Trying to Break 100

[wazzubrew]

After shooting under 100 in 16 of 20 rounds and thinking I could escape this thread, I am firmly back in it. I've been back over 100 in 11 of my last 18, which is worse than it sounds because I had 4 in a row under 100 in there. Some of them weren't close either, trending closer to 110. I'm having a huge mental/confidence block.

Swing has been feeling much better lately and I've been tearing up the range, but wanted to temper my expectations because that doesn't always transfer to the course.

Finally got out there this past weekend and started a little better than I have been the past 2-3 months, finishing +12 after 9. With how I've been playing, on pace to break 100 felt pretty good. Once again, off the tee is my biggest weakness but the rest was looking pretty good.

Back 9 started with a par and was going better until I dropped a quad on 13 -- a bad, short tee shot followed by a water hazard -- and was +6 through 4 on the back. I then went birdie, par, par, par, bogey for an E last 5 holes. Probably could have parred the last hole but tee shot went errant and had to play from the trees, played the rest of the hole perfect. +6 on the back 9 is tied for my best 9 and I had a +4 hole in there! On top of that, it was pouring rain. Feeling much better about my game now and had to share. Thanks for listening

 

[charley48]

I've been pretty steady breaking 100 the past few months. But breaking 90 feels like its so far away. I just can't escape the mistakes that prevents me from breaking 90. Its not a case of trying to work out a specific problem with practice. The problems are all over the map. A good chip one hole. A skulled chip the next. A solid 15 foot putt one hole. 3 putts the next. A solid iron shot one hole. A banana slice the next. Two impressive pars in a row followed by a breakdown hole.

On and on it goes. I do practice a lot. You would think I would start eliminating or at least reducing the mistakes. Most mistakes are not bad decisions. Its execution. I've been told that its weird I don't score better. Just watching me play and not paying attention to the score my playing partners are surprised when we tally up the score. They say I hit plenty of good shots. They just can't figure out why the score isn't better.

 

[Hamfist]

No golf. Back still hurts a bit too much. Contemplating hanging them up for a while.

 

[charley48]

No golf. Back still hurts a bit too much. Contemplating hanging them up for a while.

Well that sucks. Maybe you can do what I do to feel better about not playing. I downloaded WGT golf to my phone. If I could play like that for real I'd be on the tour.

 

[JonMA1]

Shot a 44 this morning at my 9 hole course. There was a bit of luck involved as on two separate occasions I got good bounces off trees. I also chipped one in for birdie. 7 bogeys, 1 double and the birdie. Very fun golf!

The driver continues to plague me in such a random way. It's hard to fix something when the swings of perfect shots feel just like those of slices and hooks.

Wedges, irons and hybrids felt solid again today. I only hit a couple GIR (and 3-putted both), but almost everything was either greenside or I'd hit greens after having to punch out from a crappy drive. 18 putts overall.

 

[wadesworld]

No golf. Back still hurts a bit too much. Contemplating hanging them up for a while.

I'm over a month out from my car accident and still haven't been able to swing a club. My hand is feeling better though. I think another couple weeks and I'l be ready to give it a try again - right when the weather will probably turn to crap.

 

[JonMA1]

No golf. Back still hurts a bit too much. Contemplating hanging them up for a while.

I'm over a month out from my car accident and still haven't been able to swing a club. My hand is feeling better though. I think another couple weeks and I'l be ready to give it a try again - right when the weather will probably turn to crap.

Here's to speedy recoveries for you both.

 

[tehuti]

I couldn’t hit a driver shot at the range at all today. Tomorrow’s round could be ugly.


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[JonMA1]

Shot a 91 this morning on an easy course (47/44, 25 hdcp diff).

I said I wasn't going to complain about low 90's scores so I won't do that, but I didn't feel like I played well. Hit a few GIRs, made a couple pars, but just kept getting bogeys (beats the normal alternative). Whether it was missing an easy approach or not hitting my chips close enough for a 1-putt, I just felt off. Still, this is the type of golf I'm happy playing. Could have easily been in the high 90's on any of the other courses I play so there's a bit of work to do. Only penalty came from an unplayable lie off a 3h approach. No lost balls today. Nice relaxing round of golf.

