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

[rkim291968]

14/14 fairways

Is this a typo?  If not, that's awesome!  The best I ever did was 12/14.  7/14 is my norm (an worse for bogey golfers, statistics wise).

[CR McDivot]

The fairways at Buffalo Run are pretty generous, but yes I have been working pretty hard to learn to stay in the short grass.

[robrey85]

I dabbled a bit when I was 10 years old but didn't really get into the game until December 2011 at age 26 when I randomly asked a friend if he wanted to go play a Par 3 course. After that night, I was hooked. Bought some clubs, took a few lessons and started playing every weekend. I was basically 30+ index and got it down to my lowest index rating of 17.4. My best score is an estimated 12 index score of 85 at Bears Best Las Vegas, tough course. I don't know how it happened, it seem to just happen. Anyway, I just recently took 3 months off because of a car accident and started the gym recently to work out some kinks in my back which have helped tremendously though I've sunken down to an 18.4 index but am slowing picking things back up to where I left off. I even moved up a set of tees at my home course to help, went from 6700 roughly down to 6200)

Right now I'm just working on holding my follow through in my swing, trying to flatten out my down swing to help me to draw the ball versus my usual steep weak toe fade hit. I am also struggling to hit my driver in the sweet spot which is really annoying because I can't get the distance and consistency that I have done before. I uploaded a slo-mo video of my most recent swing and iacas asked for a face on view which I'm planning to do tonight.

I honestly feel like I'm at a point where I have the fundamentals down, I just need to practice and play more in order to break through the bogey golfers wall. Who the hell knows!? Haha.

[CR McDivot]

Our usual group played Riverdale Dunes today. A Pete Dye course that requires accuracy and good management, but not so tricked up as to be unfair even for the Bogey golfer. My first time on any Dye course.

The course was in very good spring condition, and very busy.

Played to 73 net, but really should have done better. Only 57% ( 8 of 14) fairways as compared to my last 2 rounds of 100%; and that was due not primarily to the somewhat tighter fairways, but rather to my poor tee play. Several duck hooks, and a few rather pronounced fades (slices!). My tempo I think was the problem here.

First cut rough was only about 3 yards wide in most places, and the tall and thick native growth beyond that made it practically impossible to get a clean strike. Not a problem if you keep the ball in the short grass! In truth, I only had two shots from the bad stuff and those were right on the edge of the first cut where the native growth interfered.

My son in law led by 5 at the turn. His accuracy and distance control was simply better than mine at that point. Not to mention he drained 2 twenty foot putts!

I got little better a grip on the back nine. More fairways, better scrambling, wedges tight to pin. Did not miss less than a 6 foot putt. SIL, on the other hand, got bold off the tee and paid for it with penalties. On the holes he did make GIR, he overshot birdie attempts by 4-6 feet and 3 putted instead. I gained the 5 strokes back and we came off eighteen at even.

	SIL	McD
Fairways	9	8
GIR	5	1
Putts	39	33
1 Putts	2	5
3 Putts	4	2
Penalties	3	1

All in all a good day. Enjoyed coming back after the turn to tie. Need to work on consistent tempo and contact, but pleased with mental tenacity.

[MissouriHack]

91 today. horrid around the green. lots of three putts. very please with the score. i haven't played a lot. Two rounds in the last two months. I am hoping this is my new "base" score to work from. 85 is still my goal. hope all is well cheers guys

[Higgins1991]

Had my first round after roughly 18 months out due to the birth of my daughter. First two holes I couldn't swing a club then on the first I started slowing it right down and it seemed to work. Carded a 93 which was not bad as the greens were recently aerated and a couple of putts lipped out. Generally happy with it and glad to say that I've been reunited with the bug!

[Strandly]

I think I'm still trying to muscle the club through the ball a little bit and not letting it whip through the bottom of my swing like it's supposed to.  I have a feeling this is costing me crucial yards and is a big reason I seem to leave alot of shots just short of the green or on the front fringe.  I plan on spending the early part of the summer trying to relax and unlearn this habit and see if it helps at all.

[RFKFREAK]

I think I'm still trying to muscle the club through the ball a little bit and not letting it whip through the bottom of my swing like it's supposed to.  I have a feeling this is costing me crucial yards and is a big reason I seem to leave alot of shots just short of the green or on the front fringe.  I plan on spending the early part of the summer trying to relax and unlearn this habit and see if it helps at all.

As a kid from the 80's I just have to say you have the best avatar evar!

[MissouriHack]

So after some lessons and a year of practice I'm getting closer to the proper impact position. I'm still recording scores in the mid to high 40's through 9 holes. Things are looking up. I'll post my next round of 18. Well see if the changes stick through out a whole round.

