My Quest to Break 90.

[BMart519 1,387]

17 hours ago, Jonny_Crash said:

 

Obviously need some putting practice... 

 

Just noticed the clubs in your signature... Your putter is the only club in your bag that isn't new and you don't even know what model it is. Might be time for a fitting or at least trial some different types. Seems like an area that is being overlooked. 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

2 hours ago, BMart519 said:

I'm going to be Debbie Downer here, but only in hopes of expediting your improvement. 
- score properly so you can monitor real improvement and it will motivate you further, otherwise your handicap and scores are meaningless. Did you go from 3 to 1 mulligans per round but scores stayed flat? Or did "actual" scoring improve?

I used to do the same thing, some days it was 1 mulligan per round others it was 1 per 9 holes. If I played well it was no mulligans. Really helps keep your scoring in a tight band 

- you didn't putt very well. -7.5 SG putting relative to a 10 means you putted somewhere to the level of a 50 handicap because a 25 HCP loses 2.5 strokes putting compared to a 10 hcp according to Shot Scope. 
- if you are taking gimme's outside of 2' your SG is even worse because you would miss a decent amount of 3-4 footers at that level of putting. 
- try to take a putting lesson so the instructor can verify if there are any mechanical issues and if they think your putter is a good match for your stroke. They should be able to identify some drills to help your weaknesses. 

 

You are totally right regarding the  scoring and score keeping.  I usually only take one mulligan and keep it at that.  Yesterday, I ignored one hosel rocket and a mulligan on one drive that ended up on the other side of a lake.  The point is well taken!  

I putted everything out yesterday, so no gimmies.    Over the last 30 rounds I've averaged 2.2 putts/hole, so it'll be interesting to see how that changes as I get more rounds with arccos.    I have definitely been neglecting my short game over the past 9 months, so it is an obvious place to improve.  

[RickyBobby_PR 9,635]

29 minutes ago, Jonny_Crash said:

 

You are totally right regarding the  scoring and score keeping.  I usually only take one mulligan and keep it at that.  Yesterday, I ignored one hosel rocket and a mulligan on one drive that ended up on the other side of a lake.  The point is well taken!  

I putted everything out yesterday, so no gimmies.    Over the last 30 rounds I've averaged 2.2 putts/hole, so it'll be interesting to see how that changes as I get more rounds with arccos.    I have definitely been neglecting my short game over the past 9 months, so it is an obvious place to improve.  

Putts per round are only part of the story. If you hit 18 greens and had 36 putts you had a pretty good day on the score card. Look at proximity to hole, greens in regulation, how many shots you take under whatever yardage (100,125,150) 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

1 hour ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Putts per round are only part of the story. If you hit 18 greens and had 36 putts you had a pretty good day on the score card. Look at proximity to hole, greens in regulation, how many shots you take under whatever yardage (100,125,150) 

100% agree with this.  My approach (-1.2) and short game (-0.4) were decent by strokes gained measures vs a 10, but the putting was BAD (-7.5).  So that is obviously the big issue right now. 

EDIT: this info is all off of two rounds, one where I could barley hit the ball and one that was good for me. I expect it to change wildly early this year before levelling out towards the end of the summer.  Playing again tonight, I'll let you all know how it goes. 

Edited April 21 by Jonny_Crash

[BMart519 1,387]

46 minutes ago, Jonny_Crash said:

100% agree with this.  My approach (-1.2) and short game (-0.4) were decent by strokes gained measures vs a 10, but the putting was BAD (-7.5).  So that is obviously the big issue right now. 

EDIT: this info is all off of two rounds, one where I could barley hit the ball and one that was good for me. I expect it to change wildly early this year before levelling out towards the end of the summer.  Playing again tonight, I'll let you all know how it goes. 

Benefit of strokes gained is that it will separate the bad ball striking out as well as GIR as it relates to short game and putting. Some people have physical constraints on how far they can hit the ball which will limit their ceiling off the tee and slightly on approach. The only limitations to short game and putting is technique, practice, and a lesser extent - equipment. 

If you want to go old school stat collection, use the tiger 5 from Decade:

Count # 3 putts, # 2 chips, penalty shots, bogey or worse on par 5. These are the main errors to minimize. 

And modifying the last one for skill level: # of times it takes more than 3 shots to get down from inside 90 yards. 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

20 hours ago, BMart519 said:

Benefit of strokes gained is that it will separate the bad ball striking out as well as GIR as it relates to short game and putting. Some people have physical constraints on how far they can hit the ball which will limit their ceiling off the tee and slightly on approach. The only limitations to short game and putting is technique, practice, and a lesser extent - equipment. 

If you want to go old school stat collection, use the tiger 5 from Decade:

Count # 3 putts, # 2 chips, penalty shots, bogey or worse on par 5. These are the main errors to minimize. 

And modifying the last one for skill level: # of times it takes more than 3 shots to get down from inside 90 yards. 

I spent the bulk of the winter working on the full swing (I was losing shots OB left and right last summer).  I also really needed to eliminate the tops and chunks.  I think I've worked most of those out of the system... 

