The difference between a 90 and a 100 is 3

I cannot speak to teh better levels of golf (sub 90 to par) as I have no experience (yet) in that range.

But in alayzig my good (low 90s) rounds to my bad (low 100s) rounds, i believe I came across a revalation.

The difference between the two extremes is not 10 strokes, it is really 3 or 4 strokes.

Allow me to explain. If one makes 3 bad strokes in a round, then those three are gone. Most likely, you will ahve to make the same number of strokes just to make up the missed strokes, so those 3 are now 6. At my level, it is safe to assume that 1 is an OOB situation and 1 is an around the green situation. OOB = 1 more stroke and around the green can turn a par into a double bogey pretty easily. That puts us right at 9 or 10, assuming nothing compounds.

So in reality, at the level I play, I do not need to make up 10 strokes to break that 90 barrier. I really only need to eliminate 3 or 4 bad strokes.

This gives me hope.

Anyoen agree or disagree with my thought process?

No your not far off at all. OOB holes are usually blow up holes for mid to high Hdcp'ers. I think something else to look at too is improving your play on Par 3's. We had a discussion about this in the breaking 90 thread. Keeping your overall strokes as close to Par as possible will get you below 90.

So for example I had a round recently I was +2 on Par fives (one bird, a double, a bogey and a Par) and I was +8 on Par 3's. I shot a 94. Let's say I have 2 pars and 2 bogeys instead (a reasonable feat), now I am at a 88. Now overall I was happy with the 94 considering my shenanigans on the Par 3's, but when I played the Par 5's the way I did (more chances on a Par 5 to make a bad shot) and recounting my scorecard I knew I had really messed up a good round. 22 strokes for Par 5s and 20 strokes for the Par 3s.

Just food for thought.

I’m in the same boat, generally it’s whether I hit 6 or 7 bad tee shots or only 3 or 4 that determines my better rounds.

tucsoncacti said:

No your not far off at all. OOB holes are usually blow up holes for mid to high Hdcp'ers. I think something else to look at too is improving your play on Par 3's. We had a discussion about this in the breaking 90 thread. Keeping your overall strokes as close to Par as possible will get you below 90.

So for example I had a round recently I was +2 on Par fives (one bird, a double, a bogey and a Par) and I was +8 on Par 3's. I shot a 94. Let's say I have 2 pars and 2 bogeys instead (a reasonable feat), now I am at a 88. Now overall I was happy with the 94 considering my shenanigans on the Par 3's, but when I played the Par 5's the way I did (more chances on a Par 5 to make a bad shot) and recounting my scorecard I knew I had really messed up a good round. 22 strokes for Par 5s and 20 strokes for the Par 3s.

Just food for thought.

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Par 3s tend to be a mental nemesis for me, but this is pretty accurate. I'm floating the 90/100 border quite often, and when I look back at my average scoring its usually pretty flat, which means i'm taking way too many strokes on average on Par 3s. A lot of that has been putting and short game so i've been trying to focus on those areas. The other issues are what the OP mentioned about making 3-4 bad strokes and having blows up's because of them.

Must be some of the new math they are teaching now a days. Kidding, yes for the most part you are correct. You have to play smart golf to accomplish what you are trying to do.

I agree, when I go bad with a shot it can lead to 1 or 2 more poor shots. I have been trying to be much smarter on golf course with mixed results. As in if your in deep rough 200 yards from pin just try to get the stupid ball out with a higher iron instead of grabbing a wood or lower iron and getting nowhere.

Minimize penalty strokes and 3 putts you break 100 every single time and will be looking at possibly a sub 90 round. The putting is just practice and putting in the work, but for minimizing the penalty strokes is really about course management. Always play away from trouble. If you don't feel confident that the driver will stay in bounds, go to the wood. If not confident the wood stays in bounds go down to an iron. Just keep going down to you have a club on the tee that you know you can keep in the short grass. I adjusted my play style to be super conservative and now I break 90 almost every time. Wanting to break 80, I'm now having to take a few more risks because bogey golf won't get to my goal of sub 80.

millsan1, I'm buying what you are selling! I look at my card and the three 7's and an 8 are usually from just one errant shot. And I don't have the game to make up for it.

Aslo, to everyone who has commented so far, I'm buying what you are selling as well!

You are spot on in your thinking, and it's an important revelation as you try to improve. Thinking you need to find 10-12 shots to achieve your goal is over-whelming. The truth is 2-3 mistakes do the most damage. Have a day without those and you'll shoot a new PB.

This continues to be true as you go down in HC. As a 5, I can shoot 73-74 if I play "clean" (lower is possible if I play clean AND putt well) or high 70s low 80s if I don't.


Good luck in your pursuit of improvement!

tusconcacti's observation about OB shots and par 3's is absolutely accurate. They are enormously responsible for blowup holes.

When you have a shot where you absolutely cannot go there because it's OB, many of us take a too aggressive line without realizing it. We're like, "OB on the right. I hit one straight last time. I'll aim down the center of the fairway." But we fail to remember we're capable of hitting it 45 degrees offline. Rather than aiming down the center, we should be aiming at the left rough. Being in the rough or even the trees where you have to punch out is preferable to being OB. So make sure it is nearly impossible for your ball to go where it cannot go.

On par 3s, it's often just those flags look so inviting. We think, "Hey, if I knock this close, I can makeup for that last hole where I carded an 8 because of going OB." And we promptly slice it right of the green, into the hazard. Then with a horrible lie and a green running away from us into the water, we blade it into the water or never make the green, chip on and 3 putt.

We have to consider: "If I don't pull this shot off, where do I want to be?" On that hole with OB, answering that question may lead to aiming at the left rough. On the par 3, it may mean aiming at the left edge of the green, with the hope that our slice will get the ball on the green, but give us a safe collection area to be with a good angle should we happen to pull it. Or, if we completely flub the shot, it will often mean we're short, but still in a safe spot.

Great post folks. Yes, those two or three blow up holes certainly add more than the 2 or 3 shots that went astray.

On my last 18, I put driver away and used my heaven wood for a replacement. Shot the same score, a 48.

Had a couple more gir’s on the par 5’s, but two errant shots caused me 4 or 5 total to recover.

That knowledge is out of the way. Now all I have to do is avoid the errant shots. Lol