Bogey Golfers Only (Index 16-22) / Breaking 90 Topic

[dave s]

20 hours ago, hockeyref18 said:

GREAT JOB!!!  I found getting to the green on your approach is the way to break any goal you have.  It was and still is something I'm trying to improve upon.  I also trying to work on those close chips, because you can't always hit the green :)

Thanks! Something I've been working on for a couple of seasons has resulted in hitting more greens.  Few seasons ago, I charted my par-3 scoring.  It was horrendous coming in at around 4.6 strokes per par-3 hole.  Woodshedded on the range from 120-170 yards hitting everything from 9i - 5-hybrid.  Good news is par 3 scoring way down and this season, I'm hitting greens from par 3 tees and approach shots fairways with the same clubs regularly.  And from 8-iron distance and closer, I'm actually hitting them CLOSE to pins.

I still work on my short game (chipping and putting) but its nice to NOT have to rely upon it so much anymore.  This is just one of those things you hope continues forever.

dave

21 hours ago, divot dave said:

holy cow... That's great work!  Do you keep an official handicap? You may already be overqualified for this thread 

Yes, and it's still 16.8 at last look.  You'd think it'd be lower, but apparently numbers don't lie.  Golf hdcp is like a league bowling average.  Once you establish a 160 average, it's tough to move it much one way or the other.  Guess I'll always be a mid- to upper-80s player.  When I stink up the place it's a 92.  When I play really well is an 82-84.  And I'm pretty much ok with that.

dave

[Fairway_CY]

I had a really frustrating round today. I played a not-so-difficult course and posted a 47 - 48 = 95.

I didn't do much well. Driving was up & down. Iron game was completely missing. Short game let me down. Putting was atrocious. 

Disappointing with how I'd been playing. I won't play again until next week at some point but I may stop at a local course for some short game practice. 

CY

[hockeyref18]

23 hours ago, Fairway_CY said:

I had a really frustrating round today. I played a not-so-difficult course and posted a 47 - 48 = 95.

I didn't do much well. Driving was up & down. Iron game was completely missing. Short game let me down. Putting was atrocious. 

Disappointing with how I'd been playing. I won't play again until next week at some point but I may stop at a local course for some short game practice. 

CY

Had a round just like ya yesterday. Driving was the only thing that seemed to be decent. Couldn't hit my irons at all. Was topping every ball I hit with my irons. Anyone have any tips on taking those divots after the ball cause that seemed to be my main issue yesterday. Hey we will make up our scores next time though!!!! :) 

On August 4, 2016 at 11:30 AM, dave s said:

Thanks! Something I've been working on for a couple of seasons has resulted in hitting more greens.  Few seasons ago, I charted my par-3 scoring.  It was horrendous coming in at around 4.6 strokes per par-3 hole.  Woodshedded on the range from 120-170 yards hitting everything from 9i - 5-hybrid.  Good news is par 3 scoring way down and this season, I'm hitting greens from par 3 tees and approach shots fairways with the same clubs regularly.  And from 8-iron distance and closer, I'm actually hitting them CLOSE to pins.

I still work on my short game (chipping and putting) but its nice to NOT have to rely upon it so much anymore.  This is just one of those things you hope continues forever.

dave

Yes, and it's still 16.8 at last look.  You'd think it'd be lower, but apparently numbers don't lie.  Golf hdcp is like a league bowling average.  Once you establish a 160 average, it's tough to move it much one way or the other.  Guess I'll always be a mid- to upper-80s player.  When I stink up the place it's a 92.  When I play really well is an 82-84.  And I'm pretty much ok with that.

dave

Glad you've improved so much Dave! I always say there is no bad time to practice and improve. Those approach shots to me seem to make or break my round and I'm glad you are hitting those GIR

 

[rkim291968]

Go, all the bogey golfers in this thread.  Keep on knocking and you will get out of playing bogey golf soon enough.

 

Today's round was unusual in that I had a good ball striking game but my usual good short game really s**ked.   I played the short game like I have all thumbs.   Every chip seems to go just too far to make the following putt. For a good measure, I even bladed a few pitch shots.   Putts didn't fall either.  But I held the score together for the 1st 16 holes through luck and pure determination.   I was still hoping for a good score, then, my luck caught up and ended the last two holes with triple-triple finish.   

