Break 90 by Playing Smart: A Simple Strategy for Bogey Golfers

[KJano05]

Break 90 by Playing Smart: A Simple Strategy for Bogey Golfers

If you’re a bogey golfer, you might feel pressured to go for distance and try to make the most of every shot. But what if I told you that changing your mindset and approach could actually help you shoot better than bogey golf?

I’ve been experimenting with a simple strategy that I’ve shared with a few friends, and the results have been impressive. The idea is to play each hole as if it’s one stroke longer than its par:

    •    Play par 3’s like par 4’s
    •    Play par 4’s like par 5’s
    •    Play par 5’s like par 6’s

By doing this, you’re taking the pressure off yourself to hit long, risky shots and instead breaking down each hole into manageable parts, focusing on the clubs you’re most comfortable with.

For example, on a par 4, instead of trying to smash a driver and risk ending up in trouble, you could hit a more controlled hybrid or iron off the tee. Then, play your second shot to a safe area where you can set up an easy approach to the green. By taking an extra stroke to reach the green, you’re more likely to avoid big numbers and keep your score in check.

I’ve seen this approach work wonders for golfers who typically struggle to break 90. By playing smarter and not always going for broke, they’ve had some of their best rounds. It’s about managing the course and playing to your strengths, rather than trying to play like the pros.

Give it a try next time you’re out on the course. You might be surprised at how effective this strategy can be in lowering your scores!

[cksurfdude]

Good stuff! It's certainly a great idea and - in theory! - easy enough to implement.

I've been sloooowly working my way towards playing more smart golf, vs smash and curse .. it's a work in progress.....

[Rob Person]

Good read!  Eliminating the hero shots will also help tremendously .  Sometimes you have to in certain situations 

[TJ Hall]

Very interesting.  I remember growing up playing a par 5 with my dad that would always give him trouble hitting driver off the tee (double bogey or worse).  He decided to stop hitting driver off the tee for the occasional time being able to get there in 2 and started hitting a hybrid.

Found the fairway more often and average score on the hole dropped quickly.

When in trouble, I like to move the ball forward, but do not risk a high score to do so.  Sometimes you have to take your medicine!

[KJano05]

21 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Good stuff! It's certainly a great idea and - in theory! - easy enough to implement.

I've been sloooowly working my way towards playing more smart golf, vs smash and curse .. it's a work in progress.....

Thanks! It’s definitely easier said than done, especially when the temptation to smash a drive is strong. But even small steps toward playing smarter can make a big difference over time. Keep at it, and before you know it, those "smash and curse" moments will turn into more consistent, controlled shots. Golf is always a work in progress, but that’s part of what makes it so rewarding! Keep grinding!

21 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Good read!  Eliminating the hero shots will also help tremendously .  Sometimes you have to in certain situations 

Absolutely, eliminating those hero shots is key! They can be tempting, but often lead to more trouble than they’re worth. Of course, there are times when you have to go for it, but knowing when to play it safe and when to take a risk is what really helps keep the score down. It’s all about finding that balance. Glad you enjoyed the read!

[KJano05]

2 hours ago, TJ Hall said:

Very interesting.  I remember growing up playing a par 5 with my dad that would always give him trouble hitting driver off the tee (double bogey or worse).  He decided to stop hitting driver off the tee for the occasional time being able to get there in 2 and started hitting a hybrid.

Found the fairway more often and average score on the hole dropped quickly.

When in trouble, I like to move the ball forward, but do not risk a high score to do so.  Sometimes you have to take your medicine!

That’s a great example of smart course management! Sometimes it’s all about putting pride aside and choosing the club that keeps you out of trouble, even if it means sacrificing the chance to get there in two. Your dad’s approach is exactly what this strategy is about—finding consistency and lowering scores by playing within your strengths. And you’re right, knowing when to take your medicine is crucial. It’s not always easy, but it definitely pays off in the long run! Thanks for sharing that story!

