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

[Judah Ben-Hur]

I have put in a couple of rounds in the last few days.  Still doing 9 holes and walked all but one of them.  I did get out to a par 3 course to dial in some distances for 5 rounds.  The greens are pretty funky, small, and not really a good measure for one's putting skills.  They are really bumpy and the ball is doing all kinds of things that are not in your favor.  The first day I only did 9 and got a +20.  I was right, left, and short most of the time.  Had some bad hits off the tee and made some good pitches to get back in shape from 50 to 70 yards away.  I also took out of the bag 3 of my Titleist wedges (46, 52, 56) and put in the ones from the iron set along with a sand wedge from the same line.  So I have a 44, 48, and 54 instead.  I seemed to adjust to them pretty well even if they are a little clunky looking.  The next day I had +13 and +10 and was getting adjusted to the distances better.  Some of the ball marks were damn close to the hole just a few feet left or right.  I hit really high (probably too high) and the ball pretty much dribbles a few feet from the ball mark.  I went back up again the day after and got a +10 and +8.  After the first outing on the par 3, I quit using a tee for the irons thinking it would give me a little more practice hitting them off the deck.  Sometimes putting a tee in the ground for irons plays with my fragile mindset.  I did tee it up for a hybrid and 5 wood on the +200 yard hole.  On the way back, I hit up a nine hole course.  I already had an hour lesson that morning on the home course,18 holes of par 3 in 90 degree weather, and now this.  I was pretty sore getting out of the car and a little drained.  I looked over at the carts lined up and that was that as far as walking was concerned.  I ended up with a 55 and was trying out things from the earlier lesson.  My how things don't work out as good when you are all alone and trying to work away from a slice to draw player.  I probably shouldn't be doing that in a round that will be signed but it is what it is.  One hole it bit me good with a 160 yard drive into the tree line on the left.  The ball was laying on the edge of a ditch and I could not stand properly much less make a good swing, I punch it out over the ditch but way it goes 50 yards too far across the fairway into the same predicament.  The ball is lying among tree roots and pine needles and under a canopy.  Out comes a duffed hybrid for 40 yards, then a fat 7 iron, next up is a sand wedge that blows way past the green.  The next sand wedge shot fluffed a couple of yards then I proceed to do a mini skull with the same club to rocket passed the hole and down she rolls to the bottom, way down to the bottom.  Three putts later and a 10 is on the books.  Way too much poor decision making on that hole that it boggles the mind.

... I'll be back at it tomorrow.

[JonMA1]

This year had been a struggle to get even close to 100. Broke down and finally took a lesson on Wednesday where the instructor watched me play 9. He gave me a few little pointers on the short game and then gave me one full swing adjustment to work on.

Broke 90 for the first time with an 88. So this is what bogey golf feels like... kind of fun.

Anyway, easy course - 5437yds 67.7/111. No blowup holes. One lost ball/penalty. Every part of the game was beyond my normal level tonight. I have to be careful not to expect anything close to this next time out, but I'm sure going to enjoy it for a day or two.

[Mac62]

This year had been a struggle to get even close to 100. Broke down and finally took a lesson on Wednesday where the instructor watched me play 9. He gave me a few little pointers on the short game and then gave me one full swing adjustment to work on.

Broke 90 for the first time with an 88. So this is what bogey golf feels like... kind of fun.

Anyway, easy course - 5437yds 67.7/111. No blowup holes. One lost ball/penalty. Every part of the game was beyond my normal level tonight. I have to be careful not to expect anything close to this next time out, but I'm sure going to enjoy it for a day or two.

Congrats on breaking 90 - that first time is a great feeling, isn't it?  Enjoy and savor it - yeah, it may not happen next time out, but it will happen again - and probably start happening with more regularity!

[JonMA1]

Congrats on breaking 90 - that first time is a great feeling, isn't it?  Enjoy and savor it - yeah, it may not happen next time out, but it will happen again - and probably start happening with more regularity!

Thank you @Mac62. It just feels great to have a bit of control - even if ionce in a blue moon - over an incredibly difficult game.

BTW, I see your HI has really dropped over the last two years. Nice work, man.

[Mac62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac62

Congrats on breaking 90 - that first time is a great feeling, isn't it?  Enjoy and savor it - yeah, it may not happen next time out, but it will happen again - and probably start happening with more regularity!

