Stuck on 100

[cliff2222tx]

Hi All,

I've been shooting about 100+/-5 or so. This has been going on for a while, too long. I have been trying to bring my score down, but to no avail. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,

[TaylorMadeTaylor]

How long have you been paying golf and how often do you play?

You need to be a little more specific on what aspects of your game you need to work on. Also, posting a video of your swing would do wonders.

[cliff2222tx]

I've been playing for 10+ years, seriously (more than 1 rd a month) in the last 4 years, and most seriously (logging 34 rounds, and counting) this year. I don't know if it's the swing, long game, short game, putting, course management, and etc...It seems like I can't get them all to line the same round. So, what do I need to work on first, then second, then so on.

Thanks,

[max power]

Nearly every golfer I know that shoots around 95-105 throws away a lot of strokes off the tee. OB being the biggest culprit, with topped drives and pop-ups also contributing greatly. I have no idea if this applies to you knowing nothing about your game, but it's the safest bet.

[mcgriff]

If you are standing on a 375 yard par 4 are you whipping the driver out every time? Or do you play back a bit and hit a higher percentage shot to keep yourself in play?

When you pitch do you fire at the pin every time or do you pick a safe landing spot knowing you probably won't hole out a 70 yard shot?

When I first started playing, and to this day, when my scores balloon or I hit a wall I back off and take what the course will give me. I play to my strengths, irons and short chips/pitches, when the wheels are coming off. Whatever your strengths are, play to them. Don't fall into the script of hitting every single shot as far as you can. Not sure what else to tell you without knowing more details. Just sharing my experiences.

[O.B. Right]

As a fellow 95-105 shooter (on my good days, anyway), here's what I plan to do:

Work on my standard swing and that's it.

I use the same swing for 90% or more of my shots. Other than putting or maybe a few specialty shots, I'm looking to make the same swing every time.

I give away shots on the tee . .and I give them away near the green. I give them away from the fairway, too.

I need to cut down on the tops, thins, fats, chunks, slices, skulls, blades and hosel-rockets. All of which is accomplished by working on a good full swing.

It could be very helpful to get some lessons or post some video on-line.

[soloredd]

If you are standing on a 375 yard par 4 are you whipping the driver out every time? Or do you play back a bit and hit a higher percentage shot to keep yourself in play?

Agree with this, very nice.

I've had some worsening scores the past 4-5 rounds (mid to high 90s for me) and it's attributed to trying to do too much. I score in the 80s when I play my game (less driver, settling for bogey to avoid double and triples, etc). You have to do your best to avoid the blow-up holes. The example given above, par 4 375 yards, is a good one. I'll take 4 or 5 iron off the tee leaving my 2nd shot 180 or so. But my game plan isn't to make a strike to get on the green it is to get to the front of the green. Try to turn every hole into a par 3 and go from there.

[cliff2222tx]

If you are standing on a 375 yard par 4 are you whipping the driver out every time? Or do you play back a bit and hit a higher percentage shot to keep yourself in play?

Yes, I pulled out the driver for basically every par 4 & 5. Until recently, I began to use the 3W of the T more, and this seemed to help. I may pulled the T shot into the hazards twice around instead of more. However; I do not see any noticeable changes in the score, maybe there are other issues at work here, and it's hard to see.

When I pitch, I do fire at the pin all the time, regardless of hazards in the front, back, side, or tricky pin location. I will try to go for the safe spots from now on to see what happens.

[Arthur]

A couple of ideas my pro shared with me. Keep track of your stats:
Fwys hit
Green in Regulation
chips/pitches
putts.
This will let you know where your strokes are leaking.
Next he told me to break 90 you only need to shoot bogey golf. When your on the tee box look to see what two shots would put you at the optimum distance for your favorite club and plan from that. One thing I do is look at the scorecard and plan my shots before hand to give me the best chance to go low.

An example is we have a short par 5 that has a hazzard about 150 yards from the green. Recently I found out that I could get there with a 5 iron and pitching or sand wedge leaving 150 to the green. This works better for me than driver (lost ball) and if my driver does by some miracle find the fairway, three wood into the hazzard or high right into the woods and lost ball.

Hope that helps.

[srjorion]

Short game and driving are two areas you can make great gains in lowering scores.

As far as pulling driver out off the tee, here's a great example of why that's not always the best option for you. Yesterday, I played with my brother-in-law at a course that was new to both of us. On a Par 5 there was a lake on the left side of the fairway that started at 230 yds from the tee and ended about 270 yds from the tee. I hit about 240-250 average off the tee. I elected to take my 3 Hybrid and take the lake out of play. My brother-in-law, who hits the ball extremely far, started heckling me for using my hybrid off the tee. I lay up, he hits well past the lake. I hit my second shot using the 3H again, giving me 120 to the pin. He hits a 5I left of the green. He was actually trying to lay up but hit it further than he expected. I put my third shot 20 ft. from the pin, he has a poor chip and leaves himself 9 ft. from the pin. I barely (and I mean just barely) miss my putt and have a tap in par. He misses his putt and has three feet coming back. He made his putt. He hit his ball probably 120 yds further off the tee than I did and we both made par.

