Almost broke 80

Join the club. I've been teetering on the edge of those damn 70's for 6 months now. Eight times I have shot 81 but that is my best. Shot it at 3 courses now (incl a par 70) and off the white and blue tees at my home course. So frustrating but I know I will do it in the near future. Problem is that I am so fixated on it that I start getting ahead of myself and before I know it I finish with 3 bogeys for another 81

I was in the same boat  a couple of years ago. I'd put together a good front and then start thinking about it and blow up. Once I stopped doing that not only did I break 80, I shot 75. I look at my score once at the turn and not again until after the 18th. Also thinking only about the shot or putt in front of me helps as well. This year I shot 73 and during that round shot my first 9 under par. You'll get it. But after that...you just want to shoot even lower.

Haha....reminds me of my 9 year old son and his first chance to bowl a 200 while rolling lightweight 6-8lb spitwads at the pins..     He split in the 10th and finished with a 193.........(all he needed was a spare)

.....but he bowled a 204 the next weekend...........

Moral of the story:

Don't lose hope...it will happen when you're ready.

Nice one man! Hopefully I will be able to say the same thing soon! Got a few rounds planned next week.

I don't like the fact that everybody makes it sound like there won't ever be a time in golf when I'll be happy with how I play!

Golf sucks!

Let me say you can be happy with how you play . I am almost every time I play.

I may not be content with my score many rounds, but I make it a point to replay the best parts of my round and find the things that were great about the way I played.

Yesterday I shot my worst score on my home course in over a year. The weather was windy but basically fine. My good shots did not turn out so well from the moment I pure-hit a wedge over the first green as I posed thinking it might go in the hole. My bad shots turned out really bad. I think I got one lucky bounce all day. I had some of the longest and hardest putts you can have on the course and, although I hit good putts on the line I wanted and with the pace I thought I needed, I was wrong. That led to 4-putting a green, followed by a 3-putt, followed by a 4-putt. 11 putts in three holes. Never done that before. But here's what I mean about my attitude. On my last 4-putt hole (number 17), I have a 148 yards to a near front pin, on top of a ledge, with a steady 20 MPH wind, with gusts near 30 MPH, directly into my face. Without wind, I hit my 6-iron about 165. So, I figured a 6-iron into that wind would be fine. I hit a pure, perfect 6-iron. The kind of shot that has no side spin and seems to cut through the wind. One of those that feels, "wow." It landed at the far back of the monster-huge green leaving a putt that was down hill, then flat, the extremely downhill to the hole and off the ledge beyond. I won't go into how that became a 4-putt except to say I was into my target and struck each putt exactly as I thought it needed to be struck on my intended line. Leaving the bad feelings behind, on the 18th tee, I hit a pure drive, that looked perfect, and went through the fairway by 1 foot in a place longer than I normally get -- again into a now quartering strong wind. The rough was punishingly thick and deep (one foot off the fairway during awesome grass-growing weather) which created a very tough layup and... a 6 on the par 5 after one of my best ever drives.  But last night, I kept thinking about how purely I hit that 6-iron. And how for three rounds in a row I've hit beautiful shots into the ninth green. And how on 18 I was only a foot away from have one of my best drives ever. I am happy with how well I struck the ball and will continue to replay those, and other, good swings in my mind.

I choose to be happy with how I played.

Golf is great!

I didn't mean to convey I didn't enjoy the game. It took me two years to beat my previous best. I LOVE playing whether I'm having a great round or not. I can't tell you the elation I feel whenever I beat my best score. But I do also realize that's going to get tougher and tougher.

I know you love the game - well, I assumed.

That's my thing with golf, I do like it (my comments about not liking it are tongue in cheek), but it's so odd that a game so frustrating can be so appealing!

I did it, 77 off the stick :) Knew it wasn't going to be long. Had it comfortable on the back nine after 37 on the front. Bogeyed the last 2 holes which was a bit annoying but none the less pretty happy. Playing again tomorrow so lets see if I can do the double.

Hey! A golfer happy with his game! That's a novelty!!

Good shit brah!

Wow, I am starting to like this. Shot 76 today off the mens tees :) And that was with a triple!! Had 3 birdies and hit about 12 GIR. Shot 35 on back nine (1 under) which is my first ever under par 9. 60's here I come

Yeah, i'm happy too.  But like most of life, things could be better.  I will tell you however, that i cannot get excited over anyone who learned golf as a youngster. OP says he was scratch in HS so all the needed functions of the swing are fully in place, even if he did not play for 30 yrs.  Taking up golf as an old geezer is very different. Much like learning a language. If mother teaches you at her knee then you won't forget. But if you go try to learn your first foreign language as a 50 yrs old,  you are in for a large reality check.  Not offence intended and i am  glad you are doing well.

I shot an 81 last week which was my best round.  I find that most days I can have aspects of the game that are great, while other aspects suffer.  For instance, if my driving is great my putting is horrible.  If my driving is bad, my mid irons might be on.  It is really hard to get all aspects of the game lined up at the same time.  On my round of 81 my putting was spot on.  You know the saying.