Golf- How tough is it?! Can you break 100/90/80?!

There’s a video on YouTube of Gary Player at a golf clinic where he emphasises the importance of the short game.

He says if a 16 handicapper hit the drives and he hit their second shot they’d be 4 handicap. If he hit the drive and the 16 handicapper hit the second shot then they’d score like a 16 handicap. He says from 100 yards out that’s where the scoring is done.

If you look at the PGA tour and look at some of the lads that are last in driving accuracy, look at their strokes gained on the green and I bet you they’re up at the top. Short game is where it’s at. Wilco Nienaber is one of the longest hitters in professional golf but his short game is poor. Seamus Power had a terrible driving accuracy percentage on the PGA tour but he’s renowned for his short game. A 300 yard drive counts the same as a 10 yard chip shot or 4 foot putt.

I had 35 points off 8 handicap a few weeks ago and didn’t hit one fairway all day. My driver was awful and my 3 wood was just as bad. I scratched the first two holes and just knuckled down and played for pride. Ended up being delighted how I played and navigated my way around the course considering how bad I was off the tee.

A year or two ago, if I scratched the first two holes my head would go and I would hack my around for the remainder of the round. What I’ve learned to do if I get in to bad spots on a hole is take stock of the situation and assess all the options. I don’t mean spend 5 mins messing around. I mean take 30 seconds to weigh up what I’m going to do. I’m longer than most players so if I’m out of position I’ll go to my ball while they’re playing their shot. That gives me an extra few seconds to make my mind up. If I’m playing poorly I try not to lose focus because I can learn something all the time. There’s not one day I go out playing where I don’t come away without learning something new.

When trying to break 10/90/80 or whatever your goal is. Just stay focused because one good shot can turn a round on its head completely and it becomes a totally different game then.

I shot the joint best round of my life on Sunday. 76. I was -2 for the back 9. I play off 9

Just had a look at my round on shotscope VS average for the year.

Fairways and Greens in regulation were exact same as average for the year, 44% and 40% respectively.

My up and down % was 85% vs 38% average. Its all about the short game, get better at it and you will get better

I went from struggling to break 90 last year to regularly breaking it this year and have broke 85 on a number of occasions. My hcap index has gone from 14.9 to 12 and wont go any higher for next 11 rounds as my top 8 scores are from my last 9 rounds.

I seem to have done the opposite of what many are advocating here. Ie drop to 3 wood and hit fairways ect

Firstly there was 3 holes (1st, 3rd and 13th) that I always used a rescue/wood/iron of the tee to try lay up short of bunkers and keep out of trouble. When I looked at my stats I wasn't getting any benefit from this and was still missing fairways or hitting bad shots yet still had work to do even if hitting a good one. I changed to driver off the tee and although have hit in the bunkers on occasion on avarage I am closer the hole and scoring way better on those 3 holes.

Driver- I have hit it more often for start but also more consistent. I have stopped trying to fight the fade. Stopped trying to hit it straight and stopped try to draw it off a right to left wind. Every hole I set up, aim at left side of fairway and play to fade (even in left to right wind) This has lead to less misshits and tops. Driving average has gone from 248 at start of season to 267 yards now.

My irons are probably as bad as they have ever been and struggled with this throughout but strike is a lot better. Adam youngs strike plan was good for this. Less duffs, tops and Sh*nks which just ruin a card.

Now to try break 80 I think my irons need to get better and there is definitely room for improvement in short game. But I think the key to breaking 90 is try not to complicate things by trying to lay up to yardages ect we aren't good enough to get any advantage to that. Get the ball as close to the hole and in play as possible and minimise the misshits.

Breaking 80 is not an easy thing to do. Since I did it for the first time I'd say I manage it 2-3 times a year, and have to play very good golf to do so. I'd be a very consistent 80s golfer now

There are a few critical things you you need to focus on, in my opinion, to get your scores down.