Bottom line, play to your strengths, and don't always assume hitting the ball a longer distance is the best answer. Oh, and practice that short game.

SRJ

[Shooter McGreenkeeper]

most guys that shoot 100 have too many triple bogies

step 1 ) when you in trouble, take your medicine, chip to safe area and start again

[cliff2222tx]

Agree with this, very nice.

I typically have 2-4 blow-up holes a round. What do you do when you're 180 out? I normally take my 4H and have a go at it. This would leave me about 10-20 yard short. I could have gone with a 5W, but it normally get me in trouble. I guess my question is should I do two (2) full swing 90 yard shots, or do I go with the 4H then a little bump-and-run? Which of these approach is "theoretically" easier? I can't tell.

What did you mean with trying to turn every holes into a par 3? Thanks,

[cliff2222tx]

most guys that shoot 100 have too many triple bogies

What about steps 2, 3, and etc...?

[JML22]

You gotta figure out where the weak part of your game is
Is it tee shots? are you duffing 100 yard tee shots? are you hitting ob and losing strokes?
Are you duffing iron shots? thin, fat?
Work on your ball striking as much as possible and that'll come down to bogey golf in no time

Or just work on your chipping and putting , but preferably ball stirking so you can enjoy the game a bit more

For me it was keeping the ball in play -
Now i just have to learn how to chip / putter better so when i miss a green by a bit i can still up and down instead of up and 2 putt

[zeg]

As someone who's been in the same doldrums you're talking about, now with signs that I'm getting out of them (I play 9 hole rounds almost all the time, and the last few have been mostly 45 or 46), a couple things have helped. The first is learning the answer to the questions in the first reply: what is hurting my score? Track whether you hit near the fairway ("playable rough" counts here, you really want to know whether you lost a stroke having to play from under a tree, etc), how many putts, how many badly missed chips, and how many completely terrible shots (duffs, fats, skulls, etc) you hit on each hole.

Also try to get a sense for what went wrong on a +3 or worse. Usually there's a common cause---hitting into a tree off the tee and trying to hit a miracle shot, leaving yourself in another bad lie, or skulling a shot and letting the frustration take over, etc. If you're good enough to be playing into the 90s, you're probably not often flat out mishitting 3 or more shots in a row.

If it really is an even mix of everything, my recipe was to start by figuring out how to hit straight full iron shots first. If you can't do this, there's really no way you're going to get near the green in close to reg. After that, work on getting a reliable standard chip/pitch shot so when you're 10-15 yards off you can reliably get on the green. Along here keep practicing putting---it's important, but if you can mostly 2 and occasionally 3 putt, it's probably good enough. You really want to identify what's consistently losing you strokes and fix the easy stuff first. Getting from 2- and 3-putts to certain 1- and 2-putts is going to be a big job, so I wouldn't tackle that first. Figure out how to get "greenside in regulation" every time first.

[talismand]

I typically have 2-4 blow-up holes a round. What do you do when you're 180 out? I normally take my 4H and have a go at it. This would leave me about 10-20 yard short. I could have gone with a 5W, but it normally get me in trouble. I guess my question is should I do two (2) full swing 90 yard shots, or do I go with the 4H then a little bump-and-run? Which of these approach is "theoretically" easier? I can't tell.

What tees do you play from? If you are finding that your second shots keep requiring you to pull our your 4-hy, maybe you should play from 1 tee up until your technique/results get better. I play from the whites 90% of the time right now for this reason. I'm just a year into golf and my scores have started dropping once I conceded this point. Like others above me have mentioned, shots off the tee are my biggest problem. Too many OOBs/lost balls/work burners, etc. Playing up allows me to use less club and stay alive a little easier.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

I use the same swing for 90% or more of my shots. Other than putting or maybe a few specialty shots, I'm looking to make the same swing every time.

You really think that's true?

Great players may average fewer than 2 putt/pitch/chip/punch-out swings per hole on a good day. For me, I'm guessing I have more like 4 per hole on my best day. That's FAR more than 10% of shots, no matter who you are. For most people, I'd guess it's 50% or more. -Andrew

[cliff2222tx]

What tees do you play from? If you are finding that your second shots keep requiring you to pull our your 4-hy, maybe you should play from 1 tee up until your technique/results get better. I play from the whites 90% of the time right now for this reason. I'm just a year into golf and my scores have started dropping once I conceded this point. Like others above me have mentioned, shots off the tee are my biggest problem. Too many OOBs/lost balls/work burners, etc. Playing up allows me to use less club and stay alive a little easier.

I play from the 6,300-6,700 yard tees...because the other guys are doing it! Now that you mention it, I'm more likely to be in trouble with the long hybrids and woods. I should concede, and leave my pride at home. Afterall, my average drive is about 200 yds, but man...it just doesn't feel right to be on the wimpy tee box.