Breaking 80 Thread

[dennyjones]

3 hours ago, amished said:

Does it count if I shoot 79 on a par 70 course?    It was a struggle today, but made some crazy pars from places I normally don't hit out of, just was able to scramble, get close to the green and allow my short game to make up for some of the errors in my long game.

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[Shindig]

On 7/30/2017 at 2:55 PM, amished said:

Does it count if I shoot 79 on a par 70 course?    It was a struggle today, but made some crazy pars from places I normally don't hit out of, just was able to scramble, get close to the green and allow my short game to make up for some of the errors in my long game.

I think so.  Was it horrible short?  My home course is a par 71, for instance, 4 par 3s but only 3 par 5s, but also three par 4s that are over 400 yards.  I'd still count it as "breaking 80" if I shot a 79 there.

[David in FL]

On 7/30/2017 at 5:55 PM, amished said:

Does it count if I shoot 79 on a par 70 course?    It was a struggle today, but made some crazy pars from places I normally don't hit out of, just was able to scramble, get close to the green and allow my short game to make up for some of the errors in my long game.

Yep!

[amished]

13 hours ago, Shindig said:

I think so.  Was it horrible short?  My home course is a par 71, for instance, 4 par 3s but only 3 par 5s, but also three par 4s that are over 400 yards.  I'd still count it as "breaking 80" if I shot a 79 there.

So on each 9, there's two par 3s, one par 5 and six par 4s.  It's about a 6000 yard course all told, but a lot of elevation changes that make it play a touch longer (probably closer to 6200?).  Plays even longer if you can't consistently carry your driver 230ish as you're hitting up a couple hills that rob you of distance, and several holes where if you can't hit your driver 250ish in a narrow gap, you have to hit iron off the tee to get around the doglegs.

My typical round has me hitting Driver on four holes, and teeing off with an iron or 3 wood on three of the par 4s.

Edited August 1, 2017 by amished

[tsdugger]

On 6/30/2017 at 0:23 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.

Fast Forward a month and a half to the first day of my club's Member/Member:

I wish I had a fun story for this one but I think I blacked out during the round and had my career low of 77. I knew I was playing well when I made the turn at +2 (back 9 first) with a double, two birdies, two bogeys. Made a pit stop at the turn, chatted with the pro, grabbed a gatorade, headed to #1.

Now, I usually either birdie or double the short par 4 #1 - it just has my number, mostly double - and like a lot of times, I pulled my drive left close to the range (ob) thought "there goes my round" and hit a provisional. Luckily the first was in but behind a bunch of trees and whatnot: Punch out, hit it fat in bunker short, bunker shot to 15 ft, made the putt - wow what a bogey let's get out of here and not look back.

Basically after that, it was just boring, non-memorable golf. Bogey'd long par 3 #6 after hitting tee shot in the water and almost chipping in from drop and bogey'd 8 & 9.

I took a lesson two weeks ago where we worked on my swing. It took some range time and about 9 holes to get in a sort of groove - I still fight bad habits and still have the tendency to get a little chicken wing but overall, my misses are 20 yards now, not 60 and I have become way more consistent. This is ultimately what helped me get that sub-80 on the card.

Accomplished two 2017 goals Saturday: break 80 & get to single digit index. Thanks for all the support!

[Shindig]

2 hours ago, amished said:

So on each 9, there's two par 3s, one par 5 and six par 4s.  It's about a 6000 yard course all told, but a lot of elevation changes that make it play a touch longer (probably closer to 6200?).  Plays even longer if you can't consistently carry your driver 230ish as you're hitting up a couple hills that rob you of distance, and several holes where if you can't hit your driver 250ish in a narrow gap, you have to hit iron off the tee to get around the doglegs.

My typical round has me hitting Driver on four holes, and teeing off with an iron or 3 wood on three of the par 4s.

I'd say a 79 on that course counts for sure.  My first time breaking 90 was on a course that measures a smidge under 6000 yards (5963).  

Why are you only hitting driver four times in a round?  What's going on on those par 4s that takes driver out of your hands?

