Trying to Break 100

I’m going to have to read this whole thread. Breaking 100 would be a great goal for me this summer. I just started swinging the clubs a few weeks ago after taking about 15 years off. And the last few years of that was only a few rounds a year and rarely under 100 back then.

I’ve started taking lessons and have been hitting the range at least twice a week. My irons are getting back in shape, slowly, but my woods are a whole different beast.

Until I can get my driver under somewhat control, I’m not even willing to hit the course. I know I would be frustrated and not enjoy it.

I’ll keep hitting the lessons and range and hopefully in a couple of more weeks I’ll get it straight and head out. Should be just around the time it starts warming up here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Wish me luck,

Alan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’m going to have to read this whole thread. Breaking 100 would be a great goal for me this summer. I just started swinging the clubs a few weeks ago after taking about 15 years off. And the last few years of that was only a few rounds a year and rarely under 100 back then.

I’ve started taking lessons and have been hitting the range at least twice a week. My irons are getting back in shape, slowly, but my woods are a whole different beast.

Until I can get my driver under somewhat control, I’m not even willing to hit the course. I know I would be frustrated and not enjoy it.

I’ll keep hitting the lessons and range and hopefully in a couple of more weeks I’ll get it straight and head out. Should be just around the time it starts warming up here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Wish me luck,

Alan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think your game will not start to takeoff until you start playing a real golf course. The wife and I played a lot of the local 9 hole executive course, but our game did not start to really improve until we starting playing 18 hole 72 par courses. My layoff was 35 years! I was in your shoes last March, and almost 1 year later, I have shaved at least 10 strokes off my game. Now the challenge is breaking 90.;)
 
The 58 I shot on 9 holes today.....ugh. I don’t even want to talk about it. The sad part is that I hit some pretty good shots, and even got a birdie, but man I had some really rough holes.
 
The 58 I shot on 9 holes today.....ugh. I don’t even want to talk about it. The sad part is that I hit some pretty good shots, and even got a birdie, but man I had some really rough holes.
Ouch.
 
How close to Scottsdale are you?
Pretty far. It's about 2.5 hours for me, but I'll travel if there's a round to be played, store to be visited, set of clubs to be fit for. I'm considering finding a swing coach down there and making the trek once every six weeks or so. You making it out this way, Hammy?
 
The 58 I shot on 9 holes today.....ugh. I don’t even want to talk about it. The sad part is that I hit some pretty good shots, and even got a birdie, but man I had some really rough holes.
I can relate. I played both Friday and Saturday. Let's just say that by hole #7 on Friday, I stopped keeping score and just focused on trying to execute a decent swing. The results were...........................mixed. I hate the winter so much. If I'm not swinging a golf club 3-4 times a week (either at the course or the range), my game is utter shite. I wish I could just pick up where I left off (like a lot of people can) but if I'm not swinging a club with regularity, I'm toast. It's almost like I have to re-learn how to swing a club, It sucks.........big time.
 
I think your game will not start to takeoff until you start playing a real golf course. The wife and I played a lot of the local 9 hole executive course, but our game did not start to really improve until we starting playing 18 hole 72 par courses. My layoff was 35 years! I was in your shoes last March, and almost 1 year later, I have shaved at least 10 strokes off my game. Now the challenge is breaking 90.;)

I agree, I play a 9 hole course and an executive 18 regularly. And though I am improving there whenever I play a par 70-72 course I still struggle. The par 5s and long par 4s eat me alive. The only way to get better is to play them a lot, which I hope to do this season.


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Pretty far. It's about 2.5 hours for me, but I'll travel if there's a round to be played, store to be visited, set of clubs to be fit for. I'm considering finding a swing coach down there and making the trek once every six weeks or so. You making it out this way, Hammy?
Yep. April 24-28.Going with pop-in-law and brother-in-law. They tell me I might be on th bench on Sunday so a cousin can play, so, I figured you may want to tee it up. I can probably finagle a car and meet you halfway, if there is any courses to be found.
 
Yep. April 24-28.Going with pop-in-law and brother-in-law. They tell me I might be on th bench on Sunday so a cousin can play, so, I figured you may want to tee it up. I can probably finagle a car and meet you halfway, if there is any courses to be found.
Hmmm, a drive up to Scottsdale to meet and play golf with Hammy? Now that sounds quite interesting...
 
