legitimate strategy to break 100?

[nuck81]

I'm playing my first 18 hole rated course for score Thursday since taking lessons. I hope to break 100. I think I can do it if I play smart. My strategy is to focus on Bogey every hole. Hopefully I pick up a few pars to counter the Doubles I'll probably get. NO TRIPS!!!

[Shanks A Million]

Not a bad plan. Stick to it for a while and see what results you get. I suggest NOT practicing your driver at the range in the meantime. Get as good as you can with the short sticks and groove a swing. Then carry that swing over to your driver when you have it well committed to muscle memory. A lot of instructors like to see a certain amount of progression with the irons before they focus on the driver.

Also, hyper focus on the driver ruins other clubs. The fact it's on a tee, and you can swing differently at it really can hurt you. It can get you in the habit of hitting up on the ball, among many other problems. I almost feel that people should practice clubs based on handicap. At 30+, the only clubs you should be touching are the putter, wedges, and short irons, as well as chipping. From 20-30, practice the longer irons and woods, and learn bunker play and the punch and knockdown shot. When you reach <20, learn the flop shot and the driver, as well as the draw and fade shots, and high spin shots.

The problem comes in the fact that most people are just the opposite. At 30+, they go to the range and hit driver after driver, not even bothering to hit a wedge or an iron. They develop a massively flippy swing, hit up, and slice the piss out of everything. If they focused instead on hitting pitching wedges, they'd learn the proper swing, and then would be able to begin to apply it to the longer clubs.

[mutadayen]

Yeah, of course those clubs are causing you problems. You have impossibly hard to hit long irons and a driver. 8.5° X flex driver? Most tour pros don't even carry a driver with so little loft, and the VR is a more workable driver. Many many pros carry hybrids and many of the Nike guys have VR full cavity long irons. I notice that most of the 15-25 handicaps around here feel the need to play blades and other impossibly hard to hit clubs. That's one thing that will help you break into lower handicap, proper fitting of equipment to your abilities.

Not insulted at all. The only club in my bag that I didn't get fitted for me is driver and I'm currently looking for a new shaft for it by testing out different models at golfsmith that will work with the vr. In regards to the irons, I actually was going to get all blades but instead got fitted for the split cavity muscle backs (3-5 irons) because they were more forgiving. I don't have issues with the blades from 6 on down and actually find them relatively easy to hit. I've gotten very use to the thin top line an no offset look of blades that when I pick up more forgiving irons, like any game improvement ones, I'm down right horrible with them. To my point, I got fitted and had these irons custom built for my swing as I spent three weeks testing out all clubs from all vendors and I preferred the combo set of split cavity muscle backs and blades the vr line offered. The driver, in all honesty, I got for half off from a golf show so I knew that the x stiff was too hard but getting a replacement shaft would still cost less then buying it new from a golf store. So I'm with you on that and that will be a work in progress to get the right shaft for me. The long irons, whn I even had the r7 draw irons which are game improvement irons, were hard for me to hit (3&4). 5 has always been a mix but I'm more consistent especially after lessons. But as we all know, golf is an evolving game. In time I'll figure it out...

[kleinrider]

Like you i have the same problem. I haven't broken a 100 yet, but i am getting close. I can't hit the driver so i normally use a hybrid off the tee to get some distance. Then i try to get inside 100 yards with my next shot (par 4) I also have 3 putt issues, and this is something i need to work on. Good luck, please keep us posted. I would love to read a blog about your quest.

[fr0sty]

You really have to ask yourself if your goal is to lower your score or learn to play golf. Because they are not really the same.

This is a false dilemma. A golfer's objective on the course should be to shoot the lowest score and this is acheived through a set of trade-offs between risk and reward. If you can't keep a driver in play off the tee, don't tee it up. There is no law that says tee shots much be hit with a wood just like there is no obligation to always 'go for it' in long-carry situations. A golfer's objective off the course should be to make themselves a better golfer and this involves hours of practice to develop a drive straight enough to be used on the course.

