how to break 80.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Speaking of sarcasm, that's winking guy is probably the most sarcastically judgmental smiley I've ever seen.  Some people use that specific smiliey quite often and I never know how to interpret what they've just said.

What about this one?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Speaking of sarcasm, that's winking guy is probably the most sarcastically judgmental smiley I've ever seen.  Some people use that specific smiliey quite often and I never know how to interpret what they've just said.

What about this one?

Is that Jay Leno?

[rph23]

just shot an 80 with 3 three putts. haha WHY CANT I BREAK 80!?

[MLgolf]

^ My guess is putting.

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by rph23

just shot an 80 with 3 three putts. haha WHY CANT I BREAK 80!?

You need to stop thinking about what is riding on it for one. Thinking about what you're shooting and how well you're doing is a sure fire way to screw it up.

Play the holes, concentrating on that hole, write down your score and DO NOT add them up until you're finished. If you catch yourself trying to do it in your head, STOP.

My best round was not my lowest round because I bogeyed the last 3 holes to shoot 75. All because I started thinking about shooting even par.

Breaking 80 is all about not wasting your shots and having a repeatable swing. The ability to scramble is a must if you're not hitting the ball well that day. Play smart.............

[bplewis24]

Breaking 80 with only 3 putts is pretty awesome

[phan52]

Originally Posted by rph23

just shot an 80 with 3 three putts. haha WHY CANT I BREAK 80!?

My best guess is your putting.

[vo-man]

here are a few suggestions;

1- leave your driver at home and use a 3 wood on the tee

2- practice long putts.  make your goal to try to 2 putt every green.   Most amateur golfers usually come up short when they do manage to hit the green and end up with a long first putt.  if you can 2 putt every green instead of 3 putting you'll shave 18 strokes off your game right away.

3- practice chipping.  Like coming up short on the green, coming up short on your approach shot is very common for amateurs.  You can save a lot of strokes if you can chip well.  Along with chipping practice, try using your 8 iron for chip shots.  You may find it's easier to accomplish a better chip shot with an 8 iron than a wedge.

[utztech]

Obviously a lot of the advice above to practice this or that thing is good.   Because if you keep getting better you will some day break 80.  But here is some advice that might help you with the game you have today.

You are going to break 80 when you are playing well, by definition, since it will be a new low for you.  When I am playing well I tend to expect more out of my shots and this leads me to two mistakes:

1.  Don't be more aggressive just because you are hitting it well.  I tend to take riskier lines off the tee and aim at riskier spots into the green when I am hitting it well.  This leads to mistakes that will keep your score at the same level as when you are not hitting it well, but playing less aggressive.

2.  Don't compound mistakes because you are hitting it well.  When I am playing well I tend to expect more out of my shots, so when I really screw up, I tend to try to make up for it and often compound my mistake.  For example, I was playing pretty well a couple of days ago and I hit a really good drive, only had 80 yards left.  I chunked my second shot and it came up way short.  There was a bunker between me and the flag and I had little green to work with.  Well I was not going to stand for a bogie when I had hit such a great drive and I was playing well, so I tried a shot I was not confident in and dumped it in the bunker.  Double bogie.  I should have just taken my lumps after the first mistake and hit a safer shot.  I probably would have on a day I was playing worse and my score was not as good.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by utztech

Obviously a lot of the advice above to practice this or that thing is good.   Because if you keep getting better you will some day break 80.  But here is some advice that might help you with the game you have today.

You are going to break 80 when you are playing well, by definition, since it will be a new low for you.  When I am playing well I tend to expect more out of my shots and this leads me to two mistakes:

1.  Don't be more aggressive just because you are hitting it well.  I tend to take riskier lines off the tee and aim at riskier spots into the green when I am hitting it well.  This leads to mistakes that will keep your score at the same level as when you are not hitting it well, but playing less aggressive.

2.  Don't compound mistakes because you are hitting it well.  When I am playing well I tend to expect more out of my shots, so when I really screw up, I tend to try to make up for it and often compound my mistake.  For example, I was playing pretty well a couple of days ago and I hit a really good drive, only had 80 yards left.  I chunked my second shot and it came up way short.  There was a bunker between me and the flag and I had little green to work with.  Well I was not going to stand for a bogie when I had hit such a great drive and I was playing well, so I tried a shot I was not confident in and dumped it in the bunker.  Double bogie.  I should have just taken my lumps after the first mistake and hit a safer shot.  I probably would have on a day I was playing worse and my score was not as good.

Some of this is true, but I'm going to disagree with it nonetheless......in the context of trying to shoot a personal best, which is what the OP is all about.

If you're playing well, you're playing well.  Embrace it, and take advantage of it.  THAT'S how you shoot a personal best.  Take a chance.  I'm not talking stupid, but if you're in a risk reward position later in the round, that you are reasonably capable of, go for it.  If you're trying to break 80 for the first time, is an 83 all that different from another 80 or 81?  Don't end up back in the clubhouse playing "woulda/coulda/shoulda".......not when a personal milestone is on the line.

