread, but on the 12th I hit a decent drive in the FW. I had 143 to the pin, it was a bit of a blind shot. I could see the top of the flag but not the green. I hit a really nice 7i that started just left of the flag and slowly drifted right. I'm thinking that it could be pretty good if I got the distance right. I get up to the green and see this.

View attachment 9003904

Good deal! Hitting to a green you can't see and having a nice surprise like this is one of the sweetest things in golf, IMHO.

 

[ntanygd760]

Hamfist hit many good shots, I hit a few. He would of broke 100 but he lit the round on fire on 18. Fun was had

 

[PatsFan]

95 today. 1st time under 100 this year. Could easily have been a 90 or a 97. I chipped in from 6 yards off to save par. Only had 1-3 putt all day!

 

[Dartgod]

Played a quick 9 this afternoon. Started off well going bogey, par, bogey and then the wheels fell off. Mostly in the short game though. I hit 5 of 7 fairways with the driver and hit my irons fairly well again. Chipping from just off the green has been my downfall lately. And these were the fastest greens I've probably ever played on. 21 putts on 9 holes. Ooof.

Finished with a nice bogey and a 53.

 

[tehuti]

Golf is just the weirdest game. I played 9 today with a pulled muscle in my lower back. I probably should have stayed home and rested, so I didn’t expect much. Ended up playing one of my better rounds in weeks. Including a couple of really lucky bounces.

I don’t get it.


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[srx700xxx]

I made my golf debut last Monday and put in another round yesterday at a 9 hole course. I only played a few rounds last year and gave it up in June. I'm thinking that it was 3 rounds total with no practice. The aches and pains were not worth it. Monday's round was in really wet conditions so I was not expecting much for distance but it turned out to be a doozie. I had 3 pars on the front nine and multiple penalties off the tee on others. The drives were duck hooks into the woods. I got used to that knocking sound with the ball vs. hardwood. In all that was the typical tops and divots a couple of inches behind the ball. Come to think of it, they are my only divots when playing. I went out with a 51 which wasn't too bad considering all the drama. I came around again from the same white tees and had 5 pars for a 47. The switch was either on or off to finish up with a 98. Yeah!, first-round under 100.

I should have gone out the next day because I was feeling great body-wise. I didn't and then Wednesday and Thursday I was feeling it with the sore back and stiff body.

Saturday's round was still wet in places. The front nine turned into a disaster with only 1 par and the accompanying slumped shoulders and head down 58. The same stuff was going on off the tee and compounded with the fatties, tops, and ever-loving skulls around the greens. I was considering the thought of packing up but sat in the cart for a couple of minutes and was thinking what am I doing differently from 1 year ago when I gave it up. I came up with two quick ones while driving up to the first tee. I thought my grip might be wrong so I will change that. The other was slowing the backswing down and try to make good, solid contact. I wasn't worried about hitting bombs because I never could hit them. You can't do that when your hips are locked in or swaying back. Keep it simple stupid!!! I went on a 3 hole bogey run that had me tickled pink. Next up was par and another bogey run for 4 holes. On the last hole, I hit 3 fat shots in a row that caused a double-bogey. Someone was trying to kill it. I finished with a 45 and I'll take that 103 round over the other see-saw affair. I'm glad I shaved 13 strokes off from the earlier train wreck.

Hopefully, when I get a few more rounds under my belt the distances will creep into my 'short' yardages from before. Someday I'll learn to take a proper divot.

 

[BigMac]

Golf is just the weirdest game. I played 9 today with a pulled muscle in my lower back. I probably should have stayed home and rested, so I didn’t expect much. Ended up playing one of my better rounds in weeks. Including a couple of really lucky bounces.

I don’t get it.

I’ve played some good rounds when dealing with pulled back muscles. My theory is that it keeps me from overswinging, which allows me to hit the sweet spot more often. I hit the ball further and straighter with shots like that than I do when I’m swinging out of my shoes.

I’m not real flexible anyway, so trying big swings introduces more moving parts, and also requires perfect timing to get them to all sync up right - and when they don’t, the result usually isn’t pretty.

 

[Hamfist]

Hamfist hit many good shots, I hit a few. He would of broke 100 but he lit the round on fire on 18. Fun was had

Yep. Ben finally found his driver on the 5th hole and was bombing from there.

