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


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Shot a straight up honest to goodness 50 on front nine of Deltona Golf Club playing 5900 yards. I was pumped!!  Too pumped. I triple bogeyed two holes in a row. Double bogeyed both par threes. But even still I had a chance. I wish I could say I finally did it but I can't. I did still shoot one of my best rounds even screwing up the back half as much as I did and carded a 106. :~(

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  • 2 months later...

The new season begins.  

Played 9 holes this evening after work.  Carded a 54.  Had some bad shots and some good shots.  Best stat of the round was putting.  I two-putted every hole but 1 (1-putted it.)  My first putts were far enough from the hole to not have a good chance of going so 2-putting them all was pretty good.  And a 54 without any range time and with a few early season, "holy crap I can get in some holes in February" rounds is promising.

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

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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First round of the season for me last Sunday. I kept score on the front 9 of a tough course and shot a 54. Played from a bit longer than usual, but I was prepared for a high score and wanted to work on my longer clubs.

What I didn't expect was to putt worse than I had last year - which is saying a lot.

I started off with 2 GIR's but failed to take advantage. By the time the blowup holes hit, my putting had killed any chance for a decent score. I ended the 9 holes with 23 putts. Many of the missed putts were within 4 or 5 feet.

Hate to be pessimistic, but I had really hoped working on my putting and chipping this winter would pay off. 

On the back 9, I caught up to a group of three and switched tee boxes. Had a few penalties off the tee, but also did some things right. On the last hole - a 415yd par 4 - I hit a decent drive into the wind. GPS showed I was left with 200 yards to carry water - against the wind. That would have required a perfect 3w off the fairway. So while 2 of my playing partners went for it and failed to carry the water, I chose to layup to within 150 and a better angle, then hit a nice 5 iron to within 12 feet of the pin.

(Coincidently, I've been re-reading LSW lately.)

Jon

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Got the first 18 in on Friday. 18 at McCall Lake. Rained steadily the first 7 holes. 53 plus 52. Driver and putter were not bad. Ground was soaked, fairway shots were not so good. Chunked a few too many.

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Had a nice 9 hole round this evening.  Played with a 3W, 7I-SW.   3-wood was working well for me tonight.  Got some nice/lucky bounces as well.

One lost ball and flubbed chips, though.

Score 50. :-D

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

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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https://www.gamegolf.com/player/JonMa1/round/1499621?shot_id=90684185&hole_id=30523030

Shot 51 on kind of a weird 9 holes at my home course (first weekend they've been open). Played from a mix of tees.

Greens were really fast, but I felt pretty confident on them (20 putts total). One of my season goals is to get closer to averaging 2 putts per hole.

Driver was ok - pulled a couple, one OOB, but got ok distance from carry only as the fairways were soggy.

Irons felt off but much better than last week. Still nursing an arm injury and it hurt more today than it has been. I only hit a couple really well and they flew past my target. Even those I didn't hit well traveled at or beyond my standard distance. As a result, I only hit a couple greens.

Wedges were so-so. On my blowup hole, I chipped a bit too hard onto a downhill green and it rolled into a bunker. Was too lazy to get my lob wedge and tried to get out of the bunker with my gap wedge, sent it back over the green again. Lol. 

I've lost some confidence this season but am having fun so far... maybe putting less pressure on myself to improve???

Jon

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Played some holes after a rain storm and had the course to myself (literally) so I decided to practice, rather than play:

*  Tried using my driver on a few holes but that was a mess so I stopped with that.  The practice ranges in my area are finally open so I can finally get some actual practice in with that for a while

*  Played two balls.  On one hole, my first ball went: bad tee shot, good second shot, decent shot onto the green two putt for a 5.  Second ball was great tee shot, decent second, great chip, 2 putt for a 5.

* Teed it forward on a few holes  (par'ed a tough Par 5 from the yellow tees)

*  Tried *not* taking a practice swing.  This was interesting.  My practice swings are always loose and easy but when I get over the ball I tighten up.  When I stopped doing the practice swings, I was much more loose over the ball and saw better results.  

