Breaking Bad Club - A Thread for Golfers Trying to Break 100

[Judah Ben-Hur]

I shot my best round ever yesterday.  I came home with a 100 on the scorecard.  It felt like I had some legs under me yesterday and did not have the shooting pain in my left leg.  Only two topped balls all day long which is quite the accomplishment for me.  Some of the second shots on a hole were hit solidly and on target.  I still don't know my distances and usually everything comes up short by a club or two.  I only 3 putted on two holes and they were stupid ones at distances too close to be doing that.  My simple goal this year is to break 100 and then move on.

Today it all came crashing down.  I payed to play 18 but had enough and walk off halfway through.  I should have packed up after the first drive on number 1.  Nothing was working with any club in the bag and the body did not want any part of playing golf.  It felt like the first time ever playing a round.

[808hacker]

Try this the next time. Make practice swings and do not swing any faster than you can balance. I mean really pay attention to how fast you can swing in complete balance. Do this while sweeping the ground with your club. When it's time to hit, do not swing any faster. It will feel slower but you will probably make better contact and you will have more time to square the club face. Good luck!

[isukgolf]

Had worse 18 I have had in ages ... drive 4 hours only to rush to the course for our tee time ... no warmup are anything ... going to forget this round, and hit the course early tomorrow for some range time. Ironically I putted very well ... aim point paid some dividends for me.

[pecos24]

I shot my best round ever yesterday.  I came home with a 100 on the scorecard.  It felt like I had some legs under me yesterday and did not have the shooting pain in my left leg.  Only two topped balls all day long which is quite the accomplishment for me.  Some of the second shots on a hole were hit solidly and on target.  I still don't know my distances and usually everything comes up short by a club or two.  I only 3 putted on two holes and they were stupid ones at distances too close to be doing that.  My simple goal this year is to break 100 and then move on.

Today it all came crashing down.  I payed to play 18 but had enough and walk off halfway through.  I should have packed up after the first drive on number 1.  Nothing was working with any club in the bag and the body did not want any part of playing golf.  It felt like the first time ever playing a round.

Hang it there Judah...congrats on the personal best!

I played 18 this morning and started out with a 55 and closed with a 47.   Out of the 1st 9 holes I had 3 that I played especially poor.  Mis hits, poor decisions, etc....  Until next time I guess.

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Hang it there Judah...congrats on the personal best!

I played 18 this morning and started out with a 55 and closed with a 47.   Out of the 1st 9 holes I had 3 that I played especially poor.  Mis hits, poor decisions, etc....  Until next time I guess.

I'm going to hang in there because I spent too much money joining the club. I also have 3 weeks of vacation coming up so I better get things sorted out.  I still need to get to a practice range and hit repetitive shots with a purpose.  It's too hard to do on the course that seems pretty busy.  I don't think I will be doing any full swings today but we will see.  I plan on going over to the practice green and work on some stuff.

[uitar9]

Shot a 52, nine hole yesterday-with 4 miss hits.

Overall felt ok. Took a forumite's suggestion and tried aiming to the next large landing area, rather than trying for shortest distance to the pin

6 of 9 fairways (and one in a rough which turned into a par) and no three puts

over clubbed #1 and landed near the creek-second shot didn't clear the creek lip. Gotta remember more loft

Hit a large tree on #3 as a beauty approach shot was fading into the green. Who put that tree in front of the green 100 years ago?

plus two fatties.

Still, a great afternoon , outdoors on a sunny day, with my wife. We are both loving the game

[mcanadiens]

Back to bad this weekend. A 1-freaking-0-7 on one course and a 100 on an easier course. Bad thoughts leads to bad shots leads to lost balls leads to penalties leads to more bad thoughts.

Crummy way to go into next week's vacation rounds. My lot goes to Outer Banks, North Carolina. We'll play three rounds down there next week. May have to fit in a range session or two if I can.

[RFKFREAK]

Back to back 100's on Saturday and Sunday.  I felt I should have done better on both days.

Saturday should have been a 99 except I tried a hero 2nd shot on 18.

Sunday my short game was terrible.  When on multiple occasions you leave yourself 50-70 yards from the pin after your tee shot and put up 7's and 8's, something didn't go the way you planned on it going.

