puttnfool changed the title to On the verge no more! Go to post 128! .
The 70's are lurking... (post 193)
rsvman Well, I "snuck off" with a par today on 14. My results on 15 were not so great, but it was a nice feeling to hit that little half SW in there, stop it about 8' away, and sink the putt for par.
Congrats, Jeremy!
All you really needed was to get back into the habit of playing and some time to figure out how to better manage the more difficult holes.
Well done!
PA-PLAYA Yes, I know. I figured it'd take a while so I'm not too surprised either that I shot a "low" round or that it took ~25 rounds to do it. I'm just glad that's finally outta the way. Now, back to the grind. I'm not stupid enough to believe I'm gonna do this every time out. I'd just really like to get back to playing mostly bogey/par golf with a couple birdies thrown in for good measure and being ok with the occasional double or triple.
Still on the quest to end the 3-putts. Of all my shoulda, woulda, coulda's on the course, the 3 putts probably irk me most.
Lookin' forward to our round next Saturday!
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Played a course I've never played today... Hanover Golf Club. It played about 6400 yards, I think, from the tee we were playing. I shot a 47/48-95. Not great, but not awful. Hit a few decent putts. Only had one 3 putt and it was about a 30' putt with about 8' of break in it so I wasn't too disappointed. Was fun to get out and get in a decent round on a course I'd never seen. The game is coming around. I just went back and went through my scorecard... I hit 9 fairways today. That's fairly good for me.
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Had okay 9 today , out @ 9 over
Keeping blowup holes in check today and one three putt
Another great sunny morning.
Provisional I can deal with a 9 over sometimes. Was it 9 straight bogeys or did you toss a par or two in the mix?
puttnfool once a week recreational play so don't really expect much better than bogy golf. Breaking 90 has been my goal for several years so I'm pretty happy
Always looking for better of course but not having to experience big meltdowns makes for happy day for me.
Only lost one ball , for a penalty drive shot on #8 but I saw where it landed in rough a couple of feet off fw but with brumuda rough here you'd have to step on your ball to find it so I played my provisional, AGAIN, whatever. missed some easy putts and chips so easily could have been better.
"If ifs & buts were candy & nuts , oh whata partty we'd have "
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Provisional You can break 90 easily, IF......you get in the fw off the tee!! You're playing a course with nasty rough, obviously, and you can ill afford to be hitting from it 2/9, giving you only 1 GIR, and expect to score better.
Unless you can chip & putt like a Pro. And with 17 putts in 9 holes, you can't do either.
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Example....
I shot the ugliest 81 today. No complaints about score but i was driving the ball weakly, but straight. I could not hit the ball off the ground worth a damn. One skulled worm burner after another, but straight. My wedges and putter were on fire. 26 putts total for a solid score. I kept the ball in play and chipped and putted my way to 2nd place in my league match.
The Eye 2 +no+ 50 degree and Eye 2 Gorge 56 degree and B60 putter saved my sorry ass ball striking. BTW, I hit ONE GIR.
Par4QC
Hate to say it, but I was pretty pleased with my 90 today.
My usual is considerably worse. I might be called Hoover instead of Provisional because my game sucker so bad.
Working on it.
Provisional Hey, just trying to help. Won't happen again, to be sure.
Par4QC
Please be sure I appreciate your help and must just say how much I've enjoyed your posts here. My game is a poor in scoring attempt , but that's not a measure of how much I enjoy it ,only my competence at it.
If there's suggestions you all have for helping improve my scores , God only knows I want them and need them.
I've found that things in print can fail to express our true wishes and are almost always sound harsher than desired. I apologize if this happened.
Provisional Well, Ok then. Just from having 'been there/done that' about not being able to lower a score. Just had noticed on your card where you were not hitting fw off the tee and know from experience that is nothing better than bogey golf. And with 17 putts for 9 holes, it looks like the chipping may be a bit suspect also. Getting in the fw more often and closer to the hole at the same time by chipping closer, I could see you then be trying to break 80!! 90 would be a thing of the past.
Just yesterday, had a horrible round myself. Maybe a couple fw hits, can't recall even 1 GIR, even on the Par 3s. And playing the back tees like an idiot. But, the pw/sw/putter all were on my side for an 84. Thinking about what 'could have been'.
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Par4QC
My usual golf partner this year was a golfing coach at MS Southern here , so I'm lucky to be getting some help in our practice rounds. He noted that My aim point with irons was way to the right , but when I corrected aim point shots my go way left. My swing plane is way out to in. I'm having to drastically redo. Many pulled irons. Getting better, with lots of balls just off green that don't show on stats. "It's a process" as Tiger says???? Jim"s recommended a pro to get lessons from , so I think I'lldo that too.
Learning to manage game some too. Made nice decision to use 9 iron to clear top of tree on #9 from left rough, instead of hard 8 iron to reach green . Nice chip got me close but missed putt.
My driver needs work , as you note, , I've been working mostly on irons lately to it's detriment . Odd, but slicing has not been a big issue . My miss is topping so balls they hit ground just in front of tee about 4 inches then go almost nowhere . Moving laterally and chilli dipping . Charles Barkley move. I actually broke shaft in my driver earlier this year that way.
Funny how when one type of club works, the other deserts me.
Thanks for suggestions to help my scoring.
Par4QC I disagree that hitting FWs is integral to breaking 90. Depending on the course you're playing, it can be very playable from off the fairway, especially given that, unless you're playing a US Open course setup, many courses have a very playable first cut. I've broken 90 many times while hitting 4-5 fairways all day. I think the 82 I shot just a few posts up only had about 4-6 fairways, then I shot a 95 with 9 fairways.
On another note, I set up a putter drill that's simply a clothesline from the Dollar Tree with a tee every 3'. It's about 21' long total so I can easily pinpoint the 3', 6', 9', 12', 15', 18', and 21' spots from the hole on the practice green. I gauge my distance from the hole by pacing off the longer putts and basically each step = more or less 3' so I can really transfer this practice to my game.
Took it out last night and was putting the lights out with it. I'm focusing more on distance control with it, but I was making like the first 5 putts last night nearly every time. Even made a few of the 18' and 21' putts.
I've yet to have a decent scoring round absent of some good putting. Sometimes it means being able to comfortably negotiate putts outside of 30 feet to tap-in distance (as in not needing to mark the ball to putt-out), with the occasional par-saving putt from beyond 4 feet.
Yet I try to make them all, regardless of the distance and the situation. I feel that (for me) my approach putt ends up much closer to the hole when trying to make versus when I try to lag a putt to within a few feet of the hole. The level of focus is clearly much more pronounced.
Which is why many times, especially if the practice putting green is crowded prior to the round, I place a tee into the green and putt to it versus putting to a hole where others are putting to. The smaller target increases my focus, and the more likely I am to hit the target. And although I might not hit the tee, obviously a regulation-size cup is much bigger. Narrowing my focus certainly helps.
I tend to spend most of my putting practice these days on pace control from beyond 25-30 feet and working on those putts inside of 5 feet. I might miss the 30-footer, but my practice on those putts from 3 feet and closer tend to be a lot less stressful.
Phil Mickelson's short-game DVD from several years ago revealed that he spent a lot of time working on the shorter putts from 3 feet. His theory was that just about everyone can make a 3-footer with a reasonably reliable putting stroke. When I look back on those rounds over the past few years when my scores have inflated beyond my handicap range, they most always represent either a very bad tee game or poor putting from 3 feet or less, or both.
It's not written in stone, of course... but keeping the ball in play and making short putts tend to lead to good scoring.