How to break that 70 bench mark!

[Lihu]

A slightly different take, since I'm obviously not breathing the rarefied air that the rest of you play in.  70 isn't just a benchmark, it's the Crown Jewel, the Mt. Everest of Amateur golf.  99% of us will never even sniff it, much less cross that line.  My personal best is one over par 73, it happened 26 years ago and it's never been matched, and it's going to have to live as the one real sports highlight of my not terribly athletic life.

For most of us there are 3 benchmarks.  100 for the obvious reason that it has pretty much always been the golfer's first goal.  90, because that translates to beating bogey on most full size golf courses.  Then 80, because it's the last realistic target for most amateurs.

For most of us, 70 is the carrot that dangles forever out of our reach.  The harder we try to touch it, the farther away it seems to be.  For that reason I give it a significantly higher status than just a benchmark.  To all who have reached that goal, I salute you.

This was my thought exactly when I saw the thread topic pop up. I was actually thinking "Great, a thread about the one person asking the other one on this site who could do it 'how to'."

As it turns out there are at least two who've done it, so I guess the topic applies to at least 100% more posters than I thought. . .nice job.

[inthehole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SavvySwede

The reason I mentioned it is because a baseball type motion is generally not regarded as conducive to a good golf swing.

I agree. Most (former) MLB players that are really good at golf were pitchers.

That's because they play golf 3 days in a row between starts.

[DrvFrShow]

Playing to a 5 handicap. Getting to shooting 70 regularly and breaking it on a regular basis: The final 2% of the game that requires 98% of the effort.

[GolfLug]

Hey guys, Im from up in the pacific northwest and am currently a 6 handicap. I have played golf since I was 4 and have never took a lesson, haven't played competitively, just recreationally. I just got done playing college baseball and football so fortunately the two sports correlate into golf really easily.

I hit my driver 330, 5 Iron 195, PW 150, so I have the distance part of the game down. I really have to focus on my control aspect of the game. Rare 3 putts, I tend to have a slice time to time but that's a quick fix. I mean I can get to most par 5's in two strokes and am close to or am eagle putting. I just cant figure out what I need to focus on into breaking 70. I have the tools the confidence, everything to do it. I am currently hitting the driving range 5 times a weekends and on the course twice a week working on my game and for some reason I just cant break that 70 bench mark.

I just need some kind of guidance to get to me to that next level. I am super competitive with my self and want to be a consistent scratch golfer. I've had countless people I've played with tell me I have the tools to play competitively but I just can't overcome myself? I don't know what it is. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

......GO HAWKS.

You will get a lot of good feedback here. Only thing I will tell you is to get the 'Lowest Score Wins' book written by the site owners here. Probably the most comprehensive plan you can get if you are willing to read. Best thing is that although it is obvious that a sub par shooter can't have any real 'weak' areas, there is a hierarchy/optimum sequence of things you can attack to get the most bang for your buck. It doesn't touch on swing technique much but Golf is a thinking man's game and the book is a great resource for navigating through options and selecting the correct ones at each stage on all fronts of the game. You can read some reviews on the site for the book as well.

Good luck!

[pumaAttack]

Your baseball swing is going to mess up your golf swing...

Not a good comparison at all.

[SavvySwede]

Your baseball swing is going to mess up your golf swing...

Not a good comparison at all.

Well he said he has been playing since age 4 and is already a 6 handicap so I doubt his golf swing is actually influenced by baseball all that much.

[Pretzel]

The other big thing about the times that I broke 70 is that, in each case, I wasn't actually paying attention at all to my score when I did it. The casual rounds where I've broken 70 at my home course I would play the course with some music playing softly in the cart, talking with friends, etc. so that I never actually bothered to look at my scoring total. The tournament round in which I broke 70 was the day after prom, so I was barely able to stay awake between shots after being out until 3 AM the night before with an 8:45 tee time. That meant that all I had the mental capacity to focus on was the shot at hand, there was no way for me to let any mistakes or great shots linger for too long after the fact and bite me later.

Have someone else keep your score, take the time to appreciate the scenery, and do whatever will distract you from how well you are playing on a good day. Just remember to focus in when it comes time to hit a shot and make it count.

