Provisional Hey, just trying to help. Won't happen again, to be sure.
The 70's are lurking... (post 193)
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.
Loss of flexibility and strength since hitting my 70s age has been drastic for me. I didn't take up golf until 65 and retired and have never played more than weekly. 5 yrs ago, a newbe, I could hit drives 230 + with an occasional one into fantasy land and had reasonable luck finding FW . I loved hitting my loud sounding old PIAS Cobra LD driver and it mostly cooperated. Not so now . Had to move up to sr tees to compensate for all infirmities that have piled up and now bad swing tendencies have crept in. I'm having to try harder now which in itself is probably an issue . A good drive now nets me a few yds past 200. I bought 270 g UL Cleveland hoping to regain 10 or 15 yds, but slice city, had to trim shaft down, but now I'm just content to try to hit fw with whatever distance I get, really...
Seems that on days arthritis is hiding , I'll have smoother tempo and be more accurate & have more luck with driver. I'm playing weekly , pun, again so believe that the additional practice should improve my luck.
I enjoy reading and sharing on this forum and hearing what y'all have to say about your experiences with golf and life's journey.
Fairways & Greens to you all.
Hitting lots of fairways may not be critical to breaking 90 on SOME courses. Don't try it here on my home courses in FL. These courses wind thru neighborhoods and are lined with large Live Oak trees. Miss the fairway and you are either behind an oak or OB in someone's yard.
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puttnfool" a couple of feet off fw but with brumuda rough here you'd have to step on your ball to find it"...
This is why I made that statement.
Still though, a huge % of courses are not lined with sparse rough, which is what your courses must have. Most courses around my area will have you chopping out as best you can, unless you are a damn good striker.
And, any time you put grass between your clubface and ball, you'll lose distance, and sometimes accuracy to boot.
Pine Creek GC is where I'm going mostly of late and it has high cut on its brumuda rough. In winter it's not issue but now it is. Mostly wide open fairways are friendly to high index folks like me and there's lots of us here. Conducive to swing driver harder mentality but if it strays off fw just a little, good luck. It's what I'd expect for tournaments but sure slows us public course hackers down. Trying to convince manager/owners to reduce height of rough to get pace of play faster. It is best draining course in my area and with monsoon this year it's been a good choice.
I wonder what % fw hit average would be for a mid- high 80s level player? (That's been my goal for a long time now)Same question for average putts per round. My approach up until now has been to try to limit 3 putts to absolute minimum but not worry much over anything else putts wise. like I've noted, big blowups have been my biggest score killers, for example: 3 putts, lost or wet golf balls, poor ball contact, inability to string together 3 good shots in sequence.
Just solving one of these would drop me solidly into high 80s, I believe.
There are several holes at my club where one is better off missing a fairway by 20-30 feet versus 5 feet. Some of my worst lies this season have occurred no further than 3 feet beyond the fairway cutline.
PS - the bermuda rough doesn't kill me when I travel south. It's the tight bermuda lies down there in the summer months from about 60 yards from the green that makes my asshole pucker up.
Shot a "ho-hum" 84 yesterday in the heat. I think I drank 2-3 liters of water and a 32 oz Gatorade just to keep from dying.
I was burning the edges with the putter again. Must've missed 2 or 3 that just snuck barely by. Had two back to back triples that killed the score. One was a hooked 3wd resulting in a lost ball that I assume was buried in a pine tree and the other was just a pushed 5wd off the tee on a short (290ish) yard par 4 that ended up in an awful spot by the base of a tree. Probably should have declared it unplayable and dropped it straight back about 20 yards to get over the tree. Still probably would have had only about 130 to the pin. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.
Still yet, I bogey'd the last 3. One was a tough 3 putt that I just left myself too far from the hole get realistically get it close. The other two were 2 putt "routine" bogies. I'm not too upset actually with the one on 18. That's the hole on this course that has cooked my goose more times than one. I hooked a drive and had about 188 left. Hit a perfect layup GW to about 104, then hit my GW again to pin high, but about 15' right. Just missed the putt.
All in all, a decent day. I can live with 84's for a while. I know if I keep playing like this, then one day I'm gonna settle down, play a little smarter, make better decisions (declare unplayable when it's in my best interest), and get some putts to drop and get one more 70's round.
puttnfool
Mid 80s sounds wonderful to me! You must have had a birdy or two? Be like Steve and just remember the good shots, eh?
Nice to read about your games. Take some phone pics for us if it's not too distracting . I might try same to give some zip to posts.
A high light my last outting was good play on longest parr 5, #7 hole, 3rd handicap hole, 440 yds (don't laugh ,I'm old). I was practicing with 2 balls , two drivers, since course was pretty empty behind me . I had really nice strike on my first drive right down middle with my old G15 about 200-210 or so. So I hit my 2end driver , Cleveland 270 ultralight , same results about 15 yds left almost Same distance 
. A quick player came up behind , so I picked up second ball and hit a decent 3 wood, with my ball way above my feet and up slope, just into right rough leaving ~115 to flag, 9 iron just behind hole ~ 15 ft., 2 putted . But I'm smiling. Missed my birdy put on a parr 5. Only my 2nd time to parr the hole in lots of attempts. Only gir for the 9. Lost ball just few feet off fw on next hole, after letting Jimmy play through.
@#$&! Whatever, it's golf!
Provisional I definitely remember the good shots, but I feel it's necessary to remember the bad ines, too, so I don't repeat them. Case in point, the reason I even had a shot at par on 18 is because I remembered the debacle on that same hole (from nearly the same spot for my 2nd shot) just a few short weeks ago. I laid up perfectly, executed a fine 3rd shot, and had a decent shot at par.
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puttnfool your course #18 sounds like how our #8 is for me. 402 yds 1 handicap, parr 5 steep drop off to pond on geen approach with green back up high above pond on other side of it.
A " good" drive leaves 180+ so I have to layup unless I'm feeling stupid, which is also problematic with down slope right where layups are. I hate down hill lies.
I lucked into a ~115 yd halfway decent lie on my layup and caught ok 9 iron just above hole. 2 putts darn it again and lost ball penalty for bogy. I'm pretty happy with that on this hole. I even parred it two rounds before on my bday round. That card is on my refrigerator 
M
The pic here isn't it
Provisional That pic is of the course you normally play?
PA-PLAYA I will enviously attest to the man's putting. I will also say that with some of his assistance and certainly modeling he's had a positive effect upon my own putting. And yes, I totally agree that every effort is to be made! Years back I'd heard about a goal of lag putting to putt within a trashcan lid. Now, I've been to several 8 inch cup outings but, I've never seen a hole the size of a trashcan lid. Pick you line, commit to it, and all the remaining focus is on pace.
I'm glad putting is getting some more attention here. What percentage of your strokes are with the flatstick? Exactly!!
professor What percentage of your strokes are with the flatstick?
Unfortunately, I use more than half of my strokes getting to the green. My percentage of putts relative to my total strokes seems good when you consider the course is setup for half of your strokes to be putts. I'm normally around 30 putts each round out of 82-95 strokes. Just looking at the percentages, that'd look good, but it's not.
I'm getting to the point now where my short game is gonna save me more strokes than the long game. It took a few months, but I've finally gotten a little control over my tee game and now it's game time. I'm gonna start hitting the range... mainly the putting/chipping areas... and start shaving some strokes off the score.