How long did you play before breaking par?

[Rockwell]

I would suggest playing a round, and mentally keeping track of each and every throw. Then, when you are done, go back over the round in your mind, making notes on which shots kept you from achieving par on a hole.

• Perhaps you'll see that you are hitting trees too soon on the fairway and need to work on putting shots down the middle.
• Perhaps you are 3 putting too often and that's the problem.
• Perhaps you can't reach the baskets off of drives and you'll need to work on approach shots that land under the basket.

Maybe you could check back in and let us know what you find out.

 

[top4874]

For me advancements in my game have come in little steps, like fixing problems with my grip or form. I'm at the stage where the upshot is my biggest game winner. My drive isn't good enough to get within putting range except on a couple holes, but my upshot accuracy often saves me. A month or so ago my putting accuracy suddenly improved, and this is without putting practice other than regular play. If I was dispensing advice it would be don't fixate on your score. The best scoring rounds I've had I didn't pay attention to my overall score - I just recorded my score for the hole and moved on. If I'd stopped to realize I was having a great run of holes, I'd undoubtedly screw the pooch.

This has been my story as well. I do much better when I am not keeping score. I was playing in a Wednesday night league a few weeks ago and we were waiting on the tee pad of 13. One of the guys that I play with regularly was keeping score and he asked me if I realized that I was 3 under. That lead to 6 consecutive bogies and a +3 round. Since then I am adamant about not keeping up with score until we are done.

I played a different course yesterday that is considered "Champion" with par (59) being about 940ish. My previous best round there was an 83 (702 rated round). I shot a 69 (835ish rated round) by playing smart and knowing my limitations.

Also, finding a putting style that worked for me. Tried both spin and push putting without much success either way. I came up with a combo of the two that is very easy to repeat and it almost immediately locked up everything inside of 25 feet.

 

[sumo21]

For me, it took almost 1.5 years to do and it was on a 27 hole course. I believe even with more field work, I still would have taken this long to accomplish. I'm not saying field work isn't important, because it is very important especially with muscle memory. The mental part of the game is why it took this long to do it. I had to to get over the fact that I can't bomb a putter 300+ feet. I have to use a speed 7/8 fairway driver to accomplish this. I have to stay within my means until my mechanics improve.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Biggest thing is not getting fancy. If you can throw 250' accurately there are tons of courses where finishing below par is possible. You wont become a world champ but many times i give up strokes being an idiot.

There is a huge difference playing DG to score well and playing to test your ability/shots/try newish etc...

 

[AmsterdamHeavy]

Only been playing a year here. It took me about a month to hit my only ace, but it took almost 9 months to hit par on the local course.

 

[Star Shark]

It took me quite a while. I know when I started I was shooting worse than bogey golf; low to mid 20s over par. I quickly learned some course management skills and developed alot better touch on my ups and began to shoot 5-10 over par, but it took quite a while after that to get under. I'll say in the 2-3 year range somewhere, as I don't remember specifically.

 

[rickgz]

At some courses never! But at my home course Sims Park where I learned to play, it was about 3 seasons before I started hitting par and sometimes coming a couple of strokes under. 8 years later, I still occasional shoot 3-4 over par or 3-4 under, but my average score is still right around par.

Rick G

 

[Akedos]

Going on my third year, have never broken par at my home course, though par isn't fair on a lot of the holes. But whatever. Best is 57, might get there some day. I'm sure I can get par on the easy courses.

 

[MikeM]

First time out. Eagled every hole.

 

[OB Four]

First time was 7 months after I started playing. That said, it was a pitch and putt course for the most part. I shoot under par more frequently now, I think in large part because I don't try to run every putt I think I might have a 5% chance of making now.

On most courses, I feel like it's more about good decision making than it is ability for a lot of people. Taking risks where they don't need to be taken add strokes easily/quickly. Also, it goes without saying, but the further out you can have a consistent putt will make a huge difference.

 

[b-mart]

It depends on the course. I've broken par on every nine hole I've ever played. That took a while. Not sure how long. But 5 years in and I've only thrown under at two 18 hole courses here.

 

[DiscFifty]

Took about a year before I was able to shoot par. Shot par for a while, and then wanted more and that took a toll on my [mental] game. Played a few tournaments and quickly realized how important par was instead of doing stupid shots causing 4s, 5s, etc. Game changed dramatically for the better once I started throwing putter only rounds on the same courses I regularly played my entire bag on. A light bulb went off when I started shooting as good using only a putter. It also taught me the importance of the approach shot in relation to shooting par. I realized typical holes were 400ft or less and that meant all I needed was two 200ft shots to reach the basket and that was doable with a putter.

 

[NSDallin]

took me around a 8-9 months of total time. Learning in october i gained most of my driving skills the following spring and summer for throwing after the snow thawed. During the winter tho, i really learned the basics of how to putt consistently watching youtube videos. I broke par for the first time in july when my throwing finally caught up to my putting, coming together for an under par round.

 

[Jabumbo]

Still haven't bested a 55 doing 2 laps at my local 9-hole pitch and putt that I started playing at over 15 years ago. I'd bet that i have over a 1000 rounds played there and only a few times have I managed to get under par 27 for one round.

I only have 2 courses that I've done it at - 1 is almost every round, the other a bit of a fluke back in March playing it for the first time.


Now only if I learned how to putt consistently....

 

[kevdiv48]

My "home" course is Brahan Springs est. 1976

Now I shoot +4 pretty regular with a best round of +1.

Per the DGCR course page, a 1000 rated round there is 49. If you're shooting around 58's, then you are shooting around 910 rated rounds.

 

[larrod25]

Per the DGCR course page, a 1000 rated round there is 49. If you're shooting around 58's, then you are shooting around 910 rated rounds.

It takes about a 44 to get a 1000 rated round at Brahan. I play there regularly and have run a few tournaments there as well, including these: http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/20616 and http://www.pdga.com/tour/event/17473

Open and Advanced played Brahan in Round 1, All other AMs played it in Round 2 both years.

 

[Peter S]

some courses I did par as a new player. Some courses like IDGC - WR Jackson I may never par. Just a long as you have fun trying :hfive:

 

[Magicweed]

It all becomes very subjective. Right now I have two new courses that I would love to consistently shoot par on. One is Maple Hill from the Blue tees (~959 rated round) and Brewster Ridge from the Gold tees (~990 rated round). For being top level courses in New England, they both offer a lot of different looks so if you can tackle them both it really shows a well rounded game. I've only played each course once, but next year it will be more like once every two weeks. However, there are other courses that I can show up to and play blind while still finishing under par. Needless to say, I'll probably be visiting that one less frequently.

 

[bnbanbury]

I got under par on a local short course after a few months. Iron Hill gold took me 3 years

 

[dgar]

I guess I should have been more specific. At what point did you notice the greatest improvement? Was it one thing you worked on.

My greatest improvement has come when I played A LOT... consistently getting out 4-5 days a week. I cant always play this often but when time has allowed this is when Ive seen my best scores.

Notice I said " Play alot " field practice will help Im sure, Ive put in a little... But DG is all about having fun for me, relaxing. getting away from the rat race of life....

My advice, play often as you can, keep it fun.... and let the scores be what they are.

My best score after 2 years +1.. heavily wooded course all played par 3.