Breaking 100/90/80/70

[HonestyPolicy]

I didn't start playing until I was 32 and now I am looking at my 30th year this season. I am from the north, northeast (almost Canadian) so we only play 6 months at best out of the year. Although I was reasonably athletic, I was not a natural at golf. Originally I had a big slice off the tee, a frightening chicken wing, zero weight shift, and just about every bad habit you can think of, but a very patient PGA pro helped me.   

100: Can't remember its been so long. Feels like it was the first season, but I can't prove it

90: I think it was the second season after taking lessons, but again can't really remember. I do remember the feeling of elation when it happened.

80: I took season lessons again and over about 5 more seasons the slice turned into a draw and I learned how to keep the ball in play off the tee. Also learned how to get up and down about 90% of the time which helped a lot.

70: It took about 10 years to get there and now it happens once or twice every year, but typically the round includes a chip in or two, a long lucky putt, a lot of good misses.

Its been 30 years now and still no hole in one yet!

 

[NM Golf]

Although I hit balls on the range on occasion as a kid I didn't actually play a round of golf until I was 22-23. The first round I ever play I shot over 100 and I was hooked. I got some help from my dad on my setup and grip and I have never shot over 100 since.

100: Second time playing 18 holes I was 22-23 years old.

90: I can't tell you exactly the first time I broke 90. Breaking 90 wasn't really that difficult nor was it a big milestone for me. I was shooting in the 80's within a year of taking up the game. 

80: It took a few years and a few close calls before I finally broke 80. I actually broke 80 for the first time in a tournament. I will never forget, I had bogeyed the 18th hole to shoot 80 like 5 or 6 times already. I came into the last hole 7 over and made a 15 or 20 foot putt for par. It was pretty cool. I went out the next day in the second round of the tournament and did it again. At the time I was about a 15 handicap so I won the tournament by a lot. I must have been about 25 years old at the time. 

70: I broke par for the first time with my father. Made a short birdie putt on the 18th hole to do it, shot 71. I was 30 at the time, I know that because I had just gotten married. I don't really remember the first time I broke 70, breaking par was the big milestone for me. I am sure it was sometime soon after that. My lowest round ever is a 64 I've done that twice I remember those rounds very clearly.

[LMoore]

We grew up relatively poor. Didn't step foot on a golf course until I was 22 or so. Played a time or two per year over the next 30 years. I didn't even own a set of clubs until I was in my late 30's. Family and work was more important.

Been very blessed, and at 51, one of the two kids had graduated college and the other just graduated high school. That was June 2011. I watched the game and wanted to play and was in the position to join a private club. Didn't have an established GHIN and asked the assistant pro what to do. He said go out and count em all. 106. I was dejected but they told me that was great. But, I became hooked and went out practically every day and played by myself. Within a month, I was consistently shooting in the ninties and broke 90 within 2 months. I'll never forget shooting 88, entering it in the computer and it stating "are you sure, it's below your normal score". I wanted to throw the computer across the room. Yes, dang it, I've worked my butt off.

Playing more than 150 rounds per year since, broke 80 in early 2012. Played in the club championship in the championship flight, my first tournament score was 91. Wow, tournament golf was tougher than playing with buddies.

2014, shot 68. One bogey, two stupid long putts for birdie, and three tap in birdies. It was another year before I did it again.

Break 70 regularly, but again, I play alot. And, I can certainly shoot an 80 any given day. Now close to 59, aches and pains are real.

It's the greates addiction you can have. I'm pretty sure I'm the exception. But again, I'm fortunate enough to play4-6 times a week.

[IowaGreg]

I'm basically on my 6th year now.

100:  2nd year 
  90: 4th year
  80: N/A - closest is 84.   Breaking 80 is my goal this year.
  70: N/A

[p1n9183]

I pick up golf at age 7. Started playing with handicap at age 11.

100: 1st year with handicap(age 11) just playing for fun, i´m good at every sport. 
  90: 1st year with handicap(age 11) same
  80: 2nd year with handicap(age 12) same
  70: 4th year with handicap(age 14) after starting to take classes at 13 years old twice a week i shoot 68(-5) at my home course.
  70(competition): At age 18 i scored 69(-3) in a single day qualification away from home.

Like many other quit golf at age 20, and came back from age 25 to 27 and quit again. I broke 70 at my home course a few times. Didn´t competee in those years.

Started playing again 4 years ago at age 31 and I shoot 65(-7) at my home course a year ago(age 34) and 71(-1) on competition last year (age 34). I hope i can break 70 in competition again in the years to come.

 

 

[bkuehn1952]

I started playing golf in 1961 at age 9.  I never really quit golf but there were stretches where I played very little.  It wasn't until my mid to late 20's where I actually began playing with a goal to score lower and play better on a regular basis.

100: I do not remember
  90: I do not remember
  80: At age 38 in 1990 I "broke 80" twice on "normal" length courses of par 71 or 72. 
  70: Has not happened yet.  The closest I have come was a -1 round of 70.

[mcanadiens]

Started around the age of 35 and, if memory serves, I am nearing the seven year mark.

100: Nearly a year to the day I started. Happened on vacation in the OBX and was a very memorable day.

90: Somewhere between year 2 and year 3, but much less memorable. One of our area courses is a very short course that rates a 65 and that's where I did it first, second and third. Much more memorable was cracking 90 at my home course a couple of years later.

80: Hasn't happened. Had a 81 once at the above-described easy course. Had an 82 on another.

70: This is me not holding my breath.

Edited March 20, 2019 by mcanadiens

[Nave]

9 hours ago, NM Golf said:

70: I broke par for the first time with my father. Made a short birdie putt on the 18th hole to do it, shot 71. I was 30 at the time, I know that because I had just gotten married

What a year: birdie to par, great memory with father, and freshly married - wonderful 🙂

[Effington]

This thread is making me depressed.  I've been playing around seven years and am yet to break 100.

