Personal Best for 9 :)

[little brit]

I am having a great deal of trouble keeping it together to break 90. Mainly at Emerald Links or the like. I have had this as a goal for quite a while now without success. Scoring lots of 92s, but mainly having one really good 9 and one really bad Today I did just the same, I think it is all in my head. I try things like not counting and stuff like that but so far no luck. So to make myself feel better I thought I would post that I got a personal best of 41 for the West 9 at Emerald today. Started off with 4 pars in a row. Now if only I could string those together. Earlier in the week I scored a 43 so hopefully I will get it together soon.

[sillywilly]

what did you have on the east ?? Or is it south? I can't remember

[little brit]

what did you have on the east ?? Or is it south? I can't remember

Today they had a huge tournament there so you could only play West. I did it twice and I think I got a 51 the first time around. Not sure what I did with my scorecard because when I got that score I gave up on the 90. That's when I started scoring well. When I had given up. LOL. Typical. Same happened last week. When I had given up I parred four of the last 5 holes.

[sillywilly]

so funny. It will happen, don't focus on your score. Just do the best you can do on each hole. I used to go for it on a few holes when I knew I was close to being near a target score and I would almost always screw myself over now I don't keep score, look at the card or anything. I let my PP keep score for me and the scores just started dropping. Have someone else keep your score and don't ask them what your score is or what you need to get a 90 or a 45 on the front or back. Another thing I did was I would try my best not to think about the previous hole or the next hole. Just the hole I was playing. A friend told me to no even keep track of my strokes per hole, that they would do it. Don't say your score out load, don't think back and count your score, let them take care of everything. I know it sounds retarded but try it and see what happens.

[little brit]

Thanks sillywilly. I do try to do that as much as I can but even without adding up I know that when I par 6 holes out of 9 that my score is great. I can't help it. When I am doing less well, usually I haven't a clue and am pleasantly surpised when it isn't as much as I thought. I put way too much pressure on myself.

[sillywilly]

Don't worry so much about the score. Worry about something else. Take two sips of beer every hole. Focus on that instead and see what happens.

[little brit]

Don't worry so much about the score. Worry about something else. Take two sips of beer every hole. Focus on that instead and see what happens.

Funny you should say that. It was after the beer that I got a string of pars.

[sillywilly]

Willy knows best my child

[big mac]

Don't think about the score--play each hole as it comes. Drive--close to the green--on the green--close to the cup--in. Do it 18 times--you'll be surprised

[little brit]

Don't think about the score--play each hole as it comes. Drive--close to the green--on the green--close to the cup--in. Do it 18 times--you'll be surprised

Thanks BigMac, I will do my best I focused too much on missing 90 rather than the scoring 41 for 9 in my post. I am very happy to have scored as low as that.

[big mac]

Maybe; just maybe next Saturday

[Big Johnny69]

Good job on the personal best. Keep at it, you'll string two great nines together.

[Bullet]

I'm a classic at struggling with front and back 9's. Finishing with a 10 stroke diffrence seems to be a regular thing for me.

Best 9 was last spring 43 at Cloverdale (1st time ever at that course) and the week after hit a 43 front 48 back at Casselview for my 2nd overall score ever at Casselview. Haven't come close to those scores since LOL

[fireice]

Nice 41 little brit.
Have always liked the West 9 a nice relief from the South 9 if your playing South-West.

[Indio]

Way to go Brit

[little brit]

Nice 41 little brit.
Have always liked the West 9 a nice relief from the South 9 if your playing South-West.

I a surprised I usually prefer the south and started off thinking of the West as my jinx. I play there mostly and find the different 9 fairly even now. The east slightly the hardest.

[little brit]

Thanks guys Played Metcalfe today and had a weird round. 93 score, with 8 Pars. 42 back 9 and 51 front. I guess it just takes me a long time to get going. Seemed to either blow up the holes or par them. It wasn't boring at least.

