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


Gipper
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Last Saturday I played and my swing was just completely off. Could not get off the tee for crap. It was a blessing that a thunderstorm came through and and ended our round. I had a lesson with my pro Thursday night and he identified some changes in my swing (my fault, overemphasizing the body turn) and improving my forearm rotation. Spent Friday night at the range in preparation for the club championship. Major fail on Saturday with a 112 - worst score in five months. A lot of tee shots high and right and just nothing felt right. Spent the night at the range. Advantage of being one the worst on day one is getting the first tee time on day two.

Everything went great on the range warming up. A lot of that failed to materialize during the round. Despite that, still managed a few great shots, improved short game, and 13 stroke improvement for a 99.  Crazy game.

 

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Had an interesting round at my local 9 hole course this morning.  I don't think I hit the ball all that well, and the score wasn't great, but i feel really good about it.  I shot a 48 with 1 par, 6 bogeys, 1 double, and a 9.  The biggest thing was staying out of major trouble for 8 of the holes. I didn't hit a single fairway, but i also didn't have any egregious mishits off the tee either.  I didn't hit a single green in regulation, but 7 of my approaches were just off the green (the par and 6 bogeys).  I didn't sink any putts from distance, but there were only 16 putts.

On the hole I scored a 9, I simply lost focus after leaving myself with a ridiculous lie after my first shot.  And instead of taking a deep breath, i rushed through the rest of the hole and it cost me big time.

I feel like today confirmed that I have the physical talent to not be terrible at golf. I just need to have the mental fortitude to allow myself to not be terrible.  Consistent rounds like this will give me more confidence, and that confidence will breed more consistency.  If I can keep getting to around the green in 2 shots, I'm certain that i'll be able to improve enough in my short game to cut out even more strokes from my scores.

 

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It really is about limiting the utter disasters, and finding a par here and there.

 

I realized at my home course, I've hit every green  in regulation except 1 (240 yd par 3) and can play each hole at par at some point.

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Played 18 this weekend.  I scored 104 over 17 holes... mostly following the rules.  The 18th hole (actually #12) was a disaster.  It's a short par-3 over a pond.  First ball was topped into the pond.  I dropped at the red tees, grabbed my PW, topped the second ball into the pond.  Grabbed a different club, chunked the third ball into the pond.  Drove to the next hole.

I had some good drives, great chipping, and decent putting.  Score is becoming increasingly irrelevant to my enjoyment of the game and I think I'm going to stop keeping track for the rest of the season.

"No man goes round boasting of his vices,” he said, “except golfers." 

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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Today I was a good ballstriker, both on the tee and fairway. However, my usually decent putting turned to 3 putt after 3 putt, which resulted in a 103.

Arrggghhh...

Tomorrow I try again to excel in this crazy game.

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Had my best ever round last week.  I've not yet played 18 holes yet - still focussing on 9 holes and par 3 courses, but progress is progress.  So, on the nearby par 3 links, previously I'd shot 49, 51, that sort of score, which, for a 27 par course is not great.  I've been working with my teacher on hitting the ball straight, with good alignment, and rotation so as to bring the club face through square.  Turns out the work has paid off....  I hit a total of 38, which was 3 shots ahead of my target.  I hit pretty much all of my shots straight.  A few green misreads and a few bad puts added 4, and one chip that was too hard added another, but I was delighted with how I played.  I also managed my first ever "green in regulation".

 

Now, to reality: this is a one-off, on a par 3 course, but: it represents real and measurable improvement, and given that I had never played before June, I'm pleased!

Cobra F-Max Driver | Ping Karsten 3H, 4H, 5H | Titleist 690MB 5-PW | TaylorMade ATV 52* 56* 60* | Odyssey White Hot #1

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Thus far I have given it up and havent played all summer...and really havent missed it either....Maybe I'll put it on the shelf until next year and see if I miss the game at all...if not, I will be that much less frustrated and probably doing something more productive than pretending that I would actually improve at this game....I am glad to some of the guys actually playing better...

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It seems I've found my crowd ;-)

Wife and I have yet to play a full 18, and only three (maybe four) times have we played nine at a full length course.  The first three were pretty hideous.  Being so bad, frankly the scorekeeping was pretty loose.  We didn't count provisional balls, or take drop penalties.  It was OK, we both played the same set of rules together, and its not like we are interested in getting certified handicaps

Played the front nine at a local public course this weekend and did pretty well frankly.  I counted all penalties as they should have been counted, which were only a few.  I only lost two balls.  Had two par's, a few bogies, some doubles, and then a few worse from there :~(

Anyhooo... I shot a 53 Sunday.  I'm happy with it.  My best score yet and like I said, it was legit scoring.

My long game needs to most help.  I've taken a few lessons but we focused on short game primarily.  I'm looking for another Pro now to give me some driver / full swing help.

- Brad

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Golf is a funny game.  I played a different 9 hole course this morning by the office with some co-workers.  Shot another +13 for a 49.  But, i feel like I hit the ball way better today with the irons.  I actually hit 3 GIR.  My full iron swing was in terrific form and I couldn't have been happier with that part of my game.  I'm not going to beat myself up over the short game and putter issues (3-putted two of the GIRs) because I haven't spent any of my practice time on that part of the game yet.  Getting off the tee in good shape continues to be an issue, and got me in quite a bit of trouble today.  I feel like just the driver cost me about 5 strokes.  And, of course, I still had the one disaster hole.  I took an 8 on the 9th hole after being unable to recover from a horrible mishit off the tee.

