Advice - Breaking 90, I can't seem to do it.

[bmartin461]

Originally Posted by Shindig

Is this a lag issue or are you missing short putts?  In other words, how long was the second putt?  If it was short, go work on those.  I missed at least a half dozen of those my last round -- and shot a 92.  If your second putt is more than 5', you need to work on speed control with putting.

They had just aerated and sanded the greens (?) at this course, so I had a touch time adjusting to the slow bumpy speed, I think I could have easily knocked off 3-4 strokes if the greens were in better shape.  Usually when I miss a putt, it's short, but usually not by more than 1-2 feet.

[Chief Broom]

Two things:

First you know what you need to work on, basically everything, but putting and short game work would pay instant dividends (especially putting) based on what you've posted.

Second focus on course management.  I'm a bogie golfer, but I'm pretty good at being a bogie golfer so my scoring average is in the mid 80's.  You too can shoot lower scores by simply playing the game you've got but in a smarter way.  Play to your strenghts and avoid your weaknesses.  While this strategy will only take you so far (I've been stalled out at my handicap level for a year now) it is a way for you to lower your scores and play at your best right now.  Far too often guys pull driver on the tee because that's what they think they ought to do or because that's what they always hit on a particular hole, but what you should do is play each hole in a manner that gives you the best opportunity to score and that takes away your worst or most common misses.  This method will result in everyone playing the same hole differently, and in my experience that's one of the biggest reasons that guys don't do this.  For example you're on the tee of a straight away par 5 and your partners all have driver but you walk up with a 5 iron or hybrid.  You'll no doubt take some ribbing, but if you know you can consistantly hit that club 165yds with a high likelihood for success, then it might be an option your should explore (3 5 irons equals 1 GIR).  Don't be afraid to think outside of the box.  Especially when the guys giving you a hard time for benching your driver or for laying up on a par 3 or 4 are guys who's scores really aren't much better than yours.

[bmartin461]

Originally Posted by Chief Broom

Two things:

First you know what you need to work on, basically everything, but putting and short game work would pay instant dividends (especially putting) based on what you've posted.

Second focus on course management.  I'm a bogie golfer, but I'm pretty good at being a bogie golfer so my scoring average is in the mid 80's.  You too can shoot lower scores by simply playing the game you've got but in a smarter way.  Play to your strenghts and avoid your weaknesses.  While this strategy will only take you so far (I've been stalled out at my handicap level for a year now) it is a way for you to lower your scores and play at your best right now.  Far too often guys pull driver on the tee because that's what they think they ought to do or because that's what they always hit on a particular hole, but what you should do is play each hole in a manner that gives you the best opportunity to score and that takes away your worst or most common misses.  This method will result in everyone playing the same hole differently, and in my experience that's one of the biggest reasons that guys don't do this.  For example you're on the tee of a straight away par 5 and your partners all have driver but you walk up with a 5 iron or hybrid.  You'll no doubt take some ribbing, but if you know you can consistantly hit that club 165yds with a high likelihood for success, then it might be an option your should explore (3 5 irons equals 1 GIR).  Don't be afraid to think outside of the box.  Especially when the guys giving you a hard time for benching your driver or for laying up on a par 3 or 4 are guys who's scores really aren't much better than yours.

Very interesting, and I agree that I sometimes don't use the right club.  I play a local 9 hole course fairly regularly, there is an uphill par 5 that ALWAYS gives me trouble and it seems to always start with my drive.  I may try to play a hybrid next time to see how it affects the score.

Thanks!

[B-Con]

