What I shot this weekend

[GolfingWithCigars]

I shot a 104 today, thanks to a lousy 7 on a par 3 that didn't even have any water on it. I felt really good at the range this week and was hoping to break 100. So close yet so far. Still my best round of the year though and I was playing golf, could be a lot worse.

[Shindig]

  GolfingWithCigars said:

I shot a 104 today, thanks to a lousy 7 on a par 3 that didn't even have any water on it. I felt really good at the range this week and was hoping to break 100. So close yet so far. Still my best round of the year though and I was playing golf, could be a lot worse.

You'll break 100 at some point. The key - and it's easier said than done - is to keep the high numbers off your scorecard. I find it helps me to write "personal par" down on the holes, and ensuring that personal par doesn't exceed 85. There are some 500-yard par5s at my course, and they're still par 5 on my "personal par". Then there's a 460-yard par-4 that I list as a "personal par 5" - in other words, I'm happy with a 5 on that hole.

P.S. Keep us informed of your progress through the "what did you shoot today?" thread.

[ILLZ]

  Shindig said:

You'll break 100 at some point. The key - and it's easier said than done - is to keep the high numbers off your scorecard. I find it helps me to write "personal par" down on the holes, and ensuring that personal par doesn't exceed 85. There are some 500-yard par5s at my course, and they're still par 5 on my "personal par". Then there's a 460-yard par-4 that I list as a "personal par 5" - in other words, I'm happy with a 5 on that hole.

Wait... so your "personal par" is sometimes 85 and you're a 32 handicap? I take the same approach but basically treat bogey golf as par for me. If I shoot a 90, I'm dead even.

[Philfest]

I shot and 84 and a 81. I've been trying to break 80 for 1 1/2 years and I've been down to 81 5-6 times?

I KNOW here's always 2-shots I can make up somewhere, I just haven't been able to do it??

[lamebums]

  GolfingWithCigars said:

I shot a 104 today, thanks to a lousy 7 on a par 3 that didn't even have any water on it. I felt really good at the range this week and was hoping to break 100. So close yet so far. Still my best round of the year though and I was playing golf, could be a lot worse.

There are days I still struggle to break 100, and others, if I got my shit together, could shoot 80. I found the best way to lower your score, especially break 100, is to play bogey golf. Get up on the green in one stroke minus par (if you hit the ball squarely 75 percent of the time this should be possible, even with toppers and other mishits included), and then two-putt for a bogey. That way, you might even sneak a few pars in, and this will put you well on your way to breaking 90, even.

Also, getting up and down is the quickest way to lower your score. Spend time on the chipping green, and chip close enough to one putt.

[ILLZ]

  lamebums said:

There are days I still struggle to break 100, and others, if I got my shit together, could shoot 80. I found the best way to lower your score, especially break 100, is to play bogey golf. Get up on the green in one stroke minus par (if you hit the ball squarely 75 percent of the time this should be possible, even with toppers and other mishits included), and then two-putt for a bogey. That way, you might even sneak a few pars in, and this will put you well on your way to breaking 90, even.

Totally agree, this is my exact philosophy and it seems to work, I have (4) 89's and just shot an 87 yesterday. Tee shot in play, approach shot greenside at worst, chip, 2 putts.

[Shindig]

  ILLZ said:

Wait... so your "personal par" is sometimes 85 and you're a 32 handicap? I take the same approach but basically treat bogey golf as par for me. If I shoot a 90, I'm dead even.

Yeah, the course I play the most often, I'm very capable of shooting an 85. The trouble is, I don't.

For example, I'm quite capable of making par on the par-5s. For example, I tend to hit massive drives when I least expect it, and then I'll try to go for the green in two. I'll be 200 yards out, so it's possible, but then I overthink it, hit an awful 3-wood, an awful pitch shot, etc. And then there's my putting. I think I always figure my 'personal par' with 2-putts, when I 3-putt probably 7 times per round. Part of that is that I need to practice putting more (and I do), and part of that is awful greens at the usual place. Must find new usual place.

[lamebums]

  Shindig said:

And then there's my putting. I think I always figure my 'personal par' with 2-putts, when I 3-putt probably 7 times per round. Part of that is that I need to practice putting more (and I do), and part of that is awful greens at the usual place. Must find new usual place.

(What's the greens like at your course?)

You should drop by my course - we can have a grand old time on the greens. Right now, I think the greens at my course stimp to a 15 (normally 10-12, but it hasn't rained properly in about a week), and they can't hold a wedge, no matter how hard I try. I even had flop shots roll off the greens, it's almost unplayable. And, of course, my share of four putting.

[CG031]

keep at it and dont get frustrated - last June I NEVER broke 100. I know how it is..

a year later im a 19 handicap.

[AmishTycoon]

  Shindig said:

I 3-putt probably 7 times per round.

There's your problem.

Just try to avoid penaltes, don't make mental mistakes. Eliminate your three putts and you'll be well under 100 in no time.

[jmurdock]

Short game, Short game, Short game! I once had a teacher tell me that "You can never have a really bad round if you can get up and down from 100 yards everytime." Now I know that hardly anybody's short game is that good, but you see the point. Putting and chipping are where you make up the most strokes.

I shot 71-77. Funny thing is, I won a lot more money when I shot 77 than when I shot 71.

[GolfingWithCigars]

Putting is the strong part of my game, I very rarely 3 putt. Getting to the green however, well therein lies the problem.

[lamebums]

  GolfingWithCigars said:

Putting is the strong part of my game, I very rarely 3 putt. Getting to the green however, well therein lies the problem.

I'm the opposite. I can hit 12 greens in a round and still not break 90.

[scotton]

  Philfest said:

I shot and 84 and a 81. I've been trying to break 80 for 1 1/2 years and I've been down to 81 5-6 times?

The stroke between 80 and 79 is the biggest stroke in golf. I shot 80 probably 10 times before I finally broke it. Now after a 5 year sabbatical, I'm looking for 85.

[Guest]

This Weekend I shot a 78 at Silver Lakes Golf & Country Club. (Newmarket, Ontario) On the 14th Hole Par 5 , 570 yards I got a Double Eagle. I was in the zone.