[amished]

57 minutes ago, Shindig said:

I'd say a 79 on that course counts for sure.  My first time breaking 90 was on a course that measures a smidge under 6000 yards (5963).  

Why are you only hitting driver four times in a round?  What's going on on those par 4s that takes driver out of your hands?

Hole 5 is a par 4 is a ~60* dogleg left blocked by 100' tall pine trees on the left corner.  The fairway on the right corner ends at about 175, and if you cut the corner and go straight, ends at about 220.  The corner is also at the crest of a hill so it's likely to roll out a little more.  I can't reliably hook/draw my driver around the corner, and if I go straight I'm in tree trouble as well.  My 4 iron is typically right around the 190-200 range, so I get to be on top of the hill just past the apex of the corner.  A good hit will get me just before the rough on the far side of the dogleg, a bad hit will get me around the corner enough to have some sort of shot at the green/close to the green.

Hole 6 is similar, but less of a dogleg left (30* maybe?).  There is a water hazard with trees starting at 210 from where the tees typically are.  If I knew I was going to hit my driver straight, I have a gap that I could take to get extremely close to the green.  If I draw it too much, or not start it on line I'm in large oak tree trouble (or water trouble).

Hole 9 is very close to how hole 6 is set up, but much more punishing if you go left (lateral hazard the length of the hole).  Going straight you can get really close to the green and the hole that I'd be most likely to hit driver on, but if I hit it straight or push, I'm in pine tree trouble.  A great 3W on this hole gets me just barely into the rough at the corner, a short 3W gets me into the fairway with a shot and a push/accidental slice with my 3W keeps me out of tree trouble at the 150yd distance. 

It's only a 9 hole course, so the holes then repeat themselves.

--Edit--

It's Pierz Golf Course in my gamegolf profile, if you want to get a feel for the course in general.  I haven't updated rounds there recently and I need to again....

Edited August 1, 2017 by amished

[upndown21]

Finally got the monkey off my back, 78 on my home course. Played yesterday and could not hit a tee shot but everything else was working. I hit 8 greens, got par on all par 3s, and did not have a single 3 putt. 

My goal was 3 rounds in the 70s this year but I feel good with this one. Index down to a 10.0 and single digits in my sights for spring.

[iacas]

@upndown21, you should claim some of your achievements in the topic:

 

[tdiii]

Had my chance to break 80 today.  Played The Meadow Club, a 1927 Alistair MacKenzie design outside Fairfax in Marin County.  Par 71.  We played the Blue/White combo (71.4/133), about 6,450 yards.  Shot 80, but had no clue.  41 on the front, 39 on the back.  3 putted 18, including a 4' second putt.  We were kind of in a hurry and I just walked up and swiped at it.  Only later did I realize I would have shot 79 had I made it.  On the other hand, I surely would have yakked it anyway had I known of its import. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by tdiii

[The Hook Meister]

I remember the first time I broke 80, I had the round of my life I shot a 74. The one thing I did not do was .look at the score card until after the round. I had so many 81's and 82's because I was looking at the score card instead of focusing on my game. If you constantly looking at your score card and tryinmg to figure out what you need to do you will end up not getting there at all.

[amished]

I'm back to hitting 40 relatively consistently on my home course (par 35 9 hole, just play it twice).  Last league had a bad luck double that cost me a stroke (maybe a stroke and a quarter as I would've sometimes gotten up and down from the better lie) and had me score a 40.  Recent swing change is paying off, hitting my driver straighter and I'm finally trusting that I'm not going to over draw it like I have in the past except on extreme mishits.

[lastings]

I don't know why, but I have a feeling this is the weekend.    everything is just working right now...  and my chipping/pitching, while not by any means good, is not a complete disaster.  

just need to make a few putts.  

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by lastings

[Shindig]

My 85 yesterday shouldn't make me too optimistic to break 80 super soon, but there were four doubles in the round, and in each case I feel I could reduce it by one if I had (in two cases) played the hole smarter and in two cases hit better shots (one was a very poor tee shot on a par-3, one was two chips and missing a very short putt after a near-GIR).   I also had a GIR+3 putts =6 on a par-5. 

