Breaking 80 Thread

[kenstl]

Breaking 80 was a goal for me as well this year.  Two years ago was playing around a 12 and got it down to 10 at the end of last year.  Normally, I would break 80 one time a year, maybe two.  It has been a combination of a lot to things, but out of 26 rounds this year I have broken 80 10x (a low of 72) and in the process lowered my HC to 7.  For me is it staying away from an OB ball, so driving the ball well is the most important need for me to score well.  By well I mean in play LOL.  

I played today and shot 80, (39 / 41) on a course that has a lot of OB on many holes.  I had one OB on the front  (hooked a hybrid on part 4 that has a creek that you need to lay short of) and two OB on the back, both with driver.  My GIR are usually pretty good when I drive the ball well.  

[upndown21]

I played today, second one out and played a quick 18. I think I am over confident in my approach shots 165 and in (7i or less). Going for pins when I should play to the center of the green. Now that I have gotten my putter going again I find that I need to play for the 2 putt par vs the makeable birdie putt. Case and point: hit a approach into a tough back pin that left a ball mark 10ft from the pin but rolled off the back and left myself with a tough chip from below the green with not much to work with (ended with a db). Prior to I left one on the fringe for a 20ft birdie (lipped out the chip) and ended up with a triple due to the fast greens and tough pin placement. Those 5 shots would've yielded me a 86 with plenty of other areas to better my round.

I feel like I am driving the ball well but should be managing the course better. After the round I know that I rather have a 145 approach than a 100 approach while playing for par vs birdie. More irons or hybrids off the tee and keep the driver in the bag

Hungry for my next round.

[MacDutch]

  On 11/26/2016 at 4:01 AM, upndown21 said:

Those 5 shots would've yielded me a 86 with plenty of other areas to better my round.

I feel like I am driving the ball well but should be managing the course better.

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Hmm.. Best thing to do is analize where things went wrong and start working on weak parts of your game. It could be better course management, but I doubt it will make up for the 12 shots difference between your score and braking 80. 

[Marty2019]

  On 11/26/2016 at 4:01 AM, upndown21 said:

I played today, second one out and played a quick 18. I think I am over confident in my approach shots 165 and in (7i or less). Going for pins when I should play to the center of the green. Now that I have gotten my putter going again I find that I need to play for the 2 putt par vs the makeable birdie putt. Case and point: hit a approach into a tough back pin that left a ball mark 10ft from the pin but rolled off the back and left myself with a tough chip from below the green with not much to work with (ended with a db). Prior to I left one on the fringe for a 20ft birdie (lipped out the chip) and ended up with a triple due to the fast greens and tough pin placement. Those 5 shots would've yielded me a 86 with plenty of other areas to better my round.

I feel like I am driving the ball well but should be managing the course better. After the round I know that I rather have a 145 approach than a 100 approach while playing for par vs birdie. More irons or hybrids off the tee and keep the driver in the bag

Hungry for my next round.

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So, in the first instance, a chip and a putt would have given you a par, but you got a double bogey.   So was that a chip and a 3-putt?    And in the second instance, you had a 20 foot birdie putt but wound up with a triple bogey.    That's a 5-putt?   Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems obvious where you need to improve.   Granted, if all your approach shots wind up 3 feet from the pin, you won't have to worry about putting, but still...  

[upndown21]

  On 11/26/2016 at 7:24 AM, MacDutch said:

Hmm.. Best thing to do is analize where things went wrong and start working on weak parts of your game. It could be better course management, but I doubt it will make up for the 12 shots difference between your score and braking 80. 

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Typically I would agree but my home club is tough to manage (where I typically shoot 85-88 and 2 bad holes are the difference between breaking 80). Recently I played a muni with a lower rating and easier greens/pins and shot an 85 with most strokes lost due to blind shots and not knowing the course: ie lost balls, creeks/ob not aware of, approach shots with trees in play.

  On 11/26/2016 at 11:51 AM, Marty2019 said:

So, in the first instance, a chip and a putt would have given you a par, but you got a double bogey.   So was that a chip and a 3-putt?    And in the second instance, you had a 20 foot birdie putt but wound up with a triple bogey.    That's a 5-putt?   Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems obvious where you need to improve.   Granted, if all your approach shots wind up 3 feet from the pin, you won't have to worry about putting, but still...  

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First yes, chip and 3 putt, uphill chip to a short sided pin and anything within 10ft would have came back down the hill to my feet. Second, again was a tucked pin and if I left my chip short I would have left myself with a manageable downhill putt. Instead I went chip, chip, putt, putt, putt. Both disasters.

