Breaking 90

[widdow]

Hi

i am desprite to break 90 as I normally shot around 95, I hit the majority of fairways off the tee (which I normally take a 5 wood) hitting this around 240 yards, I consider my putting as good (hardly taking more then 2 putts on a green) I go to the driving range on a weekly basis to price not only driving but chipping as well.

so how can I practice to knock 5-6 shots of my round and reach this milestone????

Please help

[delboy159]

Re: Breaking 90

I must admit, if and when I'm hitting it 240 yrds from the tee and two putting 90% of the time - then I'd have thought that would have had me breaking 90....

I'm breaking 100, but thats with poor drives (as my 3 wood from the tee post will illustrate) and I'm taking on average 43 putts a round - which is basically 11 - 2 putts and 7 - 3 putts - which I hope to improve upon...

I really thought being in your shoes would have gotten me under 90 consistently.

Are you sure you are mainly two putting or could you be breaking into 40+ putts like me. Also, where do you feel you could pick up more shots? Consisitent drives and two putting should have you easily under 90 - I would have thought. Is your second shot or your mid to long irons letting you down?

I know better than to give you any advice - as I'm so inexperienced - but I'd like to see your perspective on things as I'm trying to do what you have already achieved.

[gord962]

Re: Breaking 90

If you are in the fairway off the tee and 2 putting, you are obviously having troubles getting on in regulation. With that, if you are two putting, your chip shots are not close enough to have more 1 putts. As for 99.99% of the amatuers looking to improve, work on your shots under 100 yards to bring your score down.

[mariner]

Re: Breaking 90

You hit a 5 wood 240 yards in the fairway, don`t 3 putt . . . . . . and you don`t break 90????
I would be very interested in seeing how this is done!
I hit my 5 wood about 185, miss 70% of fairways and 3-putt 2 or 3 times a round, but would regard anything over 90 as a disastrous round!
I assume your greens-in-regulation stats are pretty low?

[widdow]

Re: Breaking 90

I don't think I ever hit the greens in reg, except for par 3's any ideas, The only time I hit the greens the ball goes flying over the back, so I normally sub-conciously ensure that I am short, therefore wasting another shot


Any ideas how to improve this, maybe a different ball (as I just a distance ball at the moment)

[delboy159]

Re: Breaking 90

When you fly over the back of the green is this the case with a solidly struck pw, 9i, 8i, 7i and 6i - or are you talking longer clubs? I am finding that when I make a solid contact with any of those clubs - say a 7i going 150yrds and a pw going 110yrds - that I'm getting nice loft and not a lot of role. My big problem in stopping the ball is say 30 or 40 yrds out... with a quarter or half swing.

A friend of mine who I play Par 3 golf with now and again has a very low trajectory - even with an 8 iron, he is almost sweeping the ball. He doesn't get great distances - say his 6i lands at 120yrds, but it could role to 135, 140 yrds - and thats with the ball landing on fairway not putting surface. I've actually noticed he will hardly ever play a golf course or Par 3 course with guarded greens (if theres a bunker or ater hazard at the front), if there is a bunker he's going to be digging a lot of sandcastles.....

Could you be in a similar sort of boat? Are you sweeping your irons rather than actually taking a divot and doing that pinching the ball against the turf thing? I might be totally wrong here, but let me know if it seems to strike a chord with you.

[SIRCHOPALOT]

Re: Breaking 90

What are you using when you are just off the sides of the green. If your course is relatively flat, with limited rough around the greens, you need to be using the least lofted club possible to bump and run the ball to the cup. Many new golfers think they are supposed to use a wedge and fly the ball to the hole. You will find that if you practice with a 7 or 8 iron, play the ball back in your stance, weight on left side, you will have more control over your ball.

Wedges are good for flopping over bunkers and if you are more than 30 yards out, if you are closer try the bump and run shot.

[gord962]

Re: Breaking 90

I don't think I ever hit the greens in reg, except for par 3's any ideas, The only time I hit the greens the ball goes flying over the back, so I normally sub-conciously ensure that I am short, therefore wasting another shot


Any ideas how to improve this, maybe a different ball (as I just a distance ball at the moment)

If this is happening, it sounds like you are not hitting the ball very high - do you have a low trajectory?? If you have a low trajectory, you should be trying to run the ball up on the green. Distance markers are to the center of the green, so if you take 20 yards off the distance, you should roll onto the green nicely. If you are hitting high trajectory shots, just start landing the ball on the front of the greens. Unless they are all sloped from front to back, the ball will stay on.

