Breaking 90 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bogey.

[wubskis]

So, I had my big realisation today. I'm sure this'll be commonplace knowledge to most people of a lower handicap or around the 18 area, but it finally dawned on me that I really shouldn't try to play for par, and push the percentages, and try to make balls to the wall hero shots when I could lay up and play it safe, and score a safe +1 instead of a Kenny Loggins "Highway to the Dangerzone" +3.

Just thought I'd make a pretty pointless topic in celebration of the fact that playing a new course today I decided to try way too hard to score well, that I ended up shooting awfully. So, my new mantra, (for now, at least) is that playing safe and seeing a +1 for the hole is always better than making an occasional hero shot, feeling awesome about yourself but scoring a 106.

[DriverTees]

If what you say is true, you know better than most tour players :P

[Brakkus]

Do you know I really have become clear to what I need to do now concerning course management and pre-shot routine.Think on a hole by hole basis.
I used to go for a green if it was under 200 yds,thinking if I missed I would easily wedge into the green,but I realise this is flawed,because you can lose it off to the back,or it kicks to trees if you tug it or push.
So now unless the neck of the green is wide I'm going to lay it down in that 50-60 yard area for shorter par 4's and the 90-110 area on longer holes.
My current strategy loses me 2-5 balls a round which with penalties puts me at 103 average,so already there is 4-10 strokes to gain by not actually having to hit the ball any better than I do now.It's really maximising my margain of error which is the approach shot.
I'm figuring on my short game practice with chipping, wedging, and putting is going to pay huge dividends next time out.I really have improved the execution on these.Chipping finally I settle on a method,that hasn't helped as it's an area of imagination and I have tried at least 3 different methods in 2 years.
So really taking inspiration from the OP I just need to avoid all advice from playing partners and stick to my guns.I'm thinking 100 is not my goal,I'm thinking 80-90 because I think it's down to the mental process,choosing the right shot,and beating the course with my strengths.

[motsco]

So, I had my big realisation today. I'm sure this'll be commonplace knowledge to most people of a lower handicap or around the 18 area, but it finally dawned on me that I really shouldn't try to play for par, and push the percentages, and try to make balls to the wall hero shots when I could lay up and play it safe, and score a safe +1 instead of a Kenny Loggins "Highway to the Dangerzone" +3.

A 5 on each hole is 90 for 18, the big plus is that you always have those par 3's to break 90. play all the holes as they are a par 5 - and relax. if you bogey the par3's thats 2 under and you will break 90 :)

[Shindig]

A 5 on each hole is 90 for 18, the big plus is that you always have those par 3's to break 90. play all the holes as they are a par 5 - and relax. if you bogey the par3's thats 2 under and you will break 90 :)

Also, if you are at the point that you're thinking of breaking 90, the "real" par-5s - and long par-4s - become scoring opportunities. Make comfortable 5s there, and no other hole on the golf course will feel as though worse-than-bogey is in the cards.

[mapa94]

So, I had my big realisation today. I'm sure this'll be commonplace knowledge to most people of a lower handicap or around the 18 area, but it finally dawned on me that I really shouldn't try to play for par, and push the percentages, and try to make balls to the wall hero shots when I could lay up and play it safe, and score a safe +1 instead of a Kenny Loggins "Highway to the Dangerzone" +3.

You are 100% right. A year and a half ago I struggled to break 100 consistently. I read "How to Break 90" by T.J Tomasi and Mike Adams and I highly recommend this book. Two of the main points are: having a "personal par" of one over for each hole and focusing on course management/club selection.

Soon I was scoring in the high 80's on a regular basis and then started working on my short game. Now I'm a 9 handicap who shoots in the low to mid 80's regularly and I can break 80 occasionally. My ballstriking isn't that much better than it was a year and a half ago...I just playing smarter and have improved my chipping/pitching inside 100 yards. Also, most high handicaps pull out driver on every par 4/par 5 which often leads to big trouble. Start hitting your 3 wood, 5 wood and even your hybrid off the tee...whatever it takes to land in the fairway and "play the hole backwards" so you leave yourself with a yardage you are comfortable with hitting into the green to make your "personal par". If you have a wide open fairway go ahead and hit driver but think about your strategy first. Play smart and avoid the blow up holes and you will be breaking 90 on a regular basis soon.

[Marinemike]

This is right up there with the "hip slide" as the big secrets of golf for the 20 handicapper. I was at a 25 4 months ago. Teaching myself that a card full of +1s is a nice round (for now) was key. A par is almost always in the picture, and in my world is "getting one back." Now I almost never score over about a 92 and am putting most of my effort into getting up and down. +3 is almost never in the equation unless I jack one OB and completely misread my first putt.


This was really hard for me. It's about getting past the whole "good is the enemy of great" mantra. However, it's a completely different paradigm. Perhaps when I'm a 9 or 10 I'll come back to expecting par with a significant chance at birdie.

[pounc007]

I just got back inot playing golf after taking about six years off, and this was the approach I tried to take. Back before I joined the army, I was a 4 handicap and tried to birdie every hole. The first round I played since returning to the game, my goal was to break 100. I only hit the driver once, and scored my only triple bogey of the day, but the rest of the day I hit 5 iron - 3 wood off the tee, just to keep it in the fairway and tried to keep it around the green. I was amazed at my 92 that day considering how poorly/ inconsistently I was striking the ball. Now If I can remember how to sink a 5 foot putt, maybe I'll be back in the 70s before too much longer.

