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Trying to Break 100

If only my putter would heat up. Had five, three putts today through nine holes. Not good form Peter. I GIR'd almost every hole, so still shot a 36 on a par 30, but damn, my putting stinks. Seems my long putts are severely lacking and need some Devine intervention. I love my putter, and my aim is pretty good, just distance control. Any ideas on how to work on this, other than just practice more?

Note: all my pars, four of them, were with only two putts, and one, one putt.
 
Hamfist shot 103 today I think and I threw my putter 103 feet into a lake.
 
wadesworld said:
On a lot of holes, you have to play the hole your tee ball gives you. A course I play frequently is exactly like that. It's a LONG par 4. If I hit a great tee ball, I can consider going for it. If not, then it's a 3-shot hole and I just give myself a putt at par but walk away content with a bogey…
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Such a good point, especially for golfers who aren’t consistent with their tee shots (and I include myself in that group). There are several holes on my home course where pushing your luck after a bad tee shot has a very good chance of bringing a big number into play. Much smarter to take whatever your tee ball gives you and play for GIR +1 and a bogey if necessary, rather than blowing up your scorecard with a double or triple from trying some hero move to make up for the bad tee shot.

It’s hard to do because your ego doesn’t want you to do it, but I’ve learned to be happy walking off that green with the feeling that I minimized the damage to my scorecard.
 
I just had a nice little practice session on the range followed by the front nine of my home course.
I only had enough golf left for about 3 of them, though, having used up all the good shots on the range somehow.
Lost 4 balls through the first 3 holes. Had me reasonably upset. If someone had cut a hole in my bag, the golf balls would have had a hard time escaping faster. Contemplated just turning around and going home midway through the second hole.

Gave up on scoring the round after those first holes. Mental scorecard doesn't have enough space for multiple double digit additions, but on i went.
Lost 2 more balls to wilderness on the 4th and 7th, but at least some of the shots in between those looked like golf.
Accidentally made a par on the 6th by hitting the ball thin and then having the rough on the bank of the lake take just enough speed off the ball for it to end up pin high, 10ft from the hole :confused:

Worst round of the season, hopefully
 
Been a busy week for me. Not much time for golfing. I did squeeze in 9 holes late Friday. Shot a 48. Pretty steady round after a triple on the first hole. Found water. It took a 10 foot one putt to save triple. After a good drive I hooked one into the trees. Tried a hero shot and ended up still in the trees. Then I find water on the 3rd shot. My penalty shot wasn't good either. Ended up in the trap.

After that I made 7 straight bogeys. No pars. Its been like that. On the days I make a lot of bogeys I don't get pars. I doubled hole 9 with a 3 putt. It was a tough downhill lag around 40 feet. Ran it too far past for the bogey putt. Before that hole I had some pretty good lags on par putts. Two putting every hole. But not one green in regulation. Although they weren't too far off. Set me up with easy chips to at least give me a chance.

I might have to wait a few days to get back out there. An early heat wave is coming. Tomorrow its supposed to be 106. If it happens in July my body is better adjusted to it. This early makes it tough. I think I'll wait till later in the week when it drops back to the 90's.
 
ULEWZ said:
If only my putter would heat up. Had five, three putts today through nine holes. Not good form Peter. I GIR'd almost every hole, so still shot a 36 on a par 30, but damn, my putting stinks. Seems my long putts are severely lacking and need some Devine intervention. I love my putter, and my aim is pretty good, just distance control. Any ideas on how to work on this, other than just practice more?

Note: all my pars, four of them, were with only two putts, and one, one putt.
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First thing would be to take a lesson strictly on putting. Like in other areas of the short game, there are things where if your technique is wrong, it will make it very difficult to have any consistent touch.

Once your technique is sound, the biggest thing IMHO is to really feel the weight of the putter and allow it to swing, which gives your brain a chance to do what it can do so well and calculate the momentum you need based on gravity. When you're too rigid and forcing the putter back and through too much, your brain says, "I have no idea what you're going to do" and distance control is extremely difficult.
 
I played 9 today. In spite of not really playing that well I would have still scored okay if I could have hit my 3-5 foot putts. I was awful on the greens - again.


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Waiting on the 12th tee box and having the worst round I’ve had in years. I’m definitely going backwards on my quest for bogey golf. It is one of the nicest days of the year however and I’m burning calories, so there’s that.
 
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JonMA1 said:
Waiting on the 12th tee box and having the worst round I’ve had in years. I’m definitely going backwards on my quest for bogey golf. It is one one the nicest days of the year however and I’m burning calories, so there’s that.
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You know what they say, "a bad day of golf, is better than......."
 
I ended up with 5 or 6 GIR on the day and 4-putted on three of those. With exception once again with chipping and pitching, every part of my game was as bad as someone playing golf for the first time in route to a 106. Starting to understand why I gave up trying to improve the last two years. This season is worse than it’s been in a long time. Some people are not meant to play this game.
 