Either way, you need to be able to chip the ball close enough to 1 putt. Work on your chipping so you are consistantly left with putts under 5 feet.

[mariner]

Re: Breaking 90

I`m only a 16 handicap making comment because I was in your position back in March, but it seems your problem shots are the ones from 50 yards and in, chips and pitches . . . . I only get between 4 and 9 greens in reg per round, but of those I miss, the NEXT shot is ALWAYS on the green (OK, I miss one once every 3 rounds)

You need to practice and find a really reliable shot that gets the ball on the green from 50 yards and in 9 times out of 10 - if you miss the green with these, you`ll almost always take ANOTHER 3 to get down!
From close in, the 9 iron is a good club to chip with because it flies half and rolls half of it`s total distance on the flat (so you know where to try and land it)
I had a perfectly typical round for me today - only 4 fairways, 5 greens in reg, two 3-putts, but nothing over 6 and finished with 83.
When I was trying to break 90 and played alone quite a lot, I used to play matchplay against an imaginary opponent that got a 5 on every hole, it`s great fun and if you win you`ll probably have done it!

[mdscpa]

Re: Breaking 90

I shoot 95-100 on my course and I also think of breaking 90. My problem is the two or three disaster holes every round. You know: drive the rough, lousy recovery, hit over the green into more rough, and so on. Three lousy holes at two strokes each and I can break 90.

Another thought: are you losing strokes on the par threes?

Good luck.

[LowPost42]

Re: Breaking 90

When I was trying to break 90 and played alone quite a lot, I used to play matchplay against an imaginary opponent that got a 5 on every hole, it's great fun and if you win you'll probably have done it!

Sounds like level 5's. You give yourself 5 strokes on every hole - aka every hole is par 5.

Make par for the round, and you shoot 90!

[Absolut]

Re: Breaking 90

If you are hitting a 5 wood 240 yards you might be swinging to hard and/or hitting all your shots low?

[Started2k3]

Re: Breaking 90

Hi

i am desprite to break 90 as I normally shot around 95, I hit the majority of fairways off the tee (which I normally take a 5 wood) hitting this around 240 yards, I consider my putting as good (hardly taking more then 2 putts on a green) I go to the driving range on a weekly basis to price not only driving but chipping as well.

so how can I practice to knock 5-6 shots of my round and reach this milestone????

You need to get to know your iron and wedge distances. If you have 163 yds left to the center of the green, then you should be confident that that is a full X iron. Also, it is important to know what kind of roll you are going to get (does this club cause the ball to roll forward or back and how many yards).

If I was left with 163 yards no wind, then I would use my 8 iron and that my ball will be about 1-2 yards from my ball mark (mostly forward but sometimes backward).

If you know your distances, then you should not end up short. Also keep in mind that range balls are not the best for calibrating your club distance. Ideally you should use what ever balls you use on the course.

Your confidence is also improved if you can walk up to your ball and know exactly which club you should use (no second guessing).

Hope this helps.

By the way, I finally broke 90 last weekend with a hcp of 24 so it is possible.

[ogallalabob]

Re: Breaking 90

I would follow your suggestion of trying a softer ball it might help you hit more greens, I know I play on a course with very hard fast greens and it would be impossible to stop the ball with a hard golf ball.

Given your distance off the tee, your putting I would say that it is either your chipping or your course management that is killing your score. You might want to try and document your scores after each round and then compare them after 5 rounds or so. It may give you an idea of wether it is certain holes on the course you play, penalty strokes etc. , to many hero type shots leaving your self above the pin, in a trap etc. Which may give you an idea how to play the hole safer or avoid trouble etc.

Bob

[msklar92]

Re: Breaking 90

focusing on short game is critical.

From a scoring standpoint, you need to at least par 2 of the par 3's and bogey the other 2, par the par 5's or no more than 6 one of them ( don't take chances) and keep the double bogeys to a max of 3 on par 4's. If the par 3's on the course you play are long - above 180 yds it is difficult to break 90 if you do not reach a lot of par 4's in regulation.

typical course - assuming each hole is a par 5.

4 par 3's - play in 4 under fives at least
4 par 5's - play in 2 over fives at most
10 par 4's - play in 1 over fives

above will give you 89. not that easy.