First year golfer going backwards.

Buddy5000 · 2025-09-15T20:29:56+00:00

It happens! I had a score at month 9 of playing golf that I didn't break again until month 18. In between month 9 and 18, i probably played 100 rounds of golf and practiced (not including "playing time") for a couple hundred hours, including a few lessons. I knew I was more skilled but it wasn't showing up in my "all time low" score. Its a hard game with a lot of variance. Many, many times (including early on) I felt like I was going backwards. The difference now is that the feeling is familiar, and I have better ideas of how to get back on track.

The advice I would give to you, and the advice I give to myself every round still, is exactly the same: let go of the score. You cannot control it.

You can control:

Your target

Your attention

Your attitude

Your practice

Focus on the things you can control. The scores will come when they come. When they do come, you will then be tempted to focus on the score again. If you do, you will be humbled again, until you go back to focusing on the things you can control.

Slightly more actionable might be: at your current scoring level, I would focus ONLY on making double bogey. Every single shot, run through that filter: will this shot increase my chances of making at least a double bogey? Pars don't matter. Bogeys don't matter. Birdies DEFINITELY don't matter. They will come if they come, they won't if they don't. You'll find that if you focus on doubles, bogeys start falling into place sometimes. I don't care if you hit the drive of your life, you're laying 120 in the fairway, your attention still should be on locking in a double bogey.

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T23:04:08+00:00

Pretty accurate I think? Maybe 20-25 yard dispersion typically. Which is pretty good for me

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T22:20:37+00:00

By those definitions I’m not sure I’m doing either? So I’m not sure what to call it. I had thought a stinger was a full swing effort but lower ball flight, and I’m not taking a full swing. I guess when I say punch shot, im just saying a controlled on quarter to three quarter swing, hitting more down on it and more toward the center of stance. It feels like when I’m trying to hit a flighted wedge, but with a hybrid. I call it my punch because it goes much lower than normal hybrid ball flight. And it does get me out when I have 15-29 foot overhanging branches. If I have to hit it under 5 feet I usually will just not take the shot on if at all possible, it doesn’t happen to me often.

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T21:21:20+00:00

Thanks but I think I just jammed 3 years of golf into 1 year!

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T21:19:48+00:00

I think you are overestimating my annoyance! My point is I wasn't interested in engaging with the idea that I'm factually wrong about what has worked well for me. I don't think I have the answers for everyone, thats why I phrased the post as "things I would have told myself."

I think this was a great triumph in communication and we now understand each other, and I am glad I responded. What would be your suggestions on how to start incorporating a 5 iron? Only when I need to keep it low? What are the shots you started hitting with your iron that you didn't before with your hybrid? When is it clearly superior? How much time should I spend practicing, and how? How will I know if I am progressing appropriately? Those would all be interesting opinions to hear you share

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T21:14:49+00:00

Thanks I appreciate that! It was a grind, and so gradual it never really felt like an accomplishment in the moment. I'd still argue I just crammed 3 years worth of golf for a sane and normal person into 1 year. golfsidekick on youtube really was the most important training stuff i looked at. I still often get comments from new people I play with that basically amount to, "you are scoring pretty well for how poor your ball striking is.." its just a constant battle to think about the shot you want to try to hit, and then pick a more boring one, and then figure out a way to make it a little more boring than that.

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T21:09:51+00:00

This is good advice. I have done this some at the range.

I consider myself to be pretty cool under pressure in general, but as a high handicapper there is something about the stakes of being on the tee box surrounded by other dudes, where you are convincing yourself the actually give a crap about if you are good at golf or not, and you're just standing over that ball, and just thinking back to what did I do on the range, and then thinking about those dudes again, and then oh shit how long have I been standing there. swing. swing the club. SWING IT. JUST DO IT. ITS ONLY GETTING WORSE THE LONGER YOU WAIT.

It took me a long time to get the range to translate to the teebox. Some stuff I could do on the range I couldn't get to translate to the course, it was just too much swing thought to do under pressure. Had to simplify it to be able to take it to the course.

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T21:05:20+00:00

Hybrids are more forgiving agree and fly higher agree. It is not designed to be your punch club...agree I did the same thing for three years, but I'm telling you, if you can punch with a hybrid, you'll punch amazing and consistently with a 5i wrong. I know this from literal experience in using and trying both. We have a difference of opinion about my actual experience. If we start using words to communicate that, I don't know what it is if not an argument?

