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

[The Recreational Golfer]

On 4/21/2018 at 11:13 AM, allenc said:

Terrible advice! 

OK, play with nothing longer than your 150-yard club, but leave your long clubs at home! They get you in more trouble than they're worth right now.

[allenc]

4 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

OK, play with nothing longer than your 150-yard club, but leave your long clubs at home! They get you in more trouble than they're worth right now.

I mean, it is good advice to a specific player if he's said he can't hit his driver worth a damn.  There are many 100 shooters who's driver is their best club, they just can't hit an iron without chunking or blading it.

But for those who are about the same with all their clubs, the driver usually helps when you hit it well more than it hurts when you hit it bad.

[krupa]

Getting there... 52 for 9 nine holes.  http://www.gamegolf.com/player/krupa/round/2107365

[The Recreational Golfer]

On 4/25/2018 at 10:08 PM, allenc said:

I mean, it is good advice to a specific player if he's said he can't hit his driver worth a damn.  There are many 100 shooters who's driver is their best club, they just can't hit an iron without chunking or blading it.

But for those who are about the same with all their clubs, the driver usually helps when you hit it well more than it hurts when you hit it bad.

A key to breaking 100 is keeping the ball in play. If you play with clubs you can control, the odds of doing that are increased. I don't think many 105-shooters will put their 6-iron in trouble compared to what they do with their driver. If you see 100-shooters who hit their driver better than their irons, I won't argue with you. I sure haven't, though.

But more to the point, if a 105-shooter can't hit an iron off the ground without chunking it or blading it most of the time, then we can't have this discussion because until they get that problem fixed to a reasonable degree, the odds of breaking 100 are very tiny. At some point, you just have to learn how to hit the ball and there is no way around that.

I'm finished now. Good luck.

[amishboy51]

45 minutes ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

A key to breaking 100 is keeping the ball in play. If you play with clubs you can control, the odds of doing that are increased. I don't think many 105-shooters will put their 6-iron in trouble compared to what they do with their driver. If you see 100-shooters who hit their driver better than their irons, I won't argue with you. I sure haven't, though.

But more to the point, if a 105-shooter can't hit an iron off the ground without chunking it or blading it most of the time, then we can't have this discussion because until they get that problem fixed to a reasonable degree, the odds of breaking 100 are very tiny. At some point, you just have to learn how to hit the ball and there is no way around that.

I'm finished now. Good luck.

👍👍👍

[allenc]

1 hour ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

A key to breaking 100 is keeping the ball in play. If you play with clubs you can control, the odds of doing that are increased. I don't think many 105-shooters will put their 6-iron in trouble compared to what they do with their driver. If you see 100-shooters who hit their driver better than their irons, I won't argue with you. I sure haven't, though.

But more to the point, if a 105-shooter can't hit an iron off the ground without chunking it or blading it most of the time, then we can't have this discussion because until they get that problem fixed to a reasonable degree, the odds of breaking 100 are very tiny. At some point, you just have to learn how to hit the ball and there is no way around that.

I'm finished now. Good luck.

I agree wholeheartedly with the bold.  There are not many tricks you can do to shoot a much lower score or break 100 or whatever.  You just need to play better!  But if you have a terrible weakness you might shoot lower by playing around it.  Constant OB drives: use a shorter club.  Blading chips: putt from off the green.  Etc.

(I know you said you're finished Rec Golfer, I'm just speaking to the thread while using your last post.)

[JonMA1]

On 4/27/2018 at 1:45 PM, allenc said:

There are not many tricks you can do to shoot a much lower score or break 100 or whatever.  You just need to play better!  But if you have a terrible weakness you might shoot lower by playing around it.

Agreed. There are a lot of possible weaknesses and combinations of those which can make breaking 100 difficult. While there are a couple parts of my game that are really bad, the main thing is that I'm "kind of" bad at everything. 

While I can often break 100 on shorter courses and/or easy courses, breaking 100 on courses longer than 6,000 yards or with a higher rating/slope is very difficult. While I can point to my poor putting as a weakness (which it is), the fact I have difficulty on slightly longer courses would indicate a bigger problem lurks in the full swing. Also, making clean contact is only part of a good full swing. Missing the green left and right all the time can be just as costly as chunking and topping the ball.

If I'm not getting a bunch of penalties and still failing to break 100, that might indicate my pitching, chipping and sand game as the problem - which can also affect putting stats. 

The point is, I have to get better at just about everything. I'd assume this is the case with most who have difficulty breaking 100.

[Steve4445]

last 2 rounds I have played have been +36 on a par 72 so 108. So close yet so far. Things I need to concentrate on are using my longer irons instead of going to the hybrid too often which can put me in more trouble than its worth. surprisingly the par 3's have hurt me the most with me scoring 7 on one of these (over water losing a ball) 5 on 2 and 4 on another.

[krupa]

I'm definitely seeing progress.  Shot a 51 tonight http://www.gamegolf.com/player/krupa/round/2120630

[Killa]

I did not break 50 on my first 9 holes this year but it was mainly because my yardage was off. I will break 90 this year (I did break 50 on 9 holes several times last year but my low score is 102 on 18).

First hole I chunked my first shot and then took my 8 iron so I wouldn’t be long but managed to hit a flyer into a water hazard. 