 

[Hamfist]

Here’s the play-by-play of my flushing my round down the sh***er on 18:
Was sitting 10 yards off the front of the green on 18, with the pin 10 feet off the front edge, laying 2. Proceed to blade the ******* thing all the way off the back of the green and then chip it all of 4 feet back onto the green, first putt has to go down a slope, speeds off the front, and I then two-putt for a sweet, sweet 7.

 

[Annhl8rX]

I had an 11:20 tee time this morning and swung by the PGA Superstore on the way to pick up a new (to me...it was a demo) driver. Piped one down the middle on number one and that was where the positivity ended.

I couldn’t make solid contact with any club other than driver all day. On my tee shot on number 5 the driver shaft broke right where it entered the adapter.

I didn’t have anything better than a triple bogey until number 7, which I doubled. All in all I ended up with two bogeys for the round...everything else was double or worse. I ended up going 64/56 for a 120.

I’m just choosing to write this one off completely. I was playing a new driver (that broke), and irons I haven’t used in several years that I already know are horribly suited for me. I also have participated in very little golf activity in the past few months.

Now that all the bad is out of the way I’ll give you the good. It was a fantastic day to be out on the course...the kind of day we only get a few of each year here. I also played with a friend of my brother in law who just moved to town. He was a great guy to play with and will likely make the fourth for our usual group.

It’s not often I play so poorly and come away feeling like I had a great time, but that’s the case today.

 

[tehuti]

I’ve played some good rounds when dealing with pulled back muscles. My theory is that it keeps me from overswinging, which allows me to hit the sweet spot more often. I hit the ball further and straighter with shots like that than I do when I’m swinging out of my shoes.

I’m not real flexible anyway, so trying big swings introduces more moving parts, and also requires perfect timing to get them to all sync up right - and when they don’t, the result usually isn’t pretty.

I think swinging easier did actually help me. Though I did not hit the ball further than normal. However, I hit straighter shots for sure.


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[tehuti]

Here’s the play-by-play of my flushing my round down the sh***er on 18:
Was sitting 10 yards off the front of the green on 18, with the pin 10 feet off the front edge, laying 2. Proceed to blade the ******* thing all the way off the back of the green and then chip it all of 4 feet back onto the green, first putt has to go down a slope, speeds off the front, and I then two-putt for a sweet, sweet 7.

I feel your pain.


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[roobs88]

So having recently joined a club all my rounds are on the same course. After my first dip under 100 ever (98 recently), I’ve since shot 114, 105 and last time out from nowhere a 92! Ninety Two!

This is a weird old game.


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[Hamfist]

So having recently joined a club all my rounds are on the same course. After my first dip under 100 ever (98 recently), I’ve since shot 114, 105 and last time out from nowhere a 92! Ninety Two!

This is a weird old game.


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A maddening, weird old game.

 

[Hamfist]

I think swinging easier did actually help me. Though I did not hit the ball further than normal. However, I hit straighter shots for sure.


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I was swinging easy as well this weekend, same (or slightly less) distance, a lot better landing spots.

 

[BigMac]

So having recently joined a club all my rounds are on the same course. After my first dip under 100 ever (98 recently), I’ve since shot 114, 105 and last time out from nowhere a 92! Ninety Two!

This is a weird old game.

I just read an article in one of the golf magazines last night about how even the pros have trouble shooting two good rounds in a row, and how they'll often go high after a good low round. They interviewed several of the pros and all of them basically said the same thing - that's just golf.

 

[Scorp]

Here’s the play-by-play of my flushing my round down the sh***er on 18:
Was sitting 10 yards off the front of the green on 18, with the pin 10 feet off the front edge, laying 2. Proceed to blade the ******* thing all the way off the back of the green and then chip it all of 4 feet back onto the green, first putt has to go down a slope, speeds off the front, and I then two-putt for a sweet, sweet 7.

That sounds like my round yesterday. On a short par 3... my tee shot is short and left. A chip got me on the green with the pin maybe 10 feet away. And I proceeded to 5 putt to finish the hole. But I had a good time.

 

[DudeMott]

So having recently joined a club all my rounds are on the same course. After my first dip under 100 ever (98 recently), I’ve since shot 114, 105 and last time out from nowhere a 92! Ninety Two!

This is a weird old game.


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Golf is a mental game....you have to be mental to play it.