[DaveP043]

On 9/1/2024 at 5:16 PM, KJano05 said:

smash a driver

MY first suggestion for almost every player out there is to get this concept out of your mind, you don't want to "smash" any shot!  A driver swing shouldn't be significantly harder than a hybrid or long-iron swing.  By making a "normal" full swing, you'll hit driver more consistently, and find more fairways, and NOT need to give up 20 or 30 yards or more by hitting a shorter club.

Beyond that, I hate the idea of voluntarily giving up distance.  Most people won't hit many more fairways by hitting a shorter club, but they WILL make their next shot(s) longer, which will make the results of those second shots worse.  Of course pay attention to the course, select a club off the tee which will be short of trouble, but don't lay back all the time, hit the longest club that will keep you out of most of the trouble.

Has anyone ever read the advice to play a par-5 with 7-iron three times in a row?  For a player struggling to break 90, what are the chances of hitting three consecutive 7-irons even moderately well?  

21 hours ago, Rob Person said:

Eliminating the hero shots will also help tremendously

I do like this.  You should play to get the lowest score you can make from "right here".  If that means a chip out rather than a hero shot through an impossible gap, chip out.  Don't be desperate to "save par", play to make the lowest score you can from wherever you find yourself.  If that's bogey, or double, its still better than your result when you bounce the hero shot off a tree..  

 

[AP Major]

7 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

MY first suggestion for almost every player out there is to get this concept out of your mind, you don't want to "smash" any shot!  A driver swing shouldn't be significantly harder than a hybrid or long-iron swing.  By making a "normal" full swing, you'll hit driver more consistently, and find more fairways, and NOT need to give up 20 or 30 yards or more by hitting a shorter club.

VERY true. Taking an extra club and swinging at 75% was some very good advice I received early on and made a huge difference in play. Swinging out of your shoes can keep you in very bad positions from anywhere on the course.

[DaveP043]

19 minutes ago, AP Major said:

Taking an extra club and swinging at 75% was some very good advice I received early on and made a huge difference in play.

I know that image works for many people.  Personally, my thought is that I'm swinging as fast as I can while maintaining control.  If I sequence my swing properly, distance is part of the result, but I never think about distance first.

[RetiredBoomer]

43 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I know that image works for many people.  Personally, my thought is that I'm swinging as fast as I can while maintaining control.  If I sequence my swing properly, distance is part of the result, but I never think about distance first.

I'm really neither a 75% swinger nor a full-speed swinger.
On any kind of full shot,
I swing as fast as I normally swing, with no thought to
if I could swing harder or take something off.  

I figure that I can only swing well at a speed that's neither forced nor restrained.
and is thus not situational but rather repetitive.
But then come the wedges.
When I get to the wedges and less than full shots, I just use underhand approach.

"This  shot looks and feels about this hard," BUT  I'm not really a "feel" player--
I'm more of a wash, rinse, and repeat player--
trying to duplicate a shot that I've made before-- biomechanically more than mentally.

On less than full shots, I just try to image how hard I would have to throw the ball underhand, and if I can't get it there with an easy, underhanded throw*, I just guess right or I don't
as to how hard to hit it.

 *To simulate an overhand throw, I'd need to use a tennis racquet,
and even I don't stretch the rules that much.
Tennis racquets, croquette mallets, fungo bats, and cue sticks are for Tin Cup.

Feel is good for people with constant biorhythms, but I'm a different person each time I roll out of bed.  I have to have a fixed reference,
so I just try to swing at my one familiar speed on all full shots.

The shorter the club, the lower the speed out at the end of the shaft, of course,
but at the hands, it's the same.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3 by RetiredBoomer

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

I have to have a fixed reference, so I just try to swing at my one familiar speed on all full shots

Yeah, this is really similar to the feel I try for.  My last thought before I swing, especially when I'm tempted to try for something extra, is often "Just a regular swing".  

[RetiredBoomer]

7 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

accidental post.

 

Edited September 3 by RetiredBoomer

[AP Major]

16 minutes ago, RetiredBoomer said:

I'm really neither a 75% swinger nor a full-speed swinger.
On any kind of full shot,
I swing as fast as I normally swing, with no thought to
if I could swing harder or take something off.  