Edited November 26, 2016 by upndown21

[Hacker James]

After reading some of the posts on this thread, I think I need to re-evaluate.  As I mentioned, in a couple of other threads, a year or so ago I shot a 79 and then  78 a few weeks later. I discounted it though, believing it was a fluke because I did not really see much of an improvement pattern from week to week. Also, I hit very few greens, the only thing I can think of is I had an exceptional day of putting.

I had stopped playing for quite some time but when I resumed, I seemed to have improved quite a bit from week to week since July, but still not able to break 80. My lowest this year is an 85. Now looking back, I am thinking that had I not discounted those two sub 80 rounds, perhaps I would have been more focused on a specific goal rather than just improvement.

 Obviously, I need to somehow hit more greens rather than rely on having a day of better putting, or getting closer to the pin.  I have moved up to forward tees on occasion and was much closer to the greens but there is still some work there.  I really do not feel comfortable from the forward tees however. I suppose, it is non acceptance of that is where I should be.

[parman]

I shot one 79 this year and a lot of 38-39 scores for 9 only. Mostly I shoot around 80-83. I am opposite most since my drives are not long but in the fairway. My irons are getting better because they are relatively new and I am still getting used to them. Good with wedges since I know how far I hit each. One big difference is for the last 20 rounds I have averaged 1.5 putts and had one round with 22 putts.  It will be a challenge to keep that up. I keep working on my drives and am improving slowly.

[Hoganman1]

Twenty two putts is fabulous if you're talking about 18 holes. I'm a pretty good putter and I average 32 per round. I had an 83 today with two double bogies and I made bogie on a par five. Frankly, I consider a bogie on a par five as a double since they should be birdie holes.  The highlight of the day was a par on the hardest hole at our club (#18). I won a little cash with that as well. Hang in there all my friends. The elusive 79 is still out there for us all.That's what is so great about this game we all love.

[The Recreational Golfer]

If you're shooting in the low 80s but not breaking through to the 70s, here's something you might try. Play a few rounds from the most forward tees. Playing a short course should let you break 80 easily, and now you have that psychological monkey off your back.

Your conscious mind knows that you took a shortcut to breaking 80, but your subconscious mind doesn't know that. It only knows you broke 80.

Now go back to your regular tees and just play golf. With the pressure off, you should break 80 from there in no time.

 

 

[Hacker James]

  On 11/27/2016 at 3:31 AM, The Recreational Golfer said:

 

Your conscious mind knows that you took a shortcut to breaking 80, but your subconscious mind doesn't know that. It only knows you broke 80.

 

 

 

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Zen Golf...hope that works!

[jkelley9]

  On 11/27/2016 at 3:31 AM, The Recreational Golfer said:

If you're shooting in the low 80s but not breaking through to the 70s, here's something you might try. Play a few rounds from the most forward tees. Playing a short course should let you break 80 easily, and now you have that psychological monkey off your back.

Your conscious mind knows that you took a shortcut to breaking 80, but your subconscious mind doesn't know that. It only knows you broke 80.

Now go back to your regular tees and just play golf. With the pressure off, you should break 80 from there in no time.

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I did this yesterday. I was going to play 18 from the forward ("ladies") tees @ 4,481 yards. I only paid for 9 holes (weekends aren't part of my membership) and figured I would see how it goes, because I wasn't feeling 100%. I went from playing 18 in a cart in 70°F weather, sun out, no wind conditions and shooting an 84 (6,200 yards) to playing the very forward tees with a LOT of gusting wind, < 50°F, walking. I got my butt KICKED by those conditions. I lost 3 balls because I was "going for it" everywhere. I watched my ball balloon and get pulled or pushed HARD by the wind. I got really frustrated by that because unlike normal windy conditions, it was spiraling. The wind had no typical direction. It was all over the place.

Needless to say I did not break 40 on that front 9. I quit after that. Conditions really sucked.

But I told myself that as soon as I get a nice day, I'm going to do the same thing. It was very different golf from up there. I do believe I can relatively easily break 80 from there with my current game. I just need to play a little smarter too. I was just aimlessly playing and hoping it would work out. It did not. Next time I'll plan my shots better, too.

[sjduffers]

  On 11/27/2016 at 3:52 AM, Hacker James said:

Zen Golf...hope that works!

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It does. I do this once in a while when it's been a few weeks/months without breaking 80. I shoot a lot of low 80s (I tend to play some easy courses), and normally get into the 70s from my regular tees once in a while: if I haven't done it fairly recently and instead have a bunch of 80 and 81, I will play one set of tees forward and get a 77/78, then move back and a 78/79 will show up shortly after...

