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Trying to Break 80 Club

tahoebum said:
One key to breaking 80 that I discovered is long ago is to develop a "safe" go to shot off the tee that keeps the ball in play and also make my approach target the middle of the green no matter where the flag is. For me the safe shot is a lower trajectory punch wether it's from the tee or the fairway. When my "c" or "d" swing rears its ugly head during a round I will go to a punch fairway wood off the tee, take an extra club on the approach and punch an iron to the middle of the green. If I'm in the middle of the fairway it pretty unusual to make worse than bogie. The double and triple bogies are almost always a result of a poor tee shot or trying to hit the hero recovery shot. When I first started shooting in the 70's it also helped me to approach a 79 as 7 bogies and 11 pars. 7 bogies is a lot, but if you take your medicine and play for bogie when you've hit a bad tee shot you will make a lot fewer doubles and triples.

The safe shot off the tee on longer par 5's is also a strategy that will lead to lower scores. We have a 530 yard par 5 at our course that narrows down at about 260 yards that also has a large tree on the left at 290 that can completely block out the second shot. The green is elevated, heavily bunkered and has OB right. I've learned after my first dozen rounds that I was way better off playing my 2 wood off the tee to make the 2nd shot easier. Last month I was playing with a couple scratch golfers who hit hybrid/long irons off that tee and hybrid for their second shot. Their strategy is absolutely the correct one, you really can't miss that fairway as it is very wide at 200-230 yards and the bunkers don't start until 230 yards. I now play a 4 iron or 4 wood off the tee and haven't missed the fairway or GIR on that hole since going with that strategy. I no longer have to worry about the 290 yard tree blocking me as I now can go over it if I miss my tee shot left.
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This is great advice. Another thing about hitting the safe shot on the par 5 you mention is that the vast majority are not reaching that hole in 2 anyway, so why not eliminate the potential for trouble off the tee?
 
tequila4kapp said:
This is great advice. Another thing about hitting the safe shot on the par 5 you mention is that the vast majority are not reaching that hole in 2 anyway, so why not eliminate the potential for trouble off the tee?
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Agreed. But nothing throws a monkey wrench into the works like a lateral that runs up the entire length of the hole. À lousy player like me is no more accurate with my woods than my driver unfortunately.
 
I am at a point right now where I am consistently shooting right about 80. What is interesting is that as I get to the final 4-5 holes I know very clearly where I am and feel the stress of breaking 80. In a few cases i pull it off, but more often than not I put together a string of bogeys and end up 81-82. When I am stressed my typical draw can become a hook, I seem to have worse lies, and the hole starts to look really small on putts. Haha. This is where I need a brain off switch!
 
mtcowdog said:
I am at a point right now where I am consistently shooting right about 80. What is interesting is that as I get to the final 4-5 holes I know very clearly where I am and feel the stress of breaking 80. In a few cases i pull it off, but more often than not I put together a string of bogeys and end up 81-82. When I am stressed my typical draw can become a hook, I seem to have worse lies, and the hole starts to look really small on putts. Haha. This is where I need a brain off switch!
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I think we've all been there. I like to know where I stand but am also in the 50/50 range for finishing the round strong vs blowing it when I've had the chances to break 80.
 
This is my goal for next year, I don't think I'll quite make it happen for this year. I shot my PB 80 a few weeks ago, but mid to upper 80's is my norm right now. Started reading through this thread and there is a lot of great advice in here so I am going to go ahead and subscribe to it and try to put some of it into play.

I know my my best scores have come when I hit a lot more 3w and 5w shots off the tee. I just need to make a habit of managing the course that way. Let go of the ego and shoot for pars, would help me a lot. Thanks for the tips!
 
The last two days I've been able to get out and play 9 (front and back, respectively). If I combine them, I broke 80 for the first time ever. Not sure how I feel about combining them though - thoughts?


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Shot an 85 today with 39% GIR and 79% FIR, only pulled the driver twice and had 34 putts with no 3-putts. Had one triple bogey, one double, and one birdie. My triple came after a FIR and became a blowup hole for me, shanked shot #2, flew the green on shot #3, bladed #4, chipped #5 on, and then 2-putted for a 7. Should have only pulled the driver once because I took a penalty on the second one and bogeyed that par 5, I played the rest of that very well and could have had a birdie. I played "boring golf" today, clean up some more of my mistake and I'll be right there.
 
Molten said:
The last two days I've been able to get out and play 9 (front and back, respectively). If I combine them, I broke 80 for the first time ever. Not sure how I feel about combining them though - thoughts?