Hmmm, a drive up to Scottsdale to meet and play golf with Hammy? Now that sounds quite interesting...

Interesting is one way to describe it. :p:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
I’m going to have to read this whole thread. Breaking 100 would be a great goal for me this summer. I just started swinging the clubs a few weeks ago after taking about 15 years off. And the last few years of that was only a few rounds a year and rarely under 100 back then.

I’ve started taking lessons and have been hitting the range at least twice a week. My irons are getting back in shape, slowly, but my woods are a whole different beast.

Until I can get my driver under somewhat control, I’m not even willing to hit the course. I know I would be frustrated and not enjoy it.

I’ll keep hitting the lessons and range and hopefully in a couple of more weeks I’ll get it straight and head out. Should be just around the time it starts warming up here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Wish me luck,

Alan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here is a slightly different way to look at it (and one that has been done by a few people in here so I am not taking any credit for it)

How about heading to the course and playing with irons only? Just because you are struggling with woods/driver doesn't mean that you can't head to the course with none of them in your bag
You may find that playing irons to start with will give you more confidence, and then as you get more comfortable on the range with the longer clubs, maybe add one of them to the bag for a few rounds and use it, then add another and repeat until you have your full bag with you

I have carried a few rounds over the winter where I have left a number of clubs out of my bag - I do keep my driver in the bag as I am comfortable hitting it, but I did find at times that I needed to manufacture a few shots as I didn't have the preferred club with me, but as a single digit handicap that helps me with having more shot options I can play with a full bag

And as already mentioned, you don't really learn to play golf properly until you are out on the course - hitting at the range is a bit of an illusion as you have no hazards to avoid, but on the course you have a specific target that you need to be able to hit
If your range has markers, use a couple of them as the edges of imaginary fairways and try to ensure your shot lands between them to simulate hitting a fairway and give you something to focus on

Good luck with the journey and don't worry about bad shots - we all have them regardless of skill level, just go and have fun
 
I have broken 100 several times, but I struggle to stay there. I think for me it boils down to a few simple things and I will stay below 100 and possibly low to mid 90s.

It is more of how to reduce the occasional mishit, misread, and yardage issues. For instance, minimizing a few bad driver hits, some bad putts, clearing up the angles on my iron shots to the greens as I sometimes will go left or right a bit and have to chip up causing an unwanted stroke, and getting solid yardage numbers out of my irons. I am still a bit too inconsistent with my iron distances.

I have been doing much better on harder courses lately as much as 5 stroke improvement at times. I think this Spring my game should be in the 90s and the 100 barrier should be broken more often, but this is golf and who knows with this crazy game.
 
Yep. April 24-28.Going with pop-in-law and brother-in-law. They tell me I might be on th bench on Sunday so a cousin can play, so, I figured you may want to tee it up. I can probably finagle a car and meet you halfway, if there is any courses to be found.
Oh hell yeah! No need to meet me halfway. I'll cruise down there. We'll see if @mtbloco or @oumagic can join us! Bat signal sent!!!!!

Edit: I see @MagicSpell is picking up what you're throwing down. We should have no problem getting a foursome set up.
 
I have broken 100 several times, but I struggle to stay there. I think for me it boils down to a few simple things and I will stay below 100 and possibly low to mid 90s.

It is more of how to reduce the occasional mishit, misread, and yardage issues. For instance, minimizing a few bad driver hits, some bad putts, clearing up the angles on my iron shots to the greens as I sometimes will go left or right a bit and have to chip up causing an unwanted stroke, and getting solid yardage numbers out of my irons. I am still a bit too inconsistent with my iron distances.

I have been doing much better on harder courses lately as much as 5 stroke improvement at times. I think this Spring my game should be in the 90s and the 100 barrier should be broken more often, but this is golf and who knows with this crazy game.

As a high handicapper, minimizing your mistakes is the best way to lower your HC quickly. Avoid turning 2 shots into 3+ shots. As your misses get smaller, your scores will drop pretty fast. Just remember everyone hits bad shots. Don't turn one sh****y shot into several. And follow the doc's advice...
 
I have broken 100 several times, but I struggle to stay there. I think for me it boils down to a few simple things and I will stay below 100 and possibly low to mid 90s.

