A Personal Low Round . . . let's break it down!

[Divot Tool]

This past weekend I played a local municipal course in town and shot a personal low round of 83 . Woohoo for Divot Tool The course is fairly short by todays standards @ 5500 yards with a par of 70 (66.5/112) but somewhat tight with trees and small and well bunkered greens. I was very proud, due to the fact that at the beginning of the year I was shooting low 100s on this course and had not yet legitimately broken 100 ever. My personal best was previously an 87 on this same track.

Regardless, here are the numbers.

fairways: 10/13
G.I.R.: 6
putts: 34
3-putts: 4
pars: 6
birdies: 1
eagles: 0
bogeys: 9
double bogeys: 2

I felt like I played a very solid round, with no astronomical numbers (ie. double pars). Initially, I thought I had putt well, but after breaking down the numbers and referencing some of the posts here, it would seem that I'll have to work on that part of the game.


Can someone here give me a little input on how I could improve my game? Any possible weaknesses and potential disaster areas you see? Thanks.

[LongballGer]

First of all good job!

You might wanna get better at lag putting. 3 putts are always unnecessary.

It's cliche, but the fastest way to lower your score is to mostly practice chipping and putting.

About the full swing. Technique doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you hit the ball solid and have a repeatable shot shape.

Good luck!

[gibbous]

About the full swing. Technique doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you hit the ball solid and have a repeatable shot shape.

Surely you're not implying that technique has nothing to do with how well you strike the ball or the resulting flight?

It doesn't have to look pretty, but there are common elements in the swings of pretty much all good ball strikers. I've improved on my personal best two of my last three rounds (from 78 down to 76, then 75) and an adjustment in my full swing had a lot to do with keeping the ball in play more off the tee, and hitting the ball closer to my target on approach shots. The short game is the more important part though, I agree with you there. Every good round I've ever played has been helped along by getting up & down from off the green, a few long par putts made, and zero short ones missed.

[deronsizemore]

This past weekend I played a local municipal course in town and shot a personal low round of

Congrats on the personal best!

The two stats that stick out to me are the GIR's and putts. If you want to score better, you've got to stick your approach shots on the green and then not 3 putt when you get there. That's really about all it comes down to. Work on shots from 150 yards and in and then work on lag putting to eliminate those 3 putts. Even without hitting more greens in regulation, if you just take that round and remove the three putts you've broken 80, so just imagine if you hit more greens AND eliminated the 3 putts. Fairways are important, but I don't hold them as the same importance as GIR's and putts. For example, I played yesterday and only hit 3 fairways but still shot +2 for the round. Unless we're dealing with US Open rough, I mostly don't care if my drive ends up in the fairway or not.

[David in FL]

Nice round!

Having said that though, without those 3-putts you shoot a 79.

There are very few things that I hate more than a 3-putt. They happen, but unless you consider them completely unacceptable , they'll happen more than they should......

[DavidFehertysBike]

First of all good job!

QFT. My low personal round is a -3 68 and the only difference between then and the golf i play now is that i went apeshit with the putter. I only had 25 putts in that round. As long as you are advancing the ball torwards the green while staying out of trouble, you can score low if you chip and putt.

[Adumb]

It's been said, but GIRs and putts need some work. My best round didn't have the best driving accuracy nor did I have a bunch of distance off the tee. But I hit plenty of greens and I never had a single 3 putt. It was 1 or 2 putts. The fewer 3 putts the better. Maybe try to do what you can to knock it down to 2 3-putts and try hitting 8 GIR (possibly by playing a little more risky). Good luck.

[Divot Tool]

First of all good job!

Duly Noted. I wasn't particularly great on my approach shots as indicated by the G.I.R. statistic. That put a lot of pressure on my short game and putting to save pars...of which I could only save so many. When I was on the green in 2, my speed was off ultimately leaving me with lots of work on the remaining putts.

[Divot Tool]

It's been said, but GIRs and putts need some work. My best round didn't have the best driving accuracy nor did I have a bunch of distance off the tee. But I hit plenty of greens and I never had a single 3 putt. It was 1 or 2 putts. The fewer 3 putts the better. Maybe try to do what you can to knock it down to 2 3-putts and try hitting 8 GIR (possibly by playing a little more risky). Good luck.

I'll definitely work on the short putts from the 3' to 6' range. As for 'risky play' well I aimed for the fat part on most greens and only fired at certain flags on par 3s which I thought for my skill level was the smart play. I missed a lot of shots short and right which can be traced back to a swing fault (another story). Speaking of which, on the Par 3s I was atrocious +3 on those holes. My iron play needs some serious work. thanks. -Divot Tool

[EGS]

Just my opinion, but I think playing harder courses will always make your scores better (in the long run). The numbers on that course seem really easy, not to take away from your score, but you would tear that place up if you played some tougher tracks.