I feel like I'm right on the cusp of becoming an ok player.  I'm going to play 18 on Friday.  And depending on how many times I blow up, I can see myself shooting anywhere from 92 to 110.  The good thing, at least over the last 2 times I've been out, is that most holes have been played decently, but I still show my ability to blow up on one or two holes.  That's a nice change from earlier in the season where most holes were played not so decently, but I would show my ability to actually play this game well on one or two holes.

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a workmate and I have a standing golf date for every other Thursday after work.  Yesterday we played a nine hole par 34 course.

I couldn't get out of my own way at all on this round.  I did hit a few nice golf shots, but for the most part my ball striking was abysmal.  I shot a 56, had a few lost balls and a couple drop penalties.  I really left a lot out on the course.  

Even being a newb, the stuff I pulled yesterday was well below my capability.  Not frustrated, but wow.  I'm going to blame the heat.  It was 95'ish out there and we were walking.  My buddy is a long time golfer and he didn't do to well either, he shot a 45.  We ended up getting paired with a solo who lives on the course.  Not sure what he shot, but pretty sure it wasn't better than my buddies, he shanked a lot of balls.... so yeah, it was the heat :whistle:

 

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7 minutes ago, Brad W said:

It was 95'ish out there and we were walking.

Not for nothing, but I usually chalk up five strokes when it gets much over 90 and I'm hoofing it 18 holes.

My fitness level sucks and stuff always seems to catch up to me by the 15th or 16th holes. I get to the point where I can't keep steady and the mishits come in spades.

 

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It makes sense.  We were cooking pretty good out there.  I was really glad I had the good sense to wear a wide brimmed hat instead of my standard baseball cap.  Its the first time on this course and I truly thought the 8th hole was the 9th (my buddy was scoring).  I thought we were walking to the clubhouse and I'll be damned, another hole.  I was mentally "done" and that point and the funny thing is that ended up being my best hole :)

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Brad W said:

It makes sense.  We were cooking pretty good out there.  I was really glad I had the good sense to wear a wide brimmed hat instead of my standard baseball cap.  Its the first time on this course and I truly thought the 8th hole was the 9th (my buddy was scoring).  I thought we were walking to the clubhouse and I'll be damned, another hole.  I was mentally "done" and that point and the funny thing is that ended up being my best hole :)

 

 

usually when you dont care about the score or in the above case, you are just trying to finish, the pressure is off and you play better...anytime I went out and tried to shoot a predetermined score, like breaking 90 or whatever, I played crappy and let frustration and tempers get in the way...when I went out and didnt care about the score, I played much better...unfortunately for me, I expect to play well each time and dont have the talent do so...so it becomes a bad day very quickly....

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32 minutes ago, Hiway1tele said:

usually when you dont care about the score or in the above case, you are just trying to finish, the pressure is off and you play better...anytime I went out and tried to shoot a predetermined score, like breaking 90 or whatever, I played crappy and let frustration and tempers get in the way...when I went out and didnt care about the score, I played much better...unfortunately for me, I expect to play well each time and dont have the talent do so...so it becomes a bad day very quickly....

some good psychology here.  totally makes sense.  We also got paired up with a single.  Its the second time I've been paired up with someone, and both times I totally sucked.... more psychology no doubt.

my buddy made the observation that I was lifting to watch the ball.  He said "when you are doing well, you know where the ball is going"  "when you are struggling, you want to see the ball do well, so you are watching it and anticipating its flight path instead of just keeping your head down and swinging"

of course he didn't share that until near the end :-P

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31 minutes ago, Brad W said:

some good psychology here.  totally makes sense.  We also got paired up with a single.  Its the second time I've been paired up with someone, and both times I totally sucked.... more psychology no doubt.

my buddy made the observation that I was lifting to watch the ball.  He said "when you are doing well, you know where the ball is going"  "when you are struggling, you want to see the ball do well, so you are watching it and anticipating its flight path instead of just keeping your head down and swinging"

of course he didn't share that until near the end :-P

You are correct...anytime I play with someone I dont know, that I get paired with..I usually play lousy...a nerve, Psychology issue as you say...when I play the local course late evnings by myself, I play far better...probably just my lack of confidence in my golf swing..I used to have the lookup issue as well...would top every shot that I looked up on...now I just swing thru it and pull it left and right...which is why I gave it up for this year...maybe I'll pick it back up next spring...

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Been struggling with getting into the low 100's for a while now. Just bought my first driver, a Nike Sumo2 I picked up for $45 (~25USD), took it to the range and immediately started hitting the straightest, furthest shots I've ever played. Hopefully when I hit the course next week the fairways will be found and the numbers will drop. :-)

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It's been a rough couple weeks for me.  Quite a few 105-112 scores.  Then Thursday I squeaked out a 99.   

The only thing that saved me that round was that I was fairly accurate from 60 yards in.  I've been hot with my approach wedge lately, and my putting is finally coming into mid season form (of course, my season is winding down), but my ball striking has been really off for a while.  Crappy drive, slice right, then try to stick it close to twenty feet and then pray for a great putt or a close tap in bogey.  

I started off double, bogey, par, then thought to myself : "hey that's bogey golf" before I started to take a few triples and a quad on a par three.  I love and hate being my own worst enemy on the golf course.

 I really like what was said in an earlier post about when you're struggling you want to see where your ball goes.  I agree with that, completely.  

When entering my score I accidentally inputted it twice.  If I shoot another round in the same area I'll shave half a stroke off my HC.  Baby steps.  And deep breaths.  

Corey

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Note: This thread is 1309 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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