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

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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On 4/15/2017 at 5:02 PM, JonMA1 said:

 

Wedges were so-so. On my blowup hole, I chipped a bit too hard onto a downhill green and it rolled into a bunker. Was too lazy to get my lob wedge and tried to get out of the bunker with my gap wedge, sent it back over the green again. Lol. 

 

This is the hardest thing for me to recover from: sand followed by a blade. I think it's the rush to get on the green while everyone else is putting. I hate it.

I use old Taylor Made clubs from eBay and golf shops.

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9 hours ago, krupa said:

Played some holes after a rain storm and had the course to myself (literally) so I decided to practice, rather than play:

......

*  Tried *not* taking a practice swing.  This was interesting.  My practice swings are always loose and easy but when I get over the ball I tighten up.  When I stopped doing the practice swings, I was much more loose over the ball and saw better results.  

1

I find there is something very relaxing having a course entirely to yourself. I play evenings after work, so have had the course to myself multiple times.

I've tried the no practice swing, but it seems to vary a lot for me. Does feel looser, but when going from a long club to a much shorter one, I lose confidence that I won't swing correctly for that club.

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11 hours ago, krupa said:

 

*  Tried *not* taking a practice swing.  This was interesting.  My practice swings are always loose and easy but when I get over the ball I tighten up.  When I stopped doing the practice swings, I was much more loose over the ball and saw better results.  

If my "real" swings were like my practice swings I'd be a much better golfer. It's really weird how much the ball affects what I do. I've been fighting this forever.

I use old Taylor Made clubs from eBay and golf shops.

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2 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

If my "real" swings were like my practice swings I'd be a much better golfer. It's really weird how much the ball affects what I do. I've been fighting this forever.

For me, the two factors that affect my "real" swing vs. practice swing are:

1.  Set up.  When I take a practice swing, I take a step or two away from the ball, my arms hang naturally, and I swing trying to imagine where the ball will be.  When I think step up to the ball, I may be too close or too far away from it.  Maybe the ball is more forward than where I "had it" for my practice swing, etc.

2.  Perception/expectation/desired result.  When I take a practice swing, my goal is a nice easy, smooth swing and getting a nice "wooosh" sound.  When I step up to the ball, I'm thinking, "I'm 187 yards to the green, I have to crush this" and the idea of a nice smooth, "let the club do the work" swing is out the window.

When I just did a practice swing, I didn't have #2 at all.  I was still just focused on getting a smooth easy swing with a nice wooosh.  I'm trying hard to maintain enough perspective to know that next time out it could all be crap but it was very satisfying on the last couple holes to have hit the ball so nicely.

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

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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Played my second round of 9 holes this year on Saturday and shot a 47 on a 34 par course. It's not the hardest course out there but the par 3's especially are tough as they are very narrow. Played smart-ish and left my 3 wood in the bag and only played irons (almost) all day long.

 

Hit 1 GIR, which is good for me as I'm not the best at mid and long iron shots. Had only 1 3-putt though and saved the score with a very decent short game. 

 

Looking back I started nicely with a GIR and a par on the first hole (par 4), saved a bogey on the second (180 yard par 3 over a lake). Then comes a really hard 500 yard par 5 for me. Was able to get close to the green in 4 shots and then a nice up and down for a single. A double on the next 150y par 3 (very narrow) that could have been a single if I didn't play scared on the first chip. 

Then I made another par on a 320y par 4. Second shot was 15 yards of the green but I made a nice chip to about 3-4' and holed it. 

So naturally I was pretty pumped and then came my first blow up hole. It's a narrow 170y par 3 that has trees on both sides. On the left there is some pretty steep rough and you'll have a hard time to find it if you miss there. On the right the treeline is thin so if you go over it you'll end up in the 7th fairway. I did that but then I tried a hero shot through some trees (1 yard gap from 5 yards out) instead of going left for the fringe of the green. Hit the tree and ended up with a triple. 