[PooN]

A few tips for the 100 club... these are the things I did to get past the hurdle.  (I've gotten past the 90 and 80 hurdle as well, but that takes time and practice to stop duffing and slicing so many shots)

Being a 100+ shooter means you are having more issues with contact than anything else, so practice is key.  Remember to not grip the club too tight (think of holding a sparrow hard enough not to let it flap its wings but also not suffocate it), slow your tempo down (think One... Two... Swing), keep your backswing short (think of your arms only getting to the 9 o'clock position), remember to turn your upper body back with your arms (so you are not just swinging your arms back), and remember to get your hips involved (the swing is actually a hip turn, not an arm swing).  Plenty of other specifics of the swing to work on, but those are the absolute main ones.

So other than the obvious tips like go to the range and practice, here are a couple things I keep in mind to try to keep the ball in play and hopefully score a little better (they'll change a little as you get better, but these still hold true for me now):

1.  Remember 100 is just a number, it has no significance to the score on a par 70, 71, 72 golf course - 100 is not from bogeying every hole, or 3 putting every green... it is a totally arbitrary number.

2.  Minimize mistakes.

a)  Choose the right club: When you slice one into the trees, don't try to go for the green on your next shot.  Hit a soft shot back out into the fairway and again, if you are too far back, don't try to go for the green... just hit your 6 or 7 iron to get the ball advanced into a more manageable approach area and resume from there.  Each person likes a different distance to approach from.  I don't like leaving my ball 20-80 yards of the green.  I would rather be within 15 or so or at 100 or more.  The 100 or more allows me to choose a club that I can give a full swing, instead of guessing how much to take off a wedge.  Plus, I find it easier to chunk a 60 yard wedge shot than a 130 yard PW.

b)  Aim away from trouble.  If there is water, bunker, trees, etc on the right, you want your ball to be on the left.  (Careful not to fall into the 'aim left so you don't go right' mentality though, as that usually actually promotes a slice).  Or, if there is a stream that you have to cross and you are 200 from the green and the stream is 150 yards away, don't try to blast your 5 or 6 iron over the water (and 9 times out of 10 end up in the water)... just hit a nice 7 or 8 iron to layup before the water and take your (shorter, read: easier) approach from there.

c)  Aim for center green ALWAYS (NO MATTER WHAT) on approach shots.  You will get your ball on the green more often.  Putting is way easier than chipping.  Once you get under 100 consistently, you can change this to 'aim for the correct quadrant'.

3.  Make mental notes of what's ahead on each shot.  I always make note of the 150 mark as that is where I would want my ball to be if I had a choice, since my go-to clubs are 8-6 irons. I also make note of where the dangers are, where the meaty parts of the fairway/safe area/green, where the bunkers and hazards are, etc.

4.  Putting.  Do NOT try to make putts over the length of a flagstick.  You will generally send the ball too far past the hole.  Try instead to lag putt into a circle the size of a garbage can (put that image in your head as you look at the hole).  Figure out which area is under the hole.  A 9 foot uphill and straight putt is way easier to make than a 3 foot right-to-left breaker.

5.  Chipping.  Learn to chip with 3 clubs.  Your most lofted club to fly the ball over a greater distance, your PW to chip over shorter distances, and your 8 iron to chip just over the fringe.  The point is to get the ball on the green and roll it to the hole when you have the chance.  Sometimes you have to fly it to the hole, but that will usually make a 100+ golfer fly it over the green.

6.  Sand.  Learn to play a bunker shot.  It's easier than you think.  Dig in, choke down, open the face (so that you could lay a coin on it) and 3/4 swing behind the ball.  I've seen 100+ shooters literally spend 3-5 strokes just trying to get out of 1 bunker.

All that being said... keep at it and have fun.  Don't get (too) discouraged.  It's only a game and a very hard one at that.  Getting better does not come quickly or easily and there is never a magic pill to make it happen overnight.  It will take practice and play.  The more you practice and play, the less you will mis-hit the ball.  (Think about what your score would be if you didn't have all those extra stokes from topping a 7 iron, chipping over the green, slicing into the trees, etc.)  Seriously, the more you play the less that happens.  Then you put 100 in the rear view and focus on 90 (keeping your score at 5 on every hole).  This is where you will spend years to figure out where to shave the next series of strokes to get to the next hurdle (the dreaded 80).

One last thing... if you are having a really hard time getting your ball to go where you want it to, take lessons.  It will be money well spent, I promise.