Now the plan is to shift to short game.  I played again last night and again putted terribly.  It is definitely time to hit the short game.

 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

I played last night in the wind.  We played the back 9 at old mill.  I shot a +13.  I lost a couple of drives right and OB, which hurts the score.  I also putted terrible on some very slow greens (21 Putts).  Lag putting was the thing that killed me.  I wasn't  getting close with my first putt on most holes.    I did miss a couple 4' putts as well.  All in all, bad putting day. 

I topped/chunked some approach shots that hurt the score, but I chipped/pitched pretty well.  However, coupled with the bad putting... I didn't score very well at all.  As bad as the approach shots were, I'm only giving up -1.4 shots to a 10 HCP on approach shots.  Not great, but not my worst.  

Shot of the day was a 200 yd 5i to about 45'  (I three putted down the hill).  

Putting is the key factor right now.  I'm -7.7 SG compared to a 10 HCP.  The focus this upcoming week is definitely going to be putting and short game.  I need to leave myself more manageable first putts (when I miss the green) and then capitalize on those putts. 

Interesting to see how this data evolves...  

[Jonny_Crash 294]

Played a solid round this morning and finished with a round of 44.  That's my second best round ever and felt pretty good!  

According to Arccros I lost 3.1 strokes gained compared to my target of a 10 HC this morning.  This breaks out as follows: 

I drove the ball really well and got up and down on 3/6 holes.  I hit 3 GIR, but took 20 putts.  Putting clearly continues to be the big weakness.  I had 5 three putts this morning and missed a handful of putts shorter than 5'.  I'm grazing the hole on most of them, but that doesn't do much good as a miss is a miss.  

In the grand scheme of things I'm losing 12 strokes gained compared to a 10 HC (over the past 5 rounds).  This breaks out as follows:

Keeping the ball in play off the tee and working on my putting should help me keep improving.   Long ways to go yet, but it was at least an encouraging morning.  I have noticed that I play a lot better when I swing easy.  I have a tendency to really go after the ball, which really messes up my timing.  When I can slow down and make a smooth swing I hit the ball cleaner and generally much better (further and higher).  So, my key swing thought right now is to swing easy.  

 

Edited May 6 by Jonny_Crash

[cnosil 25,291]

9 minutes ago, Jonny_Crash said:

Played a solid round this morning and finished with a round of 44.  That's my second best round ever and felt pretty good!  

According to Arccros I lost 3.1 strokes gained compared to my target of a 10 HC this morning.  This breaks out as follows: 

I drove the ball really well and got up and down on 3/6 holes.  I hit 3 GIR, but took 20 putts.  Putting clearly continues to be the big weakness.  I had 5 three putts this morning and missed a handful of putts shorter than 5'.  I'm grazing the hole on most of them, but that doesn't do much good as a miss is a miss.  

In the grand scheme of things I'm losing 12 strokes gained compared to a 10 HC (over the past 5 rounds).  This breaks out as follows:

Keeping the ball in play off the tee and working on my putting should help me keep improving.   Long ways to go yet, but it was at least an encouraging morning.  I have noticed that I play a lot better when I swing easy.  I have a tendency to really go after the ball, which really messes up my timing.  When I can slow down and make a smooth swing I hit the ball cleaner and generally much better (further and higher).  So, my key swing thought right now is to swing easy.  

 

Based on those charts I would say putting should be your focus area.  For putts inside of 5’ I’d do some gate drills.  For overall putting, work on distance control 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

48 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Based on those charts I would say putting should be your focus area.  For putts inside of 5’ I’d do some gate drills.  For overall putting, work on distance control 

Yeah, it's clearly costing me a lot of strokes.  The strange thing is I always thought I was pretty good at putting, guess I was lying to myself.  

[RollingGreens 2,359]

2 hours ago, Jonny_Crash said:

Played a solid round this morning and finished with a round of 44.  That's my second best round ever and felt pretty good!  

According to Arccros I lost 3.1 strokes gained compared to my target of a 10 HC this morning.  This breaks out as follows: 

I drove the ball really well and got up and down on 3/6 holes.  I hit 3 GIR, but took 20 putts.  Putting clearly continues to be the big weakness.  I had 5 three putts this morning and missed a handful of putts shorter than 5'.  I'm grazing the hole on most of them, but that doesn't do much good as a miss is a miss.  

In the grand scheme of things I'm losing 12 strokes gained compared to a 10 HC (over the past 5 rounds).  This breaks out as follows:

Keeping the ball in play off the tee and working on my putting should help me keep improving.   Long ways to go yet, but it was at least an encouraging morning.  I have noticed that I play a lot better when I swing easy.  I have a tendency to really go after the ball, which really messes up my timing.  When I can slow down and make a smooth swing I hit the ball cleaner and generally much better (further and higher).  So, my key swing thought right now is to swing easy.  