JonMA1 said:
I ended up with 5 or 6 GIR on the day and 4-putted on three of those. With exception once again with chipping and pitching, every part of my game was as bad as someone playing golf for the first time in route to a 106. Starting to understand why I gave up trying to improve the last two years. This season is worse than it’s been in a long time. Some people are not meant to play this game.
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5 or 6 GIRs is great. Your putting is a little disappointing (like mine), so the takeaway here is to practice that. Even after a bad round, I just want to play more to get better. I say, if you still enjoy the game, continue to play, but if it gives you no joy, you may have to rethink your options.
 
Haven’t posted here for a long time. Lack of playing and my game being even more crap than usual have contributed to that.

Played Saturday in the Bourbon Bash and shot a 98. Started out rough. I can’t remember exactly but I was well on my way to a 120+. Chipping and putting were good for me. Driver was short but playable. Irons were horrible. They’ve been bad since last year. Might be time for a change there.

I walked up to 18 needing a 6 or lower to break 100. It’s a mid length par 4 uphill dogleg left and there was a left to right wind. My stock (only) shot is a fade. Yippee 😑 Hit probably probably my best drive of that round. Had 180ish to the green which shows how short I was hitting it. 6h right at the flag but caught it fat and came up short of the green. Hit a so so chip, 2 putt for bogey. Finished with a 98. Considering how I started I’ll take that
 
ULEWZ said:
I say, if you still enjoy the game, continue to play, but if it gives you no joy, you may have to rethink your options.
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Seems like it should be an easy decision, doesn't it?

The game gives me a great deal of enjoyment. I even considered walking another 18 today. But failing so badly to reach what I thought might be a reasonable goal is something I'm not used to in life. It's not like I've set out the get to single-digits. I just have to let my pride & ego catch up to what my brain already knows. Being persistent is not a bad quality to possess. I respect those who push themselves - even if it's for something as trivial as reaching a certain level of golf. But at some point every golfer realizes they've probably hit their pinnacle. Mine just happens to be at a much worse level than most.

I hit several great shots today. I almost always do. I don't yet suffer from the injuries or lack of mobility that many folks my age experience. I hit two of the longest drives of the season, dropped almost every chip and pitch where I wanted, and I hit a few GIRs. Unfortunately, all the positives didn't change the fact that I was grinding just to score doubles. In the end, I carded a 106 which is simply my game. I haven't learned how to be ok with that.
 
I played the same 9 hole course 3 times this weekend and I did not have a single good round. My game is definitely trending in the wrong direction lately but I need to just play through it. Today was the worst of the three days. Good thing I have 5 days to put it behind me before I play again.


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I played at a new to me course on Saturday morning. I managed to keep the ball in play for the most part (put one in the woods from the tee box on 14), but just couldn’t move the ball down the course. I shot a 110 with what I’d consider a decent short game. I just couldn’t advance the ball.

Most of my trouble was with contact...lots of chunks and tops. Even when I did make contact, though, my distance was way off from what I’m accustomed to. By the end of the round I was clubbing up two clubs and still coming up short. I’m talking, “can’t get it there from 110 with a 9 iron” short. I’m hoping it was just an off day caused by trying to implement stuff from my most recent lesson.
 
Turtlerancher said:
Your putting woes could have been better expressed by throwing @Hamfist into the lake! 😉😛
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If he tried, I would have gone all “Limp Body Fireman Dead Weight Training Guy” and made him pull a groin.
 
Annhl8rX said:
I played at a new to me course on Saturday morning. I managed to keep the ball in play for the most part (put one in the woods from the tee box on 14), but just couldn’t move the ball down the course. I shot a 110 with what I’d consider a decent short game. I just couldn’t advance the ball.

Most of my trouble was with contact...lots of chunks and tops. Even when I did make contact, though, my distance was way off from what I’m accustomed to. By the end of the round I was clubbing up two clubs and still coming up short. I’m talking, “can’t get it there from 110 with a 9 iron” short. I’m hoping it was just an off day caused by trying to implement stuff from my most recent lesson.
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“can’t get it there from 110 with a 9 iron” - that is my standard 9-iron distance. Short is my game
 
Dropped a sweet 43/49 on one of my regular courses today. It’s short, 5700, but has some challenges. A small amount of cheating was observed. I was pretty much dead on from 100 in. A great wedge day for me.

In other news, I was in Golf Galaxy the other day, and picked up a used Ping Sigma G Tyne putter (Looks like an Odyssey #7.) I was there just to kill time and saw it, rolled some putts, and was dropping some long range ones. a friend was there with me, and forced me to buy it. The first round with it, I dropped a 25 footer, and was hitting some edge burners from about 10-12 feet. Feels much heavier and steadier than the current Odyssey #9 I have. (Which, in it's defense was doing just fine on the greens.) It's in pretty good condition with the exception of a tiny dent in the face out near the toe. It's out of the impact zone, so it doesn't bother me.
 
