How to go low?

[Scotty Cameron]

I think most of the problems at our level (well mine) is that its a mind game. Go for the mug shots and get a mugs score. Know when to leave driver in the bag and take 3 wood / hybrid, you cannot play golf from the trees was a saying my old playing partner taught me.

I'm not a big hitter but I would rather be down the middle than in the crap off the tee. I get 15 shots a round and I use them wisely, long par 4's i'll take a 3 wood a mid iron and then chip/pitch onto the green leaving me a putt for par. The same with par 5's, no way will i get onto the green in two, even if I hit my best drive and fairway.

Course management is pretty much key to getting a low score, don't go for glory if you can help it especially when trouble is waiting for you if you miss hit the shot.

There is an old but rather good vid from David Leadbetter which makes the point but the name of it escapes me.

 

[MadAdey]

@Scotty Cameron

I think you are pretty much spot on. Any mid handicapper for me throws shots away constantly and see the same thing all the time. If they want to shoot low then using your brain is the way forward.

Within 3w range on a par 5 out it comes, you try too hard and stick it in the crap and walk away with a bogey. Lay up with a reliable club that will leave a nice little wedge into the green. Give yourself a birdie chance and a gauranteed par.

Short sided on a green, out comes the LW for a bit of mickleson time. Problem is you never practice this shot so do not really have a huge amount of confidence. It gets either chunked into the bunker face or thinned through the green, a nice little double bogey appears on the card. Take the LW out with a square face and get it on the dance floor, have a par putt or gauranteed bogey.

Forget where the the flag is on the green and just hit it into the middle, make sure you hit the green and you will make more pars.

What ever club you think it is, put it away and take one more. I can't even keep count of how many times you see people that keep coming up short or just making the green. Again, get it on the green and you will have birdie putts and easy pars.

This is just some of the general observations I have made over the years from playing with different people. I just believe that most mid handicappers could drop so many shots by learning how to get round the course better.

 

[NorfolkShaun]

One thing I will say is the lowest handicap guys I have played with have hit it the furthest and straightest off the tee.

This game does become a hell of a lot easier if you are 100 yards from the green more often than you are 160 off the green from the tee.

The simple fact is quite a few people simply cannot hit it that far.

 

[Smiffy]

Anybody who can hit the ball a "reasonable" length and fairly straight will have no difficulty getting down to a low double figure handicap.
The guys who go lower than this are the ones that can chip and putt.
Fact of life

 

[the smiling assassin]

Anybody who can hit the ball a "reasonable" length and fairly straight will have no difficulty getting down to a low double figure handicap.The guys who go lower than this are the ones that can chip and putt.
Fact of life

Utter tosh and dangerously unhelpful advice to give an aspiring single figure golfer. They are going to need improvements across the board to drop lower. Improved ball striking, consistency, accuracy, distance control as well as improving their short games. There is no short game holy grail that solves all, anyone who believes this is seriously kidding themselves as to the task ahead.

 

[MadAdey]

One thing I will say is the lowest handicap guys I have played with have hit it the furthest and straightest off the tee.

This game does become a hell of a lot easier if you are 100 yards from the green more often than you are 160 off the green from the tee.

The simple fact is quite a few people simply cannot hit it that far.

I think it is one big myth that you need to be smashing the ball crazy distances to get low. If you can knock one 250 down the middle you are laughing IMO. Donald is quite a long way behind other tour pros but still manages to compete.

But it I will agree if all you have is 220 from tee a lot of par 4s are not going to be very easy for you. I'm lucky with respect to be able to put it out there from the tee and will not deny that be able to fire into just about any par 4 with a mid iron or better does not help. But over the last year I have learnt to be a better golfer and that is what has dropped me down the most.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have a number of single figure golfers at my club that aren't excessively long. They aren't always straight but they scramble well. That's just how they manage to keep their single figure mark. They chip well, pitch well and putt well

 

[la_lucha]

I may play 9 holes tonight so I may put some ideas from here into practice. Instead of going for greens with my second (on par 4's) I'm going to try laying up short and chipping on. I should be able to get my chips closer than a 7iron in from 160 so lets see how I get on. I guess my aim is to bogey every hole and pick up a par with a good single putt on a couple of holes.

 

[Stuey01]

I'm trying to play more conservatively off the tee to keep the big numbers off the card. Been hitting 3iron a few times a round where I used to smash the driver.
On Sunday I took 3 iron on a short par 4, shanked it into the woods and lost it.

There is no more frustrating shot in golf than trying to play it safe and ballsing it up. I can accept smashing the driver and having a bad outcome but clubbing down and then doing it brings the red mist.

 

[IanG]

There is no more frustrating shot in golf than trying to play it safe and ballsing it up. I can accept smashing the driver and having a bad outcome but clubbing down and then doing it brings the red mist.

Exactly, on our 16th there a burn crossing the fairway at around my driving limit off the medal tees. Playing sensibly and laying up and then topping my second into the burn is the most frustrating thing in golf. I could have been in the burn in 1 instead of 2 !

 

[NorfolkShaun]

I think it is one big myth that you need to be smashing the ball crazy distances to get low. If you can knock one 250 down the middle you are laughing IMO. Donald is quite a long way behind other tour pros but still manages to compete.

But it I will agree if all you have is 220 from tee a lot of par 4s are not going to be very easy for you. I'm lucky with respect to be able to put it out there from the tee and will not deny that be able to fire into just about any par 4 with a mid iron or better does not help. But over the last year I have learnt to be a better golfer and that is what has dropped me down the most.

Agree with this, you can go low without hitting it a mile but it sure does help, golf is incredibly hard if you cannot reach some par 4's in two.

There is one hole at my place which you need to carry off the tee around 210 to get over a ditch and leave around 150-160 in if you lay up to the ditch you are looking around 230 to the front of the green, dare I say off the deck 230 is better than most peoples Sunday best?

 

[Smiffy]

Utter tosh and dangerously unhelpful advice to give an aspiring single figure golfer.

Errrr..........I don't think it is.
Each to their own.