Nearly beating 100

[jamstorr86]

Last two grounds were very frustrating.

Scored 106, even when my drives were driving the ball hard into the turf after 100 yards.
A bit of work and fixed that issue.

Last round, scored 109. so a step back. However, I scored 51 on the front-9, and if I hadn't scored 9 on the 10th and 9 again on the 11th (I had a bit of a meltdown) I am confident I would have broke 100.

Only been playing since April though, so not too concerned yet. Im sure it takes many a while to break 100.

Any tips on how to beat 100?

 

[funkyfred]

Last two grounds were very frustrating.

Any tips on how to beat 100?

Yep, I'll let you know when i do it

A guy i know started playing last year and was obsessed with breaking the magical 100 barrier. Round after round he was beating himself up because he couldn't beat it. Sometimes his chances of beating it was over after two holes, slamming his clubs into the ground cursing etc, because he had played one bad shot.

My tip to him was to relax, enjoy the round, enjoy your surroundings, and dont put to much pressure on yourself, and dont add your scores up after nine holes.

Two weeks after that advice he beat the 100 mark and I think now has a best of 95.

Good luck

 

[brendy]

To break 100 I would say it will be your short game that will need to sharpen up first.
I am no Seve myself but recognise that every shot within 40 yards of the green can be played four ways, these are (ignoring thins and duffs!) Low (putted/bump and run), chipped, pitched and lobbed.
as I said, I am no oracle when it comes to the short game but it really is hard to watch when I see the higher handicap guys at our club not recognising their (current) limitations and try to either lob everything, including over a bunker to a tight flag (when anywhere on the green will do compared to a bunker shot next) or generally hitting the wrong shot for the situation.
Learning what to do and when will take more shots off your round.
Learning the correct techniques also work, for example a guy in my fourball insists on putting the ball back in his stance for bunker shots and lobs, they never come off and yet he still insists on doing it, a lesson on how to hit these shots (and with a bit of practice) would help him bring his scores down as every week he has at least one really frustrating hole (to him) where a good score turns into a bad one.

That said, if you cant putt for toffee........

 

[leaney]

I started playing 6 weeks ago and I shot 110 on Saturday and I played quite well (for me).

On the longer holes I was losing out big time as I was only confidnt in hitting my 7 iron, which left me well short of the green.

My answer to try and attack greens on the second shot from now on was to try the Ping G15 hybrid. And wow! It's brilliant and I can hit hit it a tad over 200 yards and it's very accurate.

My thinking now is to drive nice and short but straight. Ideally just 220 yards straight. And then I can hit my hybrid to as close to the green as possible which will hopefully leave me a little pitch and run with a 7 iron to the hole.

I now it's never as simple as we think it might be but I'm hoping this gets me under 100.

 

[jamstorr86]

To break 100 I would say it will be your short game that will need to sharpen up first.
I am no Seve myself but recognise that every shot within 40 yards of the green can be played four ways, these are (ignoring thins and duffs!) Low (putted/bump and run), chipped, pitched and lobbed.
as I said, I am no oracle when it comes to the short game but it really is hard to watch when I see the higher handicap guys at our club not recognising their (current) limitations and try to either lob everything, including over a bunker to a tight flag (when anywhere on the green will do compared to a bunker shot next) or generally hitting the wrong shot for the situation.
Learning what to do and when will take more shots off your round.
Learning the correct techniques also work, for example a guy in my fourball insists on putting the ball back in his stance for bunker shots and lobs, they never come off and yet he still insists on doing it, a lesson on how to hit these shots (and with a bit of practice) would help him bring his scores down as every week he has at least one really frustrating hole (to him) where a good score turns into a bad one.

That said, if you cant putt for toffee........

I think you are right about the short game. I have come to accept that for a while ate least my driver shots off tee are going to be inconsistent at best. So I have been practising with my longer irons a lot and I am getting a lot better. So I think I will start practising my short game. more often than not a nice shot onto the green will start turning two puts into a one put, and bogeys into pars etc.