[Vinny Cap]

I did it again.  Threw down another 88 on Sat.

I tore it up on the front with a 40 but stunk it up on the back with a 48.  Started the front with a par, ended with a par and had 3 in a row in the middle.  Best 9 I have ever played.

No pars on the back. Nothing but bogies and a 7 & 8 thrown in to help push the score up.  I messed up some chipping and a bunker shot on those 2 bad holes.  I dont usually do that... not sure what happened.

Driving was good with 12 FW's and putting was good with 14 on the front and 15 on the back.  Played the same ball all day long.  It got retired after the round.

Hope everyone had a good weekend of golf! 

 

[Fairway_CY]

11 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

Go, all the bogey golfers in this thread.  Keep on knocking and you will get out of playing bogey golf soon enough.

 

Today's round was unusual in that I had a good ball striking game but my usual good short game really s**ked.   I played the short game like I have all thumbs.   Every chip seems to go just too far to make the following putt. For a good measure, I even bladed a few pitch shots.   Putts didn't fall either.  But I held the score together for the 1st 16 holes through luck and pure determination.   I was still hoping for a good score, then, my luck caught up and ended the last two holes with triple-triple finish.   

Man... sometimes those rounds where we force ourselves to hold it together can be some of the most satisfying.  It hurts when you grind for so long and then lose it all at the end.  I feel your pain!  Still... way to work through those first 16 holes!

1 hour ago, Vinny Cap said:

I did it again.  Threw down another 88 on Sat.

I tore it up on the front with a 40 but stunk it up on the back with a 48.  Started the front with a par, ended with a par and had 3 in a row in the middle.  Best 9 I have ever played.

No pars on the back. Nothing but bogies and a 7 & 8 thrown in to help push the score up.  I messed up some chipping and a bunker shot on those 2 bad holes.  I dont usually do that... not sure what happened.

Driving was good with 12 FW's and putting was good with 14 on the front and 15 on the back.  Played the same ball all day long.  It got retired after the round.

Hope everyone had a good weekend of golf! 

 

You've been on fire!  Keep it going!  That's a very solid 40 on the front.  I wish I could hit 12 fairways, man.  I'm usually around 6 of 14 for a round... and the most I've hit over the last 2 years has been 10 of 14 at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island.  

I'll be playing a scramble on Thursday which will be used as a practice round for my tournament on Saturday.  Hoping to be able to post something low!

Good shooting this weekend, fellas!

CY

[CyboNinja]

Had myself a bittersweet round over the weekend. Started out doing OK. Drives weren't there, irons were so-so but my short game was on point. I practiced chipping all week and it really helped and my score on the front reflected that. Through the front 9 I shot 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 6, 5/45. 

Looking back I probably should have left after the front nine. On the 7th hole it felt like I strained or possibly tore a muscle in my upper back on my left side. Being as stubborn as I am I was determined to play through it. Ended up shooting a 54 on the back 9 playing through the pain. I just was not getting any solid contact on my irons and my drives were all over the place. Pulled a few, sliced a couple, and somehow managed to bomb 2 of them for 290 and 320 with an injured back. Easily my longest drives of the season... with an injured back... golf is so weird!

I'm thinking perhaps I'm over-using my left side and this is why I hurt myself because on those 2 long hits I recall firming up my grip with my right hand and just letting it fly. So now I'm looking for some good drills to help myself balance my tempo and better utilize both arms more equally. 

All in all I'm still encouraged by the progress I've been making. After an 8 year hiatus from the game I started the year shooting a 110 and now I can say I'm constantly in the 90s after 2 months of committed practice. My short game has improved substantially and I'd say that has been the biggest contributor to lowering my scores. 

//thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/39411-quickie-pitching-video-golf-pitch-shot-technique/?page=1

Big thanks to iacas for this thread he created 6 years ago. I would implore all golfers to give it a read and practice the technique he shares in that thread. It's helped me quite a lot. 

Gonna take this whole week off and just try to let my back muscles heal so hopefully I will feel well enough to play next weekend. 

[sirhacksalot]

I couldn't do anything right yesterday, I have consistently been playing low to mid 90's and then throw up a 102-104.  Driver didn't work.  Irons didn't work. Putter should have stayed at home.  chipping / pitching was surprisingly decent.  