I no longer think of anything at all when I swing - at least not on the course - but the 75% thing worked wonders when I started, no doubt. I grew up playing baseball and when I first started playing golf, especially with a driver in hand, I was thinking, "home run over the centerfield wall." It was difficult to take anything off. I'm completely a feel player and now that I've baked in a bit of a "governor," I try to focus more on where I'm hitting to versus how hard to swing to get there. I liken it to playing catch with a baseball or football where you just throw it where you want it to go without overanalyzing the throwing motion itself.

Nice thoughts on the wedges. 

[Stuka44]

22 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

Beyond that, I hate the idea of voluntarily giving up distance.  Most people won't hit many more fairways by hitting a shorter club, but they WILL make their next shot(s) longer, which will make the results of those second shots worse.  Of course pay attention to the course, select a club off the tee which will be short of trouble, but don't lay back all the time, hit the longest club that will keep you out of most of the trouble.

Has anyone ever read the advice to play a par-5 with 7-iron three times in a row?  For a player struggling to break 90, what are the chances of hitting three consecutive 7-irons even moderately well?

If someone is trying to break 90, the advice given by the OP is spot on. This person is likely a 25 handicap shooting scores between 92, and 103.  And its not about if they will hit more fairways.  They probably won't.  Its  about how far off line their still bad drives go.   The trouble for our 25 handicap isn't reaching the bunker 225 yards from the tee box.  Its keeping it out of the trouble, from 0-225 yards from the tee box, both  left and right, which may prevent him from advancing the ball toward the green.  Because the 1/2 topped driver, off the tee, prompts panic, and a 3 wood shot that they also can't make.

Their ball is going to go OFFLINE.  The goal is to keep it ADVANCABLE.  The stroke above 90 is lost when the driver off the tee, which rolls into the trees forces a sideways punch out, when perhaps a 3 wood or 4 iron off the tee maybe doesn't reach the trees, and is advanceable toward the green.  One can almost assume that neither of their second shots were going to hit the green.  It's chip on and hopefully two putt for a 5.  Not a 6 with a punch out, and you hopefully make up some ground on par 3's to break 90.

And my experience recently with my nephews who were beginners, clearly demonstrated, that high handicappers while still bad, and their swing isn't pretty, almost  always can get a 6-8 iron off the ground pretty good, and hit far less toppers and pure shanks with this club, than they do with Driver-5 iron.

I used this philosophy to quickly get into and out of the 90's.  Bogey golf is a 90 play accordingly.  My score was calculated on five strokes a hole, a five and I'm at 90, a 3 I'm at 88, a 6 I'm at 89.  I teed off with a 3 iron for the first 4 years I played golf. 

Edited September 4 by Stuka44

[RetiredBoomer]

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

 

Has anyone ever read the advice to play a par-5 with 7-iron three times in a row?  For a player struggling to break 90, what are the chances of hitting three consecutive 7-irons even moderately well?  

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

 

 

 

If you hit the first two well, you have a great chance with the third.
[I don't do it as general practice, of course, but I definitely have done it.]

If you miss one of the first two, you still have a fairway wood in your bag to change strategy.

I'm not back to being an 18 just yet, but it's coming if I get to play much longer.

Who knows what I'd try from desperation?

Edited September 3 by RetiredBoomer

[MNUte]

Great advice and always worth reiterating. Golf Sidekick has preached this idea for a long time now and it works for a lot of people. Similarly, he preaches working back from the hole so that you have a good idea how far you REALLY need to hit it off the tee. 

E.g. my home course has a Par 5 where the fairway runs out after 330ish yards and you're then shooting uphill over water and a bunker. I'm comfortable with partial shots, but I'd still much rather have a full 140 yard shot instead of a partial 50 yard one. So I plan on getting 330ish yards in two shots and suddenly, it's an easy hybrid off the tee into an 8 or 9 iron. A lot less stressful than forcing driver and putting myself into an awkward second and third shot. 