Just my $.02

[Shanker]

I'm sure its been mention'd but I focused on short game every time I go and practice...Wedges, 6-9i majority of the time. I will pull out my driver to hit a few balls, no more then 10x at the range...I focus on 140yds and in...I believe if your short game is par, breaking 100 is not that difficult of a task...now breaking 100 consistently is another beast of its own...I admit I can't do it consistently enough...

Of course putting...limit your 3 putts to no more then 5x and you'd be in great shape!!!

[Brakkus]

I did more than put my driver away,I sold it.Then I just practiced with the 17,20" hybrids until they were straight.I've been playing for 3 years now and it's only recently that I have aquired a driving net and have room to chip and pitch at home due to a much larger garden.I'm yet to break 100 on a 6000+ yd track but I just come home from work now play with kids outside and wedge and chip for a good hour.Get the net out 3-4 times a week.
Breaking 100 is funny enough not my obsession,but it's really types of shots I wish to develop.Chips off the green,flops in fluffy lies,bump and runs from 60 yds and in.The scoring will come in time and it really is down to developing the skills needed.I would also narrow your focus to maybe 2 wedges for the short stuff and hit different shots with them rather than trying to hit evry short iron and wedge for different distances.

[Greg]

Eliminate those 8's on par4's, 5's and 6's on par 3's, i always seem to have a few of those in a round, duffed shots, shots ob, in a hazard etc. Keeping the ball in play on every shot goes a long way to breaking 100.

[Maker]

For me the goal to breaking 100 was threefold; course management, club selection and swing tempo. For course management, play smart and know where to aim for the most forgiveness. We all make bad shots, but putting yourself in the best position to recover goes a long way. And certainly don't try foolish recovery shots (say from 30 feet in the woods) when either a drop or an easy lateral out are the better options.

For club selection, make sure you are picking a club you are comfortable with. If you are not good with woods, don't pull out the 5w when you are in 3 inches of rough. If there is a club you have been struggling with all day, might be a good idea to leave it in the bag and hit the ones you can get the most solid hits with. Hitting a 7i followed by a wedge to the green is better than duffing a 3i and then having to hit two more long shots to get up to the green.

Tempo, the goal here is to keep a smooth relaxed swing. Don't over analyze the swing or you are likely going to hesitate and cause breakdowns. My best swing has always been the one where I go up relaxed and just think about a smooth tempo. And don't try to kill the ball. Overswinging inevitably leads to breakdowns (at least for me). If you think you need to kill the ball with your current club to cover the distance, go pick another club that will allow you to use an 80-90% swing smoothly.

And finally, course selection. Breaking 100 is in part a factor of what course you are playing. Don't expect to go out and play a 139 slope and break 100 as easily as you would playing a 119 course. Not that it can't be done, but I would target a more forgiving course if your sole goal is to break 100.

I left out putting because that should be a given. If you can't read greens at all and miss a lot of putts, you're going to really struggle breaking 100. Your goal should be to 1-2 putt every hole. Once the 3-4 puts come in, even if you had a good approach to the green, its all down hill.

[chef35ca]

Go practice your short game.

More specific?

Chips, pitches, flops, hooded runners, 50yd runners, 10yd stoppers on the shortside, high dead pitches out of rough, stoppers out of divots, low under trees, high over trees, etc.

& putting of course.

Personally i love wedge practice. I take my balls & throw them out into wherever they land & try to manufacture good shots out of it.


Wayward tee shots are a way of life(tiger, phl, etc). The ability to control the bleeding is the difference between 129 & 80something.

How many ob balls a round do you actually hit?

[pittpanther]

Go practice your short game.

I can't imagine why you would counsel a 32-HC to practice these finesse shots. A 32-HC does not have the club control to pull off these shots with any kind of consistency. When he gets on the course he's going to duff the first attempt, or skull it across the green, when a simple 7I putting-stroke chip is all he needs.

Spend your time learning to keep your drives and approaches in-bounds, and not lost.

[crayputter]

I employ a 'System 5' routine whenever I play...

Meaning every hole I target to get a 5. Think about it, if you get a 5 on every hole, that's 90. Miss one or two here and there, you STILL play below 100 !

That also means you HAVE to try to get a par on the Par 5's. For amateurs, the most realistic pars for us to get is at the Par 5's and the not too long Par 3's.

