Finally Broke 80...

Sean2 · November 5, 2008

Put the driver away, hit three greens and had 24 putts. 77.

Go figure. :-)

One_Putt_Blunder · November 5, 2008

Put the driver away, hit three greens and had 24 putts. 77.

Go figure. :-)

Sounds like a solid day with the shortgame and flat stick congrats on breaking 80

birdieputt · November 5, 2008

Well done man, get some lower scores in now. :)

birdiegirl11 · November 5, 2008

congratulations! Here's to more 70's in the near future!

Sean2 · November 7, 2008

Thanks!

My only swing thought was to pretend every full shot was a lay-up shot. I seem to be more relaxed when I do that.

NiftyNiblick · November 9, 2008

Congrats on the Red Grange. That's good solid golf for any recreational player.

Pinehurst1999 · November 9, 2008

I had a similar day yesterday with not many greens but great putting and 4 up and downs. It is almost more enjoyable to socre low when not hitting many greens because you get the up-and-down job done...congrats!

Sean2 · November 9, 2008

Thanks, y'all!

kokogirl · November 9, 2008

Thanks!

My only swing thought was to pretend every full shot was a lay-up shot. I seem to be more relaxed when I do that.

I am not senior yet (so I do no venture in this forum much), but I must congratulate you on that great round!

I think I will borrow this swing thought when I get to play again next weekend. My lay-ups are better shots, and this makes sense since I do not feel any pressure on these shots.

EJ Mac · November 9, 2008

Great round hope many more follow.

funkyfedora · November 9, 2008

Congrats

Conrad1953 · November 14, 2008

Avatar, you have an amazing short game!! 24 putts!! Did you actually 1 putt 12 holes and 2 putt the other six?

No 3 putts? I don't know what the greens are like you're playing on but even so, you are amazing. You should be

teaching the rest of us your short game secrets. Who needs Pelz when we have you!! I'm one of those who hasn't

cracked 80 yet. My best round is 80 (39-41, with a double and a triple on the back nine, .....choke, choke).

My tendency is to start slow on the out nine and do better coming in. Not that day!

Anyway, I'm one who would like to hear how you got all those up and downs, if you can remember. My count is

12/15 or something like that, depending on the # of putts for the 3 greens you hit. That's 80%, wow!!

Sean2 · November 15, 2008

Avatar, you have an amazing short game!! 24 putts!! Did you actually 1 putt 12 holes and 2 putt the other six?
No 3 putts? I don't know what the greens are like you're playing on but even so, you are amazing. You should be
teaching the rest of us your short game secrets. Who needs Pelz when we have you!! I'm one of those who hasn't
cracked 80 yet. My best round is 80 (39-41, with a double and a triple on the back nine, .....choke, choke).
My tendency is to start slow on the out nine and do better coming in. Not that day!
Anyway, I'm one who would like to hear how you got all those up and downs, if you can remember. My count is
12/15 or something like that, depending on the # of putts for the 3 greens you hit. That's 80%, wow!!

Thank you.

My long game stinks so I work VERY hard on my short game. I three putt maybe once every ten rounds and averaged 29 putts a round this season (I don't hit many greens so I need to get up and down).

How do I get the up and downs? At the facility I practice at I go to the short game area and set the pins at 10 yard intervals, starting at 20 yards and ending at 80. I hit every one of my wedges to those distances from a variety of lies: very good to terrible. I then determine what club is best for which situation and what kind of swing I need to make (1/4, 1/2, 3/4). I also go to the practice green area and practice chipping with a variety of wedges, lies, pin locations, etc. And then I putt, and putt, and putt.

In a two hour practice session I will spend an hour and forty minutes as outlined above, and about 20 minutes at the range. My worst putting round in the past two seasons was 36 putts. My best was 23. For nine holes my best was 11 putts. My best pitch was 20 feet from the pin in a narly lie, I took my 60º opened the club face wide open, took a full swing and flopped it into the hole.

