OMG.... How long will this last.....

[Exactice808]

First and foremost let me preface with my wife and daughter are away visiting family for 3 weeks, its been 2 weeks and I have 1 week left. So I have tried to play as much golf as possible.

 

 

Since the Start of 2016 I have been on a golfer's high. I have played some of my..........wait.....I AM playing the BEST golf of my life, I have shot more rounds in the 70's in the last 3 weeks than I have EVER in my ENTIRE golfing life....... Quick example.

 

 

Scores for the Month of December last year 2015

 

85,88,92,84 (Average score 87.25)

 

 

Scores this month of January 2016

 

80,78,81,84,79 (Average scores 80.4)

 

 

 

7 strokes per round, Thats pretty huge in my book especially when reaching X level..... It wasnt like I had 1 lucky round or even 2.

 

 

This is a dream and I know there will be a point where I will hit a wall and my world will come back down..... Or.....can this really be a new leaf????

 

 

 

I guess this could be a passive brag.... but its also one of those cautions, golf gods are going to strike me down so fast, my head will spin.

 

 

Curious to know how some of you low handicap guys held on to this new territory mentally. I mean I never thought I could be shooting these scores and I dont know if I have even more lower scores in store.....could I possible shoot even Par who the heck knows, but this feels very foreign to me and very almost scary LOL

 

 

Just looking for some "Coaching" I guess from those that are at the threshold or that have gone through extreme scores swings like I have.

[Argonne69]

Congrats. I suggest you buy your wife and daughter plane tickets to visit her family again. If the good golf continues, you'll know the answer. :taunt:

[golfgirlrobin]

Well, it seems pretty clear that your family has been dragging you down.

 

 

[cardoustie]

GOOD PLAYING

 

If you can shoot 79 .. 75 should be around the corner

 

This happened to my twin last summer. His wife took the girls south to their vacation home and he was home with his 15 year old son. They played 18 days in a row and then the dream died

[Altiman94]

Keep playing. The more times you shoot low scores, the more comfortable you will be. I read somewhere that shooting under par requires alot of mental ability to be comfortable being under par and not changing up what got you there.

[Exactice808]

HAHAHAH Peeps you crack me up! LOL while I am sure there is truth... my 4 month old daughter effectively removed all my practicing at the range, I still played about once a week, Between that thought I probably just squeezed in 2 more rounds and 2 or 3 practice ranges in the last 3 weeks.

 

 

Dont want to say they are the reason, but I have played a little more since the nest is empty LOL!

 

 

 

Keep playing. The more times you shoot low scores, the more comfortable you will be. I read somewhere that shooting under par requires alot of mental ability to be comfortable being under par and not changing up what got you there.

 

This is great advise, makes sense you are right, I am battling the mental ability at this point too....... Its funny I am used to before, I am 3 over at the turn, and then the back nine hits and I start to question....when is the glass going to break....when is the glass going to break....thats so terrible as I am doubting myself. More so..... I shoot a 78 and the glass never broker... I held it together I should have believed it more... I think thats what happening now as I have shot lower and stayed lower..... I need to constantly believe I am there mentally and know I have the equipped skills to handle it.

 

Again its just weird as its very foreign and almost un natural

 

GOOD PLAYING

 

If you can shoot 79 .. 75 should be around the corner

 

This happened to my twin last summer. His wife took the girls south to their vacation home and he was home with his 15 year old son. They played 18 days in a row and then the dream died

 

I am hoping this is true... I wondered if I am capped out/tapped out.... or is there more to it... Thats the hard part too, there are limitations to everyone's game, I am wondering where I will stand......can I keep progressing as a 7 stroke swing is big...... could I squeeze out 4 more at an already difficult point hell..... could I ever will I shoot under par......what a dream that would be...

[TheGeekGolfer]

It wasn't just 'one round', it's been several. Mid 70's and yes, even par are within your reach. As JS says, "this is where we should be, not a run" (or something to that effect).

 

Passive brag alert! For example, I was down to a 8.3 about 4 years ago and had a goal to shoot 75 by end of year. I played a round with a good friend, easy going guy, course I knew well, and shot 73 (+1) with a missed birdie on 9th hole (too aggressive, tuned into bogey) and missed birdie on final hole (hit it where I wanted, read it wrong, lipped out). My hdcp has crept back up to 11 or 12 the last 2 or 3 years.

