Breaking 80 Thread

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Aus10 said:

A few weeks ago I shot an 79 at a decently difficult course and that included a ball going into the lake and magically bouncing out and onto the green. I 2-putted for a birdie. Not sure if anyone else has that shot in the bag but it really helped me 

You should claim it in the Claim Your Achievements topic. You have no bling, currently.

[Aus10]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

You should claim it in the Claim Your Achievements topic. You have no bling, currently.

I'll be sure to do that!

[upndown21]

Had my best opportunity yet yesterday. Was playing a match play match; shot a 38 (+2) on the front. I fell apart for 2 holes carding a +6 between them starting on 12 which is a 206 yd par 3 . Picked up and took a seven, conceding the hole, when I could have made a 5. Birdied 14 and won the hole and match with a bogey on 15. Lost interest/concentration and finished out with an 86 :(

[Dave2512]

A lot of short game talk in this thread. A good short game is the by-product of a good long game. Better players are always closer to the green with their misses, that creates scoring opportunity. Golfers tend to suffer from perception, we expect to do good things from close to the hole and when it doesn't happen it's interpreted as a flaw. The real issue is the longer shot before is responsible for what comes after.

I will say this playing smart with the short game can minimize mistakes. Smart pitches and chips help avoid 3 putts. The days I break 80 are all about ball striking and not taking silly risks. Knowing your stats can be helpful to understand when it's okay to accept the mostly inevitable outcome without pushing and making it worse. If you know you make bogey at 50% or whatever let it happen if an errant shot puts you in that position just make sure that's as bad as it gets because if you know that you also know that X pars are coming later. Try to hit the "great" shot when you have a clear opportunity not after your drive lands in the weeds a foot from the OB stakes when just getting it back in play makes the most sense. Give yourself and chance to get it up and down.

[lastings]

Well..  played Longbow in Mesa, AZ today.  6,513 yds - 70.2/127

shot an ESC 79!!!       Unfortunately, it wasn't an actual 79, as there was a blow up 9 on a par 4, which was cut down to a 7 because of ESC.  

Does this count as a sub-80 rd for achievements? 

[Shindig]

3 minutes ago, lastings said:

Well..  played Longbow in Mesa, AZ today.  6,513 yds - 70.2/127

shot an ESC 79!!!       Unfortunately, it wasn't an actual 79, as there was a blow up 9 on a par 4, which was cut down to a 7 because of ESC.  

Does this count as a sub-80 rd for achievements? 

At the very least, it's a proof of concept that you can break 80.  I don't decide the achievements so I won't render an opinion on that.  Instead, I'll post some encouragement.

The first time I might have otherwise broken 90 (for the first time), on the second hole, I hit a bad sand shot, left the ball in the bunker.  As I like to do after a bad shot, I immediately took a practice swing for what I should have done... oops, ball is still in the bunker.  Two shot penalty.  Including that penalty, shot a 91. 

A few weeks later, I shot an 87 at a different course.  That felt better.

I look forward to hearing from you that you broke 80 on your full score.  

[GangGreen]

I broke 80 for the first time yesterday with a 78 at my home course.  Good (not great) day off the tee, I've hit more fairways in the past but my misses were all long and still playable.  7 GIR's and the putter was in control for the most part.  Honestly, there was nothing "spectacular" about the round itself, just stayed out of trouble for the better part of the day and dropped a few longer putts then usual it seemed.  The only real odd thing about it is I was coming off what was probably one of my worst rounds ever not too long ago, crazy game for sure. 