[Lihu]

  On 11/27/2016 at 3:31 AM, The Recreational Golfer said:

If you're shooting in the low 80s but not breaking through to the 70s, here's something you might try. Play a few rounds from the most forward tees. Playing a short course should let you break 80 easily, and now you have that psychological monkey off your back.

Your conscious mind knows that you took a shortcut to breaking 80, but your subconscious mind doesn't know that. It only knows you broke 80.

Now go back to your regular tees and just play golf. With the pressure off, you should break 80 from there in no time.

 

 

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This actually worked for me.

 

  On 11/27/2016 at 3:52 AM, Hacker James said:

Zen Golf...hope that works!

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It does, surprisingly.

 

  On 11/27/2016 at 6:15 PM, jkelley9 said:

I did this yesterday. I was going to play 18 from the forward ("ladies") tees @ 4,481 yards. I only paid for 9 holes (weekends aren't part of my membership) and figured I would see how it goes, because I wasn't feeling 100%. I went from playing 18 in a cart in 70°F weather, sun out, no wind conditions and shooting an 84 (6,200 yards) to playing the very forward tees with a LOT of gusting wind, < 50°F, walking. I got my butt KICKED by those conditions. I lost 3 balls because I was "going for it" everywhere. I watched my ball balloon and get pulled or pushed HARD by the wind. I got really frustrated by that because unlike normal windy conditions, it was spiraling. The wind had no typical direction. It was all over the place.

Needless to say I did not break 40 on that front 9. I quit after that. Conditions really sucked.

But I told myself that as soon as I get a nice day, I'm going to do the same thing. It was very different golf from up there. I do believe I can relatively easily break 80 from there with my current game. I just need to play a little smarter too. I was just aimlessly playing and hoping it would work out. It did not. Next time I'll plan my shots better, too.

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There are exceptions to everything. I can even shoot 46s on occasion too.

[Hacker James]

  On 11/27/2016 at 8:07 PM, Lihu said:

This actually worked for me.

 

It does, surprisingly.

 

There are exceptions to everything. I can even shoot 46s on occasion too.

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I guess I could justify this. It's not like the person who plays the shorter courses (less than par 70) and often times nine hole courses and then "knits" two scores together to get a combined round of 18 holes and then claiming a victory of breaking 90 or whatever goal. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that per sei (to me), it is a form of self delusion. With that being said, I can also appreciate anyone's improvement regardless of what standard or scale they use. 

[Lihu]

  On 11/27/2016 at 8:47 PM, Hacker James said:

I guess I could justify this. It's not like the person who plays the shorter courses (less than par 70) and often times nine hole courses and then "knits" two scores together to get a combined round of 18 holes and then claiming a victory of breaking 90 or whatever goal. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that per sei (to me), it is a form of self delusion. With that being said, I can also appreciate anyone's improvement regardless of what standard or scale they use. 

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Well, to me, shooting lower scores from longer holes is a natural extension of being able to do the same with shorter courses.

The entire "Tee it forward" program is geared towards people (most of us) who think we hit the ball farther than we actually do. By moving up tees, we are actually playing yardages that make sense for most of us.

If you need a "kick in the butt" to play shorter, let's say 67 rated courses in order to shoot sub-80 scores then that's fine. You'll score better and get used to scoring better. If you find that you are using a 3W off the tee and/or hit LW on most approaches, then move back.

[Hacker James]

@Lihu Now that makes sense!

[Hacker James]

Its akin to the realization of the aging process. One could certainly benefit from moving up a set or two of tees. However, there is still a bit of stigma attached to it, one that most really need to get over. An example, once, as a walk on, the starter put me with a group of three women. They were using the red tee boxes, so I joined them. One of the women remarked, "You REALLY are going to hit from here, aren't you?"  I felt okay about it, until she said that and then felt a little humiliated.  I really should not have felt that way.  On the flip side, these were young, women and kind of easy to look at/admire. (one in particular had the swing of an LPGA pro).

[Lihu]

  On 11/27/2016 at 9:06 PM, Hacker James said:

Its akin to the realization of the aging process. One could certainly benefit from moving up a set or two of tees. However, there is still a bit of stigma attached to it, one that most really need to get over. An example, once, as a walk on, the starter put me with a group of three women. They were using the red tee boxes, so I joined them. One of the women remarked, "You REALLY are going to hit from here, aren't you?"  I felt okay about it, until she said that and then felt a little humiliated.  I really should not have felt that way.  On the flip side, these were young, women and kind of easy to look at/admire. (one in particular had the swing of an LPGA pro).

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I've never had this happen, but once you shoot a sub-80 score I'm sure their impression of your golfing will change for the better.