 

[Mightymoose]

Only advice I would give is to play one shot at a time.

When you're playing your shot forget what's already gone before (nothing you can do about it)and don't think about your next shot (you won't know what it is until you get there).

 

[HickoryShaft]

I remember when I first started trying and trying to break 100 and failing each time. Trouble was that I put so much presure on myself, always checking the running total and how much I had to go to break the barrier.

The day I finally did break it I hit 96 without even realising I was close. I went with a bad neck and didn't think I was playing well and just went straight round without considering I would get below for the first time.

I try and 'move on' after every hole - not always that easy - but what is done is done and can't be changed so don't think about the effect on the score of a bad hole just focus on how to best play the one you are on. Dont add up between holes etc and try and relax as much as possible. Not easy at times but works for me.

 

[haplesshacker]

I don't know what your penalty count is like, but a few 3 of the tee used to cost me dearly, and a few duffed chips and pitches.

Just play the shots as a percentage. Rather than going for the green from the deep rough, just chip out and leave yourself with an easier shot to the green. It beats trying several times to get out of the rough 10 yards at a time.

Also, ignore par. You're not expected to par holes, so don't put yourself under pressure to do that. Play a shorter club off the tee if it's more consistent and don't worry about blasting the ball 250 plus down the fairway.

Sadly. I don't follow my own advice whilst out on the course!

 

[G1BB0]

I am at the stage where I can break 100, have done a few times with a best of an 87 (par 69) but still have a fair few over it. Sunday I dropped my 60 wedge after 7 holes and just used my pw, gave myself a lot more shorter putts. back 9 anything 250 plus for the 2nd shot I aimed for the 100-120 mark as thats pw/9i which I hit very confidently. Only attack greens if you know you can reach comfortably even try and play a club short and allow for the bounce of Summer fairways rather than straight at the flag and running through the back

if you get in the thick stuff just play a 10yd sideways pitch back onto the fairway as opposed to possibly duffing it 2 yards and being in the same position but 1 shot worse off

good luck

 

[jamstorr86]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[richy]

I'm playing really badly at the moment and I'm struggling to score under 100. On Sunday I had five 8's and a 9, the rest were all 5's or better. My big numbers came mostly when I was in trouble off the tee and struggled to recover (should of played out sideways). My putting is pretty poor at the minute which also didn't help.

 

[Essex_Stu]

Started back in April myself. Went to a driving range on the way home from work and borrowed a driver. Found it that fun I went out the next day and brought a Taylormade Burner Driver to hit down my local range. Thought I was the dogs danglies hitting 150 yard drives with my feet moving everywhere, leaning back and swinging like a yeti. Then went down the driving range with my father in law who also sorted me out some Ping I3'S for a while. This is the point when I abandoned the driver and started concentrating on my swing and iron play. Went out on the course later that month and scored 123 mainly due to bad slices off the tee and getting to 50 yards from the green and blasting through the back of the green with my pw.

From that point onwards I really concentrated on my pitching and chipping. I now no longer try to leather the ball as hard as I can and think before I play my shots. When I'm 250 yards from the green I used to hit my 5i and then struggle with a 70 yard pitch. Now I think a bit more and would play a 7i to 100 yards and then a nice pw onto the green. I also generally leave the driver in the bag and use my 3 wood off the tee. It costs me less penalty shots and instead of losing a box of balls in a round I might only loose 1 ball now.

I now score regularly in the 90's with my pb at 91. Very frustrating because it should of been 82 but I played like a moron on the first 3 holes.

Stick with it, relax and don't think of the score and it'll come

 

[big_al]

just stick at it mate
i started playing four years ago and it took me two years to break 100
last year i broke 90 and this year i've broke 80
it will come but it takes time

 

[Neil20]

I broke 100 before I ever picked up a driver. Took me about 9 months.

Two main keys for me were keeping it in play and putting.