I'm trying to break 90 too. I've had a few 91s and 92s, but I can't hit 90 itself. Here's my mental strategy at the moment: 1) Play for par on par-3s, par-5s, and half the easy half par-4s, play for bogey on the hard half of the par-4s. - You have to finish the round having played bogey golf, so don't stress about the hard par-4s. But set your expectations high for the rest of the holes, you will need pars to offset your doubles. 2) Bottom line: Don't get more double-bogeys than you can get pars. And my swing/practice strategy: 1) Eliminate triple-bogeys. - To break 90, you basically have to play perfect bogey golf. A triple bogey requires two pars to offset it. If two pars were trivial to come by, we wouldn't be trying to break 90. Find out what happens on triple bogey holes for you and fix that problem. 2) Hit every green from within 50 yards. - If I'm pitching on from within 50 yards, I'm likely not doing so for GIR. I can't afford to miss and then have to scramble for just bogey. 3) No fat shots. - A thin shot in the fairway can still advance you 80% of the distance a good shot would have. A fat shot may get you 10% of that distance and is basically a completely wasted stroke. If I'm going to swing, I need to make progress toward the hole. 4) Don't screw up lag putts. - If you can always lag to within 3 feet, you can 2-putt pretty much all day long. If you misjudge down/uphill slope badly and miss by 12 feet, you'll probably 3-putt. 3-putts mean at least bogey, probably double bogey. 5) Hit more greens from within 150 yds. Hitting the green means fewer chips (and fewer chances to screw them up). As you can intuit from my lists, I think the key lies primarily in getting onto the green. One-putting is only required (by the "average a bogey strategy") if you need to save bogey, and it's nice to save par, but in theory you can two-putt all day long and hit 90. I think the primary key is not throwing away shots in (or onto) the fairway. I find myself practicing my mid and short irons the most, followed by my chipping, followed by my driver. I'd like to spend more time putting, but I average a pretty solid 1.85 putts per hole right now. Getting it down to 1.7 would probably be harder than hitting a few more GIR and would probably less beneficial. My putting practice basically consists up draining 3-4 footers and lagging 20-50 footers. --Another Brad

[Puttsalott]

I forget where I found this info, it was on a different site with a link or very old Golf Digest articles.  Using this formula, it shows how many GIR's you need to hit to break 90,80,70 and how many putts also.

GiRs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Score 93 91 89 87 85 83 81 79 77 75 73 71 69

 
  
   Putts
   
   
   
   
   37
   
   
   36
   
   
   
    35
   
   
   
   34
   
   
   33
   
   
   32
   
   
   
    31
   
   
   
   30
   
   
   29
   
   
   28
   
   
  
 

 
  
   Score
   
   
   95
   
   
   92
   
   
   
    88
   
   
   
   86
   
   
   83
   
   
   80
   
   
   
    77
   
   
   
   74
   
   
   71
   
   
   68
   
   
  
 

If you are hitting those three GIR's and putting is 2.1 average.  work on those putts, get 'em down under 2.  I really like the focus on bogie strategy.  I will be working that myself this year.

[chriskzoo]

Course management and playing away from your weaknesses.

Depending on how you drive the ball, if you usually have a reasonable chance to hit it near the green, there is no reason you can't drop into the single digits.  What I mean by that you have to get to the point where you are not thinking about aiming at the pin all the time, but choosing that spot that still puts you in a good position if you miss.  I follow a tip from Corey Pavin on aiming for most shots to the green, aiming 1/2 way between the pin and the side of the green with the least trouble.  If I hit it where I am aimed, reasonable birdie putt.  If I miss toward the pin, bonus.  If I miss away from the pin, it will be a relatively easy chip.

Know where to miss - if the pin is up front, there is nothing wrong with being short and below the hole versus hitting the green and having a 50ft bender from the back.

On chipping, I think Hank Haney says it best - always putt when you can.  When you can't putt, take only enough club to get the ball rolling on the green and don't discount using your hybrid.  I play with so many guys who try and hit a lob/sand wedge for everything within 5 yards of the green it's maddening.

Take your medicine.  Unless you have to hit a miracle shot (big money on the line, last hole) take your medicine.  When you're in trouble, try to play to a reasonable approach shot and you'll be surprised how many times you'll save par or make at worst a bogey.

[turtleback]

I recommend the book Elements of scoring, by Raymond Floyd.  It is about strategy and how to become a scorer.  It is an older book (1999??) but it is one I reread at the start of every season to get my head in the right place.  There is a little bit of discussion about it in the Reading Room forum you might want to have a look at and some good reviews on Amazon.

[Tomboys]

Originally Posted by Shindig

Quote:

Originally Posted by glockg30

the absolute quickest way to break 90 is to improve your shortgame.  it seems from your stats you are struggling with g.i.r. but you can make up for that if you learn a variety of short game shots and improve your putting.

I'm not convinced this is the case; it largely depends on where his misses are, and that comes down to ball striking and, to a lesser extent, driving accuracy.

For the blow-up holes: where are you instead of GIR? If you're just off the green, not short sided, and so on, then the problem is the short game.

If you're facing a 50 yard bunker shot, or you're short sided in heavy rough, then the issue is planning and ball striking.

Get better at short game from good places, and then get yourself to those places. If I can't hit a GIR, I'll sometimes try to get myself to a spot as far as 45 yards off the green, if I will have a good lie and a clear shot at the green from there. Speaking of which, OP, do you know your quarter- and half-wedge distances?

+1.

