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

[indykappa]

My driving has been really good my last few times out. I have started teeing the ball up really high (in comparison to how I teed my balls before) and I have seen a tremendous increase in distance and accuracy. I would top a lot of my drives and hit these scud missile shots that would fly low to the ground and roll out. Now I'm actually getting a nice pretty flight.

My fairway woods and hybrids have been straighter. Not the distance I'd like, but I'm not having to go into search mode immediately upon impact with the ball LOL. My iron play has been incredibly erratic. I can't explain it. My pitching and chipping has been awful. If I could make even a slight improvement here, I think my scores would drop PRONTO. My putting has been pretty good. I still struggle with lag putting, leaving putts waaaaaay too short. But inside of 15 feet, I have made a surprising number of putts. My confidence on short putts is sky high right now.

My next few practice sessions will be pitch/chip heavy. I have got to get better with shots 25yds and in

[Warren Zevon]

I shot matching 51s today to just miss breaking 100 for the first time this season. I hit some GIRs, made some great one putt finishes, and most of my fairway misses weren't off by much. I did have a few wild slices that cost me for a few penalty strokes. Aside from that, I was very happy with the way the round played out. I had four pars, and four bogeys. The two quads on the back weren't cool. And it was windy as hell today. It was fun making shots while adjusting clubs on the fly. Even shots that weren't far enough were still fine by me, as long as the line was good. My home club has its open tournament this weekend. I've got about 24 hours to decide if I'm ready for competition.

[Gipper]

My driving has been really good my last few times out. I have started teeing the ball up really high (in comparison to how I teed my balls before) and I have seen a tremendous increase in distance and accuracy. I would top a lot of my drives and hit these scud missile shots that would fly low to the ground and roll out. Now I'm actually getting a nice pretty flight. My fairway woods and hybrids have been straighter. Not the distance I'd like, but I'm not having to go into search mode immediately upon impact with the ball LOL. My iron play has been incredibly erratic. I can't explain it. My pitching and chipping has been awful. If I could make even a slight improvement here, I think my scores would drop PRONTO. My putting has been pretty good. I still struggle with lag putting, leaving putts waaaaaay too short. But inside of 15 feet, I have made a surprising number of putts. My confidence on short putts is sky high right now. My next few practice sessions will be pitch/chip heavy. I have got to get better with shots 25yds and in

It's amazing how many strokes I leave out there in that range.

[PJCdude]

My driving has been really good my last few times out. I have started teeing the ball up really high (in comparison to how I teed my balls before) and I have seen a tremendous increase in distance and accuracy. I would top a lot of my drives and hit these scud missile shots that would fly low to the ground and roll out. Now I'm actually getting a nice pretty flight.

My fairway woods and hybrids have been straighter. Not the distance I'd like, but I'm not having to go into search mode immediately upon impact with the ball LOL. My iron play has been incredibly erratic. I can't explain it. My pitching and chipping has been awful. If I could make even a slight improvement here, I think my scores would drop PRONTO. My putting has been pretty good. I still struggle with lag putting, leaving putts waaaaaay too short. But inside of 15 feet, I have made a surprising number of putts. My confidence on short putts is sky high right now.

My next few practice sessions will be pitch/chip heavy. I have got to get better with shots 25yds and in

I don't know Charlotte that well, but there's gotta be a pitch n putt somewhere. There's one by be in Queens that's 18 holes. Every hole is between 40-80 yds and it is a great place to play a day or two before a real round. At our level, there's going to be a lot of mishits and recovery shots, which will lead to the awkward 40-80 yd distance. However, being able to get it to that zone in two shots, pitching on and two putting will be a bogey and bogeys are good.

[cutchemist42]

Played 18 holes for the first time today with two buddies who I had not golfed with since I started two months ago. We played a course called The Meadows which I thought was tougher than anything I had played yet. Had only played alone so far and was surprised by the anxiety I had on tee shots. I topped every ball except one, and only had tee shot go over 100 yards I'd imagine (that one good tee shot though was rpoabbly 250 on fairway) My freind who shoots in the high 70s thought everything looked fine, and having never seen me shoot before, said everything but my tee shots and I'm well on my way to breaking into 90s easily.

