What will cut my score the quickest...?

[Philip9210]

Score Card
Ok, today at the golf course, I shot a 114, I did ok w/ my longer irons, just can't put them around the green to give myself a legit chance to pitch/chip for birdie and putt for par...here are the three things i think i need to work on...what order do you think will help me the most?

1)Longer Irons...hitting them into a position to have birdie/par attempts putting
2)Chipping/Wedges...If i make a bad long iron shot, I can recover w/ a good chip/wedge
3)Driving...right now i drive about 200 into the trees making me take a drop or fishing it out of the woods...but when i do hit a straight drive i tend to bogie the hole. But when i don't i tend to bogie or double...hitting more fairways would obviously give me more chances at lower scores....

Putting is about the only good thing, i 2 putt about 60-70% w/ a few exceptions...
Thanks Guys/Gals!

[scubasteve86]

Score Card

Well how far can you hit your long irons, because if you can get around 200 yds with your irons, keep the driver in the bag, this way you can work on accuracy of the long irons at the same time as preventing hitting into the trees with the driver.

[wannabe]

You forgot

4) Cheating.

:)

but really, looks like if you worked on your full swing it'd help both driver and long irons.

i'd go there.

[Philip9210]

I only have a 5-pw w/ a 4 hybrid...i've gotten to where i can hit the 5 about 150-165 and the four about 165-175(but i can't make good contact, i like irons better), but i had thought about doing that, i just need to go buy a three and four iron from a yard sale or sumtin.

[Philip9210]

You forgot

HAHAHAHAHAHA yea one of the guys in more foursome has some sketch scores...today we saw him hit 5 times and on the green we were like "what shot you on?" he replied "four" lol...but hey, its not for money so watever lol :)

[scubasteve86]

I only have a 5-pw w/ a 4 hybrid...i've gotten to where i can hit the 5 about 150-165 and the four about 165-175(but i can't make good contact, i like irons better), but i had thought about doing that, i just need to go buy a three and four iron from a yard sale or sumtin.

i wouldnt bother with the 3 iron, personally i hate trying to my 3, i can hit my 3, 4 and 5 irons all 200 yds, i never get more yardage out of my 3 and 4, so i bought a 21° hybrid and can hit it about 220.

If you want try getting a 3 hybrid. and just stick with the irons for now when ur on the course, and practice with the driver on the range.

[wannabe]

Also, if you're saving for clubs, but have had no lessons yet - spend the money on a series of lessons and a few thousand range balls -- then you'll be ready for that well-deserved new set of clubs to go with your awesome swing.

It's what I'm doing, and it's so much more gratifying to hit great shots with old clubs than to hit mediocre shots with shiny new clubs.

[MI Rob]

Spend most of your time practicing your short game so if you dont hit the green, you can get up and down.
Short game has helped me lower my scores the most. But still work on the driving and irons part too just not as much.

[SubPar]

Go to a facility or a par-3 course and practice chipping and putting an hour a day for 6-10 days. (make sure you are using good technique).

I was recovering from double hernia surgery a few weeks ago so I spent on hour or so every day hitting pitches, chips and putts for a week. Now am shooting some way better than average scores. Chipping them close, rolling in putts.

SubPar

[SSmith981]

I would say the best advice is, practice, practice, practice. If you're just starting out, there are a million things that can easily be fixed by hitting balls at the range and hitting chips and puts at the practice greens. If you find a place with a nice chipping green your in luck, it will let you practice some longer chips and even sand shots, they will really help you around the green. Look at it this way, I hit my 3,4,5 iron maybe 10-12 times a round, I use my putter 30-40 times a round, where can I easily lose shots, putting and chipping, if I get that putting number down into the 20's thats 10-20 shots right there. If you go to the range and hit a bucket of balls working on your longer irons and woods you'll get better, if you hit a wall picking up a teacher for a couple of lessons can easily put you back on track.

[Eeryck]

You may want to try playing with only a 6I for tee shots and shots getting close to the green. Then work on short game into green trying to make putting a 1-putt as often as possible.

So assuming your 6I averages 145y.

Hole 1 - 6I, 6I, 50 yard pitch, putt (par) optimal
if you two putt (bogey) very good result
Pitch misses green, chip and one putt (bogey) very good result
Two putt after your chip (double bogey) acceptable result

Hole 2 - 6I, 6I, 60 yard pitch, putt
Hole 3 - 6I, 6I, 6I 35 yard pitch, putt

You should hit some sort of groove with the 6I during the round similar to results on the driving range and you get to work on short game at the same time.

By using a 6I and keeping the ball in play it should take a bit of pressure off your game by not hitting the ball into the woods and the like.

I would try and work in a couple lessons as well if you plan to stick with the game or at least see if you know any better golfers and try and emulate what works for them. Self video can also be very effective, I know that what I felt and what I looked like were completely different before I had video feedback.

