Shermanator

Is anyone else experiencing connection issues again? Haven't been able to login via desktop since Friday May 8th 2020. The app still appears to work on my phone, but I can't upload anything from my GG unit at all

We have a course open to play near me, so I took advantage today and shot a 73 (which is a great score for me!), but I bogey'd the 18th to miss out on a 72. Driver was working really well today! Game golf link: View this round on GAME GOLF

Shot a 78 today from the blue tees at Tijeras Arroyo: View this round on GAME GOLF Strokes gained says it was one of my better iron striking rounds. If I can just start hitting them better, I'd be flirting with even par later into my rounds!

Just chiming in as well, I haven't been able to login the last two days, HTTP Error 503. The app is still quasi-functional though

The Grint offers you a handicap if you decide to pay for it.

Wow, what a day today! Shot a 75 at Los Altos here in ABQ from the whites. Played absolutely lights-out! Stumbled a little on the front with a 40, but shot a 1-under 35 on the back. Had 5 birdies on the day, with 3 eagle putts! Also, gamegolf says my driver was on-point. More importantly for me though, is the iron play, as that has typically been my weakness. Hopefully can get out and play again this weekend. Will probably do some range/short game work if the weather goes to crap tomorrow.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the Duke City. Overcast, temps in the mid 60s with a slight breeze. The scores were much better than Saturday! Played at Los Altos, and the course ratings means you have to shoot low scores just to move your handicap (69.3/114). I put up a 78, 7 bogeys, 1 birdie, 10 pars. Strokes gained was much improved from my round at Arroyo:

Today I shot a breezy 83 at Arroyo Del Oso here in ABQ. Weather was in the 50s, not too windy, hardly any clouds. I'm actually disappointed with my iron play lately, GameGolf says get better:tter:

TL;DW: There's already a speed limit on balls (255 ft/sec). It's the spin rate that balls are better at. Pros used to have to hit 8-9 degree drivers with a closed face because the ball spun so much. Now golf balls are down around 2k RPM. Drivers are bigger today with a larger sweet spot and they're longer than before and they can hit up on the ball. Also, pros are working out, not going to the bar to drink after a round. Agronomy also plays a factor, golf courses are more firm on the fairways so players are getting tons of roll out adding more distance to their drives.Fairways used to be around 3/4" in the 80s, now they're 1/4" long.

I think my primary long-term goal is to get to scratch, but getting there from now in a calendar year seems a little too lofty, and doesn't meet all of the metrics of being SMART (Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Realistic - Time-based). That being said, I think reaching a 2.0 handicap index is doable with the time I have. In order to reach 2.0 and (ideally) scratch, I need to work on my weaknesses and make them my strengths, which GameGolf says is my short game and approach shots are my biggest weaknesses, see attached photo. I need to get better at getting up and down, over 10 rounds from Dec '19 thru mid Feb 2020, my short game is costing me over 4 strokes per round. Looking back, I'm getting up and down maybe 20% of the time. My bunker play is decent. But from the grass I'm just terrible. Too many duffs and thins. So I need to work on that. GOAL - Improve up/down to 50% Hitting greens is also not a great strength, my GIR is probably around 33% (6/18). With me gaining strokes off the tee vs a scratch golfer, I immediately give it all back and then some with my iron and wedge play. If my iron play improves, it relies less on my short game, which would also save me strokes. Goal - Improve GIR % to 61% (11/18) - the average scratch golfer hits 12 GIR. I think a 2 handicap should be able to do 11. I think focusing more on putts has already begun to drop my strokes gained in that category. As I've seen around these forums, putting is a pretty simple task to master. I just need to actually focus on the green and not just "try and get this close". Every Shot Counts would say you want your putt to finish past the hole, so I need to really not leave putts short, but also not blow it 5 feet past the hole. Goal - Improve Strokes Gained putting to .5 vs a scratch golfer I don't really need the driver drills as much. In fact, I probably shouldn't touch my driver at the range at all for a while. I don't want that skill to weaken, but it's already so many light years ahead of the other aspects of my game, that I don't need to worry about it. All that to finally get around to developing a practice plan to work on these weaknesses. I really like this video, I have copied his spreadsheet into google documents so I can easily track it on my phone. I'll tailor it more to my game, and hopefully over the next month or two I'll see my scores drop. Goal: Track and record my practice progress for 6 straight months with this spreadsheet. Hitting the golf course to practice or play at least 4x/week.

I think if you wanted to continue actual discussions on making this viable, you'd have to first address how to get the USGA to lighten up their rules on amateur vs pro status and the prizes you're allowed to win, which if I'm reading correctly, is only $750. Without that rule change, other conversations are pointless. I'd love to see bigger amateur events, but it just won't happen because as others have pointed out, the rules don't allow it. https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-of-amateur-status.html#!rule-03

Played 9 last night, shot a 38. Better than I've been playing lately, but it's where I should be playing at more often. The "No 6s challenge" really had me analyze my game and try and eliminate the bigger misses. Finally decided to take more club into each green and swing easy, what a game changer! Was hitting pin-high all day. That alone saved me probably 2-4 strokes. Two different putts cost me two strokes. I missed a 3.5 footer for birdie on #3 and blew a 10 ft putt past the hole by about 4.5 ft on #7, then missed the come backer. Almost chipped in on #8. I missed a 7 footer from the fringe on #4. All in all it was a great round, can't wait to try and replicate it again so this differential shows up for the handicap. Played 9 last night, shot a 38. Better than I've been playing lately, but it's where I should be playing at more often. The "No 6s challenge" really had me analyze my game and try and eliminate the bigger misses. Finally decided to take more club into each green and swing easy, what a game changer! Was hitting pin-high all day. That alone saved me probably 2-4 strokes. Two different putts cost me two strokes. I missed a 3.5 footer for birdie on #3 and blew a 10 ft putt past the hole by about 4.5 ft on #7, then missed the come backer. Almost chipped in on #8. I missed a 7 footer from the fringe on #4. All in all it was a great round, can't wait to try and replicate it again so this differential shows up for the handicap.

How's the golf in Norway? I feel like you only get to play for about 4-5 months out of the year!

Hey everyone! Just another guy in his mid-30s trying to get better at this beautifully frustrating game. Currently at a 6.9 (nice!) index, hoping to get under a 2.0 this year. Anyone care to share some pointers? Gamegolf says my short game and putting are my weaknesses, so that's where most of my focus will be this year it seems.