• Don't worry too much about making birdies, you don't need them to break 80. Interesting stat I saw on this was, a scratch golfer averages 1.8 birdies per round. If you're a guy shooting in the 90s, you shouldn't be beating yourself up about not making enough birdies.
• The critical one, when you're coming down, is avoiding Doubles or worse. This guy has some great stuff on his site, https://practical-golf.com/ really worth having a read of some of the articles.
• Learn how to take your medicine. Taking on a 1 in 10 shot isn't going to work for most people. Trust in your game that you can recover a score if you need to take some punishment. One way I've heard things described is to be conservative but committed, ie, be conservative in your shot selection, but be committed to the shot that you select. I think that this holds true pretty much until you have a short iron or wedge in your hand. If you've put the work in, in practice, you can be a bit more aggressive with the shorter clubs, but know when to avoid the bad miss, middle of the green is generally safer than taking on a tucked pin, over a bunker. The stats will say that you'll two putt considerably more often than you will get up and down.

I think that, broadly speaking, the consensus now, since Stroked Gained stats have come in, is that, Drive for Show, Putt for Dough, is a myth and that there is a massive correlation between driving distance and scoring. So the longest you can hit it, while keeping it in play (in the rough but not blocked out counts here) the better. GIR is seen as a major stat to get scores down, so target improving that number for yourself.

Short game will of course make a difference quickly to your scores, but long game probably has a potentially bigger longer term effect.

That is good shooting - find yourself a good pro and range and get 5 lessons - and hit a good few 1000s of balls.

Took a lot of the advice from this thread to the course last weekend and shot 37 points. Didn't quite break 90 (93) but should have. Loss of focus after a mid round call from work, a ropey OOB off the tee cost and a ball flying miles and ending up unplayable after hitting a bunker rake cost me the most. Can't wait for next weekend to try and repeat and better the weekend just gone.

I played our singles comp yesterday and had a disaster of a day. Everything just felt off - driving and ball striking was just desperate. I don’t know if it’s the colder and windier conditions just not suiting me or what it was but it was a very poor round. I’ve broken 80 in my last three rounds, including a best ever score thrown in there, I’m not going to say effortlessly but I didn’t feel like I was playing out of my skin I just felt comfortable but that all changed yesterday and I just about broke 90.

If I have another couple of rounds like I did yesterday then I’m going to pull the plug until the new year. Playing in cold and wet or windy conditions and playing poorly is the quickest way to ruin confidence and all of a sudden things go pear shaped altogether very quickly. It happened me before where I lost all confidence and I ended up taking nearly 9 months away.

I often feel similar about winter golf. I keep telling myself that I’d do the range sessions to keep my eye in but that never happens.

eventually paddy’s day comes around and I think about a return to the course. What follows swiftly is a regret that I did not keep getting out each weekend for 12 holes.

I hate winter golf. We are a soggy parkland and losing balls that plug in the fairway can be very frustrating.

It could have been me that mentioned it earlier in the thread. It’s a great way to get the eye in. I did it this evening but brought my 50 and 60 degree wedges and a 9 iron.

i hit the 50 degree from 100 yards out, the 60 from 50 yards and the 9 iron for bump and run shots. No putting this evening but will get back out towards the end of the week and bring the 50 degree and the putter. I find the 50 degree is the hardest iron for me to hit well and any club from 9 or below I want to be razor sharp with by the start of next summer.

I had a chat with a fellow member this evening and we were talking about the importance of the short game. He shot 79 the other day and he said 43 of his shots were from 100 yards out or less I’ve the 18 holes. He had 10 bogeys and no doubles but left 5 birdie or par putts in the jaws. When you break it down like that and actually pay attention to the number of shots from 100 yards or less it’s amazing to think what you can shoot by tidying up the short game and putting.

i don't really notice any differences in stroke, however, what it serves to do is take pressure off each stroke I play. Take the 1st 3 holes as listed. the 1st hole in athlone is a 370 yard par4, which for me most of the time is a drive and a 7 iron. Knowing that I have mentally marked myself down for a 5 here means I can play each shot in a more relaxed manner. If I miss the green with my second shot, no big deal (hopefully), chip on, 2 putts with a chance of an up and down.

Before applying this strategy, if I bogeyed the first I might have been kicking myself and heaping pressure on myself for the 2nd, but now that its part of the plan, then I smile and move on and if I par or birdie the hole, it's a bonus towards achieving my +2 target for the 3 holes.

since applying this strategy, it has happened more often than not that I have been +1 or better after 3 holes and I put that down to being more relaxed because of a smaller narrower goal and I find it surprisingly easy to shelve my 3 previous holes and focus on my next 3. My strategy doesn't change but I find that if I do have a bad 3 holes somewhere I can resolve it better because of the strategy.