[Lihu]

23 hours ago, sirhacksalot said:

I couldn't do anything right yesterday, I have consistently been playing low to mid 90's and then throw up a 102-104.  Driver didn't work.  Irons didn't work. Putter should have stayed at home.  chipping / pitching was surprisingly decent.  

Well, there's at least that.

Once you get down into the mid handicap range your long game will be more reliable, but you can always throw up several 3 putts or bad chips. Golf is really hard to do well in all aspects, and I found that using something like Jason Day's warmup routine helps a lot. It gives you a halfway decent chance at scoring.

[sirhacksalot]

1 minute ago, Lihu said:

Well, there's at least that.

Once you get down into the mid handicap range your long game will be more reliable, but you can always throw up several 3 putts or bad chips. Golf is really hard to do well in all aspects, and I found that using something like Jason Day's warmup routine helps a lot. It gives you a halfway decent chance at scoring.

do you have a link for that I am not familiar

[Lihu]

Just now, sirhacksalot said:

do you have a link for that I am not familiar

 

 

[sirhacksalot]

18 hours ago, Lihu said:

 

 

Thats pretty neat and good info.  I will definately adopt a version of it, right now I am not doing anything but aimlessly hitting balls it seems and then fretting to much trying to fix it and before I know it its time to tee off.  I also think this maybe a good regular practice routine that i could do before / after work any thoughts on that? I don't really feel like i am trying to correct anything in my swing right now but the result and this may ease the super mechanical postiony practice ive been doing that hasn't been really giving me the results I've been looking for.

[Lihu]

2 hours ago, sirhacksalot said:

Thats pretty neat and good info.  I will definately adopt a version of it, right now I am not doing anything but aimlessly hitting balls it seems and then fretting to much trying to fix it and before I know it its time to tee off.  I also think this maybe a good regular practice routine that i could do before / after work any thoughts on that? I don't really feel like i am trying to correct anything in my swing right now but the result and this may ease the super mechanical postiony practice ive been doing that hasn't been really giving me the results I've been looking for.

It is a pretty good regular practice routine too. I might do it twice if I am only practicing.

The main thing this warmup seems to do for me is that it gives me a complete feel for how far I am going to hit the balls and how my swing should "feel" for the day. I did this both times I shot really well. +2 and +4 for 18 holes par 71 and 72 respectively. I didn't do it and I ended up with +15 and +10 the following couple rounds. The difference should not really be this dramatic, but it does help. If anything it gives me more confidence. . .

[Fairway_CY]

I had a very successful day yesterday on the course!  I played in a charity scramble on Thursday and found myself struggling with certain things (my driver was wild and my irons weren't at all crisp).  When I got home that evening, I looked at the scorecard and layout of the course I'd be playing for a tournament on Saturday and realized that we were playing tees which had a total yardage of 5900 yards.  Many of the par 4 holes were going to be under 360 yards, so I wanted to only use driver on holes where it was either open or I needed a good drive to leave myself less than a 6 iron into the greens.  The rest of the holes, I'd use my 4 iron to tee off.  

I arrived to the course about 2.5 hours early yesterday and spent a good 30 minutes pitching and chipping.  I then went to the range and used a modified version of the warm-up routine that @Lihu posted.  I hit balls as listed below:

• 7 Irons - 7
• 6 Irons - 5
• 4 Irons (From a Tee) - 6
• Drivers - 8
• 58° Wedges - 5
• 7 Irons - 5

I then went inside for about 15 minutes to cool off, wash my hands & face and drink a bottle of water.  When I went back outside, I spent about 20 minutes at the putting green trying to get the speed down.  I went to my cart, got myself set up and then headed back inside for another 20 minutes to chat with some buddies and have a Coke.  Finally, we headed back outside and I hit the putting green for another 20 minutes or so.  The routine seemed to get me in a groove and I was ready to go.  

