What to aim for when....

[scramble4life]

Hey all, I have spent a long time reading on here but this is my first post. I have been playing seriously since I was about 15(27 now). I have consistently shaved my scoring over the years and in the last two years seen huge improvements. My question is this; having gotten to the point where I routinely break 80. Can usually play in the 77-80 range. Best round is 74. What's my next goal. (Pls don't say having fun). Routinely shooting/breaking par? Better at specific aspects(putting, driving, irons)? Kinda wanna pick the mind of those who have gone through this area of progression. What to expect? Thanks!

[boogielicious]

Hey all, I have spent a long time reading on here but this is my first post.

I have been playing seriously since I was about 15(27 now). I have consistently shaved my scoring over the years and in the last two years seen huge improvements.

My question is this; having gotten to the point where I routinely break 80. Can usually play in the 77-80 range. Best round is 74. What's my next goal. (Pls don't say having fun).

Routinely shooting/breaking par?

Better at specific aspects(putting, driving, irons)?

Kinda wanna pick the mind of those who have gone through this area of progression. What to expect?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum @scramble4life .  There are always ways to improve.  I would recommend looking at what part of your game is holding you back from shooting par.  From there, focus on improving that part of your game.

[SavvySwede]

I

Hey all, I have spent a long time reading on here but this is my first post.

I have been playing seriously since I was about 15(27 now). I have consistently shaved my scoring over the years and in the last two years seen huge improvements.

My question is this; having gotten to the point where I routinely break 80. Can usually play in the 77-80 range. Best round is 74. What's my next goal. (Pls don't say having fun).

Routinely shooting/breaking par?

Better at specific aspects(putting, driving, irons)?

Kinda wanna pick the mind of those who have gone through this area of progression. What to expect?

Thanks!

1. Work on the weakest part of your game.

2. Challenge yourself by playing tougher/longer courses (if you aren't doing so already)

3. Pick up a copy of Lowest Score Wins.

[JP golf]

My question is this; having gotten to the point where I routinely break 80. Can usually play in the 77-80 range. Best round is 74. What's my next goal. (Pls don't say having fun).

Welcome.  Good thing is you have a couple different options.  For me when I was playing in that range consistently I would be hitting 3 iron off a lot of tees and 3 woods maybe hitting driver once or twice a round.  I worked on getting my driver more consistent and my scores dropped even more to shoot some of my best rounds.  At the time, I was playing from the tips and was able to post some really good scores.  So in that regard, pick a portion of your game that you can improve to increase your scoring.  First bet is improving consistency and length off the tee, or maybe look at your wedge play and scoring approaches and see if you can hone those in and improve your proximity to the hole leading to more birdie opportunies.

My other approach is to break the course down into sets of 3 holes.  Each nine made up of three sets of three.  Allow two sets on each nine to be +1 and try to shoot even on the other.  Example below

Holes 1-3  - Target +1

Holes 4-6  - Target E

Holes 7-9  - Target +1

Nine Hole Target is +2 (Generally 38 on most par 72 courses leading you to a 76 target round)

It's not as complex as it sounds or reads...  For me that took pressure off and I felt really good when I sprinkled in a set at -1 or -2 and was able to relax more the rest of the round.  It also helped me break the round down and eliminate nerves in tournament play if I had a really good round going or move on if I had a bad set of +2...    It's just a mental goal I had that helped me target lower scores without focusing on the long term goal of the lower score lol....  I hope that makes since and doesn't come across as more complicated than it was to explain lol....

Good luck... and yes, keep it fun (good scores obviously make it more fun) lol