Thank you @Mac62. It just feels great to have a bit of control - even if ionce in a blue moon - over an incredibly difficult game.

BTW, I see your HI has really dropped over the last two years. Nice work, man.

Thanks!  It's been a slow process, but I'm enjoying the ride.  I know exactly what you mean about feeling like you have a bit of control once in a while, lol!  It's a very satisfying feeling when shots start turning out like you intended them to, even if it doesn't happen every single time.

[rkim291968]

This year had been a struggle to get even close to 100. Broke down and finally took a lesson on Wednesday where the instructor watched me play 9. He gave me a few little pointers on the short game and then gave me one full swing adjustment to work on.

Broke 90 for the first time with an 88. So this is what bogey golf feels like... kind of fun.

Anyway, easy course - 5437yds 67.7/111. No blowup holes. One lost ball/penalty. Every part of the game was beyond my normal level tonight. I have to be careful not to expect anything close to this next time out, but I'm sure going to enjoy it for a day or two.

Way to go, JonMA1!   Enjoy and do it again.

[PJCdude]

Haven't broken 100 yet this year (last few rounds 52 for nine, 100 (52-48), 106 (48-58) and 105)but I also havent been able to consistently play until school gets out. (Im a teacher). Have had some nice milestones though and I feel like I'll be comfortable in the 90's mid summer.

YESTERDAY:

Shot a 52 for nine holes at Pelham Bay in the Bronx (Slope 113). That includes TWO holes in which poor sand play led to a pair of quad bogeys. I had to take multiple bunker shots, some skulling over green into adjacent bunker, some hit fat....total disaster in the bunkers. On the 7th hole I hit the fairway, missed the green way wide, hit a fat LW shot into bunker, skulled over green to adjacent bunker, skulled another shot back, then took two shots to get up onto the side of the elevated green in between the bunker and green, short sided. I chipped in for an 8!

I finished off strong though with getting out of the bunker on 8 correctly and saving bogey. On the par 5 9th I reached the green in two...it's a short par 5 (460-470ish) but it was my first time doing this as I am a short hitter. My 4H usually goes only 190 and I was laying up since my drive ended in rough but low and behold I hit it 215 and was able to attempt the first eagle putt of my life! Narrowly missed about 6 ft long (It was prob a 40-60 footer) and sunk the birdie putt...my first birdie on a par 5!

The 100 I shot was at Mill Pond on Long Island (Slope 115). I have never beaten my brother (he usually shoots low 90s, high 80s) but he had an off day. We were tied at 95 going into the par 5 18. I parred it (almost chipping in for a birdie) and he bogied. It was the best round where I just missed breaking 100 ever!

I attirbute my improvement to starting a My Swing thread in March and working intently on full swing before it warmed up. Since then, I've tinkered less with my full swing, worked alot more on short game and been trying some mental techniques from "Zen Golf" by Dr Joseph Parent. VERY helpful. Yesterday showed me that I need to keep my wrist hinge in bunkers and not panic. The shot on 8 really gave me confidence back. Hoping I can play again soon.

[9wood]

Best score so far this year 42-43 for an 85. Two years ago I was shooting between 100-104 with my previous low during that time being a 96. I owe my improvement mainly to the fact as whereas I use to play about 8 times a year, I now have been playing twice a week and get in about 50 rounds a year. Practice goes a long way towards improvement. I honestly believe that if I get my driving, pitching, and putting all functioning properly on the same day and eliminate the misfires, that 80-82 is a real possibility for me.

[krupa]

I think 100 may be in my reach this year. Yesterday I played 18 with a friend of mine. I have been working on my driver a lot and finally used it in a round. Scored 60-50 for my best 9 and 18 hole scores. The really encouraging party of yesterday's round was that I recognized what I was doing wrong (I was jumping up on my shots) and corrected it for a big improvement.

[pecos24]

I was only able to get 9 in today.  Shot a 49 which was somewhat of a surprise since I had a couple water balls.  But I had a couple pars to even those two crappy holes out.

My driver I am hitting more consistent but I am just not hitting it very far which is a little discouraging.  Today on the 4 holes I used driver I averaged about 210...

