Broke 120 today

Posted a 118 today, I have been playing for a year. 2 months ago I was in the 140's. I am going for sub 100 by the end of the year.

Good job!

Here is a goal that I had even when I was shooting in the 120's... Bogey golf is shooting a 90.. Once you start managing your game a little better and reeling in those 3 and 4 putts, you'll find that Bogey golf is quickly obtainable.

Good luck.

they way i worked my game has been in increments of 5. if you shot a 118 today...your goal in the next few months should be 110-115.

then when your consistently shooting that number, shoot for 105-110.

this helped me focus ..short term goal i guess...but it always helped me

Have you had any lessons?

I went from total Hack to breaking 100 with just 2 lessons.  2 more lessons and I was breaking 90.  I'm now a pretty solid Bogey Golfer.  Haven't played as much this year though, but Bogey Golf makes you better than most casual players and can make for some fun rounds....

Hmm, see what you doing wrong is being a little to honest and you might also be playing by the rules on a real course. You don't want to do any of those things. You need to bend the rules a lot, play wide open munis and not count every stroke. You should be shooting in the 80's on no time, 'maybe even the 70's' :)

Uhhh 120 strokes and being happy with it ...... I cannot even imagine 100 if I would only bring a 7 iron and a putter ....... Let's face it if you have only one iron in the bag that you can hit any bit decent, let's say an 8 iron, you reach all par 3's in two, all par 4's in three and all par 5's in four strokes, that is 54 strokes, let's imagine you have 9 2-putts and 9 3-putts ......45 putts (about the worst thinkable) together that's 99 !!!

If you are only able to also hit a 6 iron or high lofted hybrid any bit decent, you will most likely shave a few shots of the 54 and if your putting improves only a bit ...... You'll be shooting 90 with only 3 clubs in the bag !!!

Wow, way to encourage the guy.

You realize, of course, that relative to Tiger and Phil you are worse than the guy breaking 120 is to you.  How would you feel if they sat around and made fun of you?

It is guys like you that do so much to promote golf to new golfers [/sarcasm]

Everybody has to start from somewhere.  2 years ago when I started picking back up the game I was shooting 105-110 consistently.  It took a conscious effort to improve to get under 100 that same year.  It wasn't until last year that I got under 90.  And I'm reasonably coordinated/athletic/flexible.  Not everybody is.  At one time I was as happy to break 100 as this guy was to break 120. Congrats to him, but at the same time lower the bar (or raise the bar?) and try and get to 105 now...or whatever the next step is.

Brandon

Congrats on counting all your strokes - most newbies (and people playing a few years) seem to forget how to count past 90/100. Myself, getting into the low 110s came pretty fast, getting it below 105 a bit longer and 3 years later its 50/50 i'll break 100 at my home course but seem to not have an issue with it at others.

Keeping real track of your scores will help you beat all those friends that claim to break 90 constantly, yet cant when you make them play by the rules and without mulligans.

Thanks guys for the comments. I went out today and shot a 119. I left at least 6 putts on the table. Penalty strokes account for about 12 of those. I did shoot a 54 on the front 9 first time ever!!!! Struggled on the back 9 though.

Okay, time to start looking at your round and figure out why you're taking so many penalty strokes. Care to tell us about the course, about your swing and general shot(s), and your general strategy? Let's see if we can get you a double digit score by the end of summer.

Quote:

I actually am in a team helping new golfers to understand the game, we see so many new golfers trying to hit their own gameplan, which is mostly playing something (driver, fairway wood of hybrid) followed by difficult to hit long irons. Not seldom their score is huge. We have a very straight forward par 4 of only about 370 yds. and we normally ask them to play two ball at, one with their own gameplan and the other with an iron 6 (from tee to green) ...... we seldom see new golfers shooting better scores with their own gameplan.......

It is a great way to demonstrate there are so many options in golf, and sometimes playing clever is something that pays off.

Take for instance our first hole, a 560 yds par 5 ...... not reachable by many in two, still all (well almost all) golfers hit a driver off the tee and there is a huge bunker at the left side of the fairway at 230 - 250 yds. and hilly heavy rough plus trees on the right side all along the right side. Many drives end up in the bunker or right shit....... better take a 3W, 5W or Hybrid from the tee, hitting the fairway is key. Second shot form let's say 30-50 yds short of the left bunker, just hit another hybrid 150-200 yds. to keep it short or left of the next trap being an fairway bunker at the right side 100-120 yds before the green and from there a mid or short iron to a large green, maybe make two putts and it is an easy par....... Very few people (at least not the average golfer) will reach the green in two, so for most hitting a driver off the tee only involves risk and mostly leads to doubles, tripples and worse ....... and the average beginner who hits 4 or even 5 times a 7 iron, can make a way better score than the guy going for it........

My post was not to tell the beginner how poor he was playing, but to show him that there are many ways to break 100 !

Links style course. 7200 yards long. Fairways are 30yds wide. I play a driver off the tees except the par 3's of course. Swing is not that great, I am mostly using my arms. I am not using my fairway woods (can't hit them) I hit a 7i 150-160 5i 175 or so, never use the 4i (I hit the 4i about 50 yards) Wedge game is the strong point. Putting is mostly 2 putts, few 3 putts and very few single putts. I am hitting all my irons with a draw. Driver is a slice/fade. Love the game I have played about 50 times this year, so I bought a membership. Thanks guys!!!!

problem #1 - you need to be playing about 1000 yards shorter until you build your game

I agree but this is the nicest course around. You can take a 2-3 inch divet and the ball will still go 100yds with a 7i. The other course stays soaked with water, and the holes without water the ground is hard as a rock.

arent there more than one set of tee boxes?

As a suck-tacular high handicapper, I offer up my meaningless endorsement for this.

A for-instance from my last round.  First time playing a new course, the first hole was a par 4 with DANGER DANGER DANGER on the left side and a ridiculously narrow fairway.  I'm a lefty with a tendency to hit a dead push on my idiot shots, so I sucked it up and decided to play wimp golf so I didn't end up putting a ball through someone's windshield on my first tee shot.

Took a six iron to the tee.  Left me at about 150 and change.  Second shot I caught a bit fat, leaving me with a 30 yard pitch to get up and down for par.  Took bigger clubs from there on in (Not counting par 3's), and didn't make another par on the day.

The one time on the day I got confident (Cocky) and pulled anything longer than a hybrid -- Tried to tee off with a 3 wood on what looked to be a wide open Par 5.  BLAST... dead push out of bounds.  Now I'm hitting three off the tee.  Had I taken, say, an 8 iron off the tee and for my second shot, I could've been lying three a few hundred yards down the fairway instead of teeing it up again... Of course, taking three off the tee makes you feel like you need to hit it even FURTHER, and then the death spiral into hell begins.

I'm sorely tempted to just take a day and try to play a round with, say, 7i, PW, Putter.  Probably be the day I break 100.  (Okay, I'd be lost without my 58*... It gets to stay.)

Yes I am playing the whites. I am not sure of the yardage from those tees. Lets say avg. of 30 yds shorter, would make the whites 6670 yds long.