In the end, I played the best round I'd ever played with the Golfweek Amateur Tour, posting a 41 - 42 = 83 to win the C Flight by a single stroke.  I hit 7 of 14 fairways, but of the 7 I missed, 3 of them were in the first cut of rough which was only slightly fluffier than the fairway, so I effectively hit 10 of 14 tee shots in good positions.  When I did make a mistake, I limited my damage.  I posted no triple bogeys and only 2 doubles while accumulating 7 pars and a birdie.  With the speed of the greens being what they were, I did an okay job of putting, taking only 36 throughout the round.  

My handicap index is now trending to a 15.0 where it will be come tomorrow's revision.  This will be a new lifetime low for me!  

Sorry for all the extra detail, but... I needed to type it out so I can come back and visit it when I struggle so I can find what I was doing differently while playing well.  

CY

[Lihu]

7 hours ago, Fairway_CY said:

I had a very successful day yesterday on the course!  I played in a charity scramble on Thursday and found myself struggling with certain things (my driver was wild and my irons weren't at all crisp).  When I got home that evening, I looked at the scorecard and layout of the course I'd be playing for a tournament on Saturday and realized that we were playing tees which had a total yardage of 5900 yards.  Many of the par 4 holes were going to be under 360 yards, so I wanted to only use driver on holes where it was either open or I needed a good drive to leave myself less than a 6 iron into the greens.  The rest of the holes, I'd use my 4 iron to tee off.  

I arrived to the course about 2.5 hours early yesterday and spent a good 30 minutes pitching and chipping.  I then went to the range and used a modified version of the warm-up routine that @Lihu posted.  I hit balls as listed below:

• 7 Irons - 7
• 6 Irons - 5
• 4 Irons (From a Tee) - 6
• Drivers - 8
• 58° Wedges - 5
• 7 Irons - 5

I then went inside for about 15 minutes to cool off, wash my hands & face and drink a bottle of water.  When I went back outside, I spent about 20 minutes at the putting green trying to get the speed down.  I went to my cart, got myself set up and then headed back inside for another 20 minutes to chat with some buddies and have a Coke.  Finally, we headed back outside and I hit the putting green for another 20 minutes or so.  The routine seemed to get me in a groove and I was ready to go.  

In the end, I played the best round I'd ever played with the Golfweek Amateur Tour, posting a 41 - 42 = 83 to win the C Flight by a single stroke.  I hit 7 of 14 fairways, but of the 7 I missed, 3 of them were in the first cut of rough which was only slightly fluffier than the fairway, so I effectively hit 10 of 14 tee shots in good positions.  When I did make a mistake, I limited my damage.  I posted no triple bogeys and only 2 doubles while accumulating 7 pars and a birdie.  With the speed of the greens being what they were, I did an okay job of putting, taking only 36 throughout the round.  

My handicap index is now trending to a 15.0 where it will be come tomorrow's revision.  This will be a new lifetime low for me!  

Sorry for all the extra detail, but... I needed to type it out so I can come back and visit it when I struggle so I can find what I was doing differently while playing well.  

CY

Nice round! Congratulations on the win!

Warming up properly really helps. For me, it's getting the timing of the swing down.

 

[Vinny Cap]

21 hours ago, Fairway_CY said:

41 - 42 = 83 to win the C Flight by a single stroke.

WOW, 41 & 42, that is some nice golfing! Congrats! Glad to see you had an awesome round.  Hopefully the new warm up routine will keep you posting low.

You know what's next?  Breaking 80! 

[djfajt71]

21 hours ago, Fairway_CY said:

I had a very successful day yesterday on the course!  I played in a charity scramble on Thursday and found myself struggling with certain things (my driver was wild and my irons weren't at all crisp).  When I got home that evening, I looked at the scorecard and layout of the course I'd be playing for a tournament on Saturday and realized that we were playing tees which had a total yardage of 5900 yards.  Many of the par 4 holes were going to be under 360 yards, so I wanted to only use driver on holes where it was either open or I needed a good drive to leave myself less than a 6 iron into the greens.  The rest of the holes, I'd use my 4 iron to tee off.  