MMmmmmmmmmmmmmm If I played 27 could I count the last two nines. I will bet that I make it if I do that. I get better the more I play.

[sillywilly]

do this, I think it will work. Go to a course with 27 holes. Play 9 holes to warm up and then start your round

[slpca]

Congratulations on the 41 - especially on WEST

Like you, I prefer South and have also found West to be my jinx

And, I do the same thing as you. I see what I have scored on the front and then go to HELL on the back. Maybe in another 4 years.......................

Sue

P.S. After a 95 a couple of weeks ago I scored a HUGE 112 last weekend - arghhhhh.

[little brit]

Congratulations on the 41 - especially on WEST

Like you, I prefer South and have also found West to be my jinx

And, I do the same thing as you. I see what I have scored on the front and then go to HELL on the back. Maybe in another 4 years.......................

Sue

P.S. After a 95 a couple of weeks ago I scored a HUGE 112 last weekend - arghhhhh.

Thanks slpca I think I mainly do the opposite of you though I mainly score poorly on the front 9 then really get it going for the back. I think that either I have worked out my game swing by then and start really parring, or that after messing up the front 9 I can relax.

I am also quite capable of totally scoring big too some days your swing and co-ordination just take a break

[slpca]

some days your swing and co-ordination just take a break

SOME DAYS! - lately it seems to be most days I think that I'm trying too hard to get back below the 100. My friend and pro, Vera, says that it happens and I will get back into the 90's this season (ever the optomist )

Sue

[little brit]

SOME DAYS! - lately it seems to be most days I think that I'm trying too hard to get back below the 100. My friend and pro, Vera, says that it happens and I will get back into the 90's this season (ever the optomist )

Sue

I love Vera. She took me for my first ladies group lessons. I was so bad she didn't think I would come back. I have had some private lessons off her also. As she said, it will come back, I am finding it is 2 steps forward then one step back.

[WillyC]

Congrats on your 41! You'll get two good ones in a row...keep at it.

I was an 80's player in high school (10-11 hdcp) then didn't play for a number of years. Getting back into playing a few years ago was a bit frustrating as I was always flirting with 90. One thing that I find really helped me to start breaking 90 consistently again is to take a "bogey golf", or, "level 5's" approach to every round. It's described in a book called "How to Break 90" by Tomasi, Adams and Corcoran.

So, if you bogey every hole on the course then you shoot 90. But it's a real different mental approach to the game. Now your "personal par" is one more than the hole par, and your "personal greens in reg" is one more than the hole's green in reg. On just about every par 4, your second shot is a safe "lay up" shot short of the green in the middle of the fairway, and similarly for your third shot on 5's. Then you've got three short game shots to get it down for your bogey.

It sounds pessimistic and stupid but it can really shave some strokes off, because you play much safer on your approach shots and almost never get into trouble in greenside bunkers and rough. And if you're good enough to flirt with 90 and you can shoot 41 you'll still par about half the par 4's, and par or bogey almost every par 3, and then you're well on your way to breaking 90. The other plus is that your short game will get awesome...you end up taking a lot of little 20 yard pitches from the fairway and running it up into 1 or 2 putt range. And your overall course management will get better and better.

Check out the book if you can, I love it...

[foxman]

Congratulations!

[timmu]

Congrats on the 41. And like the others said, don't worry, breaking 90 will come.

Not sure if my advice will be welcome, since I seem to have caused a real stir in another thread, but anyway...

I've been playing 6 years and have gone from shooting in the 120's to shooting in the low 80's. I've shot 80 twice this summer but haven't broken it yet. I play about 25-30 times a year and have dropped between 3 and 8 strokes off my game every year.

I've only had 2 lessons in 6 years but have consistently gotten better by studying the game and the swing (obsessively), and practising when I can (which the last few years, is not often).

