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

[bweiss711]

I worked all week on slowing myself down, focusing mostly on my long irons.   I took swings in super duper slow mo, making sure that was I getting enough hip turn and a correct swing plane on the backswing, and really exaggerated the hip turn in the downswing while trying not to let my left elbow fly out.  It went great and was actually surprised how well you can strike a ball swinging that slowly.  It gave me a lot of confidence to slow everything down, and started swinging with a controlled tempo i was consistently repeating.    I thought the week of practice was very successful, and was really looking forward to my round this morning.

Then, this morning happened.  I shot a 49 again at the same 9 hole course I played 10 days ago.  The first 5 holes were frustrating to say the least.  Only one good drive, but that was the hole I had a nGIR and ended up with a 6 after a poor chip and a 3 putt.  First 5 holes were 8,6,5,5,7.  This was not going well and i was back to my old overswinging ways.  But, miraculously, I was able to actually slow myself down, and I found my swing (at least with the irons, driver was an unmitigated disaster all day).

Finished with a 4,5,4,5 and easily a few of my best shots of the season.  Got a nGIR from 180 out from a tough lie to an elevated green on the 7th, hit a GIR from 165 out over a tree line 120 yards away with an 8 iron on the 8th hole, and then hit the green (not GIR) from 190 out on the 9th.  The shots were perfect.  Perfect tempo on my swing, straight as an arrow, and ideal trajectory.  A guy in my group said my swing loosened up which kind of confirmed he was seeing what i was feeling.

My biggest victory of the day wasn't necessarily those shots tho.  I was most proud of being able to mentally get my swing back in order and actually bring something i had practiced and practiced all week to the course.  This week, I'll still make sure i practice the irons, but the focus will be on the driver.  If i can get that in order, I have no doubt breaking 100 is going to happen this season.

[Tod]

Shot a 91 at Dauphin Highlands in Harrrisburg, Pa (71.9/130) on the way home from our trip to the first two days of the PGA. It was one of those good, easy-feeling rounds. My HCI has dropped about 4 strokes in the last month.

[Hiway1tele]

4 minutes ago, Tod said:

Shot a 91 at Dauphin Highlands in Harrrisburg, Pa (71.9/130) on the way home from our trip to the first two days of the PGA. It was one of those good, easy-feeling rounds. My HCI has dropped about 4 strokes in the last month.

Glad someone is playing well...

[Tod]

12 minutes ago, Hiway1tele said:

Glad someone is playing well...

A lot of work and luck. But still trailing my son who shot an 80 on Monday is trying to break 80 for the first time while I try to 90 and at least play in that range for awhile.

[xcott]

played some tough new courses on vacation, no sub 100 rounds. 

 

However did get a 99 in on my home course prior to going on vacation which was good.

 

Then played yesterday first time in a couple weeks due to work and shot 61/48. Back 9 was crazy one double, one triple and all bogeys. 

 

all told things seem to be rounding into shape, my stats continue a positive trend and a lower handicap is on the horizon.

[krupa]

Been going through a rough stretch.  After shooting 99 back in May, my scores have tanked.  So I took a week off, went to the range on Tuesday and last night played nine holes.  I started poorly (9, 6 on par 5 and 3 holes) and was ready to hang it up for the season.  But I decided to keep going and just not give a crap about my score or anything else.   Ended up going par, bogey, par, double, bogey.  I finished with 2 triple's for a total of 53.  No one is more shocked than I.

[JonMA1]

31 minutes ago, krupa said:

Been going through a rough stretch.  After shooting 99 back in May, my scores have tanked.  So I took a week off, went to the range on Tuesday and last night played nine holes.  I started poorly (9, 6 on par 5 and 3 holes) and was ready to hang it up for the season.  But I decided to keep going and just not give a crap about my score or anything else.   Ended up going par, bogey, par, double, bogey.  I finished with 2 triple's for a total of 53.  No one is more shocked than I.

I think there is something to be said for getting beyond the point of caring. Seems like my rounds build up to the point of where I become really frustrated, and then the whole giving a #@^$ gets turned off as though a switch has been pulled. That's often when things settle down and I start playing at what I consider to be my level of golf.

Maybe if I get all that over with while walking to the first tee, the round will go really well .

Keep at it @krupa. It just takes some of us longer than others. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy the journey.

[krupa]

3 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Keep at it @krupa. It just takes some of us longer than others. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy the journey.

Thanks.  The 53 was very encouraging.  I just need to find a way to keep my frustration in check.  

As much as we need rain, the rock hard course is helping out the confidence quite a bit.  On one hole, I thought I lost my ball off the tee so I hit a provisional.   Unfortunately I found my first ball which led to a triple bogey.  That provisional ball?  It went about 310 - 320 yards with the roll!  (I didn't measure it but it was 330 yard hole and had at most 20 yards to the green.)