[wubskis]

Also, if you are at the point that you're thinking of breaking 90, the "real" par-5s - and long par-4s - become scoring opportunities. Make comfortable 5s there, and no other hole on the golf course will feel as though worse-than-bogey is in the cards.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. The awful round which prompted the OP had light relief when I scored par on a long par 5, which immediately brought a smile to my face and caused me to hit by far and away the best shot I'd played that day on the following par 3, landing a 7 iron about 5ft from the pin. This is where I should have taken the reality check though, as I immediately decided I was destined to par every remaining hole on the course and I begun to screw up hard shots instead of allowing myself breathing room and playing it safe.

I read "How to Break 90" by T.J Tomasi and Mike Adams and I highly recommend this book.

I might just grab that book, I'm always looking for something to read during downtime, thanks. Since I got back into the game (handful of months now, but I was never good when I played before) the 'big dog' in my bag is just my 4h. I can hit that a comfortable 200-210 without having to exert myself to the extreme. I haven't so much as looked at a driver yet, I'd much rather rest in my comfort zone for now.

Blow up holes are really my downfall, an issue to which I'm sure a lot can relate. I've had rounds with strings of +1/par holes where I've felt on top of the world. Suddenly, +3/+4+/+5. The best round I've scored, albeit on a notably easy local muni, was 89. Since then, I've been scoring worse and worse. Now, some of this can be accounted by the fact I've been taking lessons and the pro has basically reworked my swing, so this is a latency period as I get more accustomed to it, but it can't be denied that psychology has a lot to do with it. Calming down the racing thoughts of grandeur is one of the best things I can take onto the course right now.

[whetstone]

Right now my course management is just what you described. I take bogies to avoid doubles and triples. Sometimes laying up gives me a great short-iron approach and I par the hole with a 1 putt, and I try to par the par3's. I'm pretty consistently shooting under 90 with this approach, and as I gain confidence with each longer iron I'm beginning to go for some greens I would've laid up to 2 months ago. I shot an 83 yesterday using this approach

[Lefty-Golfer]

It is old man golf and works remarkably well if you are disciplined enough to do it. Short off T, lay up to in front of green, chip on, one putt….smile and wink as the younger guys are carding a bogey or worse. LOL part of the reason we love golf…there is something for everyone.

[mapa94]

It is old man golf and works remarkably well if you are disciplined enough to do it. Short off T, lay up to in front of green, chip on, one putt….smile and wink as the younger guys are carding a bogey or worse. LOL part of the reason we love golf…there is something for everyone.

LOL...I think a lot of players who are new to the game (young and old) would do well by playing "old man golf". Once your game improves to a certain level, or if a particular hole allows it, go ahead and and bomb away and try to reach every green in regulation. My take is that playing smart and conservatively usually results in lower scores for mid and high handicaps. You don't have to lay up on every hole but avoid the "hero" shots or trying to hit that 220yd approach shot that you are likely to top or send offline.

I see so many higher handicaps take risky shots that they are very unlikely to pull off that often results in doubles, triples, or worse. It does take discipline to know when to go for it and when to lay up but those who have the go for broke attitude usually are the ones who are paying up after the round.

[MeanDeen]

What chaps my ass is when I duff a layup shot

[wubskis]

It is old man golf

This is amazing terminology, if anyone asks why I'm playing like this I'll be sure to tell them I'm merely under the effects of arthritis with a dash of osteoporosis!

You don't have to lay up on every hole but avoid the "hero" shots or trying to hit that 220yd approach shot that you are likely to top or send offline.

This is it in a nutshell. It's knowing when to play old man golf and when to put on your aviator sunglasses and hit play on your Top Gun soundtrack on the ipod.

[Marinemike]

I see so many higher handicaps take risky shots that they are very unlikely to pull off that often results in doubles, triples, or worse. It does take discipline to know when to go for it and when to lay up but those who have the go for broke attitude usually are the ones who are paying up after the round.

Sometimes it just takes a little training in course management.

On a local par 5 I had a friend who is new to golf and probably an upper 20s handicap pull his 3h on his 2nd shot to try to hit the green on the other side of a very large pond with some pine trees. The silly part is that there is a nice wide, safe dogleg around it. I asked him if he really believed he would make the shot. He answered with a very firm no. I told him to just take a 6 iron and then 9 iron around the corner. He got up and down for par. It just wasn't in his mind until then to do anything but go straight toward the hole. That's fine when it's a wide straight tract, but not on something gnarly like this.

[Ash1974]

Greta post this.

Jan this year I was 24 handicap looking to play bogey golf by the end of the season, I went at it with "a bogey on each hole would do" attitude and sooner than I thought I was at 18 handicap (March) I am now 16.9 and I put this down to trying to play a bogey on each hole, as you get better you will par more and more so the score comes down even lower and if I double bogey a hole I just think that a par will even it out and put me back to bogey golf.
My best score is 85 and I have been playing 2 years this October

My big focus now is short game as I miss so many par putts it is unreal and this I believe will help me break 80 ,which I plan to do before next season is over.

[whetstone]

I'm unfamiliar with the term "old man golf", but I do know several old men who will hand you your ass and take your money on the golf course.

[Lefty-Golfer]

LOL...I think a lot of players who are new to the game (young and old) would do well by playing "old man golf". .

Agreed

What chaps my ass is when I duff a layup shot

Life Tilt

This is amazing terminology, if anyone asks why I'm playing like this I'll be sure to tell them I'm merely under the effects of arthritis with a dash of osteoporosis!

That is very funny

I'm unfamiliar with the term "old man golf", but I do know several old men who will hand you your ass and take your money on the golf course.

No doubt...hell I was partners with one for 36 holes this weekend. Great guy, we laughed for two days, he carries an Index of 7.2 or in that range...it is still old man golf. Think about it.

I am not saying anything bad about it or that it is an inferior (spelling?) game. Just that it takes time, practice and discipline to play that game...and many old men use it very well. Maybe it is because I play at a club where over 50 percent of the members are 60 plus years old....I see it everyday.