Aside from getting regular lessons (the absolute best thing anyone can do to lower their scores, IMO), I think that following WillyC's advice is a good idea, although I'd modify it slightly and say, try to par every hole if you are in a legitimate position to do so, but shoot for bogey if you're in any kind of trouble. What I mean by that is, if you hit a decent tee shot in the fairway and are hitting a club into the green that you are comfortable with, aim for the middle of the green and try to make par. But if you're in trouble off the tee or miss with your second shot, you should automatically be thinking, my goal now is to make a 5 here, rather than a 6 or a 7. It's those really big numbers that will prevent you from breaking 90. If you can shoot pars and bogeys and keep the others off your card, you've done it automatically.

That kind of realistic, conservative thinking, has shaved a lot of strokes off my game. I've had rounds where I just could not for the life of me make a par; sometimes I'd play 7 holes before I made one. But I never made more worse than bogey for those 7 holes, so I was still technically on pace to shoot 90. Then when the pars and birdies started coming, I was in the mid and low 80's.

Concomitant to this, just playing safe and away from trouble on every hole really helped me lower my scores. If there's trouble on the right side of the fairway, I'm aiming for left-centre of the fairway. If I'm not hitting the ball really well during a particular round, even if I've only got a short iron in to a hole, I often won't go after the pin unless the hole is cut in the middle. But the opposite is true also - if I'm striking the ball really well, I'll take more chances. But with every chance you take, you're risking a big number, which destroys your score.

Also, I've played with so many guys who automatically pull driver on every par 4 and 5. They don't even bother to look at the yardage, to think about where the trouble is on the hole, to think about where they want to land their tee shot to set up the best possible angle and distance in for their 2nd. Then, they might actually hit a good tee shot, exactly where they were aiming, but they go through the fairway because they didn't need that much club and didn't think about how much fairway they had to work with. Or they'll hit it in a bunker in the fairway and end up making a 6 or a 7. Some guys just like to hit driver, and like to take chances, like going for a par 5 over water with a 3 wood. They'll often make more mistakes and shoot higher numbers, but they're not worried about their score; for them the fun is in pulling off the big shots. I play a bit more boring golf, but I've dropped my handicap every year and nothing makes me happier than that.

Aside from all that - playing conservative and away from trouble, and having as a goal to shoot no worse than bogey on every hole, the other thing I would say is a cliche, but it's true: short game short game short game. That's where you'll save the most strokes. I've had days where I hit only 1 or 2 greens, but chipped it close every time and shot a good score. Or I've had days where I hit 8 or 9 greens but 3-putted 5 times. Good bye score.

If you practise when you can, especially on the short game, and have as your philosophy that you're going to play safe and not shoot worse than bogey, you'll do it; it's only a matter of time.

[WillyC]

You put it really well timmu, "try to par every hole if you are in a legitimate position to do so, but shoot for bogey if you're in any kind of trouble".

For me personally, that means that if I drive it in the fairway or first cut and I'm inside 150 to the green, and there are no bunkers or water threatening my natural ball flight to the center of the green, I'll go for the green in two. If I drive it in the rough outside of 125 or in the fairway outside 160, I'll almost always lay up short of the green. It's remarkable how much less greenside trouble you get in that way. But it takes a lot of mental adjustments to think, "ok, my drive wasn't great, but instead of trying to 'make up a stroke' by going for the green in two from 170 in the rough, I'm better to hit a 6 or 7 iron to safety and maybe still get a par with a good up and down from 20 yards off the front of the green" That kind of thinking has save me a lot of strokes, and really improved my short game at the same time. And, if you're good enough to shoot 41, you'll still be making pars on about half the par 4's anyway.

It'll come!

PS congrats timmu on your quick progress, something most golfers only hope for!

[little brit]

Maybe; just maybe next Saturday

Next Saturday I am just going to go and enjoy myself I am sure that I will feel some element of wanting to show I don't totally suck in front of forum members and that will kill the first few holes.

Looking forward to playing with you and Diane

[little brit]

Congrats on your 41! You'll get two good ones in a row...keep at it.

