Fastest Handicap Drop

Course management and working on your game inside 100 yards.

If you end up in the trees and have to punch out you can still salvage par from there with bogey being the worst number you can make (in theory)

Started playing golf when I was 30. I mean really playing. Before I probably played handful of scrambles. But I decided that if I was going yo play I was all in. Got down to a 3.2 by the time I was 36. Now 44 three kids and no time you wouldn’t believe me if you saw me try to hit a ball.

I was playing 3-4 rounds a week and probably an additional 6-7 hours at the range. There was a moment it clicked. When I figured out how to come from the inside and hit a draw. Before it was just a cut.

I go down about 2 to 4 on the index from January to November.

I guess once you’ve gotten through the beginner stage, it gets harder to shave that index.

A person can go from say a 25 index to 15 much faster on average than going from 15 to 5.

I went from a 12 to a 7 very fast and the 2 biggest thing for me was a simple concept that can be hard to do at times.

- I stopped trying to hit the ball how I wanted to hit it and started hitting the ball how I am able to hit it.

Here’s an example: when I am 60-80 yards away I WANT to hit a high pretty shot that lands pin high or right past the pin and spins back some. It’s a shot I can hit but can also screw up and miss the green

I am ABLE to hit a semi low lob that lands 10-15ft short of where I want the ball to go and rolls up. It’s not as pretty or impressive of a shot and doesn’t usually get me a tap in, but it’s nearly always on the green and usually leaves me a putt inside 10-15ft.

Just doing stuff like that shaved a bunch of scores off my game.

Mine has never gone down quickly, but the opposite has.

In the last three months, my handicap has gone from 3 to 7. To add to the disgrace, the GHIN app states that it applied a soft cap to my changed handicap; it’s only allowing 50% of what the increase should be. In other words, my scores have been so bad that the computer thinks I’m sandbagging.

quote:

---

A person can go from say a 25 index to 15 much faster on average than going from 15 to 5.

---

I think this is where I am....I went from a 20+ down to 15 last year. Never played a ton of golf growing up, the occasional years where I played 5-10 rounds in a year. But I joined 2 years ago and play much more frequently. Took 2 lessons last year and it helped a lot. Started shooting way more rounds in the mid 80's as opposed to high 90's.

But I'm stuck.....however, with the weather warming up and playing a few times, some swing stuff I've been working recently I think is helping. Played Sunday. Didn't score good at all. 92. But with the exception of 1 errant drive that went OB, and 2 chunk shots that I know exactly what I did, the new approach really felt like I was hitting everything crisp.

Been waiting since February for my new irons. Once those get in, probably have the guy at the club give me a 30 minute lookover, dial in some things, play a little more frequently and hopefully i get into the low 80's and maybe even shoot into the 70's (wishful thinking).

Shot scope states the difference in accuracy in hitting the fairway with a driver or 3 wood is less than 1%. However, the most important thing to lower scores for a mid range golfer is hitting greens in regulation. By that notion you should hit driver every chance you get. The closer you are to the hole, the better chance of a GIR and a par.

quote:

---

Shot scope states the difference in accuracy in hitting the fairway with a driver or 3 wood is less than 1%. However, the most important thing to lower scores for a mid range golfer is hitting greens in regulation. By that notion you should hit driver every chance you get. The closer you are to the hole, the better chance of a GIR and a par.

---

This goes along with the guy that runs Decade Golf. I did the one month free trial just to see what it's all about. He argues that you should be aggressive off the tee and conservative into greens. Basically, even for pros, hitting it really close can be about luck. So, you want the spot where 50% of your balls are left and right of it to be in the middle of the green.

I've tried to convince myself to follow this for a while, but I still hit a lot of 4 irons off the tee. Then, when one goes errantly, I ask myself what was the point of that.

I also got a shot scope last year. I mostly just enjoy looking at the stats, but I really need to start using it to improve my game.