Breaking down a score

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Robobum

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I'm bored so here goes.........

Saw another (one of many) post saying I hit it sweet/ stripe it blah blah but the handicap indicates that breaking 90 is a continual hardship.

Breaking 90 is pretty easy to do (IMO), if you can be disciplined enough to stick to a ridiculously conservative game plan.

Let’s make a start –

36 putts – that is not great by any means, but let’s allow for a shocking day on the dance floor – 40putts!!! That then leaves 49 shots to cover the course.

On a 6500yd course, that equates to 135yds per shot!!!! (knock down gap wedge for most;))

Now, who the hell shouldn’t knob it round in 90???

It's a very rudimentary calculation not taking into account forced carries for ditches etc, but the principle remains. C'mon, lets have a ruck over this!!! :whoo:
 
lol, i jut checked that .in your handicap.
its like anything some folk are capable of scoring well some aint. some continue to do the same thing and expect different results. me im trying to be a better golfer and hopefully 2013 i will find my level at my new course. but if folk enjoy going out and shooting over 90/100 good for them.
 
Or look at it another way.....90 is level 5's for 18 holes.

With a bit of course management, prudent club selection and plenty of thought over every shot there is no reason why pretty much any golfer on here can't do.

But I want to be watching when they play their 87th shot onto the 18th green and have to get down in 2 from 40 feet :D
 
You're assuming people can hit every shot 135 yds straight every time, never lose a ball and don't take 3 shots to get out of bunkers :D
 
ok, I'll bite.

Yesterday afternoon, I played 9 holes, after 7 holes I was 3 under 5's, and so looking at a low 40s score for 9 holes. Then on the 8th hole I hit one a bit left into the trees, hit a tree trying to find the fairway, so finally on the fairway in 3, hit 4th ok but not great, still 180 from the green, 5th left me still short and in the rough, 6th just off the side of the green chip and 2 putts for a nine and so now 1 over 5 fives, on the last found a bunker, 2 to get out and down in 5, so finished the 9 with 46.

The main problem with people at my level is the likeyhood of one or two holes screwing up a respectable card.
 
I think you have hit the nail on the head when you say:

if you can be disciplined enough to stick to a ridiculously conservative game plan.
Click to expand...

I don't play golf to break any particular score. Shooting your lowest ever is just one of the possible plus points. No, I play because I want to hit that one amazing shot you could see a pro on the tour hitting. Of course 999 times out of a 1000 that shot never materialises, but hey when it does you feel pretty awesome. So could I play conservatively and break 90 regularly? Perhaps. Do I want to and never have that chance of sticking 1 to within 2 feet from 220 yards out over a bunker? Nah.
 
I assume everyone aims to play their very best and that no one goes out to play to a given target but another way of looking at it is that you have to hit a bogey on every hole on a par72

Even on a 500 yard par 5, that's 3 shots to the green and 3 putt.

Shame I keep ballsing it up
 
Good post Robo. Definately food for thought.
20+ handicappers usually have their fair share of Duffs, fats and thins during a round with a few lost balls thrown in,but I suppose anyone who claims to be a reasonable ball striker can't really argue with what you've posted there.

We've all got flaws in our game. Ive been playing 13 years and after a couple of years playing I thought my course management was pretty good, 11 years on I realise back then it was rubbish, and there was loads of room for improvement.
 
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Qwerty said:
...... anyone who claims to be a reasonable ball striker can't really argue with what you've posted there.

.
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Exactly - I see posts with people saying they don't need lessons/ my driving is excellent/ my long irons are great etc - it's hard to see that when the score adds up to lots.

Take this to the extreme, and you get Tiger "chipping" it round Hoylake with a 4iron to win The Open at a stroll.

The only thing to overcome is what others will say when you are stood on the tee with a 7 iron on a 500 yd par 5. Who said it's not how but how many?? ;)
 
Surely people don't shoot more than 90!:eek:

Apart from the odd player that has a problem with their game, e.g. wicked hook/slice/shank, that causes them to rack up cricket scores, the big failing is over ambition when in trouble. A player will knock it into the rough and then assume they can still hit the green from 200+yds out of a scruffy lie with a 3 wood.

You're not going to get there!! Take a mid/short iron and knock it somewhere where you stand a chance of making par, not knock it 20yds into deeper rough.

Hollywood shots rarely win you an Oscar... well maybe for comedy value.
 