I arrived to the course about 2.5 hours early yesterday and spent a good 30 minutes pitching and chipping.  I then went to the range and used a modified version of the warm-up routine that @Lihu posted.  I hit balls as listed below:

• 7 Irons - 7
• 6 Irons - 5
• 4 Irons (From a Tee) - 6
• Drivers - 8
• 58° Wedges - 5
• 7 Irons - 5

I then went inside for about 15 minutes to cool off, wash my hands & face and drink a bottle of water.  When I went back outside, I spent about 20 minutes at the putting green trying to get the speed down.  I went to my cart, got myself set up and then headed back inside for another 20 minutes to chat with some buddies and have a Coke.  Finally, we headed back outside and I hit the putting green for another 20 minutes or so.  The routine seemed to get me in a groove and I was ready to go.  

In the end, I played the best round I'd ever played with the Golfweek Amateur Tour, posting a 41 - 42 = 83 to win the C Flight by a single stroke.  I hit 7 of 14 fairways, but of the 7 I missed, 3 of them were in the first cut of rough which was only slightly fluffier than the fairway, so I effectively hit 10 of 14 tee shots in good positions.  When I did make a mistake, I limited my damage.  I posted no triple bogeys and only 2 doubles while accumulating 7 pars and a birdie.  With the speed of the greens being what they were, I did an okay job of putting, taking only 36 throughout the round.  

My handicap index is now trending to a 15.0 where it will be come tomorrow's revision.  This will be a new lifetime low for me!  

Sorry for all the extra detail, but... I needed to type it out so I can come back and visit it when I struggle so I can find what I was doing differently while playing well.  

CY

That's a great round, congrats!  Keep posting those scores and you'll be taking home all sorts of hardware!

[Fairway_CY]

On 8/15/2016 at 9:27 AM, djfajt71 said:

That's a great round, congrats!  Keep posting those scores and you'll be taking home all sorts of hardware!

 

On 8/15/2016 at 9:16 AM, Vinny Cap said:

WOW, 41 & 42, that is some nice golfing! Congrats! Glad to see you had an awesome round.  Hopefully the new warm up routine will keep you posting low.

You know what's next?  Breaking 80! 

 

On 8/14/2016 at 7:29 PM, Lihu said:

Nice round! Congratulations on the win!

Warming up properly really helps. For me, it's getting the timing of the swing down.

 

Thanks guys!  

To emphasize the need for a proper warm-up session... I went out today because it was my kids' first day of school and I was off from work so... I had some time to kill.

I played a course that I typically play when there is short notice.  It's a little 9 hole track that plays to only 2918 yards and a par of 35.  Today, it was cut down to a par of 34 because one of the par 4 holes was being worked on, so they played it as an uphill 220 yard par 3.  

First time around, I played pretty solidly early on... nothing great, but nothing that hurt me too much.  On the 5th hole, I pushed a 4 iron way right off the tee (out of bounds) and that lead to a double bogey.  

The following hole, I pulled a 4 iron way left and couldn't find it.  My provisional landed in a fairway bunker.  You can tell that the maintenance on this little course was lacking because the bunkers were absolutely horrible.  It was almost as if they had mixed the sand with grass clippings because it was thick, clumpy and a lot like clay.  My lie in that fairway bunker was bad... and it took me 2 hacks to get it 10 yards outside the trap.  I ended up with a beautiful double-digit score of 11.  

I then stuck my 7 iron off the tee of the 195 yard 7th hole to a foot and tapped in for a birdie... I made par on the 8th hole (another par 3)... and then blew a ball out of bounds on the 9th hole, leading to a triple bogey.  

I posted a 49 that time around.  Things didn't go MUCH better the second time around.  I got some absolutely awful kicks into dead areas and some more pitiful lies in bunkers.  I managed to scrape together a not-so-bad first 8 holes... and then I pretty much repeated things on the 9th hole the same way I played it the first time around.

Ultimately... I posted a 49 - 45 = 94 on a course that is NOT that difficult.  I took 4 penalties (accumulating 8 penalty strokes) and went home with my tail between my legs.  

I believe that the lack of a warm-up session (I literally stepped out of the car and onto the tee) and the fact that I kinda didn't pay much mind to things since the course was in such poor shape led to a really poor showing here.  

For handicap reporting purposes, it was an 88 which means that 6 of my last 9 rounds have been posted in the 80's.  You won't find me complaining about that!

I probably won't play again until my tournament on Saturday, so... I'll have to look for some practice time because I felt like my short game wasn't very strong today and I'd like to have that tightened up before Saturday.

CY