 

I used Arccos last year and it really helped me go from a 15 to an 8. The numbers don’t lie. Even if you think your are good at something it will show you were you need to put the work in at. 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

3 minutes ago, RollingGreens said:

I used Arccos last year and it really helped me go from a 15 to an 8. The numbers don’t lie. Even if you think your are good at something it will show you were you need to put the work in at. 

Isn't that the truth!  

[BMart519 1,387]

On 5/6/2022 at 12:50 PM, Jonny_Crash said:

Yeah, it's clearly costing me a lot of strokes.  The strange thing is I always thought I was pretty good at putting, guess I was lying to myself.  

I had a bad start to the season for putting. If you are struggling 5' and in, I recommend doing the clock drill setting up balls at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o clock around the hole at 3 feet. Once you make all of them, reset them at 5 or 6' from the hole. This will get you practice making breaking putts each direction. As you get better, change the clock positions as you change distances to get different putts. For example, on the 3 footers putt from 12, 3, 6, 9 o clock. On 6 footers putt from 1:30, 4:30, 7:30, 10:30. 

This is my warm up before every round to learn the greens and build some confidence making putts. These come up a lot on course after lag putts and chips from greenside. Then I finish by hitting 20-60' putts for speed or using 1 ball to putt out to a variety of holes on the practice green. 

[TitleistMike 9]

You have 40 or 50 answers by now.

 

Slow down and create control is my simple advice. Prior scratch level experiences.

 

You don't have to bomb it to score well. The ball flight needs to be predictable. Go look up via Google  Ben Hogan distance by club as evidence reference.

[smohan215 13]

Similar spot! It's cool to see how many of us that took it up in earnest in early covid are sticking with it and have developed some pretty strong games. I'm similarly in the 90s most of the time and my goal is to break 90 at three different courses this year, which is starting to feel overly ambitious.

I play with my uncle sometimes who's consistently an 80s shooter and the thing that always strikes me is just how boring his game is. There's no spectacular shots, he doesn't have really great distance or a very nice swing, but he also just doesn't get into trouble.

My swing has improved tremendously in the off-season with lessons and tons of simulator time. Driver and fairway distances are way up, irons are a little longer but have much better trajectories... but my scores are about the same. It really seems like minimizing damage is the key to breaking 90.

Anyway, good luck to ya! Excited to see someone else chasing the same goal!

[Jonny_Crash 294]

Played 18 yesterday for the first time this season.  I played a fun track that has water on pretty much every hole Stonebridge (played creekside/sagebrush).  There are some wide landing areas, but misses are pretty penal.  I ended up with a 98 (46-52) which was pretty solid all things considered.  

I putted and chipped really well for me.  31 putts total with 6 one-putts (one chip in Bird) and only 3 three-putts.  I got up and down 6 times.  I had a couple blow up holes where I dunked multiple tee shots, which really hurt the score.  

Overall it was a good time.  If I cut down the water balls, I'd have been just about to my target score.  So there is some hope there! The holes I kept the driver smooth went great, when I "tried" to hit it I pushed to the water (and usually much shorter).  It's a pretty easy pattern to see, but a bit harder to fix.  It's coming along though.  

 

Hole of the day was the par 5 eighth.  Driver up the left side 273, 5 Iron 206 (over water) to 30' and a 2 putt bird.  That 5i felt so good and smooth.

Favorite shot was a roped 6i 189 to an elevated green.  I ended up with a tricky downhill putt (for a 3-putt bogey).  It was great to see a climbing 6 stop on the green.

I had some mid-game struggles and chunked/topped a couple of approach shots.  Coupled with the driver penalties that really hurt the score as shown (compared to a 10 HC): 

 

Fun day! 

 

 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

Play 9 at Rose Park this morning.  It's a relatively easy track (rating 69/ slope 116), no real hazards and no forced carries (on the front 9).  So  I was able to get away with a couple of errant shots and some thinned approaches.  However, I shot my best score ever at +4.  It was four bogeys and the rest pars, but had a couple good looks at birds.  

Stats wise I averaged 245 off the tee, hit 3 fairways and had 5 GIR.  I got up and down once and ended with 18 putts.  I was +1.9 in SG compared to my target of a 10 HC.  This was broken out as follows:

 

Not much to complain about at all.  I feel like the game is coming around and the early season putting woes are getting corrected (still my weak spot).  Playing an easy course certainly helps, but I'll take it.  

[cnosil 25,291]

32 minutes ago, Jonny_Crash said:

  Playing an easy course certainly helps, but I'll take it.  

 

Easy or not, you still have to execute and score.   nice round   

 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

19 minutes ago, cnosil said:

 

Easy or not, you still have to execute and score.   nice round   

 

Thanks, it felt good! 

[Jonny_Crash 294]

I occasionally get to play some of the fancier courses here in Utah through my job.  Next week I get to play the Painted Valley course at Promontory (link).  I'm pretty excited.  It's at a pretty high elevation (~ 7,000') so the ball should carry a ways... but it's over 8,000 yards from the tips (haha).  I obviously won't be playing from there, but it's apparently quite the challenge.  

Tony Finau holds the course record of 67.  Should be fun!