I'm sick to the back teeth of hearing "It was such a great strike, it just went miles left" and the like.

When any shot that you actually got airborne is considered a great strike, you're not going to be much of a player.

Another one I heard in our last winter league over 9 holes was "I scored 13 points and I only played five holes!".

When I asked him why he didn't play the rest, was it due to injury, he said, "No, I blobbed the other four."

Erm.
 
this brings to mind the sort of 'advice' I do freely give on the course - think about the whole picture when taking your shot ie when teeing off are you aiming to get there in two, and if so where do you need to be; having failed with plan A, leaving 240 which is well out of your range why have you taken a wood or even a hybrid out of your bag when there's a bunker across the front of the green? Just hit a 6 iron and play what's needed on from there!

put another way, get people thinking about their club selection and shot objectives - the huge bonus of this approach is that you will hit more shots the way you hope, and this means you will increase in confidence and hit even more, and more...
 
duncan mackie said:
this brings to mind the sort of 'advice' I do freely give on the course - think about the whole picture when taking your shot ie when teeing off are you aiming to get there in two, and if so where do you need to be; having failed with plan A, leaving 240 which is well out of your range why have you taken a wood or even a hybrid out of your bag when there's a bunker across the front of the green? Just hit a 6 iron and play what's needed on from there!

put another way, get people thinking about their club selection and shot objectives - the huge bonus of this approach is that you will hit more shots the way you hope, and this means you will increase in confidence and hit even more, and more...
Click to expand...

Yes, yes and yes again. I've seen countless mid to high handicappers hit some stunning shots, many of them hit the ball further than me... my golf is scruffy and ugly but its about keeping it in play and giving yourself chances.
 
Robobum said:
Exactly - I see posts with people saying they don't need lessons/ my driving is excellent/ my long irons are great etc - it's hard to see that when the score adds up to lots.

Take this to the extreme, and you get Tiger "chipping" it round Hoylake with a 4iron to win The Open at a stroll.

The only thing to overcome is what others will say when you are stood on the tee with a 7 iron on a 500 yd par 5. Who said it's not how but how many?? ;)
Click to expand...

That bit there is the real key. One of the par 5's at my home course I either take a 3wood, Hybrid or 4iron depending on how i'm playing. Never take the driver on that hole and always my playing partners look at me as if to say "its a par 5 let the big dog eat".. Yet its my most birdied hole on my stats in comps throughout the year and i've only bogied it once in medal play and that day was the only time I took the driver!
 
i threw the three wood out of my bag when i was a 16 handicaper. replacing it with a hybrid dropped me twoh shots that summer as i could not take the hollywood shot on. its still not in the bag as i dont think i can handle it and i think it will get me in more trouble than its worth.

ive said on here before that i could caddy a 28 handicaper to 36 points as long as he was hitting a drive in play and had a half decent short game. i still stand by it.
 
I noticed a big change when I played The Hotchkin at Woodhall Spa. Normally I am more than capable of shooting over 100 on some pretty easy goat tracks. And a lot of this is because I like to think I have a good chance of hitting a green from anything under 200 yards. Where as in reality I don't most of the time, and I just end up creating trouble for myself.

But on The Hotchkin I took a deliberate ploy to lay up where ever possible, and not to try and hit the ball 180 yards to a green protected by massive bunkers (which most were). But instead hit it 140 yards to avoid any trouble, then play a pitch/bump and run/chip onto the green from a much shorter distance. And guess what, I managed to go round round in the low 90s and beat my 2 playing partners who normally beat me quite easily.

All I need to do now is remember to do that at most courses and I am pretty sure I could knock 5 or 6 shots of my handicap. Trouble is you look a bit of a tit going with a 9 iron when you have 185 yards to a massive green with no bunkers around it.
 
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garyinderry said:
i threw the three wood out of my bag when i was a 16 handicaper. replacing it with a hybrid dropped me twoh shots that summer as i could not take the hollywood shot on. its still not in the bag as i dont think i can handle it and i think it will get me in more trouble than its worth.

ive said on here before that i could caddy a 28 handicaper to 36 points as long as he was hitting a drive in play and had a half decent short game. i still stand by it.
Click to expand...

Surely if he had both of those things he wouldn't be a 28 handicapper! :)
 
hit driver 180 yards in a stright enough manner. be able to hit anywhere on the green from the red marker 110/100 with 9/pw .

sorted :)
 
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