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How to eliminate blowup holes


stealthhwk
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Hey guys and gals! I need some help reducing or preferably eliminating my blowup holes. Im currently playing some of the best golf of my life but the blowup holes are killing any chances of shooting a good number. I aim for bogey golf and usually see 3-5 pars per round with the occasional birdie. I consider bogies good holes and average 6-8 of those a round. But the doubles and triples are destroying my card. Can anybody help me with this?

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Don't follow a bad shot, with a stupid one.

Be willing to take your medicine and don't compound a mistake by trying for the one in a hundred hero recovery.  Sometimes easier said than done....

 

 

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In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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25 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Don't follow a bad shot, with a stupid one.

Be willing to take your medicine and don't compound a mistake by trying for the one in a hundred hero recovery.  Sometimes easier said than done....

 

 

Great advice. But im usually oretty good at takin my meds. Dr says im his best patient. (Cus usually im chicken) lol

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I doubt that if you're a 22 your blowup holes are really all that bad. A blow-up hole for a scratch golfer is a 7 or an 8. For you it should be about an 11 or 12. Anything less than that is probably just an average.

You're a 22. Your game (the results of your shots) shows wider variances than others.

Here are two bell curves.

scratch_vs_22_distribution.thumb.png.9a8

The red is a scratch golfer, the blue is someone of your ability level.

You make lots of bogeys, some pars, occasional birdies.

But you also make lots of doubles and triples, with a reasonable number of quads too.

I made these graphs up, because really, the distribution is not a bell curve. Both are weighted more toward the right. They favor the higher scores simply because of how handicap works.

So the first question… are you actually having true "blowup" holes?

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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I might ask if it's a particular club(s), or a particular designed hole that is causing you grief.

In My Bag:
A whole bunch of Tour Edge golf stuff...... :beer:

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14 minutes ago, iacas said:

I doubt that if you're a 22 your blowup holes are really all that bad. A blow-up hole for a scratch golfer is a 7 or an 8. For you it should be about an 11 or 12. Anything less than that is probably just an average.

You're a 22. Your game (the results of your shots) shows wider variances than others.

Here are two bell curves.

scratch_vs_22_distribution.thumb.png.9a8

The red is a scratch golfer, the blue is someone of your ability level.

You make lots of bogeys, some pars, occasional birdies.

But you also make lots of doubles and triples, with a reasonable number of quads too.

I made these graphs up, because really, the distribution is not a bell curve. Both are weighted more toward the right. They favor the higher scores simply because of how handicap works.

So the first question… are you actually having true "blowup" holes?

WOW!!! Thats some impressive stuff. Maybe not as many as previously thought. Although i took a snowman on a par three two weeks in a row and that felt like an 11 or 12. Maybe a better question would be how to take less triple s and quads? The game is for the first time ever for me a real paradox. I have less understanding. Before i shot a 102 cus i didnt have the slightest clue what I was doing. Now i feel like I play real well but at the end of the day I shoot 93-96. Feels like with all my massive improvements that I should be high 80s.

2 minutes ago, Patch said:

I might ask if it's a particular club(s), or a particular designed hole that is causing you grief.

Cant quite pin it diwn as it seems the mistakes are coming with different clubs in different situations. But now that u mention type of hole, thats got me thinking. Par 3s seem to be kicking my butt and small greens with water bearby. Hit green where I want, ball rolls off and goes into water anyway.

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1 minute ago, stealthhwk said:

WOW!!! Thats some impressive stuff. Maybe not as many as previously thought. Although i took a snowman on a par three two weeks in a row and that felt like an 11 or 12. Maybe a better question would be how to take less triple s and quads? The game is for the first time ever for me a real paradox. I have less understanding. Before i shot a 102 cus i didnt have the slightest clue what I was doing. Now i feel like I play real well but at the end of the day I shoot 93-96. Feels like with all my massive improvements that I should be high 80s.

Golf is hard.

If you're occasionally hitting a really terrible shot or putting yourself in penalty situations, then eliminating those is important. If it's just a leaking of shots when you happen to hit some of your "bad" shots all on one hole (the opposite is when you make a par by hitting four of your good shots in a row).

None of us play golf with you so it takes being brutally honest and assessing your game. Are the shots really bad when you make quintuple bogeys, or are they just "regular bad" but just pile up on one hole instead of being a mixture of decent and bad?

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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43 minutes ago, iacas said:

I doubt that if you're a 22 your blowup holes are really all that bad. A blow-up hole for a scratch golfer is a 7 or an 8. For you it should be about an 11 or 12. Anything less than that is probably just an average.

You're a 22. Your game (the results of your shots) shows wider variances than others.