It is more of how to reduce the occasional mishit, misread, and yardage issues. For instance, minimizing a few bad driver hits, some bad putts, clearing up the angles on my iron shots to the greens as I sometimes will go left or right a bit and have to chip up causing an unwanted stroke, and getting solid yardage numbers out of my irons. I am still a bit too inconsistent with my iron distances.

I have been doing much better on harder courses lately as much as 5 stroke improvement at times. I think this Spring my game should be in the 90s and the 100 barrier should be broken more often, but this is golf and who knows with this crazy game.
As a high handicapper, minimizing your mistakes is the best way to lower your HC quickly. Avoid turning 2 shots into 3+ shots. As your misses get smaller, your scores will drop pretty fast. Just remember everyone hits bad shots. Don't turn one sh****y shot into several. And follow the doc's advice...

Regardless of your handicap, learning to minimise your mistakes is always going to help your score - if you put your tee shot in the trees and have a slim chance of hitting the green or a high chance of making things worse, take your medicine and play the safe shot and get the ball back in to play

Another thing you can think about is if you are 200yds from the green, don't necessarily think you have to go for it with a long iron/hybrid/FW and instead think about playing 2 simple 100yd shots with a PW for example, especially if there are hazards around the green
Now if you struggle with contact in general, then this might not always work, but in theory, playing 2 PW shots should have a higher success rate than 1 shot with a long club

My final bit of advice - ignore the par figure on the scorecard. Just because the scorecard says it is a par 4 doesn't mean you should expect to be on the green in 2 shots and have a birdie chance or par putt at worst. No offence intended to anyone in this thread, but I have often seen higher handicap players stand on the tee of a difficult hole and still think they should make a par and be disappointed with a double-bogey, when in reality it is a nett par for them based on their handicap
A friend of mine plays off 22, but there are still times when we play in a competition together that I have to remind him that there are a few holes still where he has 2 shots to use for his handicap, and I will always tell him to make use of them as a bogey is still a nett birdie
 
Here is a slightly different way to look at it (and one that has been done by a few people in here so I am not taking any credit for it)

How about heading to the course and playing with irons only? Just because you are struggling with woods/driver doesn't mean that you can't head to the course with none of them in your bag
You may find that playing irons to start with will give you more confidence, and then as you get more comfortable on the range with the longer clubs, maybe add one of them to the bag for a few rounds and use it, then add another and repeat until you have your full bag with you

I have carried a few rounds over the winter where I have left a number of clubs out of my bag - I do keep my driver in the bag as I am comfortable hitting it, but I did find at times that I needed to manufacture a few shots as I didn't have the preferred club with me, but as a single digit handicap that helps me with having more shot options I can play with a full bag

And as already mentioned, you don't really learn to play golf properly until you are out on the course - hitting at the range is a bit of an illusion as you have no hazards to avoid, but on the course you have a specific target that you need to be able to hit
If your range has markers, use a couple of them as the edges of imaginary fairways and try to ensure your shot lands between them to simulate hitting a fairway and give you something to focus on


Good luck with the journey and don't worry about bad shots - we all have them regardless of skill level, just go and have fun

Yes to both of these ideas! Luchnia should check out some of the Golf Sidekick youtube videos & watch how many times he or his playing partners hit irons off the tee. Those vids show a playa can score low without hitting driver or even FW woods.

Best bet to start out: Hit the lowest club that you are 95% sure of hitting the fairway off the tee. If it's 7-iron, so be it. As you play more, you'll get better at longer clubs with practice.

And when practicing at the range, aim for targets, visualize the right & left edges of your imaginary fairway so you can see if you are, in fact, hitting the fairway with your shot. And try to take time between each shot - even the same amount of time you would normally take to walk to the next shot, evaluate the lie, etc.

Try to make your practice as much like you play as possible & it should help a lot more than mindlessly hitting driver over and over.
 
Oh hell yeah! No need to meet me halfway. I'll cruise down there. We'll see if @mtbloco or @oumagic can join us! Bat signal sent!!!!!

Edit: I see @MagicSpell is picking up what you're throwing down. We should have no problem getting a foursome set up.


Thanks for the bat signal. I would have missed this.

@Hamfist it would be great to play with you when you're in town. I'm sure that there is a course or two that we can play. All depends on the $$ price points and heat tolerance. I have a Arcis membership. Which means I can advance book a few courses. The best of which is The Raven. My "home course" is Stonecreek. As you may know there are many other great courses to play. Did I read it correctly that you'll be in Scottsdale?
 