Hamfist said:
Dropped a sweet 43/49 on one of my regular courses today. It’s short, 5700, but has some challenges. A small amount of cheating was observed. I was pretty much dead on from 100 in. A great wedge day for me.

In other news, I was in Golf Galaxy the other day, and picked up a used Ping Sigma G Tyne putter (Looks like an Odyssey #7.) I was there just to kill time and saw it, rolled some putts, and was dropping some long range ones. a friend was there with me, and forced me to buy it. The first round with it, I dropped a 25 footer, and was hitting some edge burners from about 10-12 feet. Feels much heavier and steadier than the current Odyssey #9 I have. (Which, in it's defense was doing just fine on the greens.) It's in pretty good condition with the exception of a tiny dent in the face out near the toe. It's out of the impact zone, so it doesn't bother me.
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A few years ago I was using a Taylormade clone from Amazon. It was ok. I figured the putting problems were not caused by the equipment. I eventually broke down and bought an Odyssey Works putter with the Superstroke grip. Now I see the difference in the better made putters. If I'm not putting well at least I know its not the putter.
 
Snowman said:
Such a good point, especially for golfers who aren’t consistent with their tee shots (and I include myself in that group). There are several holes on my home course where pushing your luck after a bad tee shot has a very good chance of bringing a big number into play. Much smarter to take whatever your tee ball gives you and play for GIR +1 and a bogey if necessary, rather than blowing up your scorecard with a double or triple from trying some hero move to make up for the bad tee shot.

It’s hard to do because your ego doesn’t want you to do it, but I’ve learned to be happy walking off that green with the feeling that I minimized the damage to my scorecard.
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this is absolutely the recipe that pushed me closer than ever to my goal of becoming a bogey golfer. No matter how poor my tee shot, play a sensible shot to recover so you can be on in GIR+1 and then 2 putt. That mentality help stabilize me. I still make plenty of doubles, but triple free rounds have happened.
 
LLIB said:
Haven’t posted here for a long time. Lack of playing and my game being even more crap than usual have contributed to that.

Played Saturday in the Bourbon Bash and shot a 98. Started out rough. I can’t remember exactly but I was well on my way to a 120+. Chipping and putting were good for me. Driver was short but playable. Irons were horrible. They’ve been bad since last year. Might be time for a change there.

I walked up to 18 needing a 6 or lower to break 100. It’s a mid length par 4 uphill dogleg left and there was a left to right wind. My stock (only) shot is a fade. Yippee 😑 Hit probably probably my best drive of that round. Had 180ish to the green which shows how short I was hitting it. 6h right at the flag but caught it fat and came up short of the green. Hit a so so chip, 2 putt for bogey. Finished with a 98. Considering how I started I’ll take that
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Nice man! recovering mentally from a poor start is tough. Happy you turned it around.
 
ULEWZ said:
If only my putter would heat up. Had five, three putts today through nine holes. Not good form Peter. I GIR'd almost every hole, so still shot a 36 on a par 30, but damn, my putting stinks. Seems my long putts are severely lacking and need some Devine intervention. I love my putter, and my aim is pretty good, just distance control. Any ideas on how to work on this, other than just practice more?

Note: all my pars, four of them, were with only two putts, and one, one putt.
Click to expand...

Simply practicing more is not going to solve it. Distance control, IMO, is the most critical aspect of putting. THis may sound over simplified, but it's how I approach putting. Job one, get the ball rolling end over end. Once you can do that, then you can learn distance control. A line on your ball really helps you see the quality of your roll. Job two, ensure its rolling on your intended line.

Then you judge the quality of your putt based on did you get the ball rolling end over end and on your intended start line? Did you hit it with enough pace? If the answers are yes, then that was a successful putt. It going in the hole is a consequence, not the goal/ qualifier of putting.

For high cappers like us, your goal is to 2 putt, so getting it to three feet and avoiding 5-6 foot putts is critical for reducing three putt holes.
 
mtbloco said:
Simply practicing more is not going to solve it. Distance control, IMO, is the most critical aspect of putting. THis may sound over simplified, but it's how I approach putting. Job one, get the ball rolling end over end. Once you can do that, then you can learn distance control. A line on your ball really helps you see the quality of your roll. Job two, ensure its rolling on your intended line.

Then you judge the quality of your putt based on did you get the ball rolling end over end and on your intended start line? Did you hit it with enough pace? If the answers are yes, then that was a successful putt. It going in the hole is a consequence, not the goal/ qualifier of putting.

For high cappers like us, your goal is to 2 putt, so getting it to three feet and avoiding 5-6 foot putts is critical for reducing three putt holes.
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Very true, but long putts either end up way short, or off the other end. That is my achilleas heel. My line is normally pretty good. I will see if end over end is happening, as you may be correct in the reason for coming up short. I notice Jordan gives a slight forward lean before putting, and I have tried that, but it normally makes my putts short. I will try some different techniques and see.
 
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