Here are two bell curves.

scratch_vs_22_distribution.thumb.png.9a8

The red is a scratch golfer, the blue is someone of your ability level.

You make lots of bogeys, some pars, occasional birdies.

But you also make lots of doubles and triples, with a reasonable number of quads too.

I made these graphs up, because really, the distribution is not a bell curve. Both are weighted more toward the right. They favor the higher scores simply because of how handicap works.

So the first question… are you actually having true "blowup" holes?

Exactly.  As a 7ish hcp, my goal is to keep the doubles off the card.....and a triple shows up all too often too... :-(

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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My bad shots are getting much less...well...bad. They do tend to pile on top of each other tho. seems like Ill have one poor swing and then all of a sudden I hit four more poor shots. Ie: bad tee shot, punch out to fairway, then hit one slightly to the right and miss the green. Then duff one or two chips and three putt.

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1 hour ago, iacas said:

I doubt that if you're a 22 your blowup holes are really all that bad. A blow-up hole for a scratch golfer is a 7 or an 8. For you it should be about an 11 or 12. Anything less than that is probably just an average.

 

48 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Exactly.  As a 7ish hcp, my goal is to keep the doubles off the card.....and a triple shows up all too often too... :-(

These are some of the more encouraging things I've heard all week!

Craig
What's in the :ogio: Silencer bag (on the :clicgear: cart)
Driver: :callaway: Razr Fit 10.5°  
5 Wood: :tmade: Burner  
Hybrid: :cobra: Baffler DWS 20°
Irons: :ping: G400 
Wedge: :ping: Glide 2.0 54° ES grind 
Putter: :heavyputter:  midweight CX2
:aimpoint:,  :bushnell: Tour V4

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Everyone gets double bogeys. Even the pros. The pros just don't get them often. 

We all have blow up holes. Mine tend to come in pairs. Then I'll settle down and hit "the shot." I consider an 8 a blow up hole. It's usually the result of a bad tee shot. Although on a real fast green once it was the result of a four putt.... in a tournament.... when I missed a 1 foot putt.

Another thing we tend to do is try to do quick fixes during our rounds. Don't. They don't work. Play with the game you have. Fix your problem at the driving range later. If your driver is in the woods constantly, leave it in the bag for the round, and practice with it on the range. Hit an iron off the tee if you need to keep the ball in play. 

Julia

:callaway:  :cobra:    :seemore:  :bushnell:  :clicgear:  :adidas:  :footjoy:

Spoiler

Driver: Callaway Big Bertha w/ Fubuki Z50 R 44.5"
FW: Cobra BiO CELL 14.5 degree; 
Hybrids: Cobra BiO CELL 22.5 degree Project X R-flex
Irons: Cobra BiO CELL 5 - GW Project X R-Flex
Wedges: Cobra BiO CELL SW, Fly-Z LW, 64* Callaway PM Grind.
Putter: 48" Odyssey Dart

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@stealthhwk, I am a few strokes behind your level and can certainly relate. If I can string enough bogeys together, and counter the doubles/triples with pars, I'm pretty happy.

I had a couple rounds last year that surpassed my expectations but those were not a good indication of where my game was - just what can happen on a really, really good day.

I tend to agree with what others have said, doubles and triples are part of my game and skill level. Really, the only way to avoid those is to improve. That said, I don't get the 9's and 10's I used to. So that's an indication that improvement has occurred - even if its not to the degree I'd hoped for.

The penalties hurt the most. But the cause of those comes as a result of working too much on one part of my game while neglecting others. One way to eliminate that is to practice smarter. Whether I believe in the 65/20/15 ratio or not, the idea is that some time should be devoted to maintaining the parts of my game that are in good shape.

10 hours ago, DrvFrShow said:

Another thing we tend to do is try to do quick fixes during our rounds. Don't. They don't work. Play with the game you have. Fix your problem at the driving range later.

I probably make this mistake more than most and am living proof that it doesn't work.

Good luck @stealthhwk.

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Jon

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14 hours ago, David in FL said:

Exactly.  As a 7ish hcp, my goal is to keep the doubles off the card.....and a triple shows up all too often too... :-(

Oh how I know that too well. I too try to eliminate doubles but even triples snick in often enough to ruin a good round. 

Don

:titleist: 910 D2, 8.5˚, Adila RIP 60 S-Flex
:titleist: 980F 15˚
:yonex: EZone Blades (3-PW) Dynamic Gold S-200
:vokey:   Vokey wedges, 52˚; 56˚; and 60˚
:scotty_cameron:  2014 Scotty Cameron Select Newport 2

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Blowup holes are usually caused by hitting 2 or more bad shots on the same hole, right?  That's got to happen occasionally.   I think the only thing you can do, besides becoming a better player, is to learn to let go of the bad shots.   Don't stand over an upcoming shot with a previous shot still on your mind.   Gotta re-concentrate.   Clear away the bad thoughts.