 

Now, I have it back down to a 6.8 (lowest ever). Last 5 rounds that I could count (before the real heavy rains hit) were ALL under 79. Now that you are hitting more fairways and greens, work on putting to make more of those 10-12 footers in a round, hitting the 'right' area of the greens, saving par when you do miss, and holing those chips that are make-able.

[elwyn07]

Judging by the time stamp on the OP i would say it stopped somewhere around 3:31 today!

 

You just jinxed yourself... here comes 90-town!

 

jk- Nice playing!

[Argonne69]

I think the key to repeatability is to identify what you did right, and repeat it. Did you avoid your normal blowup holes? Did you hit more fairways? Greens? Avoid 3 putts?

 

For me, breaking 80 on a regular basis is about managing bogies. I know I have 7 to work with. I avoid wild swings with the driver to avoid hazards, and keep the ball in play. If I miss wildly, I take my medicine and punch out. I still have a chance for par, but no worse than bogey by hitting the green. If I miss the green, my main thought is to get my 3rd shot on the green. I may get up and down for par with a good pitch/chip, but I take the double or worse out of play.

 

I focus a lot on lag putts. Statistically, you're not going to sink many long putts, but you can learn to lag them close to avoid a dreaded 3 putt.

 

Obviously, this all requires decent ball striking. If you're barely getting off the tee, or sailing shots left and right with little idea where they might go, you won't break 80 on a regular basis. Also, since you're only going to hit 6 to 9 greens, you must have a decent short game to avoid more than bogey.

[duffer987]

Good stuff Ex :)

 

Although to be a pedant, what are the differentials for those rounds? That's more telling ;)

[Exactice808]

I think the key to repeatability is to identify what you did right, and repeat it. Did you avoid your normal blowup holes? Did you hit more fairways? Greens? Avoid 3 putts?

 

For me, breaking 80 on a regular basis is about managing bogies. I know I have 7 to work with. I avoid wild swings with the driver to avoid hazards, and keep the ball in play. If I miss wildly, I take my medicine and punch out. I still have a chance for par, but no worse than bogey by hitting the green. If I miss the green, my main thought is to get my 3rd shot on the green. I may get up and down for par with a good pitch/chip, but I take the double or worse out of play.

 

I focus a lot on lag putts. Statistically, you're not going to sink many long putts, but you can learn to lag them close to avoid a dreaded 3 putt.

 

Obviously, this all requires decent ball striking. If you're barely getting off the tee, or sailing shots left and right with little idea where they might go, you won't break 80 on a regular basis. Also, since you're only going to hit 6 to 9 greens, you must have a decent short game to avoid more than bogey.

 

 

Yes, putting those all together is a must...and I think that is what I have been doing and the reasons I have been playing well, I will detail more below, stat wise.

 

 

 

 

Good stuff Ex :)

 

Although to be a pedant, what are the differentials for those rounds? That's more telling ;)

 

 

I knew this would come up.... so for the hell of it this will be a little longer.

 

 

First Jan Round

 

80- 3 Birdies, 6 Pars, 7 bogeys, 2 doubles

 

8/14 Fairways

10/18 GIR

36 Putts, 2,1putts, 14,2putts, 2,3putts

 

 

0 pentalies

 

 

Second Round

 

78 - 4 birdies, 6 pars, 6 bogeys, 2 doubls

10/14 Fairways

10/18 GIR

 

33 Putts, 4,1putts, 13,2putts,1,3putt

 

0 Penalties

 

 

 

Next round

 

81 - 1 Birdie, 10 pars, 3 bogeys, 3 doubles

 

6/14 Fairways

 

10/18 GIR

 

36 Putts, 1,1putt, 16,2putts, 1,3putt

 

2 penalties

 

 

85 - 1 birdie, 9 pars, 4 bogeys, 3 doubles, 1 Quad =*(

 

9/14 Fairways

10/18 GIR

 

34 putts, 3,1putts, 14,2putts, 1,3putt

 

2 penalties

 

 

Yesterday

 

79 - 11 pars, 7 bogeys

 

10/14 Fairways

10/18 GIR

 

35 putts, 3,1putts, 13,2putts, 2,3putts

 

0 Penalties.

 

 

 

 

 

The Consensus - If I hit 10+ Fairways my scores stay low as my GIR are pretty good (10/18 consistently ) and I have a pretty confident Iron game,

 

Short game needs a tad bit more tightening up to get better proximity to allow me to make more 1 putts. It seems that the score swing would be from the 33-36 putts difference if I have the exact same GIR statistics.