Also, forgetting the previous hole is key. There's going to be the occasional 8 or 9 on your card and if you have it in your mind that you must must must break 100, the day you start 6,8,8 is going to depress you and ruin the round.

You can't be getting depressed and having rounds ruined for two reasons:
a) You can still break 100 from that point, it's amazing what a par or a run of bogeys will do for a card.

b) You still need the other 15 holes worth of practise ready for next time. Don't go chasing difficult shots to get the round back, continue to try to make your share of bogeys and doubles and keep future big numbers off the card.

Something that worked for me, though I'm kinda odd, was to break it down into groups of 3 holes not groups of 9. I found that watching the numbers coming down from 20s and 19s to 17s and 16s (and these days more like 15s) helps me recognise my improvement better than looking at each nine or each round as I got a better feel for what my normal run of three holes was (where the big lumpy nine or ten disaster could easily be spotted but so could the average)

I also found it helped me refocus on the course to have groups of three holes to concentrate on.

Distance is almost irrelevant I found (in the real world that is, obviously I wouldn't mind another 100 yards on my drives). I was more than happy to just knock it along 150 yards a shot, get to the greens in one over regulation, 2-3 putt and walk off with bogey/double over and over again. Nine 2 putts and Nine 3 putts is 99 if you're every green in one over regulation on a par 72)

I also kept my putting stats for a short period, which is where I realised just how much I was chucking away on the greens.

 

[Tiger]

Oh mate I know exactly how you feel. Two things that may help. One play shots you are confident you can hit. If that means hitting three 6 irons on a Par 5 so be it. Second as Brendy has said work on your short game. When I started the 6 iron plan kept me in play then it would take me a hideous number of shots to get the ball in the hole. To be fair I still struggle (mainly as I'm hitting longer clubs than before) but good luck with it. Relax enjoy and good luck.

 

[Shaunmg]

I started playing late in life, only took it up seriously 3 years ago and joined a club 2 years ago, I’m 59 now. I have only just started to break 100. I finished joint top, but second on a card count back in last week’s senior’s monthly medal comp, with 97 gross, net 71. Reducing my handicap from 26 to 25.2. Played a social game since and shot 94.

Like the guys have already said, in the last few weeks most of my practice has been chipping and putting. I can hit the ball with the best of them in our seniors section, but it is soul destroying getting within 10/15 feet of the green on my second shot then coming away with an 8.

Short game! Short game! Short game! Practice! Practice! Practice, that’s what is going to get my handicap down to respectable figure. I chip in my garden, and again this evening I will be one my way to my club practice green with no other club in my car but the putter, as I did yesterday, just practicing 3 and 4ft puts

 

[beatle]

I know exactly where you are coming from here. I haven't managed to beat the 100 yet. My last three medal scorecards have been 104, 108 and 106, so I know I'm knocking on the door but I'm just not quite there. Too many times I've been three off the tee which has just knocked me the wrong side of 100.

So, what I intend to try next is to leave the driver in the bag. Whilst I'm no Luke Donald around the greens, driving is where I'm using up most of the silly extra strokes.

I've been trying this in practice rounds and have been teeing off with my 5 iron on all the par 4 (or greater) holes. OK, it's got nowhere near the same distance as my driver and playing from the whites can be a bit hairy with a shorter club on some of the holes, but I can use it with a heck of a lot more confidence and accuracy.

As they say, the proof will be in the pudding and the next medal is a week today. I look forward to telling you when I have managed to beat that 100.

Good luck to you all you plus 100's out there! Our time will come

 

[Evesdad]

After playing like a complete numpty the last couple of rounds it clicked abit more on Sunday for me too. Shot 106 which should of been some much lower, putting let me down which had been my strong point in the last few months! Hit par 5 4th in 3 then hit four putts! Not done that in years! Hit 53 out which was not ideal but through the first five on the back I was only 7 over, cue noticing score and collapsing on the last four!! Gutted. At least my ball striking was vastly improved over the last few weeks, first time the ball has gone exactly where I wanted it too! It's a coming!