 

[chris51]

try to reduce 3 putts will help aalot two or less will help a bogey golfer

[Warrior42111]

For me I try to hit the most 'aggressive shot' that won't get me in trouble. Say a par 4 where the FW really tights around 250, not hitting driver and playing shot of that. For approaches I try to use my natural shot shape and play for that.

Big one, at least for me is in the short game, hit the easiest shot possible. For me I look at the lie and my order of preference is texas wedge, bump and run, chip, pitch, flop. 

[DaveP043]

16 hours ago, Stuka44 said:

Their ball is going to go OFFLINE.  The goal is to keep it ADVANCABLE.  The stroke above 90 is lost when the driver off the tee, which rolls into the trees forces a sideways punch out, when perhaps a 3 wood or 4 iron off the tee maybe doesn't reach the trees, and is advanceable toward the trees.

This is where the black/white view of driver v. shorter clubs causes a problem.  Dropping back from driver to hybrid doesn't eliminate those tee shots in the trees, it only decreases them slightly.  For most players, the angular dispersion is similar from one club to the next, so the distance offline is proportionate to the distance of the shot.  Say our 20-handicapper hits 50% of the fairways, and has 25% in the trees with a driver.  So he stops hitting his driver (220 yards or so?) and goes to the hybrid (180 yards?).  He gives up 20% of his distance.  So his worst shot, instead of being 40 yards offline, is only 32 yards offline.  That's still in the trees.  Take 14 "driver" holes in a round, he's in the trees 3 or 4 times with driver, probably reduces that to only 2 or 3 times in the trees with hybrid.  But every single second shot is 40 yards longer, so he misses more greens, and gets in more trouble with those second shots. 

 

13 hours ago, MNUte said:

I'm comfortable with partial shots, but I'd still much rather have a full 140 yard shot instead of a partial 50 yard one.

You should keep some records, I'd bet that you'll end up a lot closer to the hole, on average, with that 50 yard shot.  But I do agree with your approach on that "sample" hole, drive short of the bunkers, play short of the water, and then try to hit the green.  For a 17-handicapper, having 200+ yards uphill over water and sand isn't a shot you're going to pull off very often.

[Stuka44]

 

6 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

So his worst shot, instead of being 40 yards offline, is only 32 yards offline.  That's still in the trees.  Take 14 "driver" holes in a round, he's in the trees 3 or 4 times with driver, probably reduces that to only 2 or 3 times in the trees with hybrid.  But every single second shot is 40 yards longer, so he misses more greens, and gets in more trouble with those second shots. 

Dave this concept, requires the high handicapper to also adjust his mental outlook. .   

It requires that on longer holes, where yes the difference between driver, and 4 iron off the tee may be 50 yards, and he has 200 left instead of 150, that it is ok to go ahead and hit the 150 club that he was going to hit after driver, or maybe one more if he is confident that he can get that off the ground, even though it is going to come up short of the green, and not hit the 2H or whatever, that he has about a 80 % greater chance of utterly mishitting compared to the 7 or 6 iron.  He then still has the opportunity to chip on from 50-30 yards, two putt and get out of there with a 5.

It's about avoiding 7's + on the scorecard.  Not at all about GIR.  It's about hitting a club off the tee that in evaluating one's game, will more likely result in an unobstructed 2nd shot, and is more  likely to result in good contact, less likely to result in a complete mishit, while trying to get to within 160-100 yards from the green, depending on the length of the hole (par 4's).

 

 

Edited September 4 by Stuka44

[DaveP043]

3 minutes ago, Stuka44 said:

 

Dave this concept, requires the high handicapper to also adjust his mental outlook. .   

It requires that on longer holes, where yes the difference between driver, and 4 iron off the tee may be 50 yards, and he has 200 left instead of 150, that it is ok to go ahead and hit the 150 club that he was going to hit after driver, or maybe one more if he is confident that he can get that off the ground, even though it is going to come up short of the green, and not hit the 2H or whatever, that he has about a 80 % greater chance of utterly mishitting compared to the 7 or 6 iron.  He then still has the opportunity to chip on from 50-30 yards, two putt and get out of there with a 5.