I took lessons at GolfTec (not affiliated in any way) and it turned my game around in a season.  I went from a 25 handicap to a 15 in 3 months (the bulk of a Wisconsin 'season').  Since then I've gotten as low as an 8 and the game has gotten really really really fun. :)

[pecos24]

4.  Putting.  Do NOT try to make putts over the length of a flagstick.  You will generally send the ball too far past the hole.  Try instead to lag putt into a circle the size of a garbage can (put that image in your head as you look at the hole).  Figure out which area is under the hole.  A 9 foot uphill and straight putt is way easier to make than a 3 foot right-to-left breaker.

This is something I really need to work on. I have really noticed this spring, on longer putts, I end up going way past the hole.

[PooN]

Yeah, anything over a flagstick I always tell my struggling buddies/family members to just try to make sure they two putt.

[PooN]

Also, I forgot to add to the novel I wrote (holy crap!) - BALANCE is key.  Always focus on staying in balance.

The swing is very much like throwing a ball - you go from your back foot to your front foot.  When you throw a ball you don't almost fall over or swing your back foot out, you simply throw the ball and end up standing on your front leg with your back foot on its toe.  That's the tempo you want to swing your golf club at.

[PeteK]

Just bought a new set of Mizuno JPX-EZ's yesterday.  I've never really figured out my handicap and most games I don't even keep score, but I'm sure it's over 30.  Hopefully these new irons will give me some accuracy.  Funny thing is, I bought the Mizunos because I broke my FW wood (my only woods are a driver and 3W) at the range.  Went to Puetz Golf in Seattle to look for a new one.  I didn't replace it yet since that is my least used club.  But I tested several sets of irons while in there and the JPX-EZ's were the best fit for me.  I might actually get a Swing Science FW wood to match my driver eventually, but I think I'm going to look into one or two hybrid clubs first.

[JonMA1]

@PooN

Thanks for taking the time to help. I can't speak for anyone else, but when I read a post from a better player talking about what he did to break 100, it just makes me realize that most players started off the same way.

I've broken 100 a few times but it isn't something I can do very often and it helps if I play a short course. When or if it happens this year, I plan on moving back a set of tees as I did last year so that I have to use my driver more often (it needs some work).  Until then, I'll take some of your advice out on the course next time.

Something I'd like to add is to stay as even-keeled as possible. Don't get too down about a blow-up hole, and if you're on pace for a good round, don't get too geeked out about the prospect of your lowest score ever. Just think about the next shot. That may sound cliche, but there is a lot of truth to it.

It's easier to get discouraged being a member of this site. There are so many good players here. Also, there are many who seem to make progress by leaps and bounds. Not all of us are like that. We just have to work at it and accept the small victories as they come.

[808hacker]

I posted this before, but this is an excellent book with common sense.

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Hitting-Golfers-Break-Time/dp/1453698922

[rrives]

Well shot a 47 on the back nine at my local course.  Shot 52 on the front nine yesterday (played terrible)  so that is a 99 combined Would have played 18 this morning but they were having a tournament.   My driving was the best ever today.  Hit 100% of the fairways and broke my longest drive record again. Hit one 262 yards and averaged 231 yards which is longer than my longest drive just a few weeks ago.  Hit my irons ok, pulling most of my irons left.  Putting was good 1.67 putts per hole.

As always you can check out my round on Game Golf by clicking the link below

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randyrives/round/308448

[RFKFREAK]

Well shot a 47 on the back nine at my local course.  Shot 52 on the front nine yesterday (played terrible)  so that is a 99 combined    Would have played 18 this morning but they were having a tournament.   My driving was the best ever today.  Hit 100% of the fairways and broke my longest drive record again. Hit one 262 yards and averaged 231 yards which is longer than my longest drive just a few weeks ago.  Hit my irons ok, pulling most of my irons left.  Putting was good 1.67 putts per hole.

As always you can check out my round on Game Golf by clicking the link below

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/randyrives/round/308448

Sounds like a good day; congratz!

And you follow me, I'll follow you. ;)

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/RFKFREAK

[SVBC]

I made my best score today: 90 (usually playing 100+). Great day. 1 birdie on a par 4 and 4 pars (one on a par 5, the other on par 4). It was all about driving. No lost ball (my typical slice is gone and I hope he will never return) and really good approaches were the key to this score.