 

My Putting I think is great as last year I was probably closer to 40putts per round, to me being under 36 is great.

 

I have nearly eliminated the blow up holes, but the 85 day I did take a quad, because I hooked 2 OB on 1 hole.... Yeah that was a mind numbing hole.

 

 

Outside of that I think I have some decent stats and that is why I am not worried about technique or misses per say, its more a mental thing to stay focused or believe in the game I have.

 

 

Thoughts? Duffer? anyone?

[duffer987]

10/18 GIRs is very good! (thinking about that chart that showed GIRs vs index)

If you maintain double-digit GIRs (all things being equal) that's only going to lead to more and more 70s rounds!

The easier you make scoring with good ball striking the better.

 

Although thinking of one of everyone's favorite subjects, I think there is no better time than now to switch to blades. Get those Nikes out, if you still have them ;)

 

Oh and I meant, are those lower scores on the same courses or you being a flat-track bully. An 87 could diff out at 8.8 and 78 could diff out at 9.9, depending on the course for instance.

[Exactice808]

10/18 GIRs is very good! (thinking about that chart that showed GIRs vs index)

If you maintain double-digit GIRs (all things being equal) that's only going to lead to more and more 70s rounds!

The easier you make scoring with good ball striking the better.

 

Although thinking of one of everyone's favorite subjects, I think there is no better time than now to switch to blades. Get those Nikes out, if you still have them ;)

 

Oh and I meant, are those lower scores on the same courses or you being a flat-track bully. An 87 could diff out at 8.8 and 78 could diff out at 9.9, depending on the course for instance.

 

 

HAHAHAAHAHAHAH I was waiting for the blades thing.... took those things apart so I wont get tempted to play them... I cut all the shafts in half..... LOL J/K but nope they are staying in the closet.

 

 

As for the Course.....This was another POINT!!!!! ALL Of the rounds were at DIFFERENT courses, 5 different course, rounds nearly Identical. So Again I adapted well and was a show of my ability rather than course apathy! While the course ratings are lower, yes that is why my Handicap is still 10.1 It was not a matter of playing wide open flat courses or the same course, each course was different in its own right.

[duffer987]

10/18 GIRs is very good! (thinking about that chart that showed GIRs vs index)

If you maintain double-digit GIRs (all things being equal) that's only going to lead to more and more 70s rounds!

The easier you make scoring with good ball striking the better.

 

Although thinking of one of everyone's favorite subjects, I think there is no better time than now to switch to blades. Get those Nikes out, if you still have them ;)

 

Oh and I meant, are those lower scores on the same courses or you being a flat-track bully. An 87 could diff out at 8.8 and 78 could diff out at 9.9, depending on the course for instance.

 

 

HAHAHAAHAHAHAH I was waiting for the blades thing.... took those things apart so I wont get tempted to play them... I cut all the shafts in half..... LOL J/K but nope they are staying in the closet.

 

 

As for the Course.....This was another POINT!!!!! ALL Of the rounds were at DIFFERENT courses, 5 different course, rounds nearly Identical. So Again I adapted well and was a show of my ability rather than course apathy! While the course ratings are lower, yes that is why my Handicap is still 10.1 It was not a matter of playing wide open flat courses or the same course, each course was different in its own right.

 

Damn, that would have been awesome otherwise. You could have started a thread - after my last 5 rounds, am I ready? - we could have got the gang back together (GG, BH, NM, Startz, Vol, BM, etc...) Want some MP-33 heads? They're just lying around ;)

 

D1cking about aside, keep up the good play for as long as you can, until as others have said, that good play becomes the new normal play and you reset to that baseline and get lower still.

[Argonne69]

Very, very nice. 10+ GIRs is excellent. Also, the fact that you are still hitting 10 when your fairways hit are below ten means your misses of the tee are manageable.

 

You obviously see that as your GIRs go up, so do the putts, as you are not necessarily sticking the ball close to the hole. I think that's OK, as it means you are playing smart golf and firing to a safe part of the green, i.e. the fat part. Boring pars are just fine. This is especially important when you are playing new courses. I played 46 new courses last year, and scored well on them. The time to fire at pins is when you're playing a familiar course with easy pin locations.

 

How is your par 3 scoring? One of my main focuses is to try and bogey one or less par 3's per round. That usually means aiming for the center of the green, and walking away happy with a 2 putt par.

