Curious ... how long did it take you to first break 80 ??

For the lower hcp guys ... would like to know approx. how many years of playing or roughly how many rounds you had under your belt when you first broke 80.

I'm finishing up my 4th full season (I'd guess around 450 rounds so far ... most of these are 9 hole rounds after work) ... I've broke 40 on one side or the other a bunch of times, but my lowest score is 82 ... just can't hold it together for an entire round to break through the 80 glass barrier.     Thx

For me it was during my fifth year of playing golf (this year). Think somewhere after 750 rounds, almost no drivingrange-hours and maybe 20 lessons all together.

This year I finally broke 80 twice (and something like 20 rounds in the 80-82 range). On both occasions I managed to make an up and down double on the last hole, to finish my round in 79 strokes.

I've often thought of doing a poll for single digit players only.  Something like

"your age when first shooting under 80 on a normal course"

a. under age 15

b. between 15 and 18

c. between 18 and 21

d. between 21 and 25

e. over age 25.

what would the results look like on a  graph, in your opinion?

Don't forget, only those now having Hcaps under 10 can enter poll and for argument let's say we get 100 entries.

Next, discuss the implications of the data.

I have been playing for about 6 years.  Like you, I have broken 40 on a 9 a few times.  I still have not hit 79 though.

2 or 3 years. I was 17 I think, hard to remember that far back.

I'd think you are doing pretty good, as we get older it's harder to find the time to work on our games that we had when we were still in high school---

Sounds like you think about it while you are playing, one of these times it'll just happen.

And if you can play often with someone who breaks 80 a lot, it won't seem like such a big deal and you'll start doing it too

I have not officially broken 80 yet, but I had a round at 6000 yards two weeks ago where I shot 79 with two doubles to start the round. I guess once I fumbled through those two holes it was smooth sailing. Back 9 was a 35 par. 44 on the front 9. I also played a couple holes out of order. I did play by the rules and didn't take any drops (Even though I could have, it saved me a stroke playing out of the hazard).

So, 79 with an asterisk in roughly 4-5 years exposed to the game. A little over one year learning golf through Mike (mvmac), coming in from a 24+ handicap down to where I am now. The biggest jump was in the first 4 months from 24+ down to 17-ish.

My best round was shooting 86 at 7100 yards a day later. I'm resting for a couple more weeks before attempting to play again.

I actually broke it several years before I put in the work where I should have, so I got lucky.   It took me approx 8 years, but I rarely got the chance to practice and never had lessons.   I basically was really hungover one Saturday morning, didn't really realize that I was -1 for the first 9 holes until the 8th hole (and then there was an easy par 5 for the ninth).

Took a triple on 10, thought I blew my round and that took the pressure off.   I put my third shot on a closing par 5 to 2 feet and made birdie for 78.   it was a pitch over water, if I blew that shot it would have been minimum a 6 and an even 80.

So 8 years.   Been playing for 26.

I started golfing again in 2012 after a more than decade long time away, not sure when I actually stopped but not a lot of golf for me after age 25, none after 30 and I am 46 now. I don't remember the actual date but it took about a year of actual golf with the winter layoff before I broke 80, happened sometime in 2013, shot 77. Since then and mostly after quality instruction this summer I do it often. All but maybe 2 of my current ten lowest differentials are sub 80 rounds. Course ratings are the killer here. I can break 80 at some courses and barely keep it within ten strokes of the course rating playing from the tips.

I started playing seriously in about 2011, and broke 80 for the first - and only - time last fall. Probably took me somewhere between 70-100 rounds.

I don't really remember how long it took. For the first few years I was involved playing golf, I played, and practiced very sporadically. I broke 90 pretty quickly, and played in the 80s for quite a few years. I do know I did not break 80 until I put a lot time in on my short game.

This is my second time around with golf  after 2+ years of not playing due to an auto accident.  This time around, it took me about 5 or 6 months to break 80. I attribute this to once being a pretty good golfer, before my accident, and the copious amount of time I am spending on my game now. Right now, the weakest part of my game is my putting, since I have no way of practicing that part of the game. Nearest practice greens are 55-65 miles a way.

For your graph, I started when I was 18 and probably broke 80 when I was 19. That was a long time ago. I started playing only a local exec course for my first year in 1975. The following year I got a student membership ($90 for the season) at a par 72 course and played everyday (literally everyday) for that entire season. I easily got 200 rounds of golf in that year. I was a student at the local Community College. I broke into the 70's that year. So It's wag after about 100 rounds. I remember it was before the bi-centennial in 1976. My membership was at The South Hills Country Club in Busti NY. Not too far from Erie, so maybe a few know the course. It's nickname was "Gravel Run" because of all the river rocks in the fairway (Devonian Era). I've broken into the 60's once (69) several years ago. I had a couple of rounds of 70 even this year, so there's hope.

I learned the game at an early age but did not really play very much until I was around 30.  So maybe 6-7 years and 300-350 rounds were required along with a 5 day trip to a "Golf Camp" where all we did was learn and practice.  Like you, the first step was under 40 for nine but the consistency wasn't there to finish it off over a full 18.  When I finally broke through, I did not do it again until 6 months later.  Then I went another year before I was able to accomplish it for the 3rd time.

Good luck in your quest.

I think that would be better not by age, but by years played because I didn't start until I was 20.

For me it depends on the type of course. I broke 80 on a short course in my first year but on a championship 6900+ it took almost 2 years.

Come to think of it, breaking 80 on a par 72 7100 yard course is a lot different than breaking 80 on a par 70 6000 yard one. I presume you all mean breaking 80 for the former case? Yeah, that's incredibly hard and would put you at something like a 4 handicap. So, what's the course rating? @inthehole