How to break 90?

[ronaldkuntoro]

I'm a bogey golfer. I score bogey on most shots and score in the 90s. Usually I can make a few Pars on easy holes (or even few birdies). My tee shots is average and goes about 230 yards. My iron is not dead accurate but I can reach the green in two.

What's the secret in breaking 90 and score in the 80s?

[CassinoNorth]

Putting well (sub 34 putts/rd I consider well), hitting all your fairways and not losing any strokes in the woods.

[Danattherock]

Based on what you say above, work on pitching, chipping, and especially putting.

[ND Fan]

Short game is the single most important for most that can't break 90. From what I see of 15-20 handicaps at our club, some think their short game is just fine because they are blissfully unaware that getting up and down 30 percent of time sucks. Get the ball ball up and down a minimum of 65% of time and you'll find your scores dropping dramatically. It's the easiest and cheapest thing to work on. I usually take three balls and chip until I chip in two balls. Some days it takes me an hour and others only a few minutes. I don't stop until I do. It really is amazing how well you can chip when you force yourself to try to make everyone. Mentally this narrows your margin of error as the goal is smaller is far more define than just trying to get it close.

[Stretch]

Short game is the single most important for most that can't break 90. From what I see of 15-20 handicaps at our club, some think their short game is just fine because they are blissfully unaware that getting up and down 30 percent of time sucks. Get the ball ball up and down a minimum of 65% of time and you'll find your scores dropping dramatically. It's the easiest and cheapest thing to work on. I usually take three balls and chip until I chip in two balls. Some days it takes me an hour and others only a few minutes. I don't stop until I do. It really is amazing how well you can chip when you force yourself to try to make everyone. Mentally this narrows your margin of error as the goal is smaller is far more define than just trying to get it close.

While I agree with your advice, I think you're setting an slightly unrealistic standard. If Luke Donald only gets up and down 65% of the time, then it's a bit much to ask of a 14 handicap.

[delav]

While I agree with your advice, I think you're setting an slightly unrealistic standard. If Luke Donald only gets up and down 65% of the time, then it's a bit much to ask of a 14 handicap.

Getting up and down on a tour green is a bit different, too :)

[i-Guy]

Short game is the single most important for most that can't break 90. From what I see of 15-20 handicaps at our club, some think their short game is just fine because they are blissfully unaware that getting up and down 30 percent of time sucks. Get the ball ball up and down a minimum of 65% of time and you'll find your scores dropping dramatically. It's the easiest and cheapest thing to work on. I usually take three balls and chip until I chip in two balls. Some days it takes me an hour and others only a few minutes. I don't stop until I do. It really is amazing how well you can chip when you force yourself to try to make everyone. Mentally this narrows your margin of error as the goal is smaller is far more define than just trying to get it close.

I agree that 65% is a bit much to ask of any golfer much less a mid-hdnicapper but the advice is solid in that this will help you score better...I am an 8 handicap and it is rare for me to shoot in the 90's and I avg around 30 putts per round and I get up and down on the average 35-37% of the time...I consider this the strenght of my game as my ball stiking is my challenege.

[abraxas]

i feel like im in a similar situation as you...ive only broken 90 once and have flirted with it a bunch of times. BUT although i realize how important the short game and putting is, the times i have played well was because i was driving/striking relatively well (par 3s included)

by that i mean i was either in the fairway or close to it and i had a very playable 2nd shot. just having a chance to get on the green... most of the times i play, i usually find myself OTB or having to just punch out on several holes and that just adds strokes and frustration. trickles down to the rest of the game

[CassinoNorth]

If 15-20 handicappers got up and down 65% of the time, they wouldn't be 15-20 handicappers, I can tell you that.

[Stretch]

Getting up and down on a tour green is a bit different, too :)

Agreed. But my wild-ass-guess is that if you take the difference in skill between a tour pro and a your average mid-capper and the difference in speed etc. between a tour green and your average muni -- the two factors roughly cancel out.

I agree that 65% is a bit much to ask of any golfer much less a mid-hdnicapper but the advice is solid in that this will help you score better...I am an 8 handicap and it is rare for me to shoot in the 90's and I avg around 30 putts per round and I get up and down on the average 35-37% of the time...I consider this the strenght of my game as my ball stiking is my challenege.

It's not easy to find good comparative stats for regular golfers. But oobgolf occasionally breaks out various categories for their entire community of golfers recording rounds on the site. The last one on scrambling showed.

Overall: 16.7% < 5 handicap: 35.9% 5-15 handicap: 18.53% 15-25 handicap: 10.2% > 25 handicap: 5.12%

I think most people vastly overestimate their actual scrambling abilities.

[Harmonious]

Scrambling percentages really depend on exactly what you are measuring. The tour stats consider anything inside 30 yards, including sand, rough, etc. and the best in the world average about 65% under those parameters.

If you are only considering chipping around the closely-cut areas by the green, 75% would be a good goal. Sand saves of 25% would be very acceptable. Pitching around the green (not chipping or sand shots) should be somewhere around 50%. Combine that with a maximum of one 3-putt green per round, and there would be no problem scoring under 90, as long as you don't acquire penalty shots around the course, and can hit it reasonably near the green most of the time.