Regards,
-E

[bunkerputt]

I started where you are three years ago. Now I'm at 12 and going lower. Here's what I work on:

1. Eliminate the Hero shot. I played with my buddy who shoots in the 60s and I was really shocked by something: it wasn't nearly as impressive as I thought it would be. I mean, I was expecting all these crazy good shots where he was hitting the flagstick all the time. That just doesn't happen. Golf isn't archery. If you want to go low ELIMINATE THE BIG NUMBER. People go low because they don't have doubles and triples. For you, imagine if you shot a 92. That seems crazy at 36 hcp, but it's really a bogey on every hole. I'm convinced that if you can hit the ball, you can break 100 just on course management alone. Start thinking of bogeys like pars.

2. Get the ball in play off the tee. It's better to be relatively straight but 30 yards short than in the trees. 30 yards really isn't as much of an advantage as you think it is. Take WHATEVER CLUB IT TAKES to get the ball in play. This means either the fairway or the first cut. Even if it means taking a PW. If you can hit your wedge 100 yards, it only takes two of these to make a drive. That's only one stroke more.

3. Don't play the shot you should play, play the shot you can play. If the situation calls for a high draw, to a pin tucked back left, just go for the middle of the green. If the greens are small, always go for the middle. If you tend to top the ball on your mis-hits, choose a route with a lot of run.

4. Get good at putting from 6 feet. Pros only make about half of their 6 footers. That's 3/6. If you make 2/6 or even 1/6, that's really pretty serviceable.

5. Practicing chipping to 6 feet. Get your chips inside a 6-foot circle. Forget about whether it's all over the stick and about how many up and downs you make. Just feel happy if you get it to 6 feet. Then your work on #4 can take over.


Once you get good at these, you'll have to start working on your swing and your game quite a bit to keep going lower. But this will get you well into the 80s.

[pittpanther]

Score Card

I think the answer is obvious. Getting rid of penalty strokes is the quickest way to cut your score. Which means no drives that veer off into the water, or lost balls in the woods, or out of bounds. Spend significant time, or lessons, on driving off the tee. If you do nothing but avoid penalty strokes, you will be close to breaking 100.

The only other thing I would offer is a combination of two things: 1. learn all your iron distances 2. pay attention to the yardage markers on the course! don't go out there trying to guess how far your approach shot is. Most courses have the red, white, and blue marks painted on the cart path, plus markers on the fairways. Get used to using them!!! Once you know how far away you are, and which club goes that distance, then you will find your approach shots getting close to the green. Chipping and Putting would be my lowest priority at this point. I know that goes against the prevailing thought on this board, but you're playing golf, not pitch-n-putt. You have to be able to Drive, and you have to be able to hit an Approach shot. No amount of "Phil Mickelson-type" of short game is going to help you if your ball is under water, or lost.

[$2 Nassau]

I am of the school that the higher your handicap, the less you should worry about short game. Find a club that can get you off the tee safely with reasonable distance.

Get yourself to a place in your game where the short game can start to really matter. Most people go about it the other way- short game, short game, short game. Which is fine of course. But I've gotten down to a 12 with never practicing my short game at all.

As my ball striking has improved, I can now see that I need to improve my short game to go to the next level. But when I first started, putting/chipping was the least of my problems. I'd rarely get to the green in less than 5 or 6 strokes anyway.

[bogeyhitter25]

Driving distance.
Irons out of the rough.
Short game.

A lot of people would say they'd rather have a 6I in the fairway than an 8I in the rough.
Not me.

[zeg]

I don't shoot much better than you do so take this with a grain of salt, but if you drive 200 yds into the woods and chip out, you're lying 2 and ~200 yds from the tee. If you use your (say) 6I off the tee and for the second shot, odds are you'll be lying 2 a lot closer to the green.

[Jay-Bird]

SHORT GAME.

Once you get used to striking wedges correctly - hitting controlled shots - that is, not only full swing 'regular' shots, but also shots of different lengths, trajectories, shapes, spins etc - you will be able to progressively integrate that feel into your other clubs. Eventually you'll be hitting 7,8,9,PW with great confidence and your handicap will be half of what it is today. You'll likely struggle with long irons and driving consistency for a while, that's just the way it goes.

Problem is, you likely won't practice your 7,8,9,PW enough to get confident enough to know what the ball will do with those clubs on the course. I'm at the practice range 2 times a week at least. The majority of balls from any given bucket out there are likely going to be hit with driver, that's just the way it is. Most people don't practice , they hit balls ; it's not the same thing.

[ioaz81]

When I wanted to get better fast, I did what most of them have said, but I kinda took a 2 club rule. I took my 5 iron and my 8 iron and used only them off the tees and in the fairways. That way I would be more confident with my 4 and 6 and then the 7 and 9. Then that leaves you with whatever wedges you carry. Simplify it down till you feel confident with all of those clubs. Then, if you want after a month or so, add a 5 wood or a 3 wood. Do not jump to the driver.