Most people hit the ball further than me. Though we all can't hit 300 yard drives (except on this forum LOL!), everyone can improve their short game. And that's where I focus.

To be honest, if I hit more greens my putting rate would probably go up as I would be putting from longer distances. I play with low single digits and scratch golfers on occasion and they are surprised at my short game. However, off the tee I come up woefully short, pun intended. :-) Most guys out drive me by 40 to 50 yards.

That all said, this winter I'm going to work on my core and flexibility. I think with more distance I'd be a fairly decent golfer.

Conrad1953 · November 17, 2008

Avatar, I do believe your long game will come around. Having a great short game as you do takes a lot of

pressure off the rest of your game. Unfortunately, like every other sport/game, golf has become a power

game and it's getting tougher for us older guys to keep up. I've learned to limit myself to about 6500 yds.

At that distance I'm more likely to play with the game I brought rather than try the one I don't have.

There are two facts I would like to remind you of, if for no other reason than to send some good cheer your

way. 1. 90% of golfers, if PLAYING BY THE RULES, could not break 100 and.....2. All the tech advances in

equipment and balls has not helped the average golfer lower their scores.

You don't have to aspire to be a decent golfer, you already are. A very, very small percentage of golfers

could shoot an HONEST 77 like you did. This is a great website and I won't knock it but I know it can make

you feel like a hack. My index has been fluctuating in the low to mid teens. On this website I would be

considered a high handicapper but I don't let it get me down. I just try to remember where I stand in the

big picture.

The same goes for equipment. I don't judge people by what they have in their bag. I played with thin

bladed irons and real woods back in the 70's. That's all there was then. I love the clubs I have now and

I wouldn't go back.

Here's a goal for you...Harvey Penick once said that if you can shoot 76 or less and do it consistently,

he would call you an expert golfer!!!

NXT ME · November 23, 2008

Hey Avatar,

Love your avatar :rolleyes: Sorry, couldn't help myself. Since I have turned 40 and now at 43 have had open heart surgery I have definitely seen my swing speed slow down. Where I used to be able to hit a 7 iron 150 easily just 6-10 years ago I now hit a 5 iron 155. I looked reality in the eyes this year and went with regular flex in everything and it is making a huge difference in my accuracy.

I said all of that to say your have given me motivation seeing your practise routine. I have started recently spending MUCH more time practicing my short game. Mostly chipping from off the green and pitching from 5-35 yrds. since my misses are usually in this ballpark. I am following this with allot more putting trying to work on my alignment and finding MY putting stroke instead of what Pelz or anyone else says it should be. Cheers to your low score and hears to me matching you next year, at least the breaking 80 part.

Mark

Pingguy58 · November 24, 2008

Very well done my man. Isn't it crazy how one day you go out to play and without thinking about it, it happens, a sub 80 round. Everyone who has played has had one of those days when nothing went wrong, the cup looked like a manhole and you managed to miss every sand trap and creek on the golf course. It was one of those days when every drive went right down the middle, not long but very straight.

You don't miss many greens but when you do you just walk up and chip that ball to a three foot circle and then sink the 3 footer without thinking about it.

It is extremely difficult to break 80 for the first time but once you do, you will see those 70's happen more and more often. I think one of the reasons that happens is that you finally convince yourself that you can shoot in the 70's. The barrier is finally gone and now all you have to do is repeat what you once did and you will.

The key for me was first honing my shortgame so that I was not shy about missing the green because I knew I could get it within 5 or 6 feet from almost anywhere around the green. The second key was putting and I worked on it a lot this year. If you miss the green and you can chip it to 6 feet or better most of the time and then make 50% of those 6 footers, you are golden.

It's the same thing for putting, get rid of those three putts. Work on lagging from 20 feet out. Inside that you should be trying to make it but from 20 and out you should be trying to leave yourself a two foot or better putt.

