The Day I Couldn't Hit a Green in Regulation

In the sweltering heat of over 30 degrees since the morning,
today's score was 99.

Looking only at the numbers, it was my 'usual sub-100 golf,' but the content was a little different.

My driver didn't curve much and there were no OBs,
the only hole where I completely fell apart was the second.

I lost my rhythm after a tee shot that hooked to the left,
my second shot was just a recovery,
my third shot didn't reach,
my fourth shot was a duff,
and in the end, it was a 5-on, 2-putt triple bogey.

That part was entirely my own mistake.

The 18th was also a triple bogey, but the circumstances were different.

I was doing well up to the 3rd shot,
but I went way past the pin,
leaving a brutal downhill long putt.
I was too cautious and only hit it halfway,
and although I got the next one within 50cm,
I missed that for a 4-putt.

18 holes under the scorching sun,
my concentration was gone by the end.

So, that final triple bogey was just a bit of bad luck.

However, that wasn't the biggest issue today.

It was the fact that I didn't hit a single green in regulation.

If you can't hit the green in regulation,
you're playing for an up-and-down on every hole.

It's not easy to succeed with your approach on all 18 holes,
and then keep sinking one-putts.

The result was

• 1 par

• 9 bogeys

• 6 double bogeys

• 2 triple bogeys

was the breakdown.

I had a few mistakes around the green too,
but when I think about it calmly,
the cause wasn't just my approach play.

To begin with, my shots aiming for the green are not good enough.
I had zero greens in regulation on the par 3s.

Even on par 4s and 5s,
there were many times I couldn't get the ball near the green, leaving me with difficult approach shots.

In other words, today's challenge is

not to improve my "chipping technique," but to play a style of golf where I don't need to chip as much.

Accuracy from 100 to 150 yards.

The ability to hit the green on par 3s.

The courage to aim for the center of the green instead of forcing a shot at the pin.

If I can improve these, the burden on my short game will decrease significantly.

My driver has stopped ruining my game.

The next hurdle to overcome isincreasing my greens in regulation by even one.

They say "if your chipping gets better, you'll shoot in the low 90s," but
if I can hit the green in regulation, mistakes around the green will automatically decrease.
Well, if it were that easy to do just by knowing it, I wouldn't be struggling.

Golf presents me with a new challenge every time.
It's as if it's saying, "You've cleared that, so now try this."
It's a pretty mean teacher,
but thanks to that, I feel like I'm moving forward little by little.

Average of the last 20 rounds: 101.7.
My goal is to get my round average into the 90s.
And then break my personal best of 92,
followed by breaking 90!

The next one is in a week. Time for training!

Next round👇

I've summarized my days of rounds and practice here👇

Check out the separate volume too👇