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Been there all too many times. Personally, I don't count it as breaking 80, but your handicap will combine them - so it really depends. That's part of the reason my handicap index shows lower than it is in reality, that and they throw out your 10 worst rounds....so....
 
Molten said:
The last two days I've been able to get out and play 9 (front and back, respectively). If I combine them, I broke 80 for the first time ever. Not sure how I feel about combining them though - thoughts?


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I personally wouldn't count it, but it means you're playing well and it's only a matter of time!
 
nwgolfr said:
Been there all too many times. Personally, I don't count it as breaking 80, but your handicap will combine them - so it really depends. That's part of the reason my handicap index shows lower than it is in reality, that and they throw out your 10 worst rounds....so....
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I guess I should have been more clear with my purpose. I let GHIN handle the handicap on its own but I am unsure if I could say I broke 80. My gut says no, but I have said that "over the last 18 holes, I shot a 79"
 
Molten said:
I guess I should have been more clear with my purpose. I let GHIN handle the handicap on its own but I am unsure if I could say I broke 80. My gut says no, but I have said that "over the last 18 holes, I shot a 79"
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The answer IMO is no - was just bring the handicap into perspective because it says "yes." Being honest to yourself - no, you didn't.
 
tequila4kapp said:
This is great advice. Another thing about hitting the safe shot on the par 5 you mention is that the vast majority are not reaching that hole in 2 anyway, so why not eliminate the potential for trouble off the tee?
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It is FANTASTIC advice. My smoked drives fly straight, and my miss fades right. Setting up to accommodate both scenarios has saved me probably 5-10 strokes each round
 
nwgolfr said:
The answer IMO is no - was just bring the handicap into perspective because it says "yes." Being honest to yourself - no, you didn't.
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Sadly I agree. Someday.


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Molten said:
The last two days I've been able to get out and play 9 (front and back, respectively). If I combine them, I broke 80 for the first time ever. Not sure how I feel about combining them though - thoughts?


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i wouldnt count that as breaking 80. Two different days of play. Who knows what would have happened if you played 18.

heck of two good 9s though.
 
Molten said:
Sadly I agree. Someday.


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Perhaps tomorrow!!

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CAA_Beat said:
Perhaps tomorrow!!

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Unlikely. Whiskey creek has my number. For some reason I can never hold those greens. Maybe the protos will change that.


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tahoebum said:
I certainly play very boring golf. I often don't attempt or hit any spectacular shots during a round. My strengths are straight, long enough tee shots and solid chipping and putting. Most golfers could pick up 5 shots just by changing their course management a little bit.
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I agree with this soooooooo much. I play what I like to call old man golf, it's very boring but I started scoring well doing it. What made me see the light was playing with a bunch of old guys they would constantly come in with sub 80 rounds and I'd be mid 80's. So now I may hit shorter but I try and be more accurate and I practice heavily on 2 things, putting and short game. I'll spend more time by the chipping area to practice then the driving range now and it's certainly paid off for me ten fold.
 
I had to reply because deep down I KNOW that is what I am going to have to do to get back to shooting consistently below 80. I have gotten WAY too adventurous on my tee shots, try stupid hero shots and don't spend enough time working on the chipping and putting greens. Lol, I'm getting shamed into doing the things I know I should be doing to get back there. Thanks for the push. :bashful:
 
Well today's triple digit disaster sure wasn't a step in the right direction! :/ Nothing went right. But I'm just gonna chalk it up to an off day! I've been in the ballpark the last few months, so just gotta let it go and get back to that.

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I was close today but just didn't have a good enough tee game or a hot enough putter to get 'er done.
 
Now I'm a member at a new course, it's been much much harder. The previous course is rated 67.8, the new one 74.8
With my handicap I get 14 strokes from the back tees, meaning 86 would amount to 36 stableford. Played 83 yesterday iirc :)
 
Peeked back in at 79, today. Had a real opportunity for it to be better, but I'll take it, for sure.


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Well it finally happened today - shot an 79 (with four three putts, my nemeses). 42/37. 10 FIR and 8 GIR.


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Molten said:
Well it finally happened today - shot an 79 (with four three putts, my nemeses). 42/37. 10 FIR and 8 GIR.
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Nice! Congrats, Molten!
 
Molten said:
Well it finally happened today - shot an 79 (with four three putts, my nemeses). 42/37. 10 FIR and 8 GIR.


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Congrats man!
 
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