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**peter3** · 06-25-2006, 07:14 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

I read somewhere that if you can hit 8 GIR's and putt reasonably well, you will score 80 or lower. This presumes you have no blow-up holes, of course, something that can be accomplished by leaving the driver at home

**wyckham120** · 06-26-2006, 05:47 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

Hi all.
Having read all of your threads, i agree with all of them in some way. I was hitting regular low 90's on a par 71 5440 course. I was always annoyed at the end of the round because i knew i could hit mid 80's. I started to shorten my backswing, which would allow me to keep my head still and my club on a more consistent plain. This allows me to hit a more consistent shot, most of the time from what feels like the sweet spot. My last couple of rounds have been 84 and 86. The 86 was with two 8's on simple par 4's which i put down to a lack of concentration.
I'm convinced a lot of my problems were psychological. I thought i had to hit 300 yds with my driver because thats what i think everyone else does. Now i'm swinging steadier and and reaching par 5's easily in 3 shots, and i dont consider myself a big hitter at all.

Good luck to all and keep working on the game!.

**slater170** · 06-26-2006, 06:07 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

nice one wyckham
you are so right we all watch the pro's smashing huge drives and think we have to replicate it!
i dont use a driver now sick of losing balls and playing out of the trees.
i use my 3wood and ive found by just choking down a fraction im hitting with the sweet spot every time producing super straight shots!

**slater170** · 06-27-2006, 12:54 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

playing a fourball tonight with work colleagues and intend using aftford's 5 club only approach to the game.
it worked great at the weekend playing solo (79) so we'll see how effective it is when playing under peer pressure
i suspect it will be just as successful!
will post score good

or bad

**ogallalabob** · 06-27-2006, 02:00 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

This presumes you have no blow-up holes, of course, something that can be accomplished by leaving the driver at home

[/quote]

I was surprised that Fred Fuk in Golf digest (in the breaking 100) was recomending for high handicappers to use the driver off the Tee. His reasoning was that the Driver is the only club golf companies actually invest in technology to fit an average golfer swing and you should take advantage of it. 2) the sweet spot is a lot larger on the driver (with new clubs I imagine) then any other club in the bag.

Not sure what I think of this advice, sort of goes against the old line of thinking a person should learn to hit a 3 wood first then go to the driver after that.

But I know when I switched to a 460 driver this year, I have more confidence with that club then a 3 wood. I can usually find the fairway with it (at worse eliminate one side of the course), even my mishits seem to travel very well (230 or so) and usaully able to get the ball off the tee in the 260-280 range and is a lot sraighter then the 3 wood. While my 3 wood goes about 220 -240, and the number of bad shots anymore seem to be greater (mostly playing my natural draw with it and pushing it out right). Anyway I have been consistently in the low 80's and broke 70 a couple times and am going to try and go with the driver more often in my quest to get consistently in the high 70's at leat for the next several weeks.

Bob

**SIRCHOPALOT** · 06-27-2006, 03:30 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

If you truly want to shoot in the low 80's there are two solutions:

If you are averaging 5 shots per hole, quit after hole 16.

If you are averaging 6 shots per hole, quit after hole14.

Have a good day.

**ge psycho** · 06-27-2006, 05:03 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

I have just played a round at the west midlands course near coventry. 1st tee hit a drive (banana more like) so employed the irons tactic, now i love to boom a drive down the middle but not 2day it seems, normaly would take a 90 as a good game today hit 82.

par 5s, hit 3irons of tees 5irons second shots punch and run a 9 off the back foot 2 green and put

par 4s, 3irons of tee and what ever iron it takes 2 green

par 3s as normal, all par 3s no bigger than a 7iron

Thanks if it wasn't 4 this Thread i would have stuck to the driver and would have had a mare!

tomorrow I play the hinckley course (M69) never played here before and i'm leaving my drive in the bag if i can will let u Know if this works again.