[Dornenglanz]

Played 9 holes (18 hole course with 2 tee positions, only had time for 9)  at a course local to where I am on holiday.  Mixture of very good and very bad.  It's a short course (1883 yards, one par 5, 3 par 4s, for a total par of 32), but demands accuracy.

I managed 2 pars (including the 5), 2 bogies, and 1 double bogies, but runied it with a few absolute shockers (lost 3 balls, went OOB twice on the last hole).  52 in total.  Still, notwithstanding the shockers, one of the best rounds I've played since I started, only back in June.

[Warren Zevon]

   Shot a 97 today at my home course.  Still having some driver issues, but my second shots were much improved.  My downfall today was putting.  I three putted at least half a dozen times, and it got to the point where I told my playing partner that 3 turning to five was getting old.  All in all, I've shot under 100 three times in the past two months, which is getting to where I'd like to be.  If I can pull my head out of my ass and putt better I could be breaking 90 in the near future.  

[bweiss711]

Shot 111 over the weekend which was disappointing.  I spent the previous week working on my driving, and that was slightly improved during the round.  But there were just too many mishits and issues hitting several inches behind the ball with my irons.  I kind of saw that coming as I had a range session the day before the round which was terrible.  And not only was it terrible, I just kept swinging, and swinging instead of breaking my swing down and correcting it.

I went to the range again yesterday and it was much, much better.  Turns out, I believe, that working on my driver messed with how I was addressing my iron shots.  I had the ball too far forward in my stance with the iron, and kept a bit of a tilt and upward swing.  Once I figured out i needed to get back to being very squared up with my irons with the ball directly between my feet, it turned into the best range session I have ever had.

My plan is to get to the range one more time this week, but I'll only have time for 9 holes this weekend.  I really hope that I can bring a good, consistent swing to all 9 of them.

[xcott]

Ok, another round under 100. Posted a 99, but it was extreme. 

1 bird

3 par

7 bogey

1 double bogey

6 triple bogey (including a 9)

 

weirdly I never hit a sand trap, water hazard, lost a ball or had to drop for any reason, just some blowup holes with multiple bad shots on a single hole. My index is definitely going to drop this revision, which is a good thing. 

 

I've been tracking my scores and I've been improving recently by turning my double bogeys into bogeys, but I haven't turned my triples into bogeys.

 

Averages of last 10 rounds/averages of all previous rounds before the last 10

Bird  - .20/.16

Par - 1.90/1.27

Bogey - 6.10/4.92

Double  - 3.90/6.16

Triple+ - 5.90/5.61

 

 

Edited August 13, 2016 by xcott

[xcott]

Here is a very good look at how my game has slightly improved over time. The bogey or better holes are converging with the double or worse holes. When those lines cross, I'm going to be very happy.

[GlennInBama]

I am glad I found this thread. I am at the point where I feel like I could break 100 if I just play up to my potential, but then I get to the course and one bad shot leads to another and...

Once I feel like I am "behind" schedule for breaking 100, I start gripping the clubs tighter and trying to drive it farther and place my iron shots just perfectly. This is a prescription for disaster. Twice recently I have played with my bro who shoots in the high 80s or low 90s and I quit keeping score at the turn and just play best ball on the back 9. Both times I started striking the ball better on the back 9. Because I wasn't worrying about breaking 100 anymore.

I am in the process of getting together the pieces to build a net in the back yard that I can hit into so I can practice more consistently. I am going to break 100.

[xcott]

you'd be surprised how many blowup holes you can have and still break 100. Just play each shot and each hole seperately. The score at the end is the score at the end. Dont think that a 9 ends your day, it didn't for me. I still broke 100.  

Keeping my stats has helped a lot because even though my scores have barely been improving I can see the gradual improvement on everything I do. Slow steady improvement is the name of the game. The long trends, not the short ones

[GlennInBama]

25 minutes ago, xcott said:

you'd be surprised how many blowup holes you can have and still break 100. Just play each shot and each hole seperately. The score at the end is the score at the end. Dont think that a 9 ends your day, it didn't for me. I still broke 100.  

Keeping my stats has helped a lot because even though my scores have barely been improving I can see the gradual improvement on everything I do. Slow steady improvement is the name of the game. The long trends, not the short ones

I have been thinking of buying the game golf tracking system. A lady has the classic system for sale for $50. I would like to have a more accurate idea of how long I hit each shot.

I hear what you are saying about not letting a bad hole ruin your day, but I get mad with myself pretty quickly when I know I could be playing better. I will try to work on that.

[xcott]

From playing with handicaps from scratch to 30, I can tell you that you will never get to a point where you stop "knowing you could be playing better"

 

Better is a sliding scale which is always just ahead of where you're at. 

 

I get upset sometimes as well, but it's helpful to have some bad stretches and then still end up at a decent (for you) score. 

[GlennInBama]

I went ahead and bought the Game Golf system. Talk about a motivation to get better. You guys can see exactly how good or bad I play, lol.