We’ve all been there at some point in our golf careers. Staring at the scorecard on the 18th green. Hating the triple-digit number staring back at you, laughing at you. It’s not fun to score 100 or more when you play golf. But there is a way you can break 100, sooner than later. Which is why I decided this spring to provide you with a series of blog posts that are solely about you and your abilities to breaking 100 in golf. Even if you do not plan a Florida Golf School vacation with John Hughes Golf to learn to break 100, this blog post series should shed some light on how to do so.
This series is not about becoming a tour professional. Or winning a club championship. It’s about you playing smarter with skills you currently possess. And limiting big mistakes that cause big numbers on the scorecard. It’s also about leaving your big ego at the door of the car you drove to the golf course. If you can’t leave it there, the suggestions provided you within this series have no chance to succeed.
March 2024/Part 1: Mindset Matters
The first step to breaking 100 in golf is re-framing how you think about golf. And how you play golf. Breaking 100 isn’t about making birdies or pars. It’s about eliminating “big numbers.”
Playing any golf course that is rated a Par 72, if you score 27 over par, the simple math is you break 100, shooting 99. What that really means is if you can manage 9 bogeys and 9 double bogeys, you’ll break 100! The key is to minimize “blow-up holes”. Holes where you score triple bogey or more. Those are the holes that leave you shaking your head as to why you even play golf.
Here’s the mindset shift you need:
- Play Your Ball Flight: No matter how your ball flies in the air, you need to predict in what direction somewhat accurately you should aim to allow the curvature of your ball flight to have a chance of landing where you want. As a right-hander (opposite for left-handers), if you slice your shots to the right, you should find an aim target that is left of where you intend the ball to land and aim the leading edge of the club first to that aim point. Then set into the shot and swing, trusting the ball is going to fly with your normal curvature.
- Play and Not Fix: Trying to fix your swing in the middle of a round of golf is not a sound mindset to have. Because you probably do not know why you slice the ball. IN turn leading to no clue how to fix it. Leave the fixing of your curvature to the practice facility and just play your ball flight to good targets.
- Embrace and accept Bogey Golf: Bogey is not a four-letter word. And it does not appear on the list of words banned from broadcast channels. At your current skill level, bogey is a respectable score. It’s a score that indicates you can get the ball around the golf course in fewer mistakes. Bogey shows all others you have at least a minimal education about golf and how to play the game. And last but not least, bogey indicates you’re learning to reduce the amount of big mistakes you make throughout a round of golf.
- Minimize the Disasters: Accept the fact that there is at least 1 “blow up hole” on each side of the course you’ll play. A blow up hole being triple bogey or worse. Eliminating those scores is the first line of skill building a golf needs. Those skills are more about the decisions you make when in trouble on the course. How to use the rules of golf to your advantage. As well as how to keep double bogey or better as your ultimate goal no matter where you ball lies in the golf course. Stringing a parade of snowman (8’s) won’t get you there.
Within next month’s Part 2 of the John Hughes Golf blog post series, breaking 100 in golf, we’ll delve into the world of basics. Not the basics of your swing. But how the basics of the swing are created by an entirely different set of basics.
This Month’s Conclusion
Keep things simple. Keep a mindset that eliminates big mistakes. As well as a healthy attitude about the game. Not the technicalities.
Remember, it’s all about smart, strategic golf – and most importantly, having fun on the course!