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Trying to Break 80 Club

OldandStiff said:
Well the good news is that for you to hit it and not get past it 7 times, a bunch of things have probably gone just wrong enough to hold you there. Odds are way better of that than you playing to your MAX potential 7 times. So you just need to plug away and catch a break here or there or make one less mistake and it's gonna happen. (y)
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Thank you. Here’s hoping. I don’t want to hijack the thread here and I realise my original post was a bit self absorbed.

There’s definitely a consistency about my inconsistencies too. There’s one birdie-able par 5 (7th) that I rarely bogey, yet I always mishit a fairway wood, having convinced myself that I’m just going to hit a four iron then put an eight or nine reasonably close. Then, 10-13 is our own “Amen Corner”; an absolute graveyard for even the low handicappers.

It’s definitely a mental block though.
 
Been a while it seems but broke 80 again with a 42/37 on the easiest course in our rotation. Holed out from 65yd on the final hole (par 5) for a birdie and the 79! :cool:
 
shanewu said:
Been a while it seems but broke 80 again with a 42/37 on the easiest course in our rotation. Holed out from 65yd on the final hole (par 5) for a birdie and the 79! :cool:
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That is the best way!!!! Nice.
 
New to site. Have yet to break 80. Been playing short golf pretty much my whole life. Short off the tee. Short of the hole. Try to get up and down and make Pars on the Par 3s. Was like flirting with disaster for so long. I could make bogeys with my eyes closed. I’m a very good putter. I can go 4-5 rounds without a 3 putt. But with lack of real power I was never gonna break 80 unless my short game was deadly good. And it wasn’t.

So 2 months ago I decided to retool my swing and game from tee to green. Booked 12 one hour lessons. One a week. I’m 9 lessons in. Irons are much better. Short game is much better. Last piece of the puzzle is the Driver. Always been my weakness. Could hit it straight but at 170-180 off the tee I was left holding 3/5 woods to greens. And I was always looking to play the 6000 yardish tees. I’m cranking it over 200-225 (on the range mostly) now but haven’t gained any real control over my new found power yet.

I play every week but have not kept score since I started my lessons. This was intentional so I could be relaxed and just work on my game on the course. I have 3 more lessons (and range sessions in between) to get some control of my driver then I’ll be keeping score again. I don’t expect to break 80 my first round keeping score again but I don’t think low 80s is out of the question! And who knows maybe it’ll all come together and I’ll drop a sub 80 and justify all the work I’ve put in. More to come!
 
I have been playing less than stellar to say the least. Puppy time has decreased by ability to play and practice. But I also just picked up a Mavrik Max driver that I won’t have time to hit before my 7:10am tee time Saturday. For which I will likely be tired and hungover. <80 incoming!!! 😎

In all seriousness, I am starting to learn the courses around me and Arccos is helping me understand where I’m losing shots. If I could only find the time to get out there!
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
I have been playing less than stellar to say the least. Puppy time has decreased by ability to play and practice. But I also just picked up a Mavrik Max driver that I won’t have time to hit before my 7:10am tee time Saturday. For which I will likely be tired and hungover. <80 incoming!!! 😎

In all seriousness, I am starting to learn the courses around me and Arccos is helping me understand where I’m losing shots. If I could only find the time to get out there!
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Might have to just take a puppy with you. :ROFLMAO:
 
Ballstriking with irons and wedges is way up this year. Besides the usual one pull hook per round with a short iron. Despite playing a more workable club, I seem to favor hitting the ball straighter or with just a little bit of movement. It's nice to try and hook or slice a shot around an obstacle from time to time, but my shot shape with irons have calmed down quite a bit since moving to Cobra CB/MB set this spring.

Tee game has been suspect. Very feast or famine. Towards the early part of the year driver swing was on, but right now dialing things back and need to practice strike. 3 wood has saved me with a tee option when driver just feels too wild. If this wild driver shot continues I may have to try and get some lessons over the winter and maybe see if there is anything I can change gear wise. Dreaded low spin toe strikes can be disastrous. I think I've finally settled on that club between 3w and 4i and it looks like a higher spinning option is what's winning out.

Putting has been very up and down. I've holed more longer putts this year, but I can very quickly lose strike quality and miss my line. Even my line at times can be suspect. That said, I think putting overall is on the right trend. Just need to keep grinding on the putting mat a few times per week and maybe actually practice on the putting green.

Around the green I've definitely settled into some grind preferences. Lob Wedge needs a low bounce wide sole and Sand Wedge needs high bounce normal width sole. These play different enough for a lot of turf and sand conditions and it's nice feeling confident on getting up and down. Gap wedge and Pitching wedge are now back with the irons and it feels easier to control them with the bit less spin they produce over specialty wedges. Around the green both work fine and have helped simplify my greenside play.