[woodzie264]

On 6/26/2017 at 8:17 AM, GangGreen said:

I broke 80 for the first time yesterday with a 78 at my home course.  Good (not great) day off the tee, I've hit more fairways in the past but my misses were all long and still playable.  7 GIR's and the putter was in control for the most part.  Honestly, there was nothing "spectacular" about the round itself, just stayed out of trouble for the better part of the day and dropped a few longer putts then usual it seemed.  The only real odd thing about it is I was coming off what was probably one of my worst rounds ever not too long ago, crazy game for sure. 

congrats! yeah, a couple of my best rounds were the most boring/mundane...fairway, green, 2 putt, repeat. Wish I could be that boring all the time

[GangGreen]

1 hour ago, woodzie264 said:

congrats! yeah, a couple of my best rounds were the most boring/mundane...fairway, green, 2 putt, repeat. Wish I could be that boring all the time

Thanks and here's to many more boring future rounds!!!  Honestly, I knew I had a good front 9 but I was a little shocked that I finally broke threw when I added up my score at the end of the round.  Hopefully it wasn't just a fluky round and is a sign of good things to come (not that I suspect I'll break 80 again for some time, but it'll be nice to start playing in the low-mid 80's consistently for a change).  

[onthehunt526]

I currently hold a 7.6 Index. (Trending 8.0). I find when I'm scrambling a lot and not hitting about 40-50% of GIR, it's hard to shoot in the 70s. The more greens I hit the easier it is. And I only have 3 rounds in the 70s on my current handicap card.

[tsdugger]

There I was, pulling up to 17 tee of Hardscrabble CC in Ft. Smith, AR (away course) after a birdie on 16 when I made a fatal mistake.

On the front I had a birdie, 3 bogeys, and doubled the 9th to card a 39 - only broken 40 on 9 around 10 times in my life. On the back, I continued playing out of my mind grabbing my third birdie of the round on 16 to put me back to +2 on the 9 (2 birds, 2 bogeys, 1 DB, 4 3-putts in the round up to here) going into 17.

That's when I counted my score and realized I can break 80 (par 70 course) with a DB and a bogey on 17 & 18...

Pull up to the 195 yd par 3 17th (WAY down hill and over a lake) and CANNOT get my swing thoughts in order. Back off the ball, re-address, hit it fat, give it a bath. Damn. Drop zone, over the water and a bunker, land it on the fringe, 2 putt DB.

Let's get it back right here on 18 - all I need is a bogey to become part of an elite group! 415 yds, slight dogleg left, OB WAAAY Right... standard issue easy hole.

Tee it high and let it fly!!! ... hands wide-open slice and, conveniently, it stayed in bounds - about 10 yards from being WAAAY Right. Problem here is it is lying in a root system at the base of a tree and the only out i can attempt is a chip straight out to the fairway leaving me hitting 3 from 140. Fine. Chip to fairway, hit PW in, and two putt should be easy right? right..... so the only good shot I made on the hole was the chip into the fairway. I address with my PW and blade the pitooie out of it - I must have been living clean because the ball ended 12ft from the hole, pin high slight right to left break, slight down hill.

OH BABY! All I have to do is two putt!

Stroked the putt, the ball passes the hole, passes gimme range, passes easy comeback range, passes "well-shit" range, and ends about 9 ft from the hole at "M********" range. A combination of nerves, excitement, an extremely poor natural putting stroke, and a jolt of super-human strength got me here, now I got work to do. I know the line, the ball just traveled it... the putt is 9' but it is easy uphill and very slight left to right - so I make a beautiful stroke and as the ball is about to fall in at 7:30 on the hole, it rolls over a spike mark, causing it to lip out.

Hopes and dreams all achievable in an instant and all taken away even faster. 39 - 41 80 with 3 birdies. Hands down the best round I've ever played, and considering that is 1 of 3 rounds out of the last 10ish that I have broken 90, I walked away happy. And that's why I love this game - there is never a shortage of challenges.

[lastings]

1 hour ago, tsdugger said:

There I was, pulling up to 17 tee of Hardscrabble CC in Ft. Smith, AR (away course) after a birdie on 16 when I made a fatal mistake.

On the front I had a birdie, 3 bogeys, and doubled the 9th to card a 39 - only broken 40 on 9 around 10 times in my life. On the back, I continued playing out of my mind grabbing my third birdie of the round on 16 to put me back to +2 on the 9 (2 birds, 2 bogeys, 1 DB, 4 3-putts in the round up to here) going into 17.