I agree with this in that the stats per se can leave out some valuable information.  Sure, having a deft short game can help lower scores.  However, it's not a substitute for good ball-striking.  At the end of day, the only way that I know of to improve the GIR stat is to improve on ball-striking.

[mdl]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

greens in regulation: 22.2%

recovery performance:11.9%

Irons and short game buddy.

This is my thought. exactly.  The fairways % isn't that bad, especially for a mid-90s golfer.  You figure some reasonable percentage of the non-fairway drives also give you a decent shot at the green.  I'd guess you hit the green when you have an open look for your approach shot (from fairway or rough) only 1/3 to 1/4 of the time.  That's a terrible percentage.  The recovery performance is also bad, and probably made worse by the fact that a lot of your missed greens aren't just 5-10 yards off but really far from the hole.  Your putts/hole isn't horrible though, sub 2 recently.

Iron ball striking and short wedge shots.

I'd also add concentrating your putting practice from inside 12 feet.  If you improve your irons enough so that your wedge onto the green is close when you miss the green, and then work on those chips and pitches so you're not 40 feet from the hole for the putt, then feeling confident from 10 feet will be the final step to improving the recovery %.  I know I can't put a little chip to 1 foot every time, but I score well on days when I'm really feeling the 6-10 footers and getting the up and down even when I don't quite hit a pro style wedge shot.

[MasterP]

I went from mid 90's to mid 80's in a year by focusing on my approach shots.  I was losing a lot of shots per round to mishit approach shots. If you can hit your 7-pw where you want to most of the time you'll get your GIR up.  This will also help your recovery since you'll be closer to the green and out of trouble.  A chip from just off the green is much easier than a 30 yard pitch over a bunker.

[nuck81]

Just keep practicing and playing, you'll get there.  The best advice I can give (I broke 90 the first year I started Golfing) is just play your game hole by hole.  Have a short term memory and know you're next shot or putt will be the one!!

[Uncle Peter]

I'll also be trying to break 90 this year. For me, I'm going to be working on my slice, driving distance and accuracy.

Also playing your strengths on the course will knock off a few strokes from your score. However, this doesn't mean you shouldn't practice on areas that need work.

[The Recreational Golfer]

What I would like to know instead of all those stats is what scores are you shooting? Is mid-90s a career low, or your typical score?

If #1, you can break 90 by playing for one over regulation onto the green and taking two putts. That's 90. Slip in a one-putt green here and there, and there's an 88.

If #2, work on approach putting and avoiding blow-up holes. If you get in trouble, get out. That's all. Get out. Then start advancing to the green again. You can take a double here and there and still break 90, but the triples and quads will do you in.

[bmartin461]

Originally Posted by The Recreational Golfer

What I would like to know instead of all those stats is what scores are you shooting? Is mid-90s a career low, or your typical score?

If #1, you can break 90 by playing for one over regulation onto the green and taking two putts. That's 90. Slip in a one-putt green here and there, and there's an 88.

If #2, work on approach putting and avoiding blow-up holes. If you get in trouble, get out. That's all. Get out. Then start advancing to the green again. You can take a double here and there and still break 90, but the triples and quads will do you in.

Right now I'm a very solid 92 - 96 player, so I would say that mid-90's is my typical score right now.  I agree, it's the 1-2 triple or quad per round that kills my score.

[bmartin461]

Originally Posted by turtleback

I recommend the book Elements of scoring, by Raymond Floyd.  It is about strategy and how to become a scorer.  It is an older book (1999??) but it is one I reread at the start of every season to get my head in the right place.  There is a little bit of discussion about it in the Reading Room forum you might want to have a look at and some good reviews on Amazon.

I just ordered this book, thanks for the recommendation.

[jetsknicks1]

For me it's all short game and the infamous "Blowup hole". I'll almost always have one or two +3 or +4 on the card. And if I don't, it's my short game. Nothing is more frustrating than being 40 yards out after my approach shot, only to take 4 to get in from there!

[stjames]

@BMartin461: I think the latest Golf Digest or some other Golf mag, has a lengthy article on how to break 80. :)

I would try to get a hold of that mag and look at all the components they described to break down the game. And then

apply the same kind of thing they suggest but to break 90.

My goal is to score 89 this year. I'm new. But i'm trying to understand and break the game down to 'bite-size pieces' and work on my most glaring issues (components).

I've played two rounds and want to start taking stats to isolate my game play. When it says, 'Recovery Performance', how would you describe this stat?

@GioGuy21: When you're on the course, are you carrying a spreadsheet to keep tabs of all those stats?