Second hole is a long par 3 over a lake and if you fade it it’s gone. Naturally I faded my 5 iron.

Third hole is the toughest par 5 for me. 

After that I finally loosened up and hit +1 on my next 4 holes that included 2 birdie putts ending up on the lip of the holes.

And I actually got my 7 iron to backspin from 153 yards out on a par 3. 

 

 

[Sean_D]

Last week I shot 64 on 9-holes in a warm-up round for a league in which I am filling in for a fried who recently had surgery and can't play. I was in trouble from each tee shot and hit only two fairways. My approach shot from each of those two fairways ended up in the trees to the right and I blew up each hole.

Today I return for the start of the league. I have been taking lessons and have started making more consistent contact with a more predictable ball flight (which is finally not to the right!!!!). I am determined to swing easy and focus more on keeping the ball in front of me instead of in trouble. My coach has given me a good tactic to accomplish this: pick the shot (i.e. swing easy), get my swing thought (for me that means swing my driver toward right-center or 2 O'clock and hand rotation for irons). Once I have my mind made up and I know what I want to do, clear my mind, step up to the ball and hit it. I am to not ruin my shots by fixating on what I am trying to do.

Hopefully it works better that my previous approach. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Sean_D

[Gipper]

Shot a 51/46 to tie a low score for me of 97.   First two scores of the year were 107 and 102.   I played poorly on the first three holes today and then played consistent from there. My extra strokes were from chips and putts.  It was a fun morning. 

[Sean_D]

Two weeks ago I reported shooting 64 for 9-holes. Yesterday, we played a stroke format in league and I shot a 48 on the same nine holes. I hit 2 fairways, and had 14 putts. I was hitting my 60* extremely well and left my five of my pitches and chips within 1' of the hole. I managed to play the entire 9-holes with the same ball (also a fist for this course). My lessons have been showing great results and I am very excited to continue learning and getting better.

[krupa]

Shot 48 on the front nine http://www.gamegolf.com/player/krupa/round/2146840

Monday will be my first full round.  Based on what I've done so far I have hopes...

[Gipper]

21 hours ago, Sean_D said:

Two weeks ago I reported shooting 64 for 9-holes. Yesterday, we played a stroke format in league and I shot a 48 on the same nine holes. I hit 2 fairways, and had 14 putts. I was hitting my 60* extremely well and left my five of my pitches and chips within 1' of the hole. I managed to play the entire 9-holes with the same ball (also a fist for this course). My lessons have been showing great results and I am very excited to continue learning and getting better.

Wow, great short game.  That is huge for dropping strokes. 

[Steve4445]

Played 18 last Friday and played incredibly bad however still shot +36 so 108 - its funny how you can be kind of happy with the score but really upset with how you played.

I played again yesterday and after having a blow up hole of 9 on a par 4 on the 16th ended up +40. (got myself in very long grass, took 3 shots to get out of - when I did it went into the long grass on the other side of the fairway then proceeded to get myself behind a big tree haha.

The next round I play this Friday I am going to take out of the bag my hybrids and driver and leave me with a 4-pw and putter, I think if I do that I should be able to break 100 staying out of trouble.

My Biggest weaknesses to breaking 100 are:

- Driver off the tee, although I have improved dramatically with the driver its still my most inconsistent club in the bag hitting probably 50% of the fairways and only carries around the 200-220m. My big misses with this are a big fade that can end up on the right side of the adjoining fairway. I can hit around the 170-200m with my 4 iron more consistently so its probably a smarter option.

- Reliance on the Hybrid - I always say that I am going to minimize the use of the hybrid but when I get in trouble off the tee and want to punch it under the tree line this is my go to club - problem is I can often go from side to side of the fairway in the tree lines doing this.

- choking the big puts, so often I have put myself within 6 feet to put for par on par 5's and 4's and choke under the pressure - generally my putting is OK not great but when its a big put I often choke and then 2 or 3 put.

- bunker shots - we have 3 holes where there are bunkers either side of the green and I have played 1 man tennis between the two, my mate lent me his lob wedge and that held the green like glue from the bunker so I think that's what I need to grab.

 

Ill let you know how the next round goes taking the drivers and hybrids out of the bag.

[Dornenglanz]

Managed to get out before work this morning, on my home course (9 hole, par 35).  Beautiful morning, course in great condition.

The good:

- 2 putted every hole on average (one 3 one 1)

- shot 50!

The bad:

- Lost about 6 balls

- Didn't have time to play 6,7,8

 

So: actually, only the putting was good.  Everything else was absolutely terrible!

[krupa]

Finally played 18 holes today.  Shot 60 on the front and stopped scoring on the back.  That was mostly because (a) we skipped one hole to get around a group of women who weren't letting us play through and (b) had a couple blow-up holes where I wasn't following the rules anyway.  However, the back nine was definitely better than the front.  I had mainly pars and bogeys.

Two things about the front 9:

1. I never seem to play well first thing in the morning.  I think I'm tired and stiff.

2. I never play well when I'm with my friend (who I was with today) because we spend our time talking and cracking each other up; it's hard to concentrate on golf.

In any event, it was a supremely enjoyable round and next time we play during the week, we're going out earlier to avoid the retirees.