Help Me Break 80

[fairwaysngreens]

Any of yall have suggestions on how to break 80 for the first time?

[$2 Nassau]

For me it's going to be putting and better course mgt, especially on the par 5's.

[Gregormendel]

yes. course management is a must. dont go for the par 5 in two if you can dunk it in the water..

Also, try hitting more greens. The more you hit the better your chances are for breaking 80.

On the other hand, I have shot even par while only hitting a few greens and a few years ago I shot -1 while only hitting 1 green. SO, short game goes along way

[golfmonke]

Hmmm, for me it took getting greater control over my long shots and my chipping.

When I first started to break 80 I was a horrible putter, and didn't like practicing it.

I still don't like practicing it, but have gotten a lot better :)

[ChiChiIsMe]

8 or more greens in reg and 32 or fewer putts and you'll be right there........

[gaz d]

once your long game is straight then my advice would be to work on every shot you could have within 100 yards.
On par 5's....my rule is always play position, it is gonna take me 3 shots to get there anyway so i may aswell keep it in play.

[Aggie25]

Go play a Par 3 course. You might even break seventy.

[Dent]

The Weirdest thing was last year when i broke 80 for the first time i used a really really old crappy ball, the other day i shot 79, 77 and i used a old crappy ball. But that wont help

Hit alot of GIRS and dont focus on your score, if you are with a buddy, joke around and have fun, it helps me because i dont think about playing and i naturally do good.

[Finn07]

Yeah, hit the ball straight, and make your putts, that ought to do it.

This is an extremely vague question, there are probably about a thousand answers to this question. Not knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are its impossible how to tell you how to break 80, but if I were a guessing man I would tell you to work on your short game, that will give you the best chance in doing so.

[lamebums]

Any of yall have suggestions on how to break 80 for the first time?

My biggest problems nowadays are par 3's and driving accuracy. I am only hitting two or three fairways a round, and end up having to scramble my ass off to salvage a socially acceptable score. Par 3's are...just, bad. I have some weird mental block about them. I hack my iron off line, make a bad chip, and then three-jack for double bogey. Or something like that. (I doubled both par 3's today on a 9 holer, but parred both par 5's - go figure)

[doublesuited77]

avoiding doubles is the key to being a single digit handicap. I don't make any more birdies now, compared to when i was a 15, i just make alot less mistakes.

Some of it is course management-- laying up a bit to give you a better shot into the green and being willing to just chip out when you hit a bad drive and take a bogey.

[Shindig]

Any of yall have suggestions on how to break 80 for the first time?

Hit every GIR and sink every putt you look at. This will give you a 54.

The following advice is based on my experience breaking 100, and is aimed at anyone close to breaking 80. Those who have actually broken 80 are encouraged to tell me if I'm terribly wrong on any of this. Go out and have fun with your friends. Unless you're playing in a tournament, and sometimes even then, this is what golf is really about. Don't worry about your score, just have fun. Breaking 80 will come with time. My first two sub-100 scores came as surprises: I knew I was playing well, but I didn't really realize how well. If you insist on practicing, work on your putting and iron accuracy. This will help you hit more greens and sink more putts. If you insist on thinking, next time you play, when you're on the green on each par-5 of your home course, turn around and look at the fairway. Decide where you'd like to approach the green from the next time you play the course. Figure out what shot will take you to that place, and where that shot originates. Hit your tee shot to that area. There's no sense hitting driver-3Wood and have a half-wedge onto a par-5 if you can hit 3Wood, 4-Iron, 9-Iron and have a better shot at birdie. (This isn't bad advice for par-4s either: determine where you'd like your approach shot to be from, and hit your tee shot to there if possible. You just have to be a bit more choosy: you can't always pick your favorite club as you can on many par-5s.) If you haven't already done so, read Dr. Bob Rotella's Golf is Not a Game of Perfect . I read it last Thursday-Friday after a suggestion on another thread, and this weekend's rounds were my first breaking of the 100 barrier: 95 and 92. It wasn't entirely the book - I was hitting 102 +/- 2 for the 5 rounds previous. In addition to being a great mental aid, the book has some *very* good pointers on putting and pitching (two of my weaker areas).

[P3R3]

The key is your PUTTER. I came terribly close a few months ago when I went -1 through 5, and my putter went cold, and shot an 84.

[Soup Fan]

I broke 80 once.











Then they said we had to play the back 9, too.

[gaz d]

Top tip- Dont Underclub,Always take one more club than you need

[lamebums]

Top tip- Dont Underclub,Always take one more club than you need

Agreed. Most people think they hit the ball further than they actually do and/or judge their distance on a perfectly struck shot and not a slight mishit (which is more common).

For every shot that's over the green, there's six that aren't up.

[dwsell]

I think some of the biggest keys to breaking 80 are playing consistently and a good short game. Being able to get up and down from around the green can make up for mishit drives and irons. If I don't play for a couple of weeks I can still go out and hit my drives and irons like usual, but will have a couple of mishit chips and three putts.

[thorban]

Top tip- Dont Underclub,Always take one more club than you need

That might be good advice for someone looking to break 100, but not 80. When you're at that threshold you should have your club distance down to within 5 yards disregarding wind.

My advice for breaking 80 is to make sure your misses are playable. I suppose that would fall under course management.