I also noticed that, in all the times that I broke 70, I didn't really do any one thing exceptionally well, besides maybe hitting greens. I kept the ball in play off the tee each time (though in the tournament 69 I had to hit a shot lefty since the ball was a couple inches from the out of bounds stake on the left side of the hole after my tee shot), I hit good approach shots (my sub-70 rounds all had 14 or more greens), and I putted decently (I think two of the rounds had a 3-putt, but I "allow" myself one 3-putt per round). I just didn't make any big mistakes. When I hooked my tee shot in the tournament almost to the out-of-bounds marker, all I did was grab a wedge and knock it back down the fairway lefty. This is a shot I have practiced, advancing the ball with a left-handed swing, for situations like this where a right-handed swing is physically impossible for one reason or another. I didn't go for some kind of hero shot that would set me up or birdie or anything, but I accepted that I might make bogey on the hole (I ended up parring it with a nice 10 foot putt) and made sure to limit it to ONLY a bogey by choosing a "safe" play. Blow up holes are usually what kill my score. I have a double bogey or worse in at least half of my rounds, if not more. Avoiding those is a huge part of scoring well to me.

[Chief 3Irons]

With the skill set you possess, I would recommend a focus on the short game. In particular, learning various ways to hit controllable shots from around the green. When you possess more than the basic pitch, chip and lob...you will have choices to get the ball close. Nobody hits 18 greens a round, but Tour pros get it up and down consistently. Look at Mickelson....he has a buffet of shot techniques for every shot around the green He chooses the technique that will offer the best chance of GOING IN. When armed with that knowledge , breaking 70 will not be an issue. Find a SHORT GAME professional and enjoy.

[jordanduffy29]

Haha thank you for the input boys. and yeah I played the last 2 days and my five iron is 200 ish. I shot a 77 on stupid crazy greens. definitely hitting a higher percentage of fairways and greens will improve my score. A lot of you don't know bad lies until you come to the pacific northwest with furry thick ruggid roughs. fairways are key to even getting those greens! appreciate all the help guys. ill keep working!

[jordanduffy29]

I know I was a little off on my long irons, but I am a little more conservative on my iron approach shots.  I just need more accuracy with my driver, the only reason that I do pull it out at the range. short game needs more work. but there are days where im stick everything within 10 feet from 150 in and days where im driving it 345 and trying to manage 2 putts from 50 feet in. get annoying consistency I think will bring all these together!

[Lihu]

I know I was a little off on my long irons, but I am a little more conservative on my iron approach shots.  I just need more accuracy with my driver, the only reason that I do pull it out at the range. short game needs more work. but there are days where im stick everything within 10 feet from 150 in and days where im driving it 345 and trying to manage 2 putts from 50 feet in. get annoying :poo:  consistency I think will bring all these together!

2 putts from 50 feet is pretty tough especially since there could be a lot of breaks. I wouldn't be so ready to pass it off as crap consistency, except maybe on the approach shot that ended up 16 yards away?

[jordanduffy29]

What do you mean not a good comparison? What's closer to a golf swing than a baseball swing? Of course its way different but it does transition much easier than bowing or wrestling or soccer or tennis?

[Fourputt]

What do you mean not a good comparison? What's closer to a golf swing than a baseball swing? Of course its way different but it does transition much easier than bowing or wrestling or soccer or tennis?

Some of the best golfing baseball players are current or former pitchers though.  You don't hear a lot about batters becoming exceptional golfers.

[FinTurma]

I shot a 6 under 66 five years ago. My putting was crazy good that day. I hit 14 greens and made 9 birds. I also made 3 bogeys. I was in the zone that day. 12 of my gir:s were inside 12 feet and I made 9 of them. Not sure I'll ever have a round like that again

[jordanduffy29]

I have tons of college baseball buddies who under an 8 handicap too? Hmm. I must know the wrong people haha. The funny thing is none of us have taken one lesson, we definitely could use one or 20 haha

[jordanduffy29]

THANK YOU! Its not influenced that much, I've just been saying its comparable and no one but you understands that.