I feel I could knock those five shots off, but then again, I also had some good luck in the round (such as nailing a 20 foot putt and nailing massive drives on two long par-4s, enabling me to reach near-GIR) that I can't rely on happening every time.  And pitching in for birdie on a hole.

12 GIR + near-GIR, plus two instances of hitting a green with a full swing motion.  Still have a lot to work on.

[allenc]

I broke 80 for the first time in a Golf Channel Amateur event, shooting a 77.  I’ve played about 10-12 rounds per year for the last three years.  I went in with some swing thoughts that had been really helping but I kicked the day off with one of my worse range warm up session ever.  I simply had the shanks.  Heel slices with the driver.  Awful.

At the first tee I decided I had to do something. Even though I never practice this, I decided to grip down about 2-3 inches on my driver and just bunt it out there.  After all, what I had been practicing wasn’t working.  Worked perfectly, right down the middle and maybe 20 yards short of my best drives.

I continued this and somehow went on to play just fine.  Not brilliant.  My scoring came from never really getting in trouble and putting slightly above average.  It’s funny, I had maybe 10 putts from 5-15 feet, half for par and half for birdie.  I made all of the pars and missed all of the birdies.  The round was basically a par train.  As the round went on and I gained confidence I started to grip higher and higher on my driver till I was back to normal on the back nine and hit a few nice bombs.

Of course there were some holes where things went a little wrong.  Hole 5 par 3 had water front and right.  For some reason I felt like I had to grip my 5 iron slightly open because I had been using another set where I had to do this to avoid hooks.  Not with this set.  I hit a push fade that bounced off the cart path to a neighboring tee.  My provisional I set up square and blasted a perfect shot straight over the green.  Wrong club all along I guess.  Anyway, I hit my blind original long into a front bunker and made double.

Hole 9 was the longest par 4 into the wind.  I hit my 2 hybrid approach shot pretty much the best ever with that club and ended 40 feet past the hole.  It was a putt that didn’t seem very downhill but the slope starts increasing a lot around the hole which I didn’t notice.  So I hit it well past and 3 putt bogied.   Great shot wasted.

The back nine went smoothly until short par 4 15 where I had an 85 yard approach.  Shank!  Oh yeah, now I remember my range session.  Bogey.  On par 5 16 I had another lob wedge in out of the rough and I was sweating it from the last hole.  Stood a bit farther, made some practice swings, but still was probably too stiff with worry and bladed it.  Bogey.  Bogied par 3 17 unable to get up and down from next to the green.  Not a big deal because that was not a common occurrence for this round.

Finally the Pete Dye 18 with water left, danger right, and water and bunker guarding the green.  I hit a straight drive that didn’t have much pop.  140 to a front flag.  I was into the wind but the wind didn’t seem to have much effect all day.  This time I thought it might and used 8 iron — one extra club.  Felt awful, thin heel I think but it flew nice and gave me a 20 foot putt from just off the front.  Jarred for my only birdie of the day and nice redemption for the previous three holes.

 

[Valleygolfer]

1 hour ago, lastings said:

I don't know why, but I have a feeling this is the weekend.    everything is just working right now...  and my chipping/pitching, while not by any means good, is not a complete disaster.  

just need to make a few putts.  

 

Tsk tsk, get ready for the worst round ever...  You can't say stuff like that so the golf gods hear you.... 

[lastings]

2 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

Tsk tsk, get ready for the worst round ever...  You can't say stuff like that so the golf gods hear you.... 

The gods and I have been chatting quite a bit, lately.  They tell me they’ve got my back, but they won’t do it all for me. Just gotta focus and hit my shots. 

[Piz]

The first time I broke 80 I started off with a double bogey on the first hole: missed the green, chipped on and back off, chipped on again, you know the drill.  Played the remaining 17 in plus 3.  We were a threesome and one guy had never played before.  After the round the guy who I'd been playing with regularly said..."You were so busy trying to set a good example...you forgot to hit bad shots."