I was trying to remember my recent blowup holes, and what I recall was on a recent hole, hitting my drive into the water followed by hitting an approach shot fat.   Those are two completely different mistakes.   Another hole, I drive into a fairway bunker and then hit a bad shot out of it.   Another hole, I missed the green with my approach, then thinned my chip shot over the green.  Or at the tail end of a blowup hole, being so mad about it that I don't put enough effort into lining up that 6 foot putt and wind up two putting from 6 feet. These are all different bad shots.   The only thing I can think of that these blowup holes had in common was a loss of concentration after a bad shot, which led to another bad shot. 

So without know the specifics of your blowup holes, I can only use my own experience, and that is, the way for me to minimize blowup holes in the future is to a) become a better player, and b) learn to put bad shots out of my head.  

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Read somewhere on another thread about this topic. Couple of suggestions made sense to me:

-sucker pins-appears to be the shortest way to the hole. I have no control, I'm a 23 HC. I believe the suggestion was to hit to the largest part of the green I can see. My average putting has more control than my average wedge shots.

-Avoid hero shots-if I find myself in a bad place , chip it back out to safety. That's one extra shot. I'm a 23 HC-I have no control lol. I normally would try the hero shot through the trees, over the dell through a space the size of a postage stamp. Three shots later I'm in a safe place.

-look for the neck in front of the green if there is one-it's probably a safer place when I'm not sure I can make the green on that approach shot (due to water, traps, wind, whatever) 

-and think about the next shot after this shot-the longest yardage I can hit may not be the best choice

I have to constantly remember, I'm a 23 HC, I have no control

I'm trying to remember these few things. I managed to reduce my average score about 5 shots last year. I'm hoping I get another 2 or 3 this year. 

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8 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

Blowup holes are usually caused by hitting 2 or more bad shots on the same hole, right?  That's got to happen occasionally.   I think the only thing you can do, besides becoming a better player, is to learn to let go of the bad shots.   Don't stand over an upcoming shot with a previous shot still on your mind.   Gotta re-concentrate.   Clear away the bad thoughts.

I was trying to remember my recent blowup holes, and what I recall was on a recent hole, hitting my drive into the water followed by hitting an approach shot fat.   Those are two completely different mistakes.   Another hole, I drive into a fairway bunker and then hit a bad shot out of it.   Another hole, I missed the green with my approach, then thinned my chip shot over the green.  Or at the tail end of a blowup hole, being so mad about it that I don't put enough effort into lining up that 6 foot putt and wind up two putting from 6 feet. These are all different bad shots.   The only thing I can think of that these blowup holes had in common was a loss of concentration after a bad shot, which led to another bad shot. 

So without know the specifics of your blowup holes, I can only use my own experience, and that is, the way for me to minimize blowup holes in the future is to a) become a better player, and b) learn to put bad shots out of my head.  

Very insightful. Maybe Im holding on to those bad shots more than I realize. Thanks for that.

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Never try to hit through trees, always just get back to the fairway.

DRIVER- Tour Edge EXS 220
3W- Adams Tight Lies 2
Hybrids- Cobra F8 19 *

Utility- Sub 70 699U #4
Irons - Sub 70 739 5-PW
Wedges- Tour Edge CB Pro 50, 54, 58
Putter- Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft #11

Ball- Titleist DT Trufeel

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Another thing is sometimes to 'give up' on par. For example, as a bogey golfer, if I hit a bad tee shot and end up say 220yds from the hold on a par 4 rather than the usual 130yds, play the hole as if bogey is the new par. You've made the hole more difficult for yourself and rather than trying to hit the green with a 3 wood (a green designed to be hit with a mid/short iron), take 2 shots to get on the green and 2 shots to get down. 1 220yd par 4 is an easy hole (could even make birdie (which becomes par and a great save) whereas a 220 yd par 3, not off the tee, is asking for trouble. Not always the best way to play golf (read Lowest Score Wins) but the best way to avoid blowing up.

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D: Ping G25 Stock S Shaft
3W: Titleist 915F 16.5* Diamana S70 Blue Stiff
3H, 4H: Callaway XR Project X LZ 6.0
5i-PW: Mizuno MP54 Project X 5.5 Shafts
52*, 58*: Mizuno JPX Wedge TT Dynalite Gold AP
Putter: Mizuno MP A306

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Note: This thread is 2955 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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