 

[tehuti]

Driver woes continued today, but fortunately everything else was decent. I shot 92 on a par 67 course, which is good for me.


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[Frank559]

Shot a 104 today at a course I've never played at--with a buddy of mine who last played there 5 years ago and we were mostly the blind leading the blind. Most of the holes had blind spots from the tee box and there were a ton of unfamiliar doglegs. Had a few shots that landed in a bad place just because we didn't know where to aim at unfortunately. Oh well. It's golf.

 

[ULEWZ]

Played my local 9 hole exec today with the wife and she beat me by one stroke! I shot a pretty good 34 and she shot a PB of 33 with two birdies. On one par 4, she hit a good driver shot about 210 yards, then an iron shot that hit within 3 feet of the hole, and then cut left to within 1 foot of the hole. She strolled up and casually says, I think that's a gimmie. She played great and I was happy to have her play so good. Full 18 holes on Wednesday, so that should be fun.

 

[charley48]

Really happy with my round yesterday. A solid 92. Been a while since I shot that low. Probably last year the last time I did that. Driver was on fire. Hit a lot of fairways and the ones I missed weren't in a bad spot. Hit longer than usual too. Still having trouble hitting greens in regulation. Not many pars. But a whole lot of bogeys. If it wasn't for that snowman in the middle of the round I coulda broke 90. Found water twice on the same hole.

What is really encouraging was the fairway woods. I haven't had a 3 wood in my bag for the past couple years. I've been spending a lot of time with it at the range. I felt I might be close to being able to use it. So I tried it and it was much better. Far from perfect. A couple pushes and a pull. But there were no mishit shanks. The contact was good. Each one was over 200 yards. If I hit a good enough drive I might have a chance to make the green in two on the par 5's. The ones on the front nine are only in the 480ish range. The other two are closer to 500.

 

[ULEWZ]

Played a decent round today for an 89. No birdies today, but no snowman either which seems to be key. My putts were close today, but no cigar until a 15 footer on 18. Saved my round with a par. Shooting in the 80s is not the norm yet, but getting close.

 

[charley48]

Gonna hit the range in a little bit and work some more on the fairway woods. Its strange how my 3 wood has a lower trajectory. And my 5 wood is really high. I suppose its good for trying to hit the green from further out. But there's a big distance discrepancy between the two. The 3 with the rollout goes easily over 200. Somewhere in the 210-220 range. The 5 is closer to 180 because there's not much rollout and loses distance due to the height. My nemesis is a 195 yard par 3. The only clubs that reach that can go too far. And there is water behind that green. Seen too many balls go in there in the past.

 

[ULEWZ]

Gonna hit the range in a little bit and work some more on the fairway woods. Its strange how my 3 wood has a lower trajectory. And my 5 wood is really high. I suppose its good for trying to hit the green from further out. But there's a big distance discrepancy between the two. The 3 with the rollout goes easily over 200. Somewhere in the 210-220 range. The 5 is closer to 180 because there's not much rollout and loses distance due to the height. My nemesis is a 195 yard par 3. The only clubs that reach that can go too far. And there is water behind that green. Seen too many balls go in there in the past.

Try choking down with the 3 wood. Should be 195 for you.

 

[charley48]

Try choking down with the 3 wood. Should be 195 for you.

I was just getting ready to hit a bucket of balls yesterday and got a call from a friend. He had a tee time for us in less than an hour. So I ended up playing a round instead of practicing. I did choke down on the 3 wood on that long par 3. Just like you said it went about 190-195. I missed the green a little to the left but was pin high. An easy chip and I got a rare par on that hole.

I'm liking the 3 wood now. On a par 5 on the back nine I hit a really high drive into the wind. Lost distance. Close to 300 to the hole. I hit the 3 wood inside of the 100 yard marker. Missed the green because I pulled the wedge but that 3 wood is now giving me a chance on the longer shots.