[The Recreational Golfer]

Write down every shot for a few rounds to find out where you are really taking those extra strokes. Then look at these things.
1. How many times (out of 18) does your swing get you to greenside in regulation? You don't have to be on the green, but at least have covered the distance.
2. How many times do you take four (or more!) strokes to get down from inside 100 yards?
3. How many three-putt greens do you have per round?
4. How many penalty strokes do you rack up?
5. How many mental errors do you make? (wrong shot, wrong club, played to wrong place, played a shot you really can't hit, mind wasn't on the shot when you hit it, swung too hard, tried to get too much out of the shot, etc.)

To break 90 consistently, you have to take the first steps at becoming a player. It might be that if you tighten up #5 that's all you would need to do.

[i-Guy]

I think most people vastly overestimate their actual scrambling abilities.

Maybe but I am telling you that I keep my stats pretty well and my stats as an 8.3 handicap are as follows (per my handicap index rounds...last 20 rounds):

FIR - 43% (6 fairways per round) GIR - 33% (6 greens per round) Total putts per round - 30.5 Up/Down - 35% Penalty Strokes per round - 2.7 (mainly off the tee...weakness of my game) Once you have a decent short game then the difference in scoring ability can be ball striking as it is for me (based on my current skill level)...for instance when my ball strking is good and I hit a good % of Fairways and greens I shoot in the 70's. However, I do aspire for my putts per round and my scrammbling to improve as this is a game of managing your misses and when I am missing I still want to score well... FYI...of my last 20 scores I shot in the 90's once and I broke 80 five times...my average score is 83

[anthonykelley66]

Honestly, in my opinion I believe chipping and putting will get you consistantly in the 80's. This is what a pro told me: "amateurs should practice 70% of the time 70 yards and in". Next time you are golfing, keep track of your greens in regulations, how many putts per round. Here is the way I look at it. If you're not on the green but you're near it, your chipping should really get you in a 3-4 foot range, and ofcourse at that time, try and eliminate the 3 putts. 90% of my putting practice is 10 feet and in. On a good day I can average 30 putts per round and sometime 35. Its crazy if you think about it since putting counts for 36 or more strokes per round for some people. We're not pros and we're not perfect so I believe the key to the 80's is short game!! Hope this helps.

[kpaulhus]

Here is how I broke 90 for the first time. I went and played a course that was a Par 71, and bogeyed every hole. Literally. 18 bogeys = 89 on a Par 71 lol

[Stretch]

Maybe but I am telling you that I keep my stats pretty well ...

Sorry, it does come across as if that was aimed at you, but it absolutely wasn't meant to be. I think your assessment of your own game is spot on, although I'd be interested to know if you feel like your putting carries your scrambling or vice versa. (ie. are you chipping it up for a tap-in most of the time, or are you making six footers all day for your up and downs.)

My point was just that I was surprised by how poor those aggregate average stats were. I think most people would guess that 0 - 5 handicaps scramble at at least 50% or better.

[mship]

I got a piece of advice several years ago which really helped. If you allow yourself one extra shot to the green and two putt them all then you'll bogey every hole. It really helped with my mindset. I didn't feel the pressure of having to hit a great shot because I had an extra if I needed it.

Then you work on eliminating one of the shots here and there and drop a putt or hit a GIR. Drop 4 putts/GIR and you shoot 86 and so on.

[B-Con]

I haven't broken 90, so take this with a grain of salt, but I am in a similar boat and here's what I've done.

I usually like to have three goals for everything from vague to specific goals, because too many specific goals makes it hard to focus on all of them and too many vague goals makes it difficult to aim at them. Vague goals can help improve overall performance a little bit, and specific goals give you something you can measure and point to when you fail. That said, here's my "breaking 90" goals:

Vague goal: Improve ball striking. Double bogeys usually start with terrible shots. Minimize the number of terribly struck balls. To break 90, you're aiming to play almost perfect bogey golf. Every double bogey requires a par to balance it out, and you can dig yourself into a hole very quickly with a couple of doubles. This is a vague goal because it encompasses so many different swing components and applies to basically every shot.

Mid-vague goal: Hone 20 yards and in. Get up-and-down as often as possible. I know GIRs are rare for me so most of the time I get on with my GW. In fact, ever hole I record the club that put me on the green and about 89% of the time it's my GW, so I have to be good with it. At a minimum I have get myself to an easy 2-putt (because this helps eliminate 3-putts and every now and then a long putt will actually fall), but my goal is an up-and-down. This is more specific than above, but still not very detailed. I do usually keep up-and-down stats, though.

Specific goal: Hit >50% fairways and >50% of par-3 greens. When I miss the fairway by more than 5 yards, I almost always lose any chance at par and am now playing for bogey., and that's only if I don't mess up again that hole. If I'm trying to break 90, I'm basically aiming to play bogey golf all day and I don't want my first shot off the tee to always be the one that forces the bogey. For par 3s, hitting a couple of those greens hopefully gives me a couple guaranteed pars to eat up any other double bogeys I accrue.

Have you never broken 90 before? I'm curious how you're a 14 handicap with all scores in the mid-to-low 90s, because that's what I shoot and I'm an honest ~25.