What advice can you give to someone like me who wants to break 90 consistently? Which area to spend more time on?

Short game, which is right in line with this post. I was 16 before I could beat my grandfather. I could outdrive him by 100 yards but inside 100 yards he was deadly. Seemingly made every putt inside of 10 feet. And his short game was unbelievable.

Gotta go with the flat stick. The old saying Drive for show and putt for dough has never meant more to me since my 23 year old son now out drives me. Once I get to the green, it’s all about those 10-12 foot putts

True but like my dad says, you got to drive for show to be able to putt for doe

Definitely short game. That’s where the pros make their money.

Practice putting. Eliminating the 3 putts will bring the score down significantly. Also have a game plan on how you will attack a hole is a start.

Short game, Short game, Short game. If you want to get those stroke down on the score card you need to be sharp from 100 and in. I learned this the hard way.

I started writing down all my shots around the 100 yd mark and was disgusted at my results. I actually started positioning myself between 120-130 yds from the green for my approach shots and found I decreased my final scores 2-3 strokes on average. This doesn’t always work because the big dog (driver) wants to eat and I cannot make myself hit hybrids and irons off the tee every hole…this game is all mental…good luck!

I started writing down all my shots around the 100 yd mark and was disgusted at my results. I actually started positioning myself between 120-130 yds from the green for my approach shots and found I decreased my final scores 2-3 strokes on average. This doesn’t always work because the big dog (driver) wants to eat and I cannot make myself hit hybrids and irons off the tee every hole…this game is all mental…good luck!

Not so much number of shots but more so the distance to the cup for the first putt. Helped me realize I needed to stay out of 40 to 70 yard ranges on approach shots.

Golf is about managing you shots, which most people really do not understand. It appears you are doing a good job by staying clear of your weaknesses. Congratulations. If you do not feel comfortable with a shot on the course avoid it. I play in a senior men's league and they hit it down the middle, hope for the best and wonder why the shoot high numbers. Course mismanagement, but they are having fun.

@Spudstarch - totally agree. This is something I am finally beginning to learn about my game. Those approach shots between 40 and 80 are difficult for me. I need to approach from 90-120.

One of the most liked things of golf is hitting the ball real for some can and some can’t but everyone would like to and when you do. you’re gonna have 40 to 70 yard approach shot so I suggest work on the short game it’s fun and easier than you may think

Data collection is great to understand your game and the numbers, you should spend as much time as you can on your short game to improve and begin to break 90. Have a consistent go to fairway finder off the tee to allow you to hit as many fairways as possible, then work to hit consistent second shots that get you around the green from there let your short game take over. The game gets more fun when you feel like you can get it up and down from anywhere around the green.

I’m definitely struggling 100 yards in the now.
It’s my mission to sort this out and practice a lot more over the winter period.
I recon I could save 10/15 shots a round easy ️‍♂️

This is something I definitely need to work on, I recon I’m loosing 10/15 shots a round from my short game
Definitely going to book some lessons and sort myself out this season ️‍♂️

Cut the green into four. Then go for easier approach shot. Don’t get drawn into going for the flag all time. Practise your wedges as much as you can along with distance control on your putts

This is good! I’ve watched the Golf Channel David Duval swing special a lot, and one thing he said that has stuck with me is that when he’s hitting a 7 iron or lower he will hit towards a flag, a 6 iron or higher he won’t even look at the flag. It’s crazy to hear one of the best ball strikers ever say he won’t fire at a pin with a 6 iron in hand! But goes to show you that the game can be played well with a variety of strategies! There’s nothing EVER wrong with trying to hit the ball in the middle of every green and ignore flags. Might actually improve a lot of peoples’ scores.

I definitely need to practice those 40-70 yard shots, especially when they are tight lies on a slope or sideways lie. Very tricky.

If I had to pick between a partial wedge shot on a questionable lie versus a 100 yard full swing gap wedge on level fairway, I would pick the full swing every time. I have maybe a 1000 times more practice doing it than feel shots, and it ends up about the same distance from the hole. My handicap dropped so much as soon as I started to lay up to my favored ranges.

For me, it's the 30-50 yards that are probably the most difficult. Once I get up over 70 yards then I don't sweat it as much.

I'm in the same boat! I would rather have a 100 yard shot vs 30 yards!

For the shorter pitch shots say the 30-75 yd range you need to visualize the shot and not just hit it high etc
Sometimes I hit the low shot with plenty of spin sometimes the high flop shot
Practice both so you can hit either on the course

Numbers alone without reference are just meaningless metrics. Instead, try graphically recording all sub 100 shots and putts on a pocket-sized flip notepad per hole. Record club, target, swing length, shape, landing, and putt break and distance. Then you'll have context about what parts of your short game needs professional help. Since driving isnt my weakness, the short game was. Drawing my shot results helped me go from an 8 to scratch in less than a year. Carrying 4 gapped wedges for shots under 135 helps too.

Numbers alone without reference are just meaningless metrics. Instead, try graphically recording all sub 100 shots and putts on a pocket-sized flip notepad per hole. Record club, target, swing length, shape, landing, and putt break and distance. Then you'll have context about what parts of your short game needs professional help. Since driving isnt my weakness, the short game was. Drawing my shot results helped me go from an 8 to scratch in less than a year. Carrying 4 gapped wedges for shots under 135 helps too.

I do not, but you can probably go count how many after each round as I track GIR and putts, so you can pretty much figure out how many shots a round were under 100 each round. I dont see that as something that needs to be tracked. I dont feel like this is a large weekness to my game, because normally I am not within 100 years on most holes for the second shot. I am normally taking a full shot into a green, so if I dont hit the green I mostly have a small chip, ie 5-15 yards, so I practice small chips and do not worry about my 75 yard shots as they are normally few and far in between I guess.

I always track fairways, GIR, putts and also, Up and Down opportunities and conversions. Anything within 40 yards is a chance for an U/D. I am lucky enough to have that length in my yard so I have started to practice this a lot, especially after last year when my conversion rate dropped significantly.

I've been tracking FIR, GIR, putts, etc. for years without seeing a lot of change. So earlier this year, I started to track total distance of putts sunk, figuring that would give me a better idea of what I need to improve scoring. I have been aghast at how low that number is for most of my rounds -- normally less than 40 feet and often less than 30 feet total. To me, that means I'm leaving myself lots of tap ins of a foot or less and not making many putts of any length. Then I tried determining the distance from the hole on first putts for 18 holes and comparing that to the distance for shots into the hole from 125 yards or less. Now I started to get some interesting info. I have been getting closer from over 125 yards than I have from 125 or less! Clearly I need to work from that range in to improve my scoring, in addition to my putting. Stats can be helpful, but you need to insure you don't overwhelm your game with data. Remember, it's supposed to be fun out there.

No but i really should.. am off 12 and that is the worst part of my game.. can hit to 100 yards.. and take 5 shots from there easy