But the worst hole was still to follow. It's a nice wide 330y par 4, all you have to do is not miss left (the woods from the 6th. Naturally I pull out my first 3 wood of the day and hook it left. Luckily I found it but again hit a tree while trying to pitch back on the fairway. A bad wedge shot followed (got underneath the ball as the ground was really soft and it went high and short. Then I landed on the fringe, decided to put and had a brainfart as I thought the fringe would be much slower and ended up overshooting the green... long story short - a quadruple.

 

Managed to cool down and finish with two singles on 2 long par 4s.

 

I think that's where my game is right now, even though it says in my profile that my HCP is -46 I only played 1 round that counted for HCP in my life and it was only the front 9 on this same course. So my guess is that my actual HCP is somewhere in the high 20's because I shot +13 here and that was without any miracle shots that were way above my skill set.  Just slow and steady and play the course away from hazards even if that adds an extra shot here and there. 

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16 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

This is the hardest thing for me to recover from: sand followed by a blade. I think it's the rush to get on the green while everyone else is putting. I hate it.

I don't have a terrible short game and can almost always get it on the green from different lies, but bunkers are a mystery to me. The other day it was just hardened mud. I have no idea how to play it from that kind of surface. When I do zone mapping in my head (from the book Lowest Score Wins), bunkers become dark gray areas that I avoid like the plague.

Do you have problems chipping/pitching when you don't feel rushed?

Jon

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17 minutes ago, JonMA1 said:

The other day it was just hardened mud. I have no idea how to play it from that kind of surface.

Neither do I.

The pathetic thing is that I've had four years to get used to it, given my home courses. No. 6 on one of them is fronted with terrible bunkers and backed by the OB that separates it from the other course. Two to the trap and then sky ball into the Eagle course. Ka-boom.  

Most of the time now, I'm solidly under 100. When I break back into bad, it's often the dirt traps that get me. 

Edited by mcanadiens
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1 hour ago, mcanadiens said:

Most of the time now, I'm solidly under 100. When I break back into bad, it's often the dirt traps that get me. 

That's great. I was there last year and it's a good feeling when what used to be a goal becomes an average round. 

I think the short game is easier to learn but there are still those combinations of the lie, the hole placement, slope of the green, type of sand, etc, that just make a successful short shot very difficult. But there is opportunity for gaining strokes if we can improve.

It used to be good enough for me to get it on the green and hopefully 2-putt for bogey. Now my mindset is to get it close enough for a 1-putt and par. Of course there's a huge difference between a having a mindset of doing something and actual execution.:-D 

Jon

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7 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

I don't have a terrible short game and can almost always get it on the green from different lies, but bunkers are a mystery to me. The other day it was just hardened mud. I have no idea how to play it from that kind of surface. When I do zone mapping in my head (from the book Lowest Score Wins), bunkers become dark gray areas that I avoid like the plague.

Do you have problems chipping/pitching when you don't feel rushed?

Yes. I revert back to my earliest errors.

 

I use old Taylor Made clubs from eBay and golf shops.

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Another poor round today. Despite shooting a craptacular 54, it was great to get out. Funny thing is, I don't feel like my game is that bad - obviously it is.

Decent contact with the full swing. Just struggling a bit with starting the shots straight. Today it was predominately pulls but there were a few pushes. Missing greens really does impact scores. Had 3 blowup holes (8's) and the rest bogeys. Distance on three shots actually got me in trouble. Missed a green long with an otherwise perfect 8 iron approach, and twice hit into fairway bunkers due to unexpected distance from my long irons.

Was unable to get any up-and-downs due both to poor putting and poor chipping.

Jon

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Need to get my lessons and start practicing. Played dawn patrol this morning. The problem now is with my irons. Hitting my driver okay and my 5 wood and hybrids good (qualify that as good for me), but can't hit a stupid ball off the deck from 130 and in to about 80 yards. Playing my 54 degree wedge okay. 

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Note: This thread is 1319 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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