But with that all I have several rounds in the 70s this year which is a first for me since Junior golf days. Now the goal is making sub 80 rounds the norm and not bouncing between 70s and low 80s. I think at this point it's not gear that's holding me back. Everything has been dialed in to umpteenth degree. There are moments of brilliance where all portions of my game come together and I'm playing under par, but I need to work on minimizing the damage a bad shot can do to me. I need to be able to rely on my tee game and be able to recover from my misses, not bench driver.

That said goal next year is 5 handicap. I want to move average score from just breaking 80 to flirting with par.
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
That’s my dream! And probably also my nightmare 😆
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There is a guy at one of the courses we play who has a curly coated wheaton terrior, rides in the cart with him all the time. Just sits there and relaxes.
 
Last month or so has been the story of 2 different 9's.. Usually start off slow with a 42-45 then finish the back 9 with a 38/39. However, on Sunday I started with a 37 (1 over) and thought, this could be the day for mid to low 70's!! However, went 10 over on the back, with only 1 par (being 18). Glad I've broken 80 a couple of times, just need to put a whole round together.
 
I think a lot of course management goes into this breaking 80... where does a great shot put you vs. what is the mishit look? Where is trouble? Should you lay up...

One of the biggest added strokes area is Par 5s - great drive for me is about a 260-270ish shot off the tee... where does that leave me... basically not getting there in two... what do I do... well i have 250ish to the hole, might as well rip this hybrid or 3w.... duff thin/top it/ chunk it/ hook it/slice it any combo really.

fast forward to recent roundsok i have 250+ left... If I get a good clip of a 5iron or something that gives me a managable shot into the green... or If I want to hit a good one, i only need about 200 so no need to cock it back and go full tilt.
 
Gman79 said:
I think a lot of course management goes into this breaking 80... where does a great shot put you vs. what is the mishit look? Where is trouble? Should you lay up...

One of the biggest added strokes area is Par 5s - great drive for me is about a 260-270ish shot off the tee... where does that leave me... basically not getting there in two... what do I do... well i have 250ish to the hole, might as well rip this hybrid or 3w.... duff thin/top it/ chunk it/ hook it/slice it any combo really.

fast forward to recent roundsok i have 250+ left... If I get a good clip of a 5iron or something that gives me a managable shot into the green... or If I want to hit a good one, i only need about 200 so no need to cock it back and go full tilt.
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This is a key point, you have to know when to lay up and where the trouble is. Until you learn to not just bang away and go for greens on every approach on par 5's the scores will not improve.
 
Played the middle tees, which are a bit of a challenge for me, for example, I have to lay up on two of the par fours, and some of the holes are very narrow, and I have to hit a fairway wood, while most others hit an iron off the tee. Came away with a 78 (par 70), and didn't lose a ball, which on my home course is saying something, lol.
 
Sean said:
Played the middle tees, which are a bit of a challenge for me, for example, I have to lay up on two of the par fours, and some of the holes are very narrow, and I have to hit a fairway wood, while most others hit an iron off the tee. Came away with a 78 (par 70), and didn't lose a ball, which on my home course is saying something, lol.
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Nice!!!! :golf2:
 
Snickerdog said:
This is a key point, you have to know when to lay up and where the trouble is. Until you learn to not just bang away and go for greens on every approach on par 5's the scores will not improve.
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Agree, Snickerdog. When I started playing more strategically and laying up to my sweet spot distance I started making more pars and birdies than bogeys and worse.


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81 on Thursday (10 over). Went 3 over on the front, then got on the bogey train for 3 holes, and decided to get off the train with 2 doubles in a row. Ended strong with 4 straight pars, but somewhat frustrating not to get below 80.
 
Local muni had all the tees way up today - still was a stupidly slow 5-hour round. The course was probably playing around 5500 yards. Played like rubbish and shot +8 on the front, but turned it around and went -2 on the back for a final score of 77.
 
38-40 for a round of 78

Struck the ball well from tee to green most of the day but the further through the round we got, the more I decided to forget how to putt and had a bunch of 3 putts on the back 9

Had 2 eagle chances but missed both of them and only managed birdies both times unfortunately
 
TheDoctor said:
38-40 for a round of 78

Struck the ball well from tee to green most of the day but the further through the round we got, the more I decided to forget how to putt and had a bunch of 3 putts on the back 9

Had 2 eagle chances but missed both of them and only managed birdies both times unfortunately
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Tap in birdies are nice!
 
39/38=77 this morning. FIR 10/14 GIR 8/18 Putts=31 My distance control was good today but the left/right was a little off. Putter saved me quite a few times.
 
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Snickerdog said:
39/39=77 this morning. FIR 10/14 GIR 8/18 Putts=31 My distance control was good today but the left/right was a little off. Putter saved me quite a few times.
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Remind me not to let you count the scores on the card..... :LOL:

Whatever the final score, nice round though
 
TheDoctor said:
Remind me not to let you count the scores on the card..... :LOL:

Whatever the final score, nice round though
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Guess I should edit that. :p I only get to golf once a week currently because of work, I got excited.
 
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