Newbie rapid progress

[RussUK]

Like others have said some people just have a natural ability. My brother in law is one such person. We took up golf at the same time and he just "got it" straight away. The guy plays football and darts in the winter and cricket and golf in the summer and is just good at all of them. Makes you sick really doesn't it?

[gbogey]

It took me about 1.5 years to break 90, but when I did so I did it with a bang.  I shot 90 on the nose 7 times which was remarkable given that at the time I was only getting to play about once a week.  A few were real choke jobs but some weren't.  I went out one day and shot an 84.  More surprisingly, I started the round triple bogey / double bogey and then a double bogey on 18.  So I was +6 (par 71) on the 15 holes in between despite never having been better than +18 for a full round.  Similar story when I broke 80 for the first time - the 84 was still tied for my best round ever when a 76 came out of nowhere.

[DeadMan]

I broke 90 in about a year and a half after picking up the game as an adult (I had played a bit when I was 10-13ish, but not very seriously at all). Once I started practicing and playing a decent amount (i.e., more than once a month), it took me about 6 months to break 90. I really wish I had started off with better instruction instead of going by myself for 3.5 years at the beginning. I dropped from about a 14 to about a 5 pretty quickly, but haven't been able to drop much further than that. I think that's partially because I spent too much time working on the wrong things and just beating balls in the beginning.

[hespeler]

Started playing again last year after taking a 5 year hiatus.  I played for 6 or 7 years before that.  Started in my early 30's and didn't take lessons right away but I've taken a lot of lessons on and off since then.

First thing I'll say is I'm very skeptical of most people who say they break 100 or 90 regularly.  Not the golfers who post on here because they are actually serious enough but most of the casual golfers who play once a month and say they card an 83.  Most are being very generous with their mulligans, gimme putts, etc.  Don't believe it till you see it.

I recall breaking 100 came pretty quick for me but I'm still trying to break 90.  When I left off I was shooting in the low-90's and that's back to where I'm at now.  The difference is I'm a much better golfer now than I ever was back then.  My ball striking and consistency is sooo much better, yet, my scores haven't moved.  I play most of the round like someone who easily breaks 90 but can't avoid the one or two blow up holes and miss a lot of par putts that would knock my score down.  I thought hitting more fairways and GIR was the key.  I've done that, but ya still gotta score.

I left golf for life reasons but also out of frustration of being stuck at the same handicap for so long and I'm starting to feel that frustration again despite knowing my swing is much better than it ever was.  Even when I take lessons, it's the same lesson over and over again.  When I play, it's the same round over and over again.  Starting to lose the enjoyment in it and am glad ski season is coming up.

I thought playing more was the answer.  I've played more than I ever have in one season this year, so no, that's not it.

Shot a 92 last week on a course I've never played despite a 9 on one hole and a 7 on another.  8 GIR's and 8 fairways.  So close yet so far...

I kind of have this theory that there's no in between in golf.  You either get it or you don't.  That theory is confirmed when you read a common theme in this thread where folks have said they broke 90/80 within the first few years of playing.  A lot of the pros I've taken lessons with have also said they broke 90/80 early in their career.  We all settle into a handicap and it's very hard to move it.

 

 

[Killa]

Well I do play by the rules. The only thing I might do with my regular playing partner is 1 mulligan off the first tee, because we usually don’t have the time to hit the range before we play. 

 

For example I had a 3’ put for par last week and when I set up I moved the ball. Scored myself a bogey on that one. 

[Alx]

1 minute ago, Killa said:

Well I do play by the rules. The only thing I might do with my regular playing partner is 1 mulligan off the first tee, because we usually don’t have the time to hit the range before we play. 

 

For example I had a 3’ put for par last week and when I set up I moved the ball. Scored myself a bogey on that one. 

Warming up is really important. Not just to actually warmp up but to calibrate yourself and see how your body is working that day.

The very first time I played 18 holes I broke 100. At that point I had been playing golf for 4 months. Took me 2 more months to break 90 and a total of 10 months to break 80. It wasnt until the end of my 2nd year that I was in the low 80s every round.

This season(year 2-3) Im breaking 80 consistently and shot my best round of 73(+1) a few months back. My home course is fairly tight and plays 6200 yards from the mens tees. On practically every hole a bad swing = lost ball with my distance so I usually hit an iron off every tee.

[hespeler]

1 hour ago, Killa said:

Well I do play by the rules. The only thing I might do with my regular playing partner is 1 mulligan off the first tee, because we usually don’t have the time to hit the range before we play. 

 

For example I had a 3’ put for par last week and when I set up I moved the ball. Scored myself a bogey on that one. 

Wow I'm pretty strict but if I tap the ball and it barely moves when I'm setting up I don't penalize myself.  Something like that is a rarity anyways.

[Sean_D]

I started playing golf "seriously" (meaning more than 1-2 rounds a year) in February of this year. I was shooting in the high 120s. I started taking lessons and have continued taking two a month from March through October (my last lesson of the year will be on the 15th). I consistently shoot in the mid 90s now and shot an 88 in my last round (still waiting for my badge from the achievement thread). I practice for an hour or more each day and play at least once a week. My coach has helped me set my 2019 goal of shooting 78 at least once next year, so I'll be working toward that. In total it took me 7 months to break 90 with a lot of hard work and practice.

[gbogey]

1 hour ago, Sean_D said:

I started playing golf "seriously" (meaning more than 1-2 rounds a year) in February of this year. I was shooting in the high 120s. I started taking lessons and have continued taking two a month from March through October (my last lesson of the year will be on the 15th). I consistently shoot in the mid 90s now and shot an 88 in my last round (still waiting for my badge from the achievement thread). I practice for an hour or more each day and play at least once a week. My coach has helped me set my 2019 goal of shooting 78 at least once next year, so I'll be working toward that. In total it took me 7 months to break 90 with a lot of hard work and practice.

There's a couple of good things here: 1) it is hard to get better in golf, probably more so than most sports, to get better without either playing or practicing at least twice a week IMO; 2) For many people lessons are an important part of the process, at least for me it was important in getting basic fundamentals right such as grip and posture and in terms of understanding my tendencies and what to do about them.