How to shoot low scores? Have never broken 90

thed0n · October 24, 2019

I'm going to the keep it simple, to break 90, just do the following (1) play the same course over and over again (preferably something like a par 71 with a low 120ish slope), and (2) play from the forward tees. Once you get past the mental hurdle of breaking 90 once, you can focus on the rest to consistently break 90.

Pick a course you know well, if you really want to get crazy then you can (1) develope a tee shot strategy for every hole which only consists of club selection and aim, then stick to it for every round. Unless you have a dependable iron or hybrid, most of your tee shots should be with driver, AND (2) if you are in trouble, get back on the fairway in the easiest possible way, NO HERO SHOTS. The goal is to have has many low stress shots as you can (i.e., shots from the fairway, easy chips, putts uphill, and putts from the same tier as the hole).

KGilma · October 24, 2019

I feel your pain. I've been back playing again for a year, now. I've yet to break 90. Multiple 91's but haven't broke through, yet. I know where I lose the most strokes is on the blow ups. I'll start out good, with a par or even a bogey I consider good,if I hit a bad tee shot. I'll make make 4 or 5 pars in a row maybe even throw in a birdie once in a while. My putting has gotten way better since I had a putter fitting, too, but thats another story. Then I'll bogey a hole because I missed the green on a par 3 or got out of position with my drive. No problem, take your medicine and move on.

Then, I will find myself with a perfect tee shot, and I will chunk my wedge, or shank it, then chunk it again, now i'm sitting 4 and haven't even hit a put yet. This happens at least once on the front and once on the back 9. Maybe I just get to relaxed or i lose my focus slightly after a great shot. A hole that should be a par or better turns into a 7. Then I'll do it again on the next hole. My round of Even or +1 goes to +8 in two holes, time. It will take me 2 or 3 holes to regain my composure, then I'm back to making pars but by this time the round is almost a lost cause.

I've gotten better at minimizing the mistakes lately, and regaining my focus after a mistake. I even broke 40 on a quick 9 twice last week. Improvements coming just in time for winter break, lol.

Z1ggy16 · October 24, 2019

I broke 90 for the first time by pretty much just not losing balls. Still kind of made some poo poo iron shots but it's almost impossible to have a mediocre swing (or better) and not break 90 if you keep the same ball in play all round.

I played a twilight round by myself (so didn't count in handicap, but I still use it for stats) this summer where all I used was a 4i off the tee from 6100 yards and shot a 73 thru 16 holes. Last 2 holes were par 4 par 5, so I was probably looking at shooting 82, worst case 83- if I had been able to beat the sunset.

Screw your ego and take less than driver ALWAYS until you can consistently break 90, and every now and then shoot 85 or less. I seriously won't even think about my driver unless there's fairway or massive room on either side of the fairway I am playing to. The exception is that I've got an okay swing and I also feel pretty confident in my 3w, so I do use that most of the time now. The only time I would advocate using driver is if somehow you're one of those rare 20+ handicappers who hits driver well, but is just god awful at chipping at putting, or you somehow can't stop putting yourself into bunkers. I'm not sure if you follow Golf Sidekick on youtube, but he recently posted a vid where this literal 80 something year old guy was basically shooting par by just hitting fairways, and getting his ball anywhere on or near the green for his 2nd. No joke, this man was 80 and could probably break 80 9 out of 10 rounds from anything under 6100 yards. He just missed making par on a 400+ yard par 4 driving his ball like... 200 yards. He'd break 90 from 6500 - 6700 yards I bet, too.

I don't believe in slowing down the swing either to try and "control" your drives. Make your swing, hit a 210-220 yard shot off the tee and keep it in or near the short grass on every single par 4 and par 5, and I can almost promise you'll shoot an 89 or better. Remember, when trying to break 90 you literally just need to make 1 par worst case, and the rest of the time it's bogey central. Eliminate the big scores by not losing balls, and consistently hitting your ball in the general direction of the pin. You can hit 0 of 18 greens and break 90, remember that. You just can't shank one OB or chunk the ball 5 feet if you hit the fairway. IF that's your case, get some lessons and work on the swing a little bit, too.

jim rockford · October 24, 2019

someone mentioned "hero shots"....... that's a very good subject for breaking any score..... i'm a big hero shot person, but i need to face the fact, they never work. even when i hit a very impressive one i'm usually off the green by alot anyway.

i course marshalled a tight hole on the pga canada tour (advancement for top 5 to korn ferry) for 4 days.......... i was shocked (flabber-gasted??) by how conservative players were on their recovery shots from the trees. i definitely would have tried more aggressive shot..... and these are minus 5 handicap players. and i'm a 12.....

so NO HERO SHOTS... is another good piece of advice.

brew4eagle · October 24, 2019

> @Z1ggy16 said:

> I broke 90 for the first time by pretty much just not losing balls. Still kind of made some poo poo iron shots but it's almost impossible to have a mediocre swing (or better) and not break 90 if you keep the same ball in play all round.