In the most recent comp I played, I found myself 1 over for my 1st 3 holes, level for my next 3 and then 4 over for my 3rd set of 3(2 doubles and a par). Once, this would have melted me but I was able to shelve it really well because my gameplan was to be 5 over after 9, so despite the mishap I was still very much on target. My last 3 sets went 1 over, 1 over and then the deluge came and I shot 3 over for the last 3 holes.

So, long story short ::

I still play each hole/stroke the way I used to, I'm just less stressed about the outcome.

Beating or missing a target doesn't change my outlook for future sets of 3 holes. Stick to the plan, it's a good plan!

https://shotscope.com/blog/stats/driver-versus-3-wood/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=fb_ig&utm_campaign=wahblog&fbclid=PAAaaH5gLWyqDPNV7KmSNfsWHvfBQnicBW07kjMHmHt2NtRI8pZhNOZ6Cu5jM

This is where the answer lies, chipping and putting!!! I’m a fairly big hitter and a decent iron player, Id average about 275-280 off the tee. But for years I was floating between 14-12 handicap with those numbers. It was actually getting embarrassing as when I moved to Dublin and joined a new club, a few lads would look at me as if I was some kind of bandit when they see me hitting the first few drivers and approach shots but over the course of the round my bad putts would always way out number my decent drives. I just put off addressing this issue for too long until 1 day in a medal where I 4 putted on 3 different holes I said I’d either never play again or try address it….got myself some short game lessons and practiced like a demon on the drills for months, a few days a week. It did take a while but I eventually got there and then between March and September of 2018 I went form 13.4 down to 6.8. I played some unbelievable golf that summer, if I’m honest I haven’t quite matched it since. But I now float between 7/8 and I’m quite happy with that as kids and stuff have come into my life so time for major practice and game changes is not there. I have played 15 qualifying rounds this year and my biggest score was 38 and my lowest 33 with lots of 34,35 and 36’s in-between so I am just happy to be playing consistent golf with just the odd clanger here and there. But for me addressing the chipping and mainly putting was my big game saver….

Handicap shot up to 18 after totally losing my game and getting a dose of the shanks. You'd wonder some days is it worth it and whether you can justify time and expense with a young family. Morning didn't get off to a great start when I tried to superglu the sole that had lifted off one of the golf shoes only to get it all over my hands as well. Alas hit the course yesterday morning with very low expectations and found myself 4 over after 12 and on track to break 80 for first time ever but a seemingly ok shot from next fairway on par 5 got lost amidst autumnal leaves and that was all she wrote. Some green shoots there though. No 3 putts and some good par saves scrambling.

Played a work social event at my home course over the weekend. I was delighted to get 36 points inc 8 pars with 3x scratches (89 off 16), my best competition score in a couple of months. My group had a guy with 5hc and playing our track for the first time. He shot a pretty comfortable 80. What was the difference between our rounds?

Distance-wise we were pretty much the same and he was using a borrowed 10yo driver, probably with the wrong flex (definitely a disadvantage). No. of putts was similar but he made longer putts. He made a couple of excellent bogey saves and birdie from over 17ft. I think I missed one inside 10ft but most of my putts were closer proximity than his. I wasn't making the same GIRs as him and chipping/pitching on when he had a long birdie putt. Crucially at the end, he made sure that on each hole he came away with a point - on a new course this is really good going.

The big difference was that if he made a mistake on a hole, that would be it and then scramble a par or bogey at worst. Whereas I would compound things and make 2-3 more errors to end up with a double or triple (mostly chunks and two hero shots that never should have been attempted). Also, the 5hcguy's short game was so consistently good and recoveries always left a makeable par/bogey putt. There was no flashy shots just consistent solid execution.

I was super impressed with his ability to recover and overall consistency. There wasn't a particular attribute of his game that blows you away. Just consistent solid execution, correct shot choices and never being mentally affected by a bad stroke. He might grumble after a bad shot/putt but by the time he lined up the next one, it was a distant memory and back in the zone.