 

You seem to have gone on quite a birdie streak. I usually don't expect to birdie many holes, but they certainly help offset the bogey holes. I think the key is to play the long, hard holes conservatively, and try to take advantage of the short par 4's and 5's. I like when I birdie them, but one must not bogey them.

 

The final piece of the puzzle will be to convert more medium length putts for birdie/par. Statistically, you are only going to make half of your 8 footers. When you have a make-able 6 footer, it really helps to sink it. Nothing more frustrating than missing a bunch of birdie or par saving putts.

[Exactice808]

Very, very nice. 10+ GIRs is excellent. Also, the fact that you are still hitting 10 when your fairways hit are below ten means your misses of the tee are manageable.

 

You obviously see that as your GIRs go up, so do the putts, as you are not necessarily sticking the ball close to the hole. I think that's OK, as it means you are playing smart golf and firing to a safe part of the green, i.e. the fat part. Boring pars are just fine. This is especially important when you are playing new courses. I played 46 new courses last year, and scored well on them. The time to fire at pins is when you're playing a familiar course with easy pin locations.

 

How is your par 3 scoring? One of my main focuses is to try and bogey one or less par 3's per round. That usually means aiming for the center of the green, and walking away happy with a 2 putt par.

 

You seem to have gone on quite a birdie streak. I usually don't expect to birdie many holes, but they certainly help offset the bogey holes. I think the key is to play the long, hard holes conservatively, and try to take advantage of the short par 4's and 5's. I like when I birdie them, but one must not bogey them.

 

The final piece of the puzzle will be to convert more medium length putts for birdie/par. Statistically, you are only going to make half of your 8 footers. When you have a make-able 6 footer, it really helps to sink it. Nothing more frustrating than missing a bunch of birdie or par saving putts.

 

 

Argonne69 Great great points! To answer

 

 

Yes you are right as GIR goes up so does putts as I am putting more often than not, so that is acceptable, what would be good is to get proximity but you are correct boring pars are nothing to complain about LOL!

 

Par 3 averages are as follow

 

Rd 1 +2

Rd 2 +1

Rd 3 +2

Rd 4 +3

Rd 5 +1

 

 

Not too crazy I guess, but yes there are some shots left out there or a 3putt or something.

 

The Birdie barrage that I did throw down was fun BUT! I will say what did help was the courses I play is pretty short (6100 or less average) and I do have some decent length off the tee (250-270) so it helps... hence the reason probably my GIR is high too, coming in with no more than an 7/8iron (160/150 in respectively)

 

 

Yes putting will most likely be that key.... but that is feel an time, there is not magic to putting like Jordan Speith you either got it or you dont LOL. Experience of green reading will probably help, so I guess just rolling putts like crazy will be the only way?

[Argonne69]

Yeah, once you start hitting 10+ greens and fairways per round, and you're breaking 80 regularly, the only real way to drop strokes is to sink more putts. A good part of that goes back to the wedge play, as you have to give yourself good chances. Yes, it's nice to bomb one in from 30 feet now and again, but it's mainly about dropping a wedge in to 8 feet or less, and converting the birdie opportunity.

 

It's simplistic, but to make putts one must give them a chance, and let statistics take over. A putt stroked short, or below the hole won't go in 99% of the time. Lol. I generally miss on the high side, and catch a break now and again when it dives in.

 

It seems that you're playing courses that are a bit short for your length. I think that's OK in the short run. You can see that the scores are giving you a confidence boost. I do the same if I have a bad stretch. The trick is to see how you are scoring on the shorter courses, and try to keep it up when you return to the longer courses.

[EKELLY]

Keep playing. The more times you shoot low scores, the more comfortable you will be. I read somewhere that shooting under par requires alot of mental ability to be comfortable being under par and not changing up what got you there.

I know when I was playing my best, I wasn't thinking about where I was, as far as score. I was chasing the next birdie. That mental aspect is the toughest. It's hard not to get excited when you are under par......

[Santiago Golf]

I just tell my self, keep hitting GIR and making pars.

 

If I ever get into a rut, it can last a month, but good 9 of ball striking can turn it back around.

[JJ35]

I'm shooting the same scores as you ATM I just might have to kick my wife and daughters out of the house for a month also.

[tjumper78]

time to ditch the wife daughter stuff, and go pro, bro.

[Exactice808]

I'm shooting the same scores as you ATM I just might have to kick my wife and daughters out of the house for a month also.

time to ditch the wife daughter stuff, and go pro, bro.