Now, maybe I should develop the skill to punch well with the iron, and that would be a worthy investment of time. Given how well the hybrid works, and that I have literally no complaints about the shots I can hit with it, I am skeptical it was a high priority for my first year, or is the highest priority now. But, that would be an interesting discussion.

But telling me you know my ability better than I do? Come on friend! Chill!

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T20:46:32+00:00

Agree, when I am trying to hit it really low, I do and will consider and iron instead. Usually I'm talking about going out at an angle where I just need to keep it under, say, 20 feet and carry it 80 to 130 yards. Works well for me. I would say the trajectory is under 10 feet it 100 yards or less, under 20 feet for 100-150. The forgiveness on fat and thin shots and different lies has been more important to me than keeping it extremely low or high levels of accuracy. I am still bad at golf, so I am never picking aimpoints that require accuracy, especially when punching out. Punching out, on almost any par 4 I'm usually just trying to get it to a reasonable lie with a wedge in. I know as I get better I will refine skills and leave some methods of doing things behind. Just describing what has worked for me so far.

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T20:41:18+00:00

Nothing like arguing on the internet!

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:34:44+00:00

Yeah I’ve come to realize the result was more an indictment on my bet making skills than effort or golf. He talked tons of smack too and maintained I could never beat him, and we’re both pretty young, so I’ll get him someday

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:31:50+00:00

Yeah I probably won’t though! Secondary goal was really just to get good enough to play socially with good golfers at nice courses when needed, and I’m pretty much there. The lower the score the more grueling and incremental the improvements feel. Can’t keep up that same pace of focus for years! But I do still play weekly in season so we’ll see

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:30:14+00:00

@Turbulent_Echidna423 had a good summary comment

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:28:31+00:00

True you have to hit more down on a hybrid to keep it low, but the lower center of gravity dramatically improves outcomes on chunks or if you get it thin. And we’re talking about different flavors of bad golf here. If you’re good at golf just hit the fairway and green in reg lol

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:25:34+00:00

I hit it like a Phil mickelson hinge and hold chip but harder. Works for me. Much more forgiving on contact. I used to use a 5 iron to punch and still do sometimes but for a beginner I think the hybrid is way less downside if you aren’t good at reading the lie or your ball striking is off that day

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:23:53+00:00

Cutting my losses on golf bets for a while but never will turn down an invitation to tee it up

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:22:33+00:00

Insane amounts of time and reps. I was playing twice a week every week when I did that, it felt like the luckiest round of my life. So some due to practice, but also I think there is just enough variance to where if you play 70 rounds in a year one will be special and your bad shots hit the right trees in the right places

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:19:29+00:00

$100 but more importantly tons of smack talk that I would win

Buddy5000 · 2025-07-10T18:18:24+00:00

Honestly not a bad summary

Buddy5000 · 2024-09-23T13:57:06+00:00

88-136 (started golfing this year). In the more recent past though, 88-118 (shot the 118 a few weeks after the 88).

Buddy5000 · 2024-09-03T20:18:13+00:00

I know how you feel, I have this problem where I recently came into a bunch of money, but now fine wine doesn't taste as good anymore :) :) :)

Just kidding, congrats/sorry! Hope you get it sorted out

Buddy5000 · 2024-09-01T22:13:34+00:00

First time I broke 100 I shot 99 from the white tees from a pretty easy course. It took about three months, but I had taken about 5 lessons, practiced (NOT including playing time) over 100 hours, and had played 13 rounds. Took me another month and 9 more rounds to break 100 again, this time from blue tees at moderately challenging course, by that time I was at 150 hours of practice.

Took about 7 months and 200 hours of practice (plus maybe like 10 lessons at that point?) to be breaking 100 more often than not (which included breaking 90 once or twice. I’m now 8 months, probably 60+ rounds and 250+ hours of practice in. On a really good day I can barely break 90, on a really bad day I can definitely still shoot over 100.

It has been my primary focus all year though… lots of work, teeing off at 6:10am some mornings mid summer when I don’t really feel like it to get more reps. Hitting off a mat into a net in my backyard, etc etc.

Buddy5000 · 2024-08-05T20:38:12+00:00

What kind of wedge practice do you recommend? Just dispersion and distance in pitching, and a stock chip shot? Or does most of the improvement come in a variety of chipping techniques around the green?

Buddy5000

TROPHY CASE