KEYS to breaking 100

[kilbyman]

I really think the keys to 90 thread is great. I would love to start one for keys to breaking 100, as this will benefit Sandtrappers as well. So put em out there: keys to breaking 100.
My $.02: Only use driver if you hit it predictably and are on a hole with lots of room for error (i.e. no trees).

[nuck81]

Learn how to Putt lol

[anotherday]

One swing out of the trees is worth about 2-3 through them.

Work on your short game and definitely control your putts!!

[golfro]

While I don't disagree with working on your short game... consistancy in your iron game is definitely one that helps a ton when you're playign 100+.

100+ players don't play 100+ because they sit on the green one putt after another. It's usually because their driver sliced off into the rough or because they have a hard time getting the ball on the green in the first place. Practice and learn to get the ball on the green.

Of course there's no one answer solution, practice both short game and irons but I think it's important to practice your swing and be able to hit the ball with relative control to get it onto the green first.

[treebound]

My 2 cents:

Practice off the course, on the course work on keeping the ball in play.

I've played several times in the past with no woods in my bag because I had issues hitting them. It's better to hit three 5 iron shots to reach a green than it is to flail balls out of bounds or into ponds with longer clubs.

[soloredd]

Know when to put the driver away and don't try to reach the green on every shot.

[Hackforfun]

Keep the ball in play off the tee.

Learn a technique to consistently get out of bunkers. Don't worry about touch...just be able to get back on some sort of grass in 1 stroke.

Learn to lag the ball and practice a lot within 4 feet for putting to minimise 3 putts.

Lay up to a distance where you are confident hitting into the green rather than trying to blast a longer club that you are unreliable with.

Don't follow a bad shot with a stupid one.

I consistently break 100 trying to play like this even allowing for my 4-5 triple bogey type holes where I fail on one or more of these and generally stink it up

[zeg]

For me, the key was just eliminating the total flubs. Make sure you hit the ball cleanly, and as long as it flies vaguely in the direction of the hole, you're well on your way. Keep it close to the fairway, but for 100, you can afford to chip out a few times in a round. Also, be good enough at putting. If you can 2 putt most of the time, and not do worse than 3 99% of the time, you're probably good enough that you can break 100 with consistency.

Also, play an easy course. Breaking 100 is a lot easier on the a ~67/116 rating/slope courses I play than on a 71/125 course. So rather than fixate on 100, perhaps aim for a particular differential...

[Meddle]

Hit shots that you know you can hit. If you can only hit 6i-SW, then only play with those clubs until you learn to hit long irons and woods.

Don't go for hero shots. Punch out of the woods, go around the hazard, don't try flop shots, etc.

Keep your composure out there, getting frustrated leads to bad decision-making and course management.

Get out on the range for practice. You don't need a killer short game at this point, you need to get to the green and give yourself a chance at bogey (or par).

[James_Black]

Complete opposite of breaking 90.

Don't bother with the driver, hit a 5 iron off the tee KEEP THE BALL IN PLAY.
focus on keeping the ball in play and you'll HAVE to break 100.

[Dabbac]

learn your yardage on every club, and hit whats comfortable, if your not comfortable executing a full swing, go easy on a higher club, obviously your not hitting greens, so practice pitches and chips.

[Mrd19abhs]

def learn to put the driver away. before i bought my hybrid i was always in the trees or ob and then trying to play miracle shots to get out of the $hit my driver got me in. once i bought my hybrid and began to leave the driver in the bag i cut easily 10+ shots of my game. was playing about a 105-110 with driver off tee, went to hybrid now i shoot low 90s.

[clubhousehero]

all good advice. i like leaving the driver in the bag and just advance the ball. as long as you move forward and not sideways you'll do ok. my .02, mentally add one stroke to the par of each hole. bogey golf is 90 on most courses. to break 100 you can have 2 triples, 5 doubles and 11 bogeys for a 99. not so bad when you think about it that way. This advice helped me because i felt less pressure to reach the green in 2, get up and down or hit hero shots. for an new golfer, bogey golf isn't bad golf.

[CalBoomer]

Glad you enjoyed the thread on breaking 90. However, the real answer to the question "How to break X" is the same no matter what X is, and that is practice, practice, practice once someone has shown you proper technique. Golfers trying to break 100 simply have more to work on than golfers trying to break 80. If your goal were only to break 100, I would say learn to hit a 7-iron perfectly and only play with it and a putter. Sort of like Keven Costner did in "Tin Cup." But I'm sure that really isn't your only goal. So I disagree with all the comments about not using this or that club. If you can't hit a particular club, go to a practice facility (and possibly take a lesson) until you can hit that club. When I got serious about learning to play golf, I spent at least half of my available time doing highly directed practice (which is different than mindlessly banging balls at a range off a mat). That meant that some weeks I spent the 4 or 5 hours available doing nothing but practicing at a facility where I could hit off of turf and do short game practice from variable distances. You simply can't accomplish any of this during a regular round of golf. And I would add what might be a controversial statement. If you don't enjoy practice as much as playing a round of golf, you're not a real golfer. Or you're certainly not a serious golfer.

