dotty001
Challenge Tour Pro
play each hole like its a par 5 , you make 90 , limit errors duffed shots , 3 putts you will be shotting mid 80s easy
Trying to break 100- The 3 Goals Method
- Thread starter ScienceBoy
- Start date
play each hole like its a par 5 , you make 90 , limit errors duffed shots , 3 putts you will be shotting mid 80s easy
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Well I shot 87 with it so yeah it can. You have to play to your strengths but it does work, cannot hurt to give it a go can it?
One good example is a par 5 where I topped it off the tee about 40 yards. I then a 6 iron to outside the 150, another to 30 yards and then got up and down for the par. Silly me topped my next drive on the following par 4, I hit a 5 iron from a decent lie to just inside the 150, hit an 8 iron to 20 feet and two putted for a 5. I couldn't hit a tee shot to save my life but still did well.
One thing this method does do is significantly reduce big scores, it does mean pars are harder to come by if your chipping, pitching and putting are poor, bogeys though are easy. My last score card was covered in 5s with the odd 3 and 4 thrown in for good measure. Four bad shots meant I had a few 6s that stopped me going lower.
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locks2003
Newbie
This sounds like good advice, especially for someone like me who hasn't really had any sort of plan to work toward around the course. I look forward to giving this a try next time I'm out and I'll let you know if it has helped in any way.
Thanks, locks.
Thanks, locks.
G1BB0
Money List Winner
its a good idea in theory, whether the macho man in us allows it is a different matter 
Many a time I have had a decent drive then a risky approach, part of me knows I have made the shot before but the other knows that it was once or twice so chances are I will balls it up... I go for it & balls it up then walk to my ball wishing I had taken the percentage shot!
Then when I do lay up or chip out I wish I had gone for it and give myself grief for having no balls
golf is deffo 90% between the ears
good luck to those giving it a go :thup:
Many a time I have had a decent drive then a risky approach, part of me knows I have made the shot before but the other knows that it was once or twice so chances are I will balls it up... I go for it & balls it up then walk to my ball wishing I had taken the percentage shot!
Then when I do lay up or chip out I wish I had gone for it and give myself grief for having no balls
golf is deffo 90% between the ears
good luck to those giving it a go :thup:
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Sounds like solid advice especially if you don't focus on the quality of the shot to achieve the goal but just on doing so. Plenty of good scoring rounds are made when ball striking isn't perfect. All about the old adage of no picture on the scorecard
Grogger
Challenge Tour Pro
Cracking advice I'm going to try this method next time I play!! Went round in 103 today so I'm not far off breaking it. My putting is what usually let's me down but today it was chipping around the green, I just couldn't seem to get under the ball so every ball just ended up skidding across the green!! Used my hybrid for the first time today with good positive results so that have me some confidence I found I was looking forward to actually approaching the ball and hitting it with my hybrid
drs1878
Head Pro
I agree with all of the above.... the only problem is i can't bring myself to stand on the tee of a par 4 and think 3 shots to the green... even tho i know i should...... if i am 180 - 220 yards away i know i will take on the green because i can (every now and then) hit this distance and straight even tho i can hit my 7 iron 150 straight more times than i don't!!!
Maybe if i sort out my course management I will improve............. Your right Golf is all between the ears !!
Maybe if i sort out my course management I will improve............. Your right Golf is all between the ears !!
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
I want to play where SB plays - they have 400 yard par 5's......
Its winter time so yes its playing shorter, makes this game plan easier.
virtuocity
Tour Winner
This is the only bit which I don't quite understand:
I would imagine that golfers struggling to break 100 would have a tough time finding the green from 130-150 yards.
I would imagine that golfers struggling to break 100 would have a tough time finding the green from 130-150 yards.
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
I never said it had to be in one shot, read the notes just below it.
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Forgot to add one thing, if there are no hazards the risk of going for a green from 150 is pretty low and if it goes wrong it cannot be much worse than a planned lay up.
This method means you will hopefully get no worse than a 6 on every hole but to get better scores you have to chose when to be aggressive and when to play safe. I have a good mixture of both in my game.
Unlike GIBBO I dont suffer from macho stuff much anymore, I just enjoy playing my own game instead.
