89! Broke the 90 barrier today

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

With a 3-putt at the last, I was so nervous. In fact, mentally, I had been trying to not count my score, but my mind was in overdrive and it had calculated that I needed bogey or better to squeak in with an 89.

I thought I had blown it missing the tap-in, and it was going to be a 90. So when I opened up the scorecard, and calculated, I had to do it 3 times to make sure my mind wasn't deceiving me, but there it was. 42 strokes on the back, for a grand total of 89.

33 putts today, just that one bad 3-putt from the nerves at the last. I had another 3-putt, but the first one was from 50 feet so I don't feel so bad about that. I putted much better today, and my shortgame saved me some strokes as well. The time I put in Friday evening paid off a lot.

I didn't think it was going to happen today, after 12 holes. I had shot 47 on the front, then started the back bogey-bogey-bogey. So at that point, I'm 14 over. But then hole 13, I get on the green, but about 20 feet from the hole. I drain the putt. I then par hole 14, then follow that with a birdie at 15. That's when the nerves first started jangling, as I knew it was then possible. I scrambled for bogeys at 16 and 17, 17 my chip shot rattled off the pin.

Then 18, I completely fat my 6-iron trying to get to the green, then hit the lob wedge to the elevated green, and found myself 22 feet away, and thinking I need to get down in 2 putts to get home under 90. I managed to pace the first putt well, but left it out high to the right. Then nerves just jerked the putter on the second stroke, and I tapped in for what I thought was a 90.

But there it was. 89.

Oh, it feels good.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Great job. I did it once. The way I'm playing, it may never happen again.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

It'll come back, Doc. Maybe you just need to take some time, analyze a bit where you're losing strokes, and put some practice into those areas.

The time I put in this week on putting and short game got it for me today. I only hit one fairway on the back!

 

[DouginGA]

Well done RBB,congratulations!!
First time is always hardest. Practice pays huh?

Today I still found the QE to not help the putting ( 3 three putts for a total of 34) but was chipping well. shot 83. a year and half ago was unsure if I would ever break 90.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Practice definitely paid off today. I was a lot more confident with the putter today, and had some first putts that just missed dropping. Also, before I played today, I got to the course a bit early, and spent 40 minutes chipping and putting, to get myself feeling confident about those strokes. That paid off at the first hole, when I found myself just off the green in 3, I hit a good chip and putt to save bogey.

Before I went out, I told myself I was going to grind for every stroke I could get, and today I found just enough to squeak in. Best part of the round though was that stretch, 13-15, sinking that 20-foot putt for par, followed by a solid par, then the birdie at the 15th and par-5. I hit a terrific 7-iron for a 3rd shot at the par-5, and when I got there, the line and the putt just looked so easy to see. The putt dropped dead-center for that birdie.

 

[DouginGA]

I hit a terrific 7-iron for a 3rd shot at the par-5, and when I got there, the line and the putt just looked so easy to see. The putt dropped dead-center for that birdie.

Ahhhh. the sweet feel of sucess Love those shots you can replay in mind time and time again and keep smiling.
reminded me of my shot of the day today. Sliced the drive to the left( am southpaw) and had the grove of trees between me and green. 135 out, into the wind, ball on bare sandy soil. nine iron clears the trees, lands on the green, two putts for par . life is good.

 

[ezra76]

Nice Job RBB. Keep up the practice and stay in the 80's. I'm still stuck in the 90's this year so far.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Man, what a weird round it was, now that I've had some time to think about it.

I only hit 4 of 14 fairways.

At hole 5, I had a triple-bogey, and I was already 8 over. I was kind of thinking it wasn't going to be my day to break 90 then. The last 4 holes of the front-9 I got a par and 3 bogeys, but with a couple of putts just missing to save par.

The chip for par at 17 saved my butt. My tee shot at 17 had been a awful fade that had hit the cart path and bounced way off. Nerves were all over the place at the point, my attempt to get a lob wedge just anywhere on the green saw me skull it across. I summoned all my remaining coolness, studied the situation, and committed to hitting that chip, not leaving it short and hitting anything skanky. It hit the pin, and I tapped in for the bogey.

I doubt I'm going to start shooting 80's a lot, though. I remember when I broke 100 it took a bit of time before I started going under it, and then consistently.

Time to keep practicing the putting and short game, and getting my driver grooved again.

 

[Davebud]

Good Job

Even though I hit 2 more fairways than you and only had 2 more strokes with the putter, you still hit the ball 22 less times than I did.

 

[mont86]

Congradulations on those 9 holes! I hope to be there someday.

 

[IrishGolfer]

Cool RBB, next goal is the 80 barrier, right?

 

[Eracer]

Cool RBB, next goal is the 80 barrier, right?

You can do it, RBB. Break 80 I mean. My Dad (retired) plays 3-4 times a week now, and has been shoooting in the nineties for years. He's broken 90 a number of times, since he's always been a pretty decent golfer (but a lousy putter). Last week he shot 78 for the first time since he was in high school. Putts were dropping, and everything else was working well, too.

Now I've got to get on track. I can't let the old man break 80 when I never have. I shot 80 once, but want to break it.

Congrats on breaking 90 - I remember the first time I broke 100, and the first time I broke 90. Breaking 90 was way sweeter! I'm going to frame my first sub-80 scorecard.

 

[Ravenous Bugblatter Beast]

Yeah, breaking 90 was definitely nicer than breaking 100 for the first time. You've got less margin for error, and a fair bit more practice went into this than I had with breaking 100. Also, I broke 100 at a par-69 course, so that was 29 over. My 89 came at a par-72 course, 17 over, so that's an improvement of 12 strokes over the breaking 100 round.

But for now the immediate goal will be to start shooting in the mid-to-upper 80's consistently, then start dreaming and working on a sub-80 round.

It was so funny. After 5 holes, I thought that I had pretty much no chance. 8 over, and my tee shot at hole 6 was a thinned 5-iron. But I reminded myself, just hit the next shot, and I put a lob wedge on the elevated green to about 8 feet past the hole. 2 putts and a bogey, and I didn't realize it too much at the time, but I had kept myself in it.

I hit one of my few decent drives of the day at 7, played the hole nicely to get par. I'd only hit one more fairway the rest of the way, although to be fair, a few of those were cases of me just being off some. Let's see, holes 10-12, and 18 I was only off the fairway a few yards.

Hole 15, I hit one of my heel pull-then-fades-back-some annoyances, and it looked like it might end up behind a tree or under it. I was lucky enough to find it just past the tree, and I had room to make a swing with the 17° hybrid. It was a nasty lie, so I tried to play for just hitting it out to the center, but it leaked too much to the right and crossed over the fairway. I found my ball around 140 yards away from the center of the green, and sitting down some at the back end of a small v valley, if you can make sense of what I mean. I was faced with having to go over a tree, then needing the ball to fade back and get over a bunker to get on the green. Yikes! The only thing I really had working for me there was that I naturally play for a fade, but it didn't look to be any guarantee that I could get a good solid hit on the ball. I just knew though that to do it, I would have to hit ball first, then tear out a thick divot.

And that 7-iron was beautiful to watch, just a sweet high arch and that tiny fade working back towards the pin. The only question at that point was about the distance, and it was good, ending up 10 feet below the hole. Making that birdie was nice, although it set my nerves to jangling badly because I then knew breaking 90 was a distinct possibility.

 

[Big Brother Dunk]

Congrats on the milestone!

 

[Maverick]

when I broke 90 golf got fun again..not that it wasn't fun before..but fun on a different level..