That's when I counted my score and realized I can break 80 (par 70 course) with a DB and a bogey on 17 & 18...

Pull up to the 195 yd par 3 17th (WAY down hill and over a lake) and CANNOT get my swing thoughts in order. Back off the ball, re-address, hit it fat, give it a bath. Damn. Drop zone, over the water and a bunker, land it on the fringe, 2 putt DB.

Let's get it back right here on 18 - all I need is a bogey to become part of an elite group! 415 yds, slight dogleg left, OB WAAAY Right... standard issue easy hole.

Tee it high and let it fly!!! ... hands wide-open slice and, conveniently, it stayed in bounds - about 10 yards from being WAAAY Right. Problem here is it is lying in a root system at the base of a tree and the only out i can attempt is a chip straight out to the fairway leaving me hitting 3 from 140. Fine. Chip to fairway, hit PW in, and two putt should be easy right? right..... so the only good shot I made on the hole was the chip into the fairway. I address with my PW and blade the pitooie out of it - I must have been living clean because the ball ended 12ft from the hole, pin high slight right to left break, slight down hill.

OH BABY! All I have to do is two putt!

Stroked the putt, the ball passes the hole, passes gimme range, passes easy comeback range, passes "well-shit" range, and ends about 9 ft from the hole at "M********" range. A combination of nerves, excitement, an extremely poor natural putting stroke, and a jolt of super-human strength got me here, now I got work to do. I know the line, the ball just traveled it... the putt is 9' but it is easy uphill and very slight left to right - so I make a beautiful stroke and as the ball is about to fall in at 7:30 on the hole, it rolls over a spike mark, causing it to lip out.

Hopes and dreams all achievable in an instant and all taken away even faster. 39 - 41 80 with 3 birdies. Hands down the best round I've ever played, and considering that is 1 of 3 rounds out of the last 10ish that I have broken 90, I walked away happy. And that's why I love this game - there is never a shortage of challenges.

ouch..   heartbreaker. 

[RandallT]

On 6/30/2017 at 1:23 PM, tsdugger said:

There I was, pulling up to 17 tee of Hardscrabble CC in Ft. Smith, AR (away course) after a birdie on 16 when I made a fatal mistake.

On the front I had a birdie, 3 bogeys, and doubled the 9th to card a 39 - only broken 40 on 9 around 10 times in my life. On the back, I continued playing out of my mind grabbing my third birdie of the round on 16 to put me back to +2 on the 9 (2 birds, 2 bogeys, 1 DB, 4 3-putts in the round up to here) going into 17.

That's when I counted my score and realized I can break 80 (par 70 course) with a DB and a bogey on 17 & 18...

Pull up to the 195 yd par 3 17th (WAY down hill and over a lake) and CANNOT get my swing thoughts in order. Back off the ball, re-address, hit it fat, give it a bath. Damn. Drop zone, over the water and a bunker, land it on the fringe, 2 putt DB.

Let's get it back right here on 18 - all I need is a bogey to become part of an elite group! 415 yds, slight dogleg left, OB WAAAY Right... standard issue easy hole.

Tee it high and let it fly!!! ... hands wide-open slice and, conveniently, it stayed in bounds - about 10 yards from being WAAAY Right. Problem here is it is lying in a root system at the base of a tree and the only out i can attempt is a chip straight out to the fairway leaving me hitting 3 from 140. Fine. Chip to fairway, hit PW in, and two putt should be easy right? right..... so the only good shot I made on the hole was the chip into the fairway. I address with my PW and blade the pitooie out of it - I must have been living clean because the ball ended 12ft from the hole, pin high slight right to left break, slight down hill.

OH BABY! All I have to do is two putt!

Stroked the putt, the ball passes the hole, passes gimme range, passes easy comeback range, passes "well-shit" range, and ends about 9 ft from the hole at "M********" range. A combination of nerves, excitement, an extremely poor natural putting stroke, and a jolt of super-human strength got me here, now I got work to do. I know the line, the ball just traveled it... the putt is 9' but it is easy uphill and very slight left to right - so I make a beautiful stroke and as the ball is about to fall in at 7:30 on the hole, it rolls over a spike mark, causing it to lip out.