[BuckeyeNut]

Originally Posted by lville lefty

The two common stats for rounds under 80 are;

seven greens in regulation

30 or less putts per round

Do that and you will regularly break 80.

How to reach these objectives is the hard part.

Well said.....

I think a lot of players on the cusp of breaking this milestone would benefit greatly from better course strategy and sharpening of the short game.

[VMAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lville lefty

The two common stats for rounds under 80 are;

seven greens in regulation

30 or less putts per round

Do that and you will regularly break 80.

How to reach these objectives is the hard part.

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

Well said.....

I think a lot of players on the cusp of breaking this milestone would benefit greatly from better course strategy and sharpening of the short game.

It is that simple.  Last time I played 13 GIR and 36 putts and 1 OB (2 penalty strokes)  SCORE 80.  (thanks scorecard v2)  That round for me is above avg on GIR and below avg on putts, but greens had been sanded the week before so lags were not quite as close.  In any case, I think the formula above is a good one to breaking 80 and it highlights the short game, keeping the ball in play and hitting some greens.

[BuckeyeNut]

Originally Posted by VMAN

Quote:

Originally Posted by lville lefty

The two common stats for rounds under 80 are;

seven greens in regulation

30 or less putts per round

Do that and you will regularly break 80.

How to reach these objectives is the hard part.

It is that simple.  Last time I played 13 GIR and 36 putts and 1 OB (2 penalty strokes)  SCORE 80.  (thanks scorecard v2)  That round for me is above avg on GIR and below avg on putts, but greens had been sanded the week before so lags were not quite as close.  In any case, I think the formula above is a good one to breaking 80 and it highlights the short game, keeping the ball in play and hitting some greens.

You need to learn to putt!!!    Imagine how low you'd score if you averaged under 30 putts!!  Hitting 13 greens and not breaking 80 is a huge red flag.......1 OB tee shot isn't even relevant.  If I hit 13 greens, I'm usually shooting 75 or lower even with a stray tee shot out of bounds.  Get that putter in order, and you are golden........and yes, good chipping certainly helps the putting total.

[Parker0065]

Originally Posted by rph23

just shot an 80 with 3 three putts. haha WHY CANT I BREAK 80!?

Easy on yourself bud! Your going to get there.

Your story reminds me a little of myself many many years ago as a junior player. Going into the season I turned 14 I gained a lot of distance due to a growth spurt which put me in position to hit aproach shots with much shorter clubs. From March to June that year my scoring average dropped rapidly from mid-high 80's to low-low 80's. By mid June I was knocking all over the door to breaking 80 but always seemed to find a way to not get it done. From mid June to early August I must have shot 80,81 or 82 at least 18-20 times. Talk about frustration,,lol!! At that point I knew I had the skill and length to do it but I was pressing much too hard. Finally in early August on a beautiful southern Michigan summer day I went out with my Father and brother for our normal Saturday 36 holes and on the second 18 holes that day I shot a 78(key the dance music)! The flood gates didn't just open, they exploded open and after that day, shooting a score in the 80's was reserved for only my worst of worst rounds.

For myself it was much more mental than physical. I knew I had the tools to do it but I was making the "Mountain" in front of me bigger than it really was. If your constantly banging on the door to breaking 80 then you more than likely have the ability. It may just be a matter of improving your "misses" and mentally not thinking about "score" so much when your out there. I'm not a big stats guy but I do believe in using them as a guide to improving on what needs the most work and practice time. It's important to go back through every round when you finish and record what cost you the most strokes. Over time you will start to see patterns of what needs the most attention in your game.

Just keep in mind that when it comes to breaking a scoring barrier you may be making all kinds of different mistakes each and every round. That's the human brain wanting to get back into it's "comfort zone" by not breaking 80! As I said it took me nearly that entire summer to break 80 and I was doing crazy things like I wouldn't have a three putt for 2-3 rounds then go out on a day I was hitting great aproach shots and have 3-4 three-putts and miss breaking 80. Other times I would get to the 17th hole knowing if I just play the last two holes +1 over par I will break 80,  then proceed to knock the ball O.B. and blow another chance. Breaking scoring barriers are usually much more mental than physical. Especially if your consistantly right on the door step but can't break through!

Keep banging on the door and working on the weak areas of your game! It will open!

[ScT1]

Well, I haven't broken 80 yet, but I've had a mental turnaround these last few weeks that has got me feeling that it is inevitable and I had a round on Monday which helped me take a peek at the inevitability. I shot 80 Monday afternoon, after 43 on the front. Fired a best ever 9-holes of 37 on the back and it was the first time ever I got in the zone or whatever it's called. It was the first time in my life I ever got to playing one shot at a time. No matter the result, I pretty much shrugged my shoulders, accepted the result, and took on the next shot. Well, I gave a fist pump when I birdied 14 and when I made a tricky downhill 4-footer to save par at 16. But when my birdie putt at 18 came up 5-feet short, I shrugged my shoulders and then calmly sank the 5-footer for a closing par.