 

 

Wife and Child just came back LOL......... Guess its over now LOL!

 

 

We shall see, kind fun ill keep you all posted for the hell of it!

[cmyktaylor]

A couple of summers ago I finally broke par, twice.

 

I thought it would be a one and done summer, but fortunately,

I'm back to playing well and am hoping to break par again this year.

 

Now I'm afraid to buy new clubs,

even though my set is getting a little long in the tooth,

and my seven iron has gone missing.

[Exactice808]

A couple of summers ago I finally broke par, twice.

 

I thought it would be a one and done summer, but fortunately,

I'm back to playing well and am hoping to break par again this year.

 

Now I'm afraid to buy new clubs,

even though my set is getting a little long in the tooth,

and my seven iron has gone missing.

 

 

Yikes LOL.... but JPX 800 pros ares still around and cheap. I played the 825pros AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME, you might not regret taking a half step up if the 800's are on their last leg!

[DavePelz4]

I have the answer.

 

You played your best golf in a long time.

 

You didn't have any "intimacy" during that time.

 

To keep it going, just abstain. Be the master of your domain.

[Exactice808]

Now were you spending time with the girlfriend while the wifey was away?

 

 

 

 

LOL in all honesty..... I got my Call of Duty Black Ops III out of my system......Did some easter egg hunting for HOURS on Zombies and prestiged twice in Multiplayer..... if you know what the hell I am talking about LOL!

[Argonne69]

I have the answer.

 

You played your best golf in a long time.

 

You didn't have any "intimacy" during that time.

 

To keep it going, just abstain. Be the master of your domain.

 

[Gax]

Great playing there !

 

I'm in a similar situation as yours as I've drop several shots (cannot reflect on my handicap as season is off in Canada). The thing I noticed was some major improvement in one part of my game that was causing me to stay above 80s and once having it corrected I went to much lower scores (putting).

 

Your putting seems like it was the problem if you moved from 40 (that's a lot if you shoot 78 !) to 36 (still high). That would explain the 4 of the 7 dropped shots.

 

Now what I like to do is compare myself to the below 2 charts to have a rough idea of where each part of my game stands :

 

http://probablegolfinstruction.com/golf-scoring-statistics.htm

http://moenormangolf.com/why-handicap-is-not-the-best-measure-of-a-golfers-skill/

 

If you want to play in the 70s but putt like a 90s you're gonna have a lot of pressure on every other part of your game (good news is : your long game is already good enough for 70s, but your putter is slowing you down). Since you're keeping stats already make sure you use it to improve where you can gain the most shots (and improvement is possible ;))

 

Hope this helps :)

[Exactice808]

Great playing there !

 

I'm in a similar situation as yours as I've drop several shots (cannot reflect on my handicap as season is off in Canada). The thing I noticed was some major improvement in one part of my game that was causing me to stay above 80s and once having it corrected I went to much lower scores (putting).

 

Your putting seems like it was the problem if you moved from 40 (that's a lot if you shoot 78 !) to 36 (still high). That would explain the 4 of the 7 dropped shots.

 

Now what I like to do is compare myself to the below 2 charts to have a rough idea of where each part of my game stands :

 

http://probablegolfi...-statistics.htm

http://moenormangolf...-golfers-skill/

 

If you want to play in the 70s but putt like a 90s you're gonna have a lot of pressure on every other part of your game (good news is : your long game is already good enough for 70s, but your putter is slowing you down). Since you're keeping stats already make sure you use it to improve where you can gain the most shots (and improvement is possible ;))

 

Hope this helps :)

 

 

Its funny, I think about the putting average, with 10/18 GIR some what average, I guess I am on track with the 70's but yes, my putting being 35 average, Its seems pretty intense to believe I should be in the low low 30's or high 20's.... In my head head I think GIR and 2 putt ever hole..... that good enough, to be able to do better than that... NO 3 putts and I must 1putt, 4+ holes, that is insane! LOL!

[Gax]

Something that really helped me drop shots and realize what I wasn't doing properly was playing on an indoor simulator (we have to do something during the off season !). Visualizing the actual path & face of the putter at impact is really helpful, and quite hard to achieve without machine measurement I believe - Anyone who has an idea on how to achive that otherwise : please let me know !

 

But yeah, focussing your efforts on that department will help you play in the 70s more consistently. Let's say you get down to 30-32 putts a round and you're 4 times in the 70s on that 5 game stretch. ;)