>

> I played a twilight round by myself (so didn't count in handicap, but I still use it for stats) this summer where all I used was a 4i off the tee from 6100 yards and shot a 73 thru 16 holes. Last 2 holes were par 4 par 5, so I was probably looking at shooting 82, worst case 83- if I had been able to beat the sunset.

>

> Screw your ego and take less than driver ALWAYS until you can consistently break 90, and every now and then shoot 85 or less. I seriously won't even think about my driver unless there's fairway or massive room on either side of the fairway I am playing to. The exception is that I've got an okay swing and I also feel pretty confident in my 3w, so I do use that most of the time now. The only time I would advocate using driver is if somehow you're one of those rare 20+ handicappers who hits driver well, but is just god awful at chipping at putting, or you somehow can't stop putting yourself into bunkers. I'm not sure if you follow Golf Sidekick on youtube, but he recently posted a vid where this literal 80 something year old guy was basically shooting par by just hitting fairways, and getting his ball anywhere on or near the green for his 2nd. No joke, this man was 80 and could probably break 80 9 out of 10 rounds from anything under 6100 yards. He just missed making par on a 400+ yard par 4 driving his ball like... 200 yards. He'd break 90 from 6500 - 6700 yards I bet, too.

>

> I don't believe in slowing down the swing either to try and "control" your drives. Make your swing, hit a 210-220 yard shot off the tee and keep it in or near the short grass on every single par 4 and par 5, and I can almost promise you'll shoot an 89 or better. Remember, when trying to break 90 you literally just need to make 1 par worst case, and the rest of the time it's bogey central. Eliminate the big scores by not losing balls, and consistently hitting your ball in the general direction of the pin. You can hit 0 of 18 greens and break 90, remember that. You just can't shank one OB or chunk the ball 5 feet if you hit the fairway. IF that's your case, get some lessons and work on the swing a little bit, too.

>

Disagree with theory on the driver, unless op is a terrible driver, but it doesn't sound that way. Using driver should greatly increase chances at pars and birdies, and if op follows the 'no hero shot' advice and gets back into play after a bad drive the birdie/par chances should outweigh the 'take your medicine' strokes. Not taking driver is like an automatic partial penalty on par 5s and longer par 4s.

jim rockford · October 24, 2019

i have thought of using driver off the tee vs. NOT in recent weeks.......... one thing about watching elite players is they don't need the length of the driver. but most of us HH do need the length... and i've found the ball being teed up high and the giant face of the driver means that the HH hits it quite well on some relative basis vs. other clubs.

one big big thing and it relates to the "hero shot" comments........ you can't turn a fairly narrow 420 yard par 4 into a 7 or 8 most times you play it. you have to really try to nail that bogey, par if you hit a nice shorter wedge.

get rid of big numbers............ pros won't to get rid of bogeys and make some birdies..... 12 handicap you want to avoid double or worse at all costs. again, it is not as fun as wailing away.

thed0n · October 25, 2019

> @brew4eagle said:

> > @Z1ggy16 said:

> > I broke 90 for the first time by pretty much just not losing balls. Still kind of made some poo poo iron shots but it's almost impossible to have a mediocre swing (or better) and not break 90 if you keep the same ball in play all round.

> >

> > I played a twilight round by myself (so didn't count in handicap, but I still use it for stats) this summer where all I used was a 4i off the tee from 6100 yards and shot a 73 thru 16 holes. Last 2 holes were par 4 par 5, so I was probably looking at shooting 82, worst case 83- if I had been able to beat the sunset.

> >

> > Screw your ego and take less than driver ALWAYS until you can consistently break 90, and every now and then shoot 85 or less. I seriously won't even think about my driver unless there's fairway or massive room on either side of the fairway I am playing to. The exception is that I've got an okay swing and I also feel pretty confident in my 3w, so I do use that most of the time now. The only time I would advocate using driver is if somehow you're one of those rare 20+ handicappers who hits driver well, but is just god awful at chipping at putting, or you somehow can't stop putting yourself into bunkers. I'm not sure if you follow Golf Sidekick on youtube, but he recently posted a vid where this literal 80 something year old guy was basically shooting par by just hitting fairways, and getting his ball anywhere on or near the green for his 2nd. No joke, this man was 80 and could probably break 80 9 out of 10 rounds from anything under 6100 yards. He just missed making par on a 400+ yard par 4 driving his ball like... 200 yards. He'd break 90 from 6500 - 6700 yards I bet, too.