Regardless of your handicap, learning to minimise your mistakes is always going to help your score - if you put your tee shot in the trees and have a slim chance of hitting the green or a high chance of making things worse, take your medicine and play the safe shot and get the ball back in to play.

Definitely true. I also meant that using this advice, it's easier for a higher HC player to lower their index by, say 5 strokes, than it would be for someone already shooting 70-80's golf.


Another thing you can think about is if you are 200yds from the green, don't necessarily think you have to go for it with a long iron/hybrid/FW and instead think about playing 2 simple 100yd shots with a PW for example, especially if there are hazards around the green
Now if you struggle with contact in general, then this might not always work, but in theory, playing 2 PW shots should have a higher success rate than 1 shot with a long club

Also fantastic advice. It can be tough to do this - my ego gets in the way a lot lol! I think it's especially tough for younger, athletic players )who figure they have to go for it every time) to check your ego & play the higher percentage, "boring" safe shots.


My final bit of advice - ignore the par figure on the scorecard. Just because the scorecard says it is a par 4 doesn't mean you should expect to be on the green in 2 shots and have a birdie chance or par putt at worst. No offence intended to anyone in this thread, but I have often seen higher handicap players stand on the tee of a difficult hole and still think they should make a par and be disappointed with a double-bogey, when in reality it is a nett par for them based on their handicap
A friend of mine plays off 22, but there are still times when we play in a competition together that I have to remind him that there are a few holes still where he has 2 shots to use for his handicap, and I will always tell him to make use of them as a bogey is still a nett birdie

Doc is en fuego this morning! It really helps me to think of each hole as "par +1" = my par. so a typical nine hole par is 36, but I'm thinking it's 45. It really helps from a mental aspect and allows me to play the safe shot & not feel like I'm losing anything.
 
Doc is en fuego this morning! It really helps me to think of each hole as "par +1" = my par. so a typical nine hole par is 36, but I'm thinking it's 45. It really helps from a mental aspect and allows me to play the safe shot & not feel like I'm losing anything.

This morning.....you mean afternoon..... :ROFLMAO:
I have almost finished a full days work here and will be heading home shortly
 
This morning.....you mean afternoon..... :ROFLMAO:
I have almost finished a full days work here and will be heading home shortly

Slacker!:ROFLMAO: OK, my bad for forgetting the earth is round.
 
My final bit of advice - ignore the par figure on the scorecard. Just because the scorecard says it is a par 4 doesn't mean you should expect to be on the green in 2 shots and have a birdie chance or par putt at worst. No offence intended to anyone in this thread, but I have often seen higher handicap players stand on the tee of a difficult hole and still think they should make a par and be disappointed with a double-bogey, when in reality it is a nett par for them based on their handicap

This is great advice, but very difficult to follow for some (myself included). The more competitive we are, I think the more difficult it becomes. I know that now, sitting at ~12, I'd have a hard time looking at the #9-12 handicap holes as bogey holes most of the time. I think our expectations are based too much on our best instead of our expected.
 
Here is a slightly different way to look at it (and one that has been done by a few people in here so I am not taking any credit for it)

How about heading to the course and playing with irons only? Just because you are struggling with woods/driver doesn't mean that you can't head to the course with none of them in your bag
You may find that playing irons to start with will give you more confidence, and then as you get more comfortable on the range with the longer clubs, maybe add one of them to the bag for a few rounds and use it, then add another and repeat until you have your full bag with you

I have carried a few rounds over the winter where I have left a number of clubs out of my bag - I do keep my driver in the bag as I am comfortable hitting it, but I did find at times that I needed to manufacture a few shots as I didn't have the preferred club with me, but as a single digit handicap that helps me with having more shot options I can play with a full bag

And as already mentioned, you don't really learn to play golf properly until you are out on the course - hitting at the range is a bit of an illusion as you have no hazards to avoid, but on the course you have a specific target that you need to be able to hit
If your range has markers, use a couple of them as the edges of imaginary fairways and try to ensure your shot lands between them to simulate hitting a fairway and give you something to focus on

Good luck with the journey and don't worry about bad shots - we all have them regardless of skill level, just go and have fun

I like that idea. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
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