Oh, I shot a 96. Not as good as the previous round but I was fine with it. My short game was probably the best its been. I got a couple free lessons on the short game from a friend who is really good at it. I'm liking the changes he showed me. Coulda been a better round but it was the 2nd shots that did me in. I need to work on the mid and longer irons. Was not hitting clean at all.

 

[JonMA1]

It was ugly today. I had to stop keeping score after a couple blowup holes and an inability to have even the slightest control over the driver. Ended up playing 3 and 4 balls after that as the course was log-jammed in front of me. Started to straighten out the driver by the round but nothing I can depend on for a decent score.

Irons, short game and even putting were at a good level. Hybrids were so-so. Had I decided not to play the driver the score would have likely been mid to high 90's on a mid-difficulty course. Felt good to get out and get some exercise, but by not keeping score I felt like it was a wasted opportunity to play golf instead of practicing.

 

[charley48]

Been spending more time at the practice range. Trying to have a smoother swing with better rhythm. Its easy to find it at the practice range. You hit one ball after another and get into a good swing groove. Not as easy at the course because of the time it takes between shots. But its slowly getting better.

When I swing with a good, smooth motion its always good. I just have to focus on not trying to muscle it. That is when things go bad. My natural instinct wants to swing hard. Without rhythm and tempo. It was fine in baseball/softball. Not so much with golf.

 

[mtbloco]

Been spending more time at the practice range. Trying to have a smoother swing with better rhythm. Its easy to find it at the practice range. You hit one ball after another and get into a good swing groove. Not as easy at the course because of the time it takes between shots. But its slowly getting better.

When I swing with a good, smooth motion its always good. I just have to focus on not trying to muscle it. That is when things go bad. My natural instinct wants to swing hard. Without rhythm and tempo. It was fine in baseball/softball. Not so much with golf.

yep. relaxing and swinging with a smooth tempo is an absolute must for me. working on course, to recenter myself with the swing goes haywire is the best way to improve this. that game pressure has to be applied and learned to be dealt with.

 

[Frank559]

Amazing how much difference being in the fairway with the driver it makes.

Yesterday I shot a 94 (+23) at a fairly difficult course with narrow fairways but was a tale of 2 halves. Scored a 53 on the front 9 where I couldn't keep my driver in bounds so the penalties really added up and it was becoming one of those days. Then for some reason the driver came back on the back 9 and other shots also straightened out where I made 5 pars, 3 bogeys, and a double bogey for a 41 on the back 9. My buddies were amazed at the transformation. I just shrugged. I don't think there was anything I was doing differently than before.

Fast forward one day and I decide to go for a quick 30-min range session to see if yesterday's good vibes carry over and it was a resounding NOPE.

What a strange game.

 

[brian7770]

Case in point about my inconsistency, I shot a 102 (55-47) today at a course with small greens and lots of trees. My misses tend to be pull draws, and they certainly showed up today. My short game could have been better too.

 

[tehuti]

I played 10 over on my regular Sunday 9 hole round. Blew up on the two par 4s (typical). But otherwise I played decently. 4 pars in 9 holes is a major accomplishment for me.


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[JonMA1]

44/51 95 (25.2) at my home course.

The first 9 holes were pretty good by my standards. No lost balls or penalties on a course that punishes offline or duffed shots. Full swing shots were fairly straight and well-struck. Ironically, it was the short game - which has been so solid this year - that cost me several strokes on the front nine.

The back 9 wasn't very good. The only penalty came about from playing the "safe" option off the tee and topping a 3h into the marsh. Still, there was plenty of calamity with other parts of the game and the score could have been worse.

A 95 isn't a terrible score for me but it makes me realize 1) I'm never going to get to bogey golf and 2) how hard it is to enjoy a good front 9 when I can't seal the deal on the back.

 

[wadesworld]

1) I'm never going to get to bogey golf and 2) how hard it is to enjoy a good front 9 when I can't seal the deal on the back.

Nonsense. If you can shoot 95 then 85 is a possibility. It may take patience and a lot of work, but it’s achievable at some point.

Now it gets harder as you go down so just because you shoot 85 doesn’t mean you’re really close to 75, but 85 is not a crazy goal.


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