The mental side all started turning for me a few weekends ago. I had gone out for 9-holes, and had kind of kicked it around some after a good start. I reached the par-3 9th hole already 9 over par, so it was almost with a bit of relief that I teed things up and settled in with using a 4-iron to shoot for the back pin. Now prior to that, I had begun to experience some really good success when I have this one personal swing thought in my head, "Back on my left hand goes down the target line." I cleared my thoughts and had only that thought, and made my swing. Beautiful shot, right at the flag, just a slight cut and it ended up about 8 feet away short and right of the pin.

I said out loud to my playing partners, "Why can't I hit that shot every time?"

When I first said it, it was a sense of inevitable defeatism -- that I can't. I can't hit that shot every time. But you know what? It kept kicking around in my head and I realized this -- I can make that shot. I know what a good swing feels like. I know how to do it. I've done it many times. Not as frequently as I would have liked, but I have done it. I realized that the big problem I had been having is that my head gets in the way of that good swing, I don't get set up with a purpose to the shot, I let some creeping doubt or fear get in, I fail to let go of those things and they interfere with what my mind and body know how to do.

The truth of it is when many of us go out and play, there is no pressure at all except what we create in our own heads. I'm not out there playing for money. I'm not out there trying to saving anyone or anything. I'm not out there for personal glory or ego-stroking. I'm out there to move a small white ball around the course in the fewest strokes possible. There's no pressure in that. It's rather inconsequential and meaningless.

I think for a lot of us who haven't broken 80 yet we already have the skills and know-how to do it. Then it just becomes a matter of getting the mind right in order to do it.

Or just another small example of how the mind can get in the way is the way I broke 90. The day I broke 90, it wasn't with a dramatic shot or anything. What happened was after I chipped on to the green at 18, just about a foot and half away, nearly a tap-in, I thought I had just made the chip to pretty much give me an 89. You know what happened with that putt, that putt with all those thoughts of "I'm gonna break 90!" and "Don't miss that! Don't miss that!" I missed it. I jerked my putter left and the ball completely missed the hole. I then tapped in for what I thought was 90.

Except I had miscalculated my scorecard. I had forgotten to deduct a stroke for the birdie I had made at 15. So while I walked off the green and towards the parking, I came to a stop as I began checking the math. And after checking two more times, the realization I had shot 89. I had done it in spite of that last mistake. A mistake born of my head, not of an inability to make a putt of a foot and a half.

[Divotmaker77]

Although my game has been a disaster this year, I did break 80 last year.  It was very simple in hindsight.  I kept the ball in play off the tee box, played to the middle of the green everytime, and did not 3 putt.  Yes, easier said than done, but if you have good mechanics, are not trying to force things (good tempo), and take your time yet not change your routine it will happen.  Honestly, I did not know I had done it until after the round when my partner added up the scorecard.  You may want to have someone else control your scorecard and keep that part out of your mind while playing.

[rph23]

Thank you all for your responses. Once again I'mplaying this weekend and will post results. I'm thinking about posting a video of my swing. Would this be a good or bad idea?

[DogbertBH]

I just came across this post and I'm wondering how the OP made out?

About 10 years ago I toiled away at golf. I took some lessons that completely revamped my stance and swing (grip was fine but my legs were too wide and I was hunched over).  I still have some casting issues and come over the top occasionally, but I implemented what I was taught, played 2-18 hole rounds and 1-9 hole round every week and practiced EVERYTHING else as much as I could.  Putting, chipping, sand shots, etc.

In my 9-hole rounds I frequently played with only 1 club.  7 iron tee shot, 7 iron pitch and chip shots, etc.  I didn't even bother putting.  Just worked at getting better with whichever club I had.  Sometimes I chose a PW, sometimes a 9 iron.  If the water carry was too long I would walk to the other side, drop and hit.

I haven't played much over the last 6 years since my son was born, but now he's old enough to take on the course and I'm able to play a few times a Summer on a par 3 course nearby.

This Sunday, someone invited me to play at a nice country club about an hour away from home. I'd never been there but saw they had a par 72, 69.8 rating and  a slope of 124.  Looked tough, so I went to the range once, played the par 3 once and when I arrived at the course I practiced putting for 45 minutes before we started.  They didn't have a range, so I couldn't get any practice in... Just putting.

My first tee shot went about 15 feet into the pond in front of the box.  My buddies offered me the 'Breakfast Ball' and I re-hit, made par and moved along.  The 2nd hole I got on in 2 and made a terrible lag put.  3 putt for bogey and am now sitting +1.

I did NOT take the Mulligan and instead I kept my score, and my head - made a few really good putts and a sand save, and finished the round @ +3.  On the back 9 I kept it @ even until the 15th & 16th where I went bogey, double bogey. Made a birdie on the par 3 17th and even on the par 5 18th.

So I finished @ +6 and a total 78.  BEST round I've ever played.  3 double bogeys, 3 bogeys and 3 birdies.  Shooting below 80 doesn't have to be perfect.  I'm living proof.

For the players who've done it - what happened at your next round?  I wanted to get back to my crappy play right away... a friend said to savor it for as long as I would typically not play.

I did email a thank you message to the PGA pro I took the lessons from, though!

-h