[RustUK]

25 years since I started playing golf and I was a terrible golfer for my first year, would struggle to break 120 most weeks.  Nearly gave up after that first year, but luckily sought the services of a good golf pro at the start of my second year and started to improve quickly.

100: 3 months after taking lessons

90: 6 months after taking lessons

80: after around 5 years, but was on a really easy course, best score on my home course is 80

70: unlikely to happen, but you never know

[Nave]

40 minutes ago, Effington said:

This thread is making me depressed.  I've been playing around seven years and am yet to break 100.

It will happen. Did you take lessons? I saw your swing videos and even though I am not a good golfer, it appears to me that you improved from your first to most recent videos.

[Effington]

8 hours ago, Nave said:

It will happen. Did you take lessons? I saw your swing videos and even though I am not a good golfer, it appears to me that you improved from your first to most recent videos.

Thanks, I appreciate the thought!  Yeah, I take regular lessons.

[FlyingAce]

The first time I ever touched a golf club was in 2013 when I was 39. Bought a Groupon for some lessons at a local public course. I think it was $100 for 4 lessons. Ended up taking 8 lessons but made no progress at all. Was just going to give up but decided to try another instructor at a resort course. Took 10-15 lessons (which came with unlimited use of their practice facilities) and I practiced every single day for that season (2014). Took winter off to ski.

Returned to the range in Spring 2015 and my instructor told me I had to start playing real golf and not spend all my time at the range. So I started playing a round here and there but never kept scores. Took the winter off to ski again and returned in 2016 to start playing real golf with a GHIN. I’d practice at the range 2-3 times a week and play every Saturday and Sunday. Took about 2 months to break 100, but was stuck in the mid to high 90s to end the year.

The 2017 season was when everything changed. I started the season with a few more lessons from one extra instructor and started seeing improvements right away which brought me down to low 90s. I decided to join a country club in August of 2017 so I can play unlimited golf and in that month alone, I played 27 rounds! And that’s when I broke 90 and had my first hole in one in September’17. I ended that season in the mid 80s and played a total of 120 rounds. Again took winter off to ski.

The 2018 season started in the mid 80s. I found a new instructor at my club to teach me course management and short game, and that helped me drop to the low 80s. I spent less time at the range but I played golf at least 5 days a week. I got my 2nd hole in one in June’18 and shortly after that, I broke 80. I also started taking weekly lessons at golftec. My lowest score of the year was 76 and I ended the season with a 9.8hcp. I played 196 rounds of golf in 2018. Took winter off again.

My ski season just ended so it’s time to get back to golf. My goals for this year are:  spend more time to work on my short game, break 80 consistently, maintain a single handicap, shoot par once, and I wouldn’t mind another ace!

But no plans to break 70 yet...

[Nave]

On 3/24/2019 at 2:09 PM, FlyingAce said:

The first time I ever touched a golf club was in 2013 when I was 39. Bought a Groupon for some lessons at a local public course. I think it was $100 for 4 lessons. Ended up taking 8 lessons but made no progress at all. Was just going to give up but decided to try another instructor at a resort course. Took 10-15 lessons (which came with unlimited use of their practice facilities) and I practiced every single day for that season (2014). Took winter off to ski.

Returned to the range in Spring 2015 and my instructor told me I had to start playing real golf and not spend all my time at the range. So I started playing a round here and there but never kept scores. Took the winter off to ski again and returned in 2016 to start playing real golf with a GHIN. I’d practice at the range 2-3 times a week and play every Saturday and Sunday. Took about 2 months to break 100, but was stuck in the mid to high 90s to end the year.

The 2017 season was when everything changed. I started the season with a few more lessons from one extra instructor and started seeing improvements right away which brought me down to low 90s. I decided to join a country club in August of 2017 so I can play unlimited golf and in that month alone, I played 27 rounds! And that’s when I broke 90 and had my first hole in one in September’17. I ended that season in the mid 80s and played a total of 120 rounds. Again took winter off to ski.

The 2018 season started in the mid 80s. I found a new instructor at my club to teach me course management and short game, and that helped me drop to the low 80s. I spent less time at the range but I played golf at least 5 days a week. I got my 2nd hole in one in June’18 and shortly after that, I broke 80. I also started taking weekly lessons at golftec. My lowest score of the year was 76 and I ended the season with a 9.8hcp. I played 196 rounds of golf in 2018. Took winter off again.

My ski season just ended so it’s time to get back to golf. My goals for this year are:  spend more time to work on my short game, break 80 consistently, maintain a single handicap, shoot par once, and I wouldn’t mind another ace!

But no plans to break 70 yet...

Your reply covered this topic and a couple of other forum topics, including skiing, all at once 🙂 Good luck with breaking 80 consistently.

[NZ Golfer]

Been playing on and off for 10yrs+ (with the odd 1yr break in between) started late 20's seriously 

Carded 183x rounds of golf

90% of my rounds have been on Championship courses  6100yards+ 116-128+ slope ratings

100- first year playing within a few games 

90-2yrs with at the time an amazing 87

80- not yet got an 82 today which has been my best ... I'm confident with a string of low to mid 80's I'll do it soon .... should have done it today but very slow play from players in front farting around and wind getting to gale force did my head in and put 2 shots out of bounds

70- not even thinking about it yet not till I can comfortably break 80 hopefully before I'm 50 

Edited March 31, 2019 by NZ Golfer

[NZ Golfer]

2x games later my best ever round goes from 82 to 77 today so stoked been working really hard at my Golf game ... and to think my driver was rubbish and I left 2x 1-2 foot putts out there .. 75 or below my next target 

 

185x rounds to get to a 77