[kenpugh]

Hi everybody, been following this thread  for sometime now, you all give me hope!!!!!  i only get to play 9 holes most of the time and seems like i am stuck at 53.   i did shoot 50  last week putter was hot except for a couple of three putts only 19 putts total chipping was not bad either. if i keep my head down !!! my drives are ballooning making second shots longer,  looking at getting x hot driver, with less loft, I am a lefty and trying new stuff is difficult, I always feel like sales people are thinking " this guy sucks at golf and why is this lefty wasting my time" . guess  i will save that for a different thread.  any suggestions for keeping head down or eyes on the ball would be appreciated. also would like to hear form any lefties using callaway x hot driver

[Tangy Zizzle]

Went out on Friday and really stunk it up. Shot 65 on the front 9 and didn't even total my score on the back 9. Super frustrating and demoralizing.

Granted it was a much harder course than some of the others I play. I also had taken a lesson the week prior and hadn't been able to go to the range and practice before the round. So I ended up trying some new stuff instead of my normal swing and it really got in my head. So I'll be hitting the range a lot this week give it another go as soon as I can.

[pecos24]

...  any suggestions for keeping head down or eyes on the ball would be appreciated.

@kenpugh I would suggest making an entry in the Member Swing section of the forums... http://thesandtrap.com/f/4180/member-swings

[pecos24]

Went out on Friday and really stunk it up. Shot 65 on the front 9 and didn't even total my score on the back 9. Super frustrating and demoralizing.

Granted it was a much harder course than some of the others I play. I also had taken a lesson the week prior and hadn't been able to go to the range and practice before the round. So I ended up trying some new stuff instead of my normal swing and it really got in my head. So I'll be hitting the range a lot this week give it another go as soon as I can.

I don't have much to say other then been there done that.  It is hard to incorporate a bunch of new info from a lesson out on the course. Plenty of practice, as you noted, and when you are playing keep those swing thoughts to a minimum. I know if have more than 1 or 2 things on my my mind as I am trying to swing it usually ends in disaster.

[krupa]

Hi everybody, been following this thread  for sometime now, you all give me hope!!!!!  i only get to play 9 holes most of the time and seems like i am stuck at 53.   i did shoot 50  last week putter was hot except for a couple of three putts only 19 putts total chipping was not bad either. if i keep my head down !!! my drives are ballooning making second shots longer,  looking at getting x hot driver, with less loft, I am a lefty and trying new stuff is difficult, I always feel like sales people are thinking " this guy sucks at golf and why is this lefty wasting my time" . guess  i will save that for a different thread.  any suggestions for keeping head down or eyes on the ball would be appreciated. also would like to hear form any lefties using callaway x hot driver

Here are some youtube videos for Key #1 from 5 Simple Keys  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=5+simple+keys+steady+head

There are others, I think, in the instructional section.

I like practicing slow swings without a ball on a tile floor.  I use the intersection of tiles as my ball and just make sure that through the whole, slow swing, my eyes are focused on that intersection.

[mcanadiens]

One thing I highly recommend is to piss on the tougher courses. If you have a bunch of options (and I know some don't), play the easy ones.

I lived on my area's shortest par-3 course for my first year.

[indykappa]

Friday, June 5th. FINALLY...after several attempts, I finally cracked 100! I shot a 99, and that was with a freakin 4 putt on the final hole (don't ask). My drives stayed in the fairway or barely into the first cut. My approach shots were landing near the green, and I even had some GIRs. When I did miss the green, I landed some nice pitch shots. My putting was abysmal. I 4 putted once, and 3 putted a few times. I had a streak of like 7 holes where I shot par or bogey. Then I had some "explosive" holes. I finished the round thinking that I could've been much closer to 90 if I putted worth damn.

I went out and played 9 holes on June 8th (yesterday) and shot a 54, but my driving was super erratic and my putting was much better.

I want to strive for some more consistency - I shot a 45 thru 9 holes back in late March and missed at least 4 putts for a lower score only to follow that up with a 112 two weeks later - but now that I've witnessed some "progress", I'm chomping at the bit to get out and play some more!

Everybody keep working at it! We can do this!!

[pecos24]

Friday, June 5th. FINALLY...after several attempts, I finally cracked 100! I shot a 99, and that was with a freakin 4 putt on the final hole (don't ask).

Great job Indy! Keep it up!