So in other words, the next time you go on the course, try your best to get pars on the Par 3's ( you shave off 8 from the System 5 ), pars on the Par 5's, and bogeys on the Par 4's (think for a minute, if you manage to make par on the short ones, and one or two bouble bogeys, you're still alright ). You will be en-route to a 90's score, well below 100.

Just play smart, I don't know why us amateurs like to play some tough clubs just because its 'supposedly' the right thing to do, when in fact they struggle with that club !

For example, there is this awful Par 3 at the course I play at, which measures a bloody 220yds ! That's almost like a driver distance for me ! So when all my buddies take out their long irons, and smacking it all over the place, EXCEPT the green, I just take out my hybrid and get the ball to about 180,190 yds, and that will just leave me with a bump and run with my 7i....most times, I end up with less than a 5 footer for par, or I will 2 putt for a bogey...

There are a pair 420yd Par 4's as well where I play, and my strategy there is simple as well, driver to about 220, 230 yds....6i for my approach to about 40yds from the green....again, my trusty 7i comes out, and even if I 2 putt, I still end up with a bogey...

So there you go, play easy...and play smart....don't force anything, it just gets worse

Ray

[nuck81]

I employ a 'System 5' routine whenever I play...

+infinity

[kilbyman]

I just posted my last round on my blog. I just can't take care of the finesse shots,and whenever I seem to chip with a club like a 7i, I always hit it way too hard. Oh well, you guys can read that if you want then offer more advice :) I'm tired of playing bad golf with a decent swing.

[kilbyman]

As far as opening up my wedges, etc. I thought I was decent at those type of shots. Today proved differently.

[crayputter]

I just posted my last round on my blog. I just can't take care of the finesse shots,and whenever I seem to chip with a club like a 7i, I always hit it way too hard. Oh well, you guys can read that if you want then offer more advice :) I'm tired of playing bad golf with a decent swing.

Try chipping with a 9i then, or a PW....if you still hit it too hard, then you have a serious problem....

Try to chip with a putting stroke, no different....you should be fine... Ray

[Shanks A Million]

One of the biggest myths I see is that the short game is the reason someone is a 30 handicap. Simply not true. Ballstriking is the most important factor in handicap. The reason people get the idea that it's short game is that the 30 handicap puts the ball in some very bad places. Even a tour pro's short game would only make a 30 handicap into about a 25 handicap.

Getting the ball down the fairway, then to the green in regulation is, by far , the biggest factor in handicap. High handicaps hit almost no greens in regulation. If you're trying to get up and down for a triple, of course short game is going to seem important. But if you're trying to get up and down for par, it really is important. The best way to reduce your handicap is to get the ball to the green. If you took a 30 handicap, and he hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation, he'd be about a 10 handicap.

So, again, the idea is to hit the greens. The best way to do that is to take one extra stroke to get there. Play each hole for bogey. That way, one putts are pars, two putts are bogeys, and so on. That's a fast way to shoot 90.

[mhenrickson]

This is a great thread, because I'm in pretty much the exact same position as kilbyman. I started playing last summer and was consistently in the mid-high 60's for 9 holes. My goal then was to get into the 50's, which I did several times with the best being a 50. So my goal this summer is to play double bogey golf - shoot in the 50's. Things started out pretty good, but I've also had several rounds in the 60's, with a total blowup of 64/66 last weekend.

My putting is the reason I don't score better, as I am a terrible putter. I just cannot judge green speed consistently, so my first putt is either way short, or flys by the hole. Then I can usually get the second putt close enough to get down in three putts. Just awful. I took a putting lesson last week, and I know I need to practice more to get a confident stroke going.

Another big problem is chipping. Last year I didn't know how to chip, so the goal was to get them on the green - anywhere on the green. Now, I can do that, but it's usually not near the hole, leading to the inevitable three putt.

Finally, my full swing problem is consistency. Some days I strike the ball pretty well with no duffed shots. Other days (like last Sunday) I'll hit everything fat and then things just snowball from there. I rarely use the driver as I can't keep it straight, and have been hitting 5W off the tee. My 8I and lower are pretty consistent, and I do feel confident with those on full swing shots.

I know that to get my score to come down, my putting and chipping will really have to improve.