Both friends said my clubs dont make it easier (Driver/Woods from an early 90s Lynx set) but I dont think thats the problem. It was anxiety for me, as every other approach shot was fine once I seperated from them for my shots.

I shot a 112.

[Gipper]

I was able to score my first birdie. I was inches away from an eagle. I shot a 104 at a very tough Blackstone course outside of Chicago.

[krupa]

Had a really nice (9-hole) round tonight.  There was a foursome in front of me who didn't let me play through and it was such a nice night I figured I'd just enjoy the night.  Because of that, I wasn't always looking over my shoulder, worrying about holding up the people behind me and I didn't play fast to catch up and play through.

It was one of those nights where I hit the ball so well that I was hitting every club longer than normal.  How are you supposed to get a good score when you hit the ball 10 yards more than you expect!?  I still had some topped balls and toe-hits, etc, but overall I hit the ball very nicely.

Anyway, no penalty strokes (and so no lost balls) but some less than stellar putting left me with a 52 -- my second-best score ever and my best for that course.

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Things have been going sour since I last posted on my feeble attempts at breaking 100.  I have posted rounds of 49, 104, 54, 50, 61, 51, 113, and a 49.  That last round had me shooting par on a hole that usually ends up with a 8 or 10.  Maybe it's a sign!  Some of the earlier rounds had me walking off after nine holes.  I have been fighting a bad back along with IT Band trouble in my left leg that just won't go away.  It raises hell trying to take a swing with all the pain shooting through and making me do all kinds of girations while trying to hit the little white ball.  Things are spraying to the sides and there is absolutely no GIR's to speak of.  It has really cut down on my distances because I'm trying to keep the weight off of it.  The stupid thing even hurts trying to putt and that has really taken a nosedive also.  That 61 and 113 had me trying something different in the swing department.  I gained a club length but I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if it was 75 yards out.  Going back to the old way with the irons and ditching the 60 degree wedge until I get a lot better.  The 5 wood is back in the bag and it might be a little redundant with the 3 hybrid in there too.  I really suck with that club in my hand.  I also took the wedge set clubs out and added the Titleist.  The lofts are different and that has thrown me for a loop 90 yards in.  I'm slowing adjusting to them but seem to get a wild shot that rockets off to the right at a 45 degree angle.  Must be the club. I'm also trying to ditch the high shots really close to the green and that has led to some comical moments.  It is funny when things are going south how the ball always seems to be in the thick rough, the approaches are just short,  or the ball is always under trees or directly behind them.  Even what you think are halfway good shots off the tee has the ball sitting on a lone uneven spot in a see of flat green grass.  The next shot then turns into a doozie and the snowball effect begins all over.

[ChrisPietersen]

Played another round today. Conditions were very bad! The wind was unbelievably strong, and since I was playing at sea level I had to club up a lot to compensate for the conditions. Stats for the round: Score (Par 72): 103 (51/52) FIR: 3/14 (21%) GIR: 0/14 (0%) Putts: 37 Penalties: 3 Pars: 1 Bogeys: 7 Doubles: 7 Triples: 2 Quads: 1 I was kicking myself with bad putts all day long, had 4 3-putts! The greens were not good, they were sandy and unevenly cut, but I still left a lot of strokes out there. The penalties were a result of the windy conditions, where I for example could not carry a river off the tee with wind from the front. Chipping and pitching was better, I aimed for the middle of the green and that took the pressure off a lot. All in all I was happy with my round. I had a blast with the challenging conditions! One more round on Thursday before the end of my holiday.

[rrives]

Congrats on the bird!

[Moppy]

Well that was a disaster. After having a nine where all I needed on the ninth was a double bogey to break fifty last time I played, and laying two ten yards from the green on a par four, admittedly on a steep slope to an elevated green. I had to use my 54 to get the ball onto the putting surface maybe four feet above me, and I bladed it into the woods past the green, lost the ball, and quad bogied the hole, but all in all I felt good. I had lipped out a birdie attempt on a par 4, and parred the hole. Drove longer than I ever have on several holes. Always sniffing around greens in regulation... well, aprons in regulation if there was such a thing.