G1BB0
Money List Winner
that is my own game SB
(explains 8 0.1's out of 11 comps lol)
My mantra this year is to swing easier and play for position with the easiest shot achievable
(explains 8 0.1's out of 11 comps lol)
My mantra this year is to swing easier and play for position with the easiest shot achievable
woody69
Journeyman Pro
You don't want to be getting under it. Just thinking about hitting down on the back of the ball and the loft of the club will get it up into the air. You're probably thinking about trying to almost "scoop" it up into the air.
lyricist65
Club Champion
excellent post. watching my playing partners smash a driver off every tee with varied success always makes me smile as i hit another flush iron onto the fairway. in most cases they only have 30 yards on me at best which doesnt make that much of a difference at our level. at worst they have a lost ball.
they call it grandma golf, but my scores keep coming down.
they call it grandma golf, but my scores keep coming down.
Canary_Yellow
Journeyman Pro
I think this is good solid advice and I will try and put it into practice.
Part of what will make it hard, particularly in selecting the right tee shot, is the course I play at has a lot of dog leg holes (the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th all have some element of dog leg). The 6th and 11th in particular, require a tee shot of a certain distance to have any chance of getting close to the green with the second shot. However, for the others, and for some extent these two as well, maybe a better approach rather than bashing a driver would be to think about what position would leave me best placed to cut out as much of the dogleg as I can on my second shot so I can get within 100 yards of the pin.
For example, on the 6th a dogleg right, you need to hit the ball 220 yards up hill to reach the dogleg to have any chance of GIR - rather than trying that and 50% of the time leaving myself tight up against the trees on the right and chipping out, I'd be better off with less distance off the tee and down the left hand side of the fairway with the chance of getting to within 75 - 100 yards of the green, even though there's no way I'll get GIR.
Will make my ability to take no more than 3 shots to get the ball in the hole from that kind of range all the more important, but that's really what seperates the wheat from the chaff in the world of golf I guess. Even while I'm improving in that respect though, it should leave me with nothing worse than double bogey even if I have a relative disaster.
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ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Always tricky, but thankfully everyone plays the same course so if your course management is good you stand a better chance week in week out! Do as you say and select a maximum yardage you will go before you WILL lay up. Mine is my hybrid off the tee, if I HAVE to hit more than the 210 yards I hit it then I just take the hybrid and accept a lay up, I then aim to position myself best for the following shot to get inside 150.
The best thing about this game plan is it takes pressure off par 3s, which I observed where the hardest of holes for my friend. This method takes the pressure off par 3s. Previously having scored a 8 or 9 on a par 5 an easy 4 or 3 was needed to ensure he got under 51 shots for the 9.
Now with my method he walks off par 5s and fours with 6s at the worst. With goal 2, getting inside 150 achieved or nearly achieved on par 3s already he can relax, all he has to do is goals 1 and 3. So he plays down the hole with a mid iron, chips on and putts for a 3 or 4. It was a total change in his approach to par 3s which were previously bashes with a 3 wood or a hybrid in "hit and hope" style.
steveh
Club Champion
I'm playing tomorrow and have never broken 100 yet, closest I've come is about 107. I'm going to give this a go and see how I get on, certainly can't be any worse than my current approach!
lyricist65
Club Champion
i have a method which i use before a round. it is similar to treating every hole like a par 5 which has been mentioned here but i take a different approach.
basically the maths of it is if you hit 5 on every hole you make 90. so you have 9 'grace shots' over the round. if you shoot a 4 on the first hole, then you have 10 for the remaining 17 and so on.
that way you can shoot a 7 or 8 and not let it get to you, as you know it can be clawed back on a par 3 for example.
i find this helps your mindset, but what it does mean is that that grace shot tally is always in your mind!
basically the maths of it is if you hit 5 on every hole you make 90. so you have 9 'grace shots' over the round. if you shoot a 4 on the first hole, then you have 10 for the remaining 17 and so on.
that way you can shoot a 7 or 8 and not let it get to you, as you know it can be clawed back on a par 3 for example.
i find this helps your mindset, but what it does mean is that that grace shot tally is always in your mind!
Curls
Journeyman Pro
While what you are trying to do is right, i.e. find a way to move on and not get dejected by a high score on one hole, "counting down" from a given number is very limiting. What happens when you get 5 from home and still have 6 grace shots left? Chances are you won't end up with many of those (if any), the best way to go lower than your handicap is to stop thinking about how many you can afford to give the course, just play every hole (or play holes in groups of three) as it happens and try not to add up, you might be pleasantly surprised when you count at the end. This is the Cohn et al thinking, we limit ourselves by setting self-imposed scoring barriers, if we get close to the barrier we subconsciously sabotage ourselves. Best to remove any thoughts of scoring and control what you can control, which is the process of picking a shot and committing to it. Set yourself goals that arent related to score and you stand a much better chance of not getting down on yourself when you make a 7 or 8