I was an 80's player in high school (10-11 hdcp) then didn't play for a number of years. Getting back into playing a few years ago was a bit frustrating as I was always flirting with 90. One thing that I find really helped me to start breaking 90 consistently again is to take a "bogey golf", or, "level 5's" approach to every round. It's described in a book called "How to Break 90" by Tomasi, Adams and Corcoran.

So, if you bogey every hole on the course then you shoot 90. But it's a real different mental approach to the game. Now your "personal par" is one more than the hole par, and your "personal greens in reg" is one more than the hole's green in reg. On just about every par 4, your second shot is a safe "lay up" shot short of the green in the middle of the fairway, and similarly for your third shot on 5's. Then you've got three short game shots to get it down for your bogey.

It sounds pessimistic and stupid but it can really shave some strokes off, because you play much safer on your approach shots and almost never get into trouble in greenside bunkers and rough. And if you're good enough to flirt with 90 and you can shoot 41 you'll still par about half the par 4's, and par or bogey almost every par 3, and then you're well on your way to breaking 90. The other plus is that your short game will get awesome...you end up taking a lot of little 20 yard pitches from the fairway and running it up into 1 or 2 putt range. And your overall course management will get better and better.

Check out the book if you can, I love it...

I will get the book I already own about 30. One more won't even be noticed
Sounds good.

[timmu]

Thanks Willy.

I agree, it's hard to adjust the thinking.

They say it's a game of mistakes, and after 6 years of working at it, I finally understand what that means. It's not always exciting to play away from trouble and play the highest percentage shots, but that's how you shoot low scores. I have a good little story to illustrate that.

My younger brother by 2 years has been playing for about 10 years. I took the game up after him, and the first couple of years we played together (we live 6 hours apar and play just 2 or 3 times a summer), he usually beat me. But I worked really hard on my game, and until this summer, he hadn't beaten me once in 4 years.

We played Camden Braes in Kingston a month ago. I'd never been there before, but it's the most wide open course I've ever played, and the fairways were like concrete - no irrigation system.

I had a pretty terrible day - tons of 3 putts and was hooking the ball badly. He, on the other hand, could do no wrong. I'd never seen him break 100 before, but he shot 83 that day, while I shot 88. He pulled driver on pretty much every par 4, aimed right at the pin on every hole, took all kinds of really goofy chances on every hole, like trying to hit miracle shots through 5 trees, when he should have just punched out to the fairway or taken a drop. But that day, every bounce, every richocet off a tree went his way. He hit a 3 wood over a huge lake, and it landed just 3 feet over the water. He chipped on 2-putted for par. Hit drives all over the place, but managed to make pars from everywhere. Missed the green on a par 3, aimed right into some branches towards the hole, hit a branch which slowed the ball down and made it come to rest 2 feet from the hole; if he hadn't of hit the tree, his pitch would have been over the green. Made at least 3 long putts of 20 feet or more, 2 of them for birdie. In short, he had the round of his life and got away with a lot of lucky breaks, even though his basic strategy was, hit the ball as far as I can, and aim right for the flag, oblivious to water, trees, sand traps, false fronts, etc.

That day, he got away with it and ended up with a really good score. But I've never seen him get away with crazy gambles like that all day, and probably won't again. The point is, once in a while, if you take chances, you'll get away with it. But 99% of the time, you'll get in trouble and shoot big numbers. And even though I do hit the ball better than him, the reason he hadn't beaten me in four years is much more to do with the fact that I have a strategy on the course and think about every hole, every shot; about how to make par, and if I'm in trouble, how not to make a 6, 7, or 8. He'll make the odd par and birdie, but he'll also shoot those really big numbers. Even though his technique is worse, if he played smarter and more conservatively, his scores would be a lot lower.

[little brit]

Congrats on the 41. And like the others said, don't worry, breaking 90 will come.

