Question for 5 to 10 handicappers only....

[Three Putt]

Are you in the same boat as me??? Seems like you can shoot a great 9 holes close to par (or par) and fall apart on a few of the back holes, or shoot a "bad" front nine and knock it out on the back nine to shoot your hcap.

What does it take to be below a 5 hcap.....

[Serenity Now]

I have dropped from 6 years as a 10 to a 7 in the past 3 months and now am trending to 6.6 The difference has been my chipping around the green. A pro told me that if your in a hurry (My life is in a hurry) and you do not have time to practice a lot before playing, instead of hitting a half bucket for 10 minutes, spend that time chipping. It will create good tempo which will effect how you drive it, hit it & putt it and your chipping will improve leaps and bounds. My goal is to get to a 4. Today I shot 42 on the front with two 3-putt doubles but rebounded to shoot 1 over on the back. Funny game

[kekoa]

for me, the one thing that kills my handicap is one or two blow up holes. If i take a double or triple from hitting it OB or in the water, i fall apart from there.

Mental aspects are huge for me as well as those 5-10 foot putts for par. if i can make those, i'm going to shoot a damn good round.

[walk18]

truth is it takes everything to go well, but the putting is where you can lose the most strokes.

[MrKadash]

I would expand it and say 100 yards and in for me. I agree that a ill-timed tee shot can usually break me, but it's almost always the ability to get up and down or get close from wedge yardage for an easy birdie that separates the men from the boys.

[gumpy]

for me, the one thing that kills my handicap is one or two blow up holes. If i take a double or triple from hitting it OB or in the water, i fall apart from there.

Completely agree, need to avoid disaster holes. The one where you shank out of no where or skull it off the tee into the nearby bush because at 5-10 handi you're doing most things right.

[Big_M]

The keys to me shooting low are...
1) consistency... not having the few bad ones
2) hitting my wedges well and getting up and down
3) making putts... especially 5-10 footers

I was a 16-18 three seasons ago, a 13 at the start of last year, and now I'm a 9.5... I have mostly improved my ball striking... I now understand what causes what in a swing and can diagnose my own swing (huge step for me).... NOW, if I can spend some time with my short game I think I can make 5 or 6 by the end of the year. I don't know what I'll need to do from there to get close to scratch?

[vexie]

Its always 1 or 2 holes that mess up my round.
last time out I shot 39 on the front side made the turn. I shot par on the
10th then hit 2 balls O.B. I ended up with a 10 on the 11th hole.

Thinking what an ass I am, it was time to relax and just let it fly..I proceeded to make birdie on the next 4 holes and par out. I truly thought the round was over.

If only I could get rid of the 1 or 2 bad swings in a round it would put me over the hump!

[ArjunGFX]

The transition might occur faster than you think. I also felt stuck in the 5-10 range and then suddenly dropped to a 4 when I found myself playing a lot more often.

For me the three elements were getting in less trouble off the tee, more solid iron shots, and better putting (the most crucial). My response might sound like captain obvious but that's not the intended tone. Basically it's all about practice, practice, practice with a focus less on where you're hitting but on how you're hitting. You want to focus on consistently solid contact.

[Stuart]

I know we are all looking for that one thing that is going to make our game fool proof...but for me so far....different days simply present different sets of issues......for instance yesterday i was pretty much flawless tee to green, except for one awful shank........but i 3 putted 4 times.........last week i was flawless on the green, but drove the ball OB twice.......the reality is that to be a low handicapper you need to do all things well, but IF we have to pick one thing, then I pick the ability to scramble around the green or from 100 yards in.....getting it up and down when you need to is very important

[Fourputt]

My best round of the young season is a 76. I made 14 pars and 4 bogies, with 24 putts. By those stats, even though the putts look good, it was my chipping and pitching that got the job done. That has pretty much always been the way my game works. My putting is always adequate, not spectacular. I rarely 3 putt, but I also don't make a lot of putts from outside of 10 feet either, so hitting a green in regulation is usually a par. But missing a green within 5 yards is almost as likely to be a par. I get in the most trouble when I'm putting my tee shots in places that I can't get near the green from, but I am still good at making recovery shots and using my imagination to get back in play.

So here's my take on the poll. If you are at 10 or better now, then you already have a reasonable understanding of your full swing and you keep the ball in play most of the time. I would have to vote that a combination of good course management and a solid short game is the quickest way to get your handicap into the lower single digits.

[Dent]

I can usually keep my stuff together, but its always on the back when I do worse.

Obviouslly, I get tired, I havent drank enough water, my legs are tired. I also take gambles to see if they pay off so I can improve my score a bit. I never really fall apart on the last holes though.

I know what you mean, Ill shoot a 38 on the front and look forward to something in the 70's when all of a sudden I shoot a 42 on the back to put me to an 80. I don't think about my final score, its just the play, I go with the flow and sometimes 70's doesnt work out

[hawkeye]

I agree with that 100yard in comment - If you can take max 3 shots from 100yards you are on the right track to a <5 handicap.

[Doctorfro]

For me it's all about the driver. Drive it well and I score low. I putt well but on those days when I'm real hot it makes it even easier.

[hawkeye]

For me it's all about the driver. Drive it well and I score low. I putt well but on those days when I'm real hot it makes it even easier.

If I have a good day with a driver and a bad day with a putter - I don't score. I would guess that is a general trend - interesting that you find the driving being the most important element to a good score.

[Fourputt]

I can usually keep my stuff together, but its always on the back when I do worse.

I did just the opposite the other day.... shot a horrendous 47 on the front, then sucked it up and played an almost flawless (for me) 38 on the back. Sometimes there is no figuring this game...

[Andaluzian]

I'm off 4 now. My key is course management.
don't make stupid shots you can't pull off. If your in the trees off the tee then punch out to a good yardage, wedge it on the green and 1-2 putt for bogey at worse.
Pull the right club in the first place, don't think you can max out every iron, play for 1/2 club more. Keep track how many times you come up short and you will amazed.
If you practice your chipping and putting its really tough to shoot over 80, unless your hitting balls OB, then they add up quick.

Hope that helps

[TD22057]

I voted putting but that's just me - I think it's different for everyone. I play regularly w/ a guy who's a 2 and we're fairly even tee to green. I have definitely have more 'oops' moments that cost me some strokes but by far and away it's putting that is killing me. The good news is that I think putting is probably the easiest thing thing to improve (at least from the state I'm in now). I've just been too busy (or lazy) lately to put the time in to fix it.