How to break 90?

[iWALK18]

On every hole, think of +1 as "Par" for you. You'll make fewer dumb decisions, and I bet your score will get better.

Also, if you have TiVo or a DVR, set it to record all of the "Bobby Jones: How I play golf" episodes on the golf channel... or buy them on dvd if you are loaded... (I am actually not joking, these are amazing)

I swear that watching those videos and working on my game by myself, i shaved 15 strokes off my game, in a year and went from shooting just over 100 to breaking 90 almost every time I play...

[beung]

2 ways, shortgame or egoless golf.

1) Putts, although not a definative measure, is a good way to lower your score but less so at higher handicaps. I am willing bet that most 10 handicaps don't have that many less putts then a 20 handicap. With that said I would work on improving your shortgame to the point where it doesn't cost you strokes yet it doesn't really save you strokes. I would work on putting and shortgame to the point where you only need to take one chip and 2 putts on every green. Needing multiple chips or a bunch of putts will really inflate your score. If you usually have more then 35 putts a round then I would work to getting your chips closer and eliminating your 3 putts, if you can reliably make a 3 footer there is very little reason to ever 3 putt a green....rarely. Once you get your handicap down then you can start thinking about ways to reduce your putts, either through better putting or better chipping.

2) Keep the ball in play, if your score is truely the most important apect of golf then your ego is going to have to take a backseat. If the driver "costs" you more strokes then it saves then why hit it? Nothing inflates your score like penalties and punchouts to get the ball back into play. If you can hit a ball 200 yrds reliably there aren't many greens you can't make in 3 strokes. Hit something that will give you good distance but not enough to get you to the trouble.

Sounds simple when you can hit a 5i off the tee, hit your 5i for your second shot, you're not going to make the green but that leaves you with porbably at most a 7i or 8i into the green on most par 4s. You can't play to the hole's Par, you have to play to your par....if you want to break 90 that is basically bogey golf. If you are relying on Pars in your round (which are basically Birdies to an 18 handicapper) then you're not playing "your" game. If you could make Pars on a regular basis you wouldn't be asking how to break 90.

[Andy_Mac]

How I broke 90 (this happened just this year, twice, wooohooo)... these are in no particular order:

1. Proper equipment. A lot of people play this down, but I saw a big improvement when I got irons and a driver fitted for me. My drives now leave me in a better position to play a good iron shot into the green. My irons arent spraying all over the dang place so I am on or at least closer to the green after my approach.

2. Shoot for bogey golf. If you bogey every hole on a par 72 course you have shot a 90. Par just one of those and you have broken 90.

3. Mental game. I have to constantly remind myself "dont be a hero". This goes along with 2. before this year if I muffed a drive I would always go for the green... crazy shots. On the green in 3 and a 2 putt = a bogey 5 = good. You can still 1 putt for that par. There is no sense in trying that cut around the tree 230 yard 3 wood when a pitching wedge will put you in full sandwedge from the fairway range from the hole. You have a better chance of getting that full wedge close than a short sided 20 yard pitch over the bunker from the sticky rough.

4. Lessons. I took one. he fixed my grip and gave me some tips on tempo. I am playing much better golf.

5. Playing partners. This one may apply only to me (all of these might, but whatever), but I cannot express what a difference playing with the right people makes. When I play with people who take the game seriously yet like to cut up between shots, I play better.


Good luck on this milestone... its magical when it happens.

[packerfan1]

Speaking from personal experience (I straddle the 90 line, usually within a few strokes either side of 90), my best rounds that go below 90 are when I eliminate the 'explosion holes', those holes where you collapse and score an 8 or 9.

If you can aim for bogey on every hole, you will be OK most rounds. Play the par 3's as if they were par 4's, the 4's as 5's, and the 5's as 6's. Don't be afraid to go driver-5i-9i and be in the fairway / on the green on a par 5, rather than driver and a fairway wood that is topped or goes into the woods in a vain attempt to get to the green in two.

Eliminate the disasters and you will get there. Have faith.

[wrx_junki]

Curious, short course near me with a par 67. Shot 19 over today for a total of 86. Would you consider it shooting under 90?

[WhiteSoxFan]

  wrx_junki said:

Curious, short course near me with a par 67. Shot 19 over today for a total of 86. Would you consider it shooting under 90?

For me, No. I think you need to play a course with at least a par of 70 to be considered in these types of discussions. Should it give you confidence that you CAN break 90, absolutely.

[Lange]

If you believe its your short game, just try and work on hitting those greens on your approach and work on your short chipping game, this will make ur putting a lot less tense as you wont have to make a 10 footer to save bogey. I say this from my own experience lol

[Shindig]

  wrx_junki said:

Curious, short course near me with a par 67. Shot 19 over today for a total of 86. Would you consider it shooting under 90?

Yes, certainly. Now go do it on a par-70+.

For me, the breakpoint is par-66. A regulation course score is fine. And now if someone adds up your score on the 18th tee of a 70+ course and tells you you need a bogey to break 90, you won't be as nervous because you've already done it once.

  WhiteSoxFan said:

For me, No. I think you need to play a course with at least a par of 70 to be considered in these types of discussions. Should it give you confidence that you CAN break 90, absolutely.

Sure, but +3 to his par and +3 to his score bring him under 90 still. No real guarantee of breaking 90 with the same situation if the course were longer, of course, but it isn't like he had an 89 after a par-67.

[lolzzlolzz]

No simple advice of "fix your swing?"

Your plan is way to complex. You need to develop a simple, powerful, and repeating golf swing . Sure, short game and mental stuff is helpful, but you need one swing that you can use on every shot.

I broke 100, then 90, then 80 with no special attention to short game, in less than one year of starting golf. I don't claim to be superhuman, and I think I could have broke 80 much faster if I didn't slack around at the start.

so... as I always suggest... Get Hogan's book 5 lessons and learn it back to front. By now I've read the book so many times that I've memorized most of the text word for word, and it works.

Again, I reiterate, I can hit a straight shot, draw, fade, low shot, high shot, low fade, low draw, and bunker shots without changing my swing at all. Alter the ball with your waggle, ball position, and grip orientation. It's a lot simpler this way.