> >

> > I don't believe in slowing down the swing either to try and "control" your drives. Make your swing, hit a 210-220 yard shot off the tee and keep it in or near the short grass on every single par 4 and par 5, and I can almost promise you'll shoot an 89 or better. Remember, when trying to break 90 you literally just need to make 1 par worst case, and the rest of the time it's bogey central. Eliminate the big scores by not losing balls, and consistently hitting your ball in the general direction of the pin. You can hit 0 of 18 greens and break 90, remember that. You just can't shank one OB or chunk the ball 5 feet if you hit the fairway. IF that's your case, get some lessons and work on the swing a little bit, too.

> >

>

> Disagree with theory on the driver, unless op is a terrible driver, but it doesn't sound that way. Using driver should greatly increase chances at pars and birdies, and if op follows the 'no hero shot' advice and gets back into play after a bad drive the birdie/par chances should outweigh the 'take your medicine' strokes. Not taking driver is like an automatic partial penalty on par 5s and longer par 4s.

Yes, I also disagree with your theory on driver. For most high handicappers ("HH"), driver is the best option. There's really no other long club that is any better in terms of distance and forgiveness versus accuracy. I can duff a 3 wood, hybrid or 5 iron just as easily when I was a HH. In my opinion, taking less off the tee to get the ball in play is really a more advanced strategy (at least someone that has a predictable miss or tendency). Of course, there are exceptions, but most HH spray everything but at least with driver, they'll be further down the fairway.

I'm just trying to give the OP advice that he can do on the course, today, at this moment. Sounds like much of the advice, while good, requires the OP to get some practice in. If the OP is already close to breaking 90, the easiest way to break 90 is to continue to play the course in which the OP was closest to breaking 90. While practicing helps, it's better to get the rounds in. Inherently, after a couple rounds, the OP will figure out which par 3s are better to miss short, etc. That will come with playing rounds.

As far as hero shots are concerned, anything that requires going over, under, or around a tree or branch is a hero shot, long irons from deep rough or bad lies are the same; carrying water as well. If you have no shot, it's tempting to try to hit something as far as you can to be closest to the green. But if there's any risk whatsoever, it's just best to advance the ball 100 yards (or less) back onto the fairway. As an HH, if there's a chance you'll hit that tree, believe me, you'll probably hit that tree.

andrue · October 25, 2019

> @KGilma said:

> I've gotten better at minimizing the mistakes lately, and regaining my focus after a mistake. I even broke 40 on a quick 9 twice last week. Improvements coming just in time for winter break, lol.

Earlier this year I had the week off work and on the Monday went around the front of my club in 39, followed by 51 on the back. The next day was Tuesday and I did much the same. The amusing difference (!) is that on Mondays and Fridays my club swaps the front and back. So that means I now know that I'm capable of going round my club in 78. Not bad for a +22 :)

One thing I've _never_ managed to do anywhere is break 80. My lowest ever score was a couple of years ago when I got 80. Would've been lower but on the 18th I decided to celebrate a record breaking round with an awesome drive down the fairway. You can guess how that turned out :-/

KGilma · October 25, 2019

> @andrue said:

> > @KGilma said:

> > I've gotten better at minimizing the mistakes lately, and regaining my focus after a mistake. I even broke 40 on a quick 9 twice last week. Improvements coming just in time for winter break, lol.

>

> Earlier this year I had the week off work and on the Monday went around the front of my club in 39, followed by 51 on the back. The next day was Tuesday and I did much the same. The amusing difference (!) is that on Mondays and Fridays my club swaps the front and back. So that means I now know that I'm capable of going round my club in 78. Not bad for a +22 :)

>

> One thing I've _never_ managed to do anywhere is break 80. My lowest ever score was a couple of years ago when I got 80. Would've been lower but on the 18th I decided to celebrate a record breaking round with an awesome drive down the fairway. You can guess how that turned out :-/

I know I can shoot in the 80's or lower. I did it frequently 12 years ago when I played all the time, then I quit playing because I was fishing more often. It's frustrating right now, but I know I will get back there. Everyone I play with says no way your a 19 hc. Then I chunk one, or 4. LOL.

Petethreeput · October 27, 2019

This isn’t so much as “you need to...” rather it’s what I think based on my game.

When I get on a monitor I tend to relax to a comfortable swing. Using a 7i as example, I “can” hit it 175 yards. It’s not a high percentage shot for me. A comfortable controlled swing with a 7i is 155. The comfortable swing dispersion is much, much better.

The disconnect for me was on the course. I was playing my 7 175 yds. My handicap, not surprisingly started going up. Now, I don’t recommend this, but after my back surgery I wasn’t supposed to play for 12 weeks, but 11 weeks afterward there was a tournament I really wanted to play in. I truly couldn’t play at 100%, everything had to be at 80%.

Anyway, in 3 rounds at the end of the season, with a relaxed swing my hdcp dropped 3 strokes (50%). I now focus, not always with great success, on a relaxed tempo and this may also apply for your game.

My GIR increased bc of the improved dispersion.

Good luck.