[treebound]

I need to find a driving range with better distance markers. Went to the nearest to work range twice this week and as near as I can tell the second flag is somewhere between 125-175 yards out depending upon where on the grass they set up the driving lines. Other nearby ranges are on mats and their yardage markers are only marginally better. I don't have and can't afford a rangefinder yet, but one is on the eventual list of stuff to get.

I've only managed to play one round of golf so far this year.

I have made up my mind to set a goal for myself to get my handicap index down low enough to qualify for some local WSGA (Wisconsin State Golf Assoc.) amateur tournaments next year. I've got too far to improve to get there this year (realistically).  One of the people I work with has finished in the top five for the state in his amateur division/category for the past few years, but he is one of those people who chooses to keep work and home life separate so trying to talk golf with him is a near impossible exercise, so instead I just want to suddenly show up at one of his events next year and see how I do against him. He is not really my primary motivator, but just adds a fun (and ornery) aspect to the goals for me.

I'm also starting to think I might want to swap out the irons I have maybe sometime later this year, the lofts/distances on the longer irons are a bit too close for my liking. But that will have to wait until I get my game and swing to be more consistent.

Anyway, just a thumbnail sketch of where I'm at and what's going on inside my head currently.

Congratulations to all of you who are showing improvements.

[isukgolf]

After lessons my irons are up to a 6 iron are working better than I had hoped ... My driver I still struggle with not slicing ... I working on swing path and transfering my weight forward instead of back.

I image a water bottle just forward and right of my ball, and I try to swing at it ... causing me swing more inside to out (I think) ... all the while moving my weight forward and keeping my head down ... sounds simple right??? When I get it right it is a beautiful thing ...

[MissouriHack]

Transferring my weight is a huge problem for me. But I am getting better at it. My driver is my biggest concern right now. Im going through the same thing I do every year. Irons work, driver sucks. Driver works irons are crap. My putting has improved a lot so over all I am pretty happy with my game for the amount of time i get to put into it.

[rkim291968]

Good to see people are taking lessons.   I need lessons but just can't squeeze them into my busy schedule (my excuse).

I entered my 1st club championship, a match format & 100% handicap event.  I have the highest handicap (20.9) in my club and got 6 strokes in my 1st match, and 13 strokes in the next.  Playing with better players in tournament situation forced me to learn a lot.   Moreover, I focused much better in tournament situation and outplayed my handicap index in both rounds.  Still, it wasn't good enough to beat a 9.3 HI player. I highly recommend fellow bogey golfers who never played in tournament to try playing them. I think it will benefit your golf "career."

[chasm]

I've been back playing for five months after a six or seven year absence. Back in the day I was an occasional player, with a handicap of 18. This time round I have invested in lessons from the outset, and have found that I have got to 18 again reasonably fast. I'm confident that my new swing is much better than my old one, though inevitably I'm still inconsistent. I'm principally working on tempo. Most of my bad shots seem to result from my quickening up and snatching at the transition, resulting in something that is more of a heave than a swing, hitting it fat. But if I focus on rhythm, slow back, give myself time to change direction, then commit, things go better. Apart from that, my short game needs work, especially putting. I hit the ball as well as most of the 12-15 handicappers that I play with, but they are better players around the greens.

[jsp9999]

Good to see people are taking lessons.   I need lessons but just can't squeeze them into my busy schedule (my excuse).

I entered my 1st club championship, a match format & 100% handicap event.  I have the highest handicap (20.9) in my club and got 6 strokes in my 1st match, and 13 strokes in the next.  Playing with better players in tournament situation forced me to learn a lot.   Moreover, I focused much better in tournament situation and outplayed my handicap index in both rounds.  Still, it wasn't good enough to beat a 9.3 HI player.  I highly recommend fellow bogey golfers who never played in tournament to try playing them.    I think it will benefit your golf "career."

This is a good suggestion.  I'm really tempted to do this.

[chasm]

It's a good idea for high handicappers to compete in Matchplay competitions because a meltdown on a hole will cost you only one hole, whereas it would destroy your card in a Medal. And getting a shot a hole against a low handicap player will mean that whenever you make par you have a good chance of winning the hole.

[isukgolf]

I am a HC guy and played the Stableford Scoring system recently and like it a lot ...

Lessons are showing great results in all areas but the driver and 3 wood ... still fall back into my old habits as soon as I grab the club.   Swing fast, leave my weight back and look up ... results are a slice every time ...

[rkim291968]

I am a HC guy and played the Stableford Scoring system recently and like it a lot ...

Lessons are showing great results in all areas but the driver and 3 wood ... still fall back into my old habits as soon as I grab the club.   Swing fast, leave my weight back and look up ... results are a slice every time ...

Your main issue is your username!

Change it to something like idrive300, ilive4golf, igolfking, i1puttalways, .....   It will lower your HI by 2 points immediately.