‘Would You Be Happy Shooting An 83?’

Are you interested in shooting an 83? Well, if you’re a 6 handicap … probably not. However, if you currently score in the 90’s or 100’s … it probably sounds like a good goal to accomplish.

As I’m always fascinated in new ways to describe to Golfers how they can improve their game/score – I believe in an old phrase that a very successful individual once said to me: “To be successful, study successful people and do what they do.”

Now when a PGA Tour Player scores an 83 … it probably wouldn’t be considered a successful round of golf. However, if a Golfer like you has the desire to score 83 (or somewhere lower than you currently score), we could look at how that PGA Tour Player scored the 83 – then see if you could replicate how he did it. Because as Jason Schmuhl was probably upset with his 83 in the 1st round of the PGA Tour event last week … there are many, many Golfers reading this that would love to be able to shoot as “badly” as Jason Schmuhl.

So what is the key to scoring 83?

Is it 300 yard drives? Is it hitting every fairway with your Driver? Is it hitting 12 Greens in Regulation each round? Is it never ever having a 3 putt? Is it having to make 7 pars and 11 bogeys – and never making a double bogey or worse?

To the contrary – many Golfers are actually surprised by how imperfect you can be and still score 83. So to the Golfers that are reading this that have the goal of breaking 90 or 100 – you can use Mr. Schmuhl’s round of golf as a guideline – yet ease up on what he did even more because you’re not looking for an 83. For a Golfer that’s trying to break 90 or 100 – you could look at these stats and then say: “Hey, this should be easy because his stats aren’t that great and I’d be happy to be 6 strokes (or 16 strokes) worse than he is!”

Now, for the Golfer looking to break 80 every time (someone that scores between 78 and 86, but wants to be in the 70’s more often. You should also look at these stats and celebrate because it shouldn’t be too difficult to improve on them every round you play.

So are you ready? Are you ready to see what it takes to score 83?

First – Driving Accuracy: Jason hit “only” 7 fairways. Which means he also missed 7 fairways.

What does this mean for you? There are many, many Golfers out there that feel as though you need to hit every fairway or nearly every fairway in order to have a great round of golf. And by having that mindset – you put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect.

The need to be perfect and to make the perfect swing every time you’re on the tee box will get you thinking too much about your golf swing before you go to hit the golf ball. And ‘Thinkers are Stinkers’ – if ‘You Think, You Stink’. Plus, the misery you feel and the tinkering you do to your golf swing while on the golf course just contributes you to carrying over those “bad golf swings” to the other clubs in your golf bag.

Jason was far from perfect – he was only 50% and he still shot 83 playing out of PGA Tour length rough!

Second – Driving Distance: Jason averaged “only” 258 yards each drive. Now a lot of Golfers are probably saying: “258 yards a drive – that’s much longer than I can hit it!” And that may be true, but you must first understand that driving distance is relative to the length of the golf course you’re playing.

As Jason was playing a golf course that measured 7,100 yards long – most men are playing from 6,200 yards and most women are playing from 5,700 yards. So we need to make those adjustments because Jason driving it 258 yards on a 7,100 yard course is equivalent to a man driving the golf ball 225 yards (from the 6,200 yard tees) and a woman driving the golf ball 207 yards (from the 5,700 yard tees).

What does this mean for you? From my experience – 225 yards for men and 207 yards for women is something that shouldn’t be too difficult … especially after attending GMS. However, if you’re a guy hitting it 215 yards or a gal hitting it 197 yards – maybe you won’t score 83 … but you should still be able to break 90.

Third – Greens in Regulation: Jason hit “only” 6 out of 18 Greens in Regulation. Meaning he was on a Par 3 in 1 shot; a Par 4 in 2 or less shots; a Par 5 in 3 or less shots – “only” 6 times out of 18 chances. Now on the PGA Tour, most Players are around 12 Greens – so 6 is way below average for a Player of that caliber.

What does this mean for you? Well, what is it going to take for a Golfer that is averaging 1 or 2 Greens in Regulation per round to start hitting more Greens in Regulation? The #1 factor to more Greens is hitting solid iron shots. What we find is that most Golfers don’t hit the golf ball solid with their irons. Most Golfers do not hit the golf ball first and then the ground – hitting the golf ball with what “the experts” call a descending blow.

Although most Golfers try to do this … they often fail and start hitting the ground before the golf ball or compensating by scooping their wrists, creating weak, off-center golf shots. We have found that when we start helping Golfers to hit the golf ball more solid (by learning to use your Center of Gravity) – our Golfers start to hit solid golf shots, thus increasing their distance and accuracy — equaling more Greens in Regulation.

To continue about hitting the golf ball solid … I know of Golfers that have been taking golf lessons for years … and are still only hitting 1 or 2 Greens in Regulation per round. However, if you learn to control your Center of Gravity – you learn to hit solid golf shots and more Greens in Regulation! You should all be able to hit 6 Greens in Regulation – they key is that you understand how to hit the golf ball solid.

Fourth – Putts per round: Jason had 32 putts for his round. Now, this is often a problem for most Golfers. We have found that Golfers trying to break 90 average 41 putts per round and Golfers trying to break 100 average 47 putts per round.

What does this mean for you? It’s very obvious to see how bringing your putts down from those numbers to 32 putts can be beneficial. However, improving your putts per round is not as easy as just improving your putting stroke – a lot more goes into it. For example: if your wedges around the green improve – you’ll have shorter, easier first putts. If your iron shots are struck more solid – your ball will end up closer to the hole, thus you’ll also have shorter, easier putts.

Then lets move on to Green Reading. Does a Golfer with better Green Reading skills have a better chance of sinking more putts than a Golfer with poor Green Reading Skills? Of course – yet how many Golfers work on their Green Reading? How do you think your Green Reading skills compare to mine? Wouldn’t superior Green Reading skills help your putting? Do you think it makes a difference? I know we work hard on Green Reading at GMS – we spend over 1 hour on a Green Reading session and then we work on it every putt during our 9 holes of On-course Instruction each afternoon.

For the Instructor or “expert” that says the fastest way to improve your scores is to improve your putting stroke – I have to say that’s a short minded Instructor that is not looking at the big picture. There is so much more that goes into good putting than just a good putting stroke (although that is a good thing to have). However, I can improve someone’s putting without even working on their putting stroke by working on the 2 paragraphs above!

How many putts each round is chipping it closer to the hole worth? How many putts each round is hitting your irons closer to the hole worth? How many putts per round is become a masterful Green Reader worth? 32 putts isn’t as difficult as it may first seem if you improve all of the above. The issue for most Golfers is that the sole way they try to improve their putting is by only working on their putting stroke. To become a good putter – you need more than just a good putting stroke!

Is 83 possible? Sure it is! However, most of the golf instruction that people take and read is based on the Monkey way of doing things. At GMS – we do it completely different – and our Golfers see improved results because of it.

The Monkey has given up on golf instruction because it hasn’t worked for them, so they rely on reading Golf Magazine looking for golf tips as they continually are looking to make a breakthrough instead of becoming more and more frustrated with their lack of progress

The Player has a PLAN such as understanding what it takes to score 83 … as they work with GMS to look at all the facets that are necessary to be able to achieve that score

Go ahead, come to GMS and learn to become a Player

Regards,

Marc Solomon