It's about avoiding 7's + on the scorecard.  Not at all about GIR.  It's about hitting a club off the tee that in evaluating one's game, will more likely result in an unobstructed 2nd shot, and is more  likely to result in good contact, less likely to result in a complete mishit, while trying to get to within 160-100 yards from the green, depending on the length of the hole (par 4's).

 

Maybe we just have different experiences with 20 handicappers.  They have the ability to mis-hit even the easiest shots with amazing frequency.  For me, the ONLY way these players will regularly break 90 isn't by changing their decision-making, its by improving their game.  Sure, the general principle of choosing a club he can hit relatively consistently is good.  I'd suggest that if driver is such a problem, it shouldn't even be in his bag.  

[cnosil]

11 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Maybe we just have different experiences with 20 handicappers.  They have the ability to mis-hit even the easiest shots with amazing frequency.  For me, the ONLY way these players will regularly break 90 isn't by changing their decision-making, its by improving their game.  Sure, the general principle of choosing a club he can hit relatively consistently is good.  I'd suggest that if driver is such a problem, it shouldn't even be in his bag.  

All I can say is that the approach being discussed has been advocated by a golf coach that I know.  Pretty sure he even posted it here a few years ago but I was unable to find the post.   While high handicappers can hit terrible shots even with short irons, the approach being discussed will generally lead to better results.   He also said most players don’t want to follow the approach because they don’t consider it real golf.  
 

I know I hear about numerous players shooting great rounds with irons only.  Its just an approach that; especially if playing with a coach, that can help the player break 90.

[Stuka44]

30 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Maybe we just have different experiences with 20 handicappers

I don't think we do.   There are and will be plenty of crap shots, with every club.  My experience, and I think logic  indicates that more bad shots( toppers that go nowhere) come with 5-D, than 6-sw.  Certainly the goal is for them eventually to have a game that allows them to improve in terms of being able to hit every club, with roughly the same chance of bad contact or complete shank.  The reality is that this just isn't the case.  To play the game, as I tend to agree with you, where hitting it farther is better almost all of the time, requires a skill level, I don't believe a 23 handicap has.  I barely feel I have it at my level most of the time.  I believe that for a 23 handicap to adjust his mental approach and  use strategy to avoid big numbers by using clubs, less often,    he is far more likely to mishit and bring big numbers into play, is improvement, and I believe it will help his overall scoring average.  Until such time with practice, and playing he can bring the "mishit" percentages of all clubs, MUCH closer together.

As @cnosil just said, this is a strategy to bring scores from 94-100, to closer to 90 or under 90 more often, NOT  to shoot mid to low 80, or shoot into the 70's.

Edited September 4 by Stuka44

[PrayingForPar]

To go off of what @Stuka44 and @cnosil are getting at....

At the beginning of my golfing addiction I took a lesson and the pro watched me hit all the clubs in my bag, he gave me the advice to hit 6 iron off the tee it helped me tremendously.

That being said, we probably shouldn't take information about what we hit best and then tell everyone that 6 iron or 7 iron is the best for them off the tee. I play regularly with my wife and from the moment she started golfing her best club was the driver and she feels comfortable with it. Helping someone break 90 is about helping them find the club THEY hit well and that THEY will feel comfortable over; Which chances are is a 6 or 7 iron......So did I just contradict myself?

In summary, I support helping people find better club choices to lower their score.

You can have a pretty horrible swing, play with good strategy, and break 90....

[cksurfdude]

"Confident shot on a conservative line" is one thing this still struggling to play in 80s dude learned at a clinic a few years back. 

The one small problem with that seemingly simple approach is .. as @DaveP043 pointed out .. the actual execution of said shot can all too easily go askew.

So yeah golf swing skills development is still a big piece of the puzzle. 

Another thing that helps me to keep in mind on the course is the "Haney Three" where you work to reduce ...

• Penalties off the tee
• 2 chips
• 3 putts