Hopes and dreams all achievable in an instant and all taken away even faster. 39 - 41 80 with 3 birdies. Hands down the best round I've ever played, and considering that is 1 of 3 rounds out of the last 10ish that I have broken 90, I walked away happy. And that's why I love this game - there is never a shortage of challenges.

Nice write up. Post again when you succeed!!

[Fairway_CY]

So, due to some unforeseen life circumstances, I had to put the clubs away for about 2.5 weeks to take care of some things.  That was, quite possibly, what I needed to turn things around.  

Prior to that break, I was battling my game.  I lost everything with my driver.  I was playing a nice draw... and suddenly, I couldn't draw the ball at all... and it had turned into a fade.  Of course, because I was playing to the right side of the fairway for a draw... when the ball would fade, I ended up in trouble.  My 9 hole scores had gone from a consistent 40 - 42 to a wildly fluctuating 43 - 50.  

The day I finally got back on the course, I posted a 44 - 48 = 92 during a tournament.  I wasn't upset with that considering I had not even touched a club in 17 days prior to warming up that morning.  I made a simple adjustment on the range with my setup and the fade was reduced to nothing more than a few yards at most... so, I went with it on the course.  

I went out 2 days later with my son and completely blew up, posting a 49 - 51 = 100 on my home course.  The score was entirely due to a lack of touch around the greens.  I converted on only 1 of 13 opportunities around the greens and generally played like I was wearing ski gloves on my hands.  

Three days later, I played in a 2 day tournament.  Warming up on the range prior to the first day, something clicked.  I slowed my takeaway and focused on where my weight was at impact.  It's made a major improvement in my ball striking and has lead to being left with much more manageable up & down opportunities.  

Starting that afternoon and running through today, I've played 3.5 rounds in which I've posted scores of 42 - 39 = 81, 40 - 43 = 83, 39 - 45 = 84 and a 38 this morning for 9 holes at my home course.  The 45 was the result of a trio of poor swings that I didn't recover well from... but otherwise, the swings have all been there.  When I've missed greens, I've done a good job of giving myself at least decent opportunities to salvage a par or bogey at worst.  

The biggest thing has been confidence in my putter.  One of my buddies pointed out that I had a tendency to stop the putter following impact.  He told me to keep the putter moving.  That simple little change has made a huge difference.  On Saturday, during the 39 - 45 = 84 round... I needed only 26 putts, which is a new lifetime low for me.  

Since he gave me that tip, I've cut 3 strokes per round off my game.  My index is now 11.8 & trending down... and I have every bit of belief that I'll finally break 80 at some point in the very near future. 

CY

[Hacker James]

Gettin Close!

Shot 82 yesterday  ( 39/43) on a par 70. Would have easily done it,had it not been for one blow up hole.  I had not broken that barrier since about 18 months ago, when I did it twice within the same month.

Edited July 6, 2017 by Hacker James

[Shindig]

Got real close today -- 83 despite two triple bogeys and a double bogey.  It's going to happen one of these days.   

[MuniGrit]

11 minutes ago, Shindig said:

Got real close today -- 83 despite two triple bogeys and a double bogey.  It's going to happen one of these days.   

You are right there just need to cut those big numbers down. That is the key for me when I play to breaking 80. Avoid the multiple doubles and blowup holes.

[Shindig]

1 minute ago, MuniGrit said:

You are right there just need to cut those big numbers down. That is the key for me when I play to breaking 80. Avoid the multiple doubles and blowup holes.

I believe it.  The truly sad thing is I made the turn in 40, then started thinking about what my score for the round could be... guess which two holes were my two triples?

(My sole double was on hole 3, a comedy of errors followed by a great putt from the fringe and a tap-in)

Three of my last four rounds are sub-85 (84, 84, 83-ESC-82), while I previously hadn't broken 85 since last July.  So, hopefully I get a few more chances to break 80 and get used to having a score capable of it... and then one of these days.