**leftiedave** · 06-27-2006, 09:34 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

Trouble is my straightest club is my driver, I am erratic with irons off the tee, especially high irons and so par few par 3's though plenty of 4's!!
(handicap 20)

Dave

**slater170** · 06-27-2006, 10:15 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

hi all
played 18 holes in works fourball tonight using aftfords 5 club method and while not as good at saturday still carded 83.
i now know the value of taking clubs with you that you hit consistently well that coupled with working hard on short game eventually pays off.
tonight was a prime example my work colleagues regularly visit the range and smash a 100 balls with their drivers very few are straight i might add.
so time after time im playing from the fairway and they are roughly the same distance but chipping out of the trees.
give me accuracy over distance every time
ok you gain some kudos for the longest drive but what good is that when you have lost the game by 11 shots !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**jamesh** · 06-27-2006, 11:10 PM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

I saw something similar on the Golf Channel yesterday. Instead of trying to get as close to the green as possible, try and get the ball to within a comfort range of the green, i.e., if you are really good at 110 yeard, aim for that instead of an awkward 70 yards shot.

I think I will try it next next time out.

James

Originally posted by aftford

I wander if the majority of people realise, that if you can hit a ball reasonable straight for 150 yards, there is no reason why you can't par most par 3's, par or bogey most par 4's and par or bogey most par 5,s. just by using a 7 iron ,PW, SW( for bunkers ) and a putter. If you can produce similar scores as above it is a possibility that you will be shooting in the low 80,s.

You can even add a rescue club fro the longer par 3,s.

Most Mid- high handicappers ruin their chances of posting reasonable scores becuase they are brainwashed into believing that a big booming drive is essential to low scoring. If the truth be known, most high handicappers fail to hit their driver further than their 8 or 7 iron and are far less accurate with their driver than their mid-irons. I play off 1 h/cap and i haven't hit a driver in years.

If you want to shoot in the 80,s you have to hit more fairways.

Why not try a round using just the five clubs that i mentioned above and let me know how you got on .

**LowPost42** · 06-28-2006, 12:15 AM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

Well, aftford, once again, you're spot on.

Last year after the club officially closed, I'd go around the top 3 holes (we have 6 below the hill, and 3 on the top of the hill) with either 6,8,PW or 7,9,GW. I was pushing my little one around in a stroller, so didn't want to lug a bag.

The 3 holes are: 470 yard par 5, 338 yard par 4, 150 yard par 3.

I went out with said clubs, and could often play these 3 holes at even par - putting with the wedges! Now, part of it was being able to birdie the par 5 a few times (blading the odd shot helps distance!), while taking a bogey on the par 4, but it showed me that I'd probably do quite well to just play with a handful of clubs. It's a shame I haven't been able to employ that mentality, lately...

**aftford** · 06-28-2006, 05:34 AM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

wow.
i'm so pleased to hear of so many success stories.

I take no credit for the scores you guys have attained, you were the ones hitting the balls , not me.

Now you have acheived such excellent scores, you have to ask yourselves " where do i go from here "?
Why not just play a few more rounds this way ( enjoy the way you are all playing) and see how your games develope.

remember: i'm always hear to help.

bless you all . well done

**jeremia** · 06-28-2006, 05:59 AM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

atford your making me think man, well done.

but how i love my big dog.

jerry

**tpg1965** · 06-28-2006, 06:02 AM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

As you all know. Aftford is lifelong friend of mine ( since we were kids ) and it's with great thanks to him that i took up this game. He just has a really spooky knack of knowing how to improve even total begginers and weekend hackers.

This has got to be one of the best and most possitive threads i have seen on this site since becomming a member.

Andy got me to use this system a long time ago when i was a struggling
mid-90's player and the very first time i tried it i shot a 84, so i stayed with this system for many months and was amazed at how my short game and course management improved beyond belief.

Andy is spot on when he said " jsut enjoy the way you are playing for a while" and just let your game naturally devlope from here.

regards

**leftiedave** · 06-28-2006, 09:21 AM

Re: HOW TO SHOOT IN THE LOW 80,s

I can see this would work for someone who is good with medium irons and only score orientated- but not everyone is. Also, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a purist with my sport. It could be possibly shown (English only take note!) that more boundaries are scored in cricket from edges through the slips. But I wouldn't work on that aspect of my game because there is more satisfaction in watching or playing an elegant cover drive. I want to play the game like Ernie Els - I never will but the pleasure is in the odd shots when I do!

Dave

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