Not sure if my advice will be welcome, since I seem to have caused a real stir in another thread, but anyway...

I've been playing 6 years and have gone from shooting in the 120's to shooting in the low 80's. I've shot 80 twice this summer but haven't broken it yet. I play about 25-30 times a year and have dropped between 3 and 8 strokes off my game every year.

I've only had 2 lessons in 6 years but have consistently gotten better by studying the game and the swing (obsessively), and practising when I can (which the last few years, is not often).

Aside from getting regular lessons (the absolute best thing anyone can do to lower their scores, IMO), I think that following WillyC's advice is a good idea, although I'd modify it slightly and say, try to par every hole if you are in a legitimate position to do so, but shoot for bogey if you're in any kind of trouble. What I mean by that is, if you hit a decent tee shot in the fairway and are hitting a club into the green that you are comfortable with, aim for the middle of the green and try to make par. But if you're in trouble off the tee or miss with your second shot, you should automatically be thinking, my goal now is to make a 5 here, rather than a 6 or a 7. It's those really big numbers that will prevent you from breaking 90. If you can shoot pars and bogeys and keep the others off your card, you've done it automatically.

That kind of realistic, conservative thinking, has shaved a lot of strokes off my game. I've had rounds where I just could not for the life of me make a par; sometimes I'd play 7 holes before I made one. But I never made more worse than bogey for those 7 holes, so I was still technically on pace to shoot 90. Then when the pars and birdies started coming, I was in the mid and low 80's.

Concomitant to this, just playing safe and away from trouble on every hole really helped me lower my scores. If there's trouble on the right side of the fairway, I'm aiming for left-centre of the fairway. If I'm not hitting the ball really well during a particular round, even if I've only got a short iron in to a hole, I often won't go after the pin unless the hole is cut in the middle. But the opposite is true also - if I'm striking the ball really well, I'll take more chances. But with every chance you take, you're risking a big number, which destroys your score.

Also, I've played with so many guys who automatically pull driver on every par 4 and 5. They don't even bother to look at the yardage, to think about where the trouble is on the hole, to think about where they want to land their tee shot to set up the best possible angle and distance in for their 2nd. Then, they might actually hit a good tee shot, exactly where they were aiming, but they go through the fairway because they didn't need that much club and didn't think about how much fairway they had to work with. Or they'll hit it in a bunker in the fairway and end up making a 6 or a 7. Some guys just like to hit driver, and like to take chances, like going for a par 5 over water with a 3 wood. They'll often make more mistakes and shoot higher numbers, but they're not worried about their score; for them the fun is in pulling off the big shots. I play a bit more boring golf, but I've dropped my handicap every year and nothing makes me happier than that.

Aside from all that - playing conservative and away from trouble, and having as a goal to shoot no worse than bogey on every hole, the other thing I would say is a cliche, but it's true: short game short game short game. That's where you'll save the most strokes. I've had days where I hit only 1 or 2 greens, but chipped it close every time and shot a good score. Or I've had days where I hit 8 or 9 greens but 3-putted 5 times. Good bye score.

If you practise when you can, especially on the short game, and have as your philosophy that you're going to play safe and not shoot worse than bogey, you'll do it; it's only a matter of time.

Wow! thanks Timmu for your detailed post. I will be referring back to it quite a bit I actually don't get into too much trouble in the fairway usually. I am mainly on or around the green in regulation. My big problem, and I know it. Is my short game. My chipping is terrible, skulling across the green is not good especially if you do it coming back too and my putting is very streaky, when it is good it can be very good, but like the girl with the curl, when it is bad it is horrid.
That is what I really need to focus on next year. I do go for the hard shots though. It is pretty exciting when you pull it off. I have found with the winter layoff it takes quite some time to get back my swing, then we are back into winter.

Like you I am pretty obsessive about it. Taken lessons, own lots of books, scour the internet. Etc etc. I have been playing since July 2004 so I have lots more experience to get yet.