[zeg]

While I'm still in the high hcp group, and I do appreciate what you say about practice, I do think there's a big strategic difference between trying to break 100 vs 90 vs 80 etc. It stems from knowing your game. If you're trying to shoot better than 90, that means you've got to look at bogey as the worst you'll accept on a hole (assuming par 72). For me, that's not an option---I'd be thrilled to average a bogey. In the long term, yes, you need to hit all your clubs (well not *all*, you could give up on a 2I or 3I in the age of hybrids), but you sorta need to go one step at a time. In other words, you need to practice differently depending on where you are. You can break 100 on most courses by practicing a few clubs. I shot a 49 a couple days back, and after the round realized I really only used about 4 clubs for the vast majority of shots. Thus, I need to be sure I can at least hit those clubs well and consistently. To get to the next step, yes, you need more precision across the board, more distance options, etc, but there's a lot of value in hitting an intermediate milestone. So yes, everyone needs to practice, but where you focus that time is different. A 35 handicapper has more to work on than a 20 handicapper, but there's still only so much time available to spend on golf.

For example, if you find you can't hit a particular club, I don't know that I'd agree you should immediately go spend a lot of time on that. First ask how important it is to your strategy. If you can't hit your wedge on a 40 yard pitch, then yes, go hit that shot 50 times a day until you've got it. If it's the 3W, ask whether you could get away with your 5W or a hybrid in its place for a while. Eventually you'll come to it, but you need to understand your limitations and craft a strategy that lets you get the most out of what skills you have available NOW. Then practice to be sure you have those skills down, while spending some time expanding the set.

[ronaldkuntoro]

Most advice here is to leave the driver in the bag.... but I think it's the opposite, to get more consistent with your driver. Don't swing too hard with your driver. Loft greater than 10.5 degree is a good idea. More loft means straighter shot. The most important thing is to get the ball in the fairway and not hitting it as hard as you can.

Practice more from the bunker. Most golfers who score more than 100 are not accurate with their iron and end up hitting in the bunker. Green side bunker is tough because you have to swing as usual but the ball must fly at a short distance. So practice bunker shot!

[CalBoomer]

While I'm still in the high hcp group, and I do appreciate what you say about practice, I do think there's a big strategic difference between trying to break 100 vs 90 vs 80 etc. It stems from knowing your game. If you're trying to shoot better than 90, that means you've got to look at bogey as the worst you'll accept on a hole (assuming par 72). For me, that's not an option---I'd be thrilled to average a bogey. In the long term, yes, you need to hit all your clubs (well not *all*, you could give up on a 2I or 3I in the age of hybrids), but you sorta need to go one step at a time. In other words, you need to practice differently depending on where you are. You can break 100 on most courses by practicing a few clubs. I shot a 49 a couple days back, and after the round realized I really only used about 4 clubs for the vast majority of shots. Thus, I need to be sure I can at least hit those clubs well and consistently. To get to the next step, yes, you need more precision across the board, more distance options, etc, but there's a lot of value in hitting an intermediate milestone. So yes, everyone needs to practice, but where you focus that time is different. A 35 handicapper has more to work on than a 20 handicapper, but there's still only so much time available to spend on golf.

I did not mean literally every club. No amateur in their right mind would try to learn to hit a 1 iron. I did mean learn how to hit a longer wood (driver or 3), some kind of low hybrid, mid irons (5-6), short irons (7-9), and wedges. And of course, chipping and putting. You have to be able to do all of those things with some level of competence to begin to consistently lower your scores from any level. And that competence will not be acquired on a golf course. I guess it just comes down to philosophy. If your skill level is such that you're going to shoot 150, what's the point in being on a golf course? You might as well leave all your clubs and just walk around and enjoy the scenery. No beginning skier would tackle a black diamond if they couldn't link two turns. For the beginner, basic competence precedes strategy on the course. I would guess that strategy becomes important when a golfer can reasonably consistently shoot 90. At a lower level of competence, I might even argue that one should simply forget about keeping score when you are on a golf course as opposed to a practice facility.

[zeg]

I did not mean literally every club. No amateur in their right mind would try to learn to hit a 1 iron. I did mean learn how to hit a longer wood (driver or 3), some kind of low hybrid, mid irons (5-6), short irons (7-9), and wedges. And of course, chipping and putting. You have to be able to do all of those things with some level of competence to begin to consistently lower your scores from any level. And that competence will not be acquired on a golf course. I guess it just comes down to philosophy. If your skill level is such that you're going to shoot 150, what's the point in being on a golf course? You might as well leave all your clubs and just walk around and enjoy the scenery. No beginning skier would tackle a black diamond if they couldn't link two turns. For the beginner, basic competence precedes strategy on the course. I would guess that strategy becomes important when a golfer can reasonably consistently shoot 90. At a lower level of competence, I might even argue that one should simply forget about keeping score when you are on a golf course as opposed to a practice facility.

I don't agree with your assessment that ~90 is where strategy becomes important---100 is not a terrible score. To be able to score 100 on a typical course, you've got to be able to hit most of your shots somewhat effectively and/or be a decent putter. I've only broken 100 (well, 50 since I play 9s) 3 times, yet I am reasonably good on the range, can drive past 200 yards and as far as 250 sometimes, and typically only chunk, top, or shank a few shots per round. I've played at this level or near it for most of a year now, yet only recently have dropped from low 100s (~51-55 for most 9s) to below 100. Some of that is practice, but a lot is trying not to do too much, knowing that I'm going to be happy to hit GIR+1 so I can just plan on 4I-4I-wedge into the par 4, etc. It's perhaps not as detailed a strategy as a better golfer would need, but it's not so fundamentally different---it's essentially being aware of your capabilities and playing to them.

Also, the point of golf is to get out and play. Even if you shoot 150, if you're having fun and keeping a reasonable pace, keep at it. There's a lot of difference between the range and the course, and although practice off the course is certainly important, there is a lot of work that you need to do to take your game from the range to the course.