This time I walked off after seven and losing all of my balls. The last ball was more lost due to darkness, as it sounded pretty good off the club and felt pretty good, but I never picked it up on the fly in the dusk and just heard it thump when it hit, I had no idea where. It was my last ball. I lost four balls in five swings at one point. I did lip out a par putt and hit the comebacker for bogie after duffing a drive, having to wedge it back into the fairway from behind some trees, and putting a 125 yd iron shot within six feet, so there are glimpses. But next hole I just sailed my tee shot into the weeds to the right of a par three.

What is really frustrating is to see hints of much better play. Many more par looks, getting greens in regulation, even the one decent  shot at a birdie not on a par three. Then to have it all come apart. My post mortem analysis is that because I was hitting them so far last time, I started swinging harder this time, which I don't think I need to do, I think it sort of crept in. Also I tried a couple of "hero shots" a couple in a row, and lost two balls in a row that way.

On the plus side, my irons are starting to play consistent lengths when I strike them solidly and hit them straight. They used to be a guessing game for me, even with the rangefinder.

[finn0903]

I'm not sure if someone said this already, but I simply focused on staying consistent. I would get one or two pars with a lucky birdie once in a while, but I'd have a couple of triple bogies bringing down the whole score. I had a decent swing form so I knew that breaking the 100 was more of a mental barrier. My dad told me to try and aim for an all double bogie first, then slowly bring it down to all bogies. I just pretended that a bogie was a par, and it kept me from trying ridiculous shots or being too greedy with distance. It takes time but now I feel like I have much better consistency in my scores.

[davedove]

I'm not sure if someone said this already, but I simply focused on staying consistent. I would get one or two pars with a lucky birdie once in a while, but I'd have a couple of triple bogies bringing down the whole score. I had a decent swing form so I knew that breaking the 100 was more of a mental barrier. My dad told me to try and aim for an all double bogie first, then slowly bring it down to all bogies. I just pretended that a bogie was a par, and it kept me from trying ridiculous shots or being too greedy with distance. It takes time but now I feel like I have much better consistency in my scores.

I do something similar.  I just assume the "par" for every hole is 5.  That way, if I manage to "par" every hole, I shoot a 90.  I've still got a way to go before that happens.  Oddly enough, I seem to break "par" more on the par 4 holes than I do on the par 3.

[Moppy]

All double bogies would be a 53 on the front nine. I need to really think about shooting for that. I didn't need the hero shots to double bogie that one par four, a wedge shot back to the center of the fairway would have kept bogie alive for me. I had to do that on the very next hole, and lipped out the par putt.

Trying to keep it under +18 for a side is good advice.

[krupa]

For me and my personality, regardless of what meaning I place on the words "par" and "bogie" trying to shoot a particular score on a hole is the fast path to frustration and anger and, of course, NOT shooting that score.  I just try to hit the ball as well as I can and accept the outcome.  The score seems to take care of itself.  Not that I'm setting course records here, but I've been having fewer blow-up holes (no 10s in the past couple rounds) and I have been finding true enjoyment on the course.  None of this manic "this game # @^%!! sucks! / oh god I love this game" nons ense I used to do.

[Moppy]

None of this manic "this game #@^%!! sucks! / oh god I love this game" nonsense I used to do.

Key #1  Steady head. ;)

[MrDC]

I agree on the take it one shot at a time thing, don't bother with the math and all this junk about "just par every par 3 and bogey every par 4 and blah, blah, blah..." that's fuzzy math, not something a person trying to learn how to strike the ball consistently can worry about, learn your swing thoughts and accept your limitations, lay up instead of going for greens from 200+, make fewer mistakes, practice putting a lot, that's how to get under 100, not trying to figure out some magic formula to add up the holes better.

[krupa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krupa

None of this manic "this game #@^%!! sucks! / oh god I love this game" nonsense I used to do.

Key #1  Steady head. ;)

Mind.  Blown.