I've gotten to the point that I would rather be chipping from 80 feet than putting 80 feet, I just feel more comfortable chipping, from a good lie that is. Work on the distance, 30, 40, 50 foot lag puts, get the feel.

One of the things I read in someone else's comment was that a very few number of people break 80, you know, I use to believe that but I have met so many people who break 80 on a regular basis that I find that comment to be a little misleading. There are a lot of 10 hdcp'ers at the club I play at and anyone of them can break 80 at any time. In fact, I know 15 hdcp'ers that can break 80 on occassion. So, when you look at the handicaps at your golf club look to see how many of those guys are at lets say 12 hdcp or under, you will be surprised.

Good luck and keep those 70's comin'.

Conrad1953 · November 24, 2008

pingguy58

Just want to clear up something. I didn't say few golfers could break 80, I said a small percentage could break 80.

I believe there are many golfers at your club that can break 80 and some who can break 70. A small percentage of

a very large number is more than a few; more like many, but it's a big world out there.

I'm not looking to start an argument. My point to Avatar was merely for edification. I agree with you that if you are

pursuing a higher standard it doesn't matter what the rest of the world is doing. On the other hand, when the

frustration begins to consume you it doesn't hurt to take a step back and look how far you've come and how you

are doing compared to the overall golfing universe.

I don't know if the stats we hear can be believed and I get skeptical just as you. I travel quite a bit and have

played public courses in, I think, 36 states. On a fairly regular basis I see people taking mulligans, improving their

lies and picking up 3-4 ft putts. Or I'll watch them take 8 shots to get the ball in the hole on a par 4 and then say

how they hate getting those double bogies. I watched a guy once on the first tee box keep hitting drives until he hit one he liked. He didn't even care that people were waiting. Don't see much honest golf on the public courses

but the real and final kicker is when you hear someone like these announce they shot 85 or some such

nonsense. And then they'll sign each others scorecards and turn them in.

It's a different world than your club I suppose but still part of the golfing world.

Hux · November 24, 2008

My long game stinks so I work VERY hard on my short game. I three putt maybe once every ten rounds and averaged 29 putts a round this season (I don't hit many greens so I need to get up and down).

How do I get the up and downs? At the facility I practice at I go to the short game area and set the pins at 10 yard intervals, starting at 20 yards and ending at 80. I hit every one of my wedges to those distances from a variety of lies: very good to terrible. I then determine what club is best for which situation and what kind of swing I need to make (1/4, 1/2, 3/4). I also go to the practice green area and practice chipping with a variety of wedges, lies, pin locations, etc. And then I putt, and putt, and putt.

In a two hour practice session I will spend an hour and forty minutes as outlined above, and about 20 minutes at the range. My worst putting round in the past two seasons was 36 putts. My best was 23. For nine holes my best was 11 putts. My best pitch was 20 feet from the pin in a narly lie, I took my 60º opened the club face wide open, took a full swing and flopped it into the hole.

Most people hit the ball further than me. Though we all can't hit 300 yard drives (except on this forum LOL!), everyone can improve their short game. And that's where I focus.

To be honest, if I hit more greens my putting rate would probably go up as I would be putting from longer distances. I play with low single digits and scratch golfers on occasion and they are surprised at my short game. However, off the tee I come up woefully short, pun intended. :-) Most guys out drive me by 40 to 50 yards.

That all said, this winter I'm going to work on my core and flexibility. I think with more distance I'd be a fairly decent golfer.

Your practice routine is one I have seen recommended for single digit handicappers where there full swing is well grooved and the scores get saved on the short game. Your putting figures are no doubt so good because you rarely leave yourself long putts.

If you get your long game under control - and who cares about distances - if you can reliably hit it 220yds down the middle it is better than an inconsistent 260yds. Afterall, with your short game your birdie holes would be short par 4's and par 3's where you have no stress on trying to reach long holes in under regulation.

Good luck with the winter routines - just entering summer here and its warming up well.