A player who knows how to break 80 is one who rarely has to endure the agonising despair of missing out by one shot on the final green, as much of the hard work has already been efficiently taken care of earlier in the round.
You can spend season after season working on the perfect golf grip or hit bucket after bucket of balls working out how to spin your chip shots, but ultimately - achieving this special milestone comes down to a number of key factors.
While only a small proportion of golfers actually manage to break 80 in golf, it is possible if you approach the task methodically and strategically.
In a bid to help you join this exclusive club, and using the latest Shot Scope Data, Golf Monthly deputy editor Joel Tadman has compiled the ultimate guide for how to break 80 in golf. Complete with an excellent tutorial video, Joel uses his extensive playing experience of breaking 80 to share seven key things that the data suggests can help you to post low scores more consistently...
How To Break 80 In Golf
What Does 'Break 80' Mean In Golf?
To break 80, a player needs to shoot a score of 79 or better during a round of golf. This is thought of as one of the most impressive milestones in amateur golf, but golfers find this difficult to achieve due to a number of factors including their handicap index, the course being played or the weather conditions on the day.
How Many Golfers Break 80 in Golf?
Based on the wide dataset of Shot Scope users, the number of players who break 80 in golf is just over 20%.
That means four out of five golfers struggle to achieve this goal, but that could be for a number of reasons. Many amateur golfers would benefit from a clear and repeatable strategy for breaking 80 on the golf course, and that is where we come in...
How To Break 80 In Golf: 7 Top Tips
Breaking 80 in golf is something many amateurs can achieve with a balance of the right strategy, course management and technical improvements.
I play off a handicap of 3 and regularly break 80 on the golf course, but each of these tips play a crucial role in helping me to do so.
But, don't just take my word for it. The latest Shot Scope data proves that mastering these seven elements could improve your ability to shoot scores in the 70s more often.
1. Driving Distance
There is a direct correlation between increasing how far amateur golfers hit their drives and the ability to shoot lower scores.
The data suggests that players who regularly shoot rounds in the 70s have an average driving distance of 261 yards, a whopping 25 yards further than players shooting in the 80s (261 yards).
Clearly, increasing driver distance without also honing your accuracy will be detrimental to your game.
Hitting a long ball that ends up in a penalty area or out of bounds is no good, so be sure to work on both in your next practice session at the range.
2. Hit More Greens
Hitting greens in regulation, meaning in two shots for a par-4 or in three shots for a par-5, can seriously improve your scoring too.
The data suggests that those who shoot scores in the 80s hit the green in regulation around 5.9 times per round, which is significantly less than the nine greens hit for a player regularly scoring in the 70s.
How can you find more greens in regulation? Your chances improve if you are playing from the fairway, as opposed to the rough, but there is also another mistake many amateurs make that costs them in this statistical measure.
The danger on a hole is typically short of the green, so taking a club that can get you slightly beyond the flag will also help in the case of poor strikes or other factors affecting the flight of the golf ball.
3. Pitching From 70-Yards
This is an area where players shooting in the 80s (or above) tend to waste a lot of shots.
In fact, a player with these types of scores will chip more than once from inside 70-yards on almost three occasions during a round, which is almost double a player shooting in the 70s (1.7 per round).
So, other than a good short game practice routine, how can you improve your success rate from this key distance? A clean strike where you get ball then turf is crucially important, but a reliable system can also go a long way to increasing confidence.
A simple clock-face process can work wonders. Understanding how far your nine-o-clock swing goes with your different wedges, and replicating that with 10- or 11-o-clock too, can really help to get dialled in and increase your ability to execute under pressure.
4. Eradicate Troublesome Tee Shots
The term 'troublesome tee shots' refers to a scenario where your ball ends up in a fairway bunker, out of bounds, in a hazard or completely lost.
Again, the difference between a player shooting in the 70s (2.1 per round) and a player shooting in the 80s (3.8 per round) is stark - with almost double the amount of instances in the average round.
A great way to mitigate against these annoying occurrences is to scope out the hole before you tee off. In the video above, there is a huge water hazard right in front of the tee box, but off to my right there are a few trees that could also cause me a problem.
You could use a rangefinder to work out the distance to those hazards, picking a shot that allows you to navigate your way without any unnecessary interactions with them.
You could also use wearable technology that allows you to view the hole using mapping systems - identifying hazards and the distances to those areas.
Either way, planning a solid strategy on the tee can save you plenty of shots and help you to get closer to this often elusive milestone.
5. Fewer Three Putts
Granted, this one might seem obvious. But, so many amateur golfers throw away shots with careless and costly three-putts.
This happens once more per round on average for a player shooting in the 80s (2.5) in comparison to a player shooting in the 70s (1.5), causing an avoidable leak from your scorecard.
As a low-handicap golfer myself, there are certain things that have really helped me to reduce the number of three-putts I have per round.
First, even if you are short of time before your round, spend a few minutes hitting some long putts on the putting green. This will help you understand how the ball is rolling on the day and calibrate your distance control ready for the course.
The second, focusing on how to read the greens, I always break it down into thirds. Focusing more on the final third is key, as that's when the ball slows down and is most affected by the slopes.
6. Chip It Closer
Golfers who are consistently shooting in the 70s are getting up and down more often than those shooting in the 80s, so sharpening up your short game is crucial.
The data suggests that a 5-handicap golfer, who is shooting in the 70s most of the time, has a scramble success rating of 47%, which is 8% better than a 10-handicapper (39%) who might not achieve a sub-80 score very consistently.
Club selection is key here, so it's important to survey the shot you have before reaching into your bag.
The mantra of 'aim small, miss small' is also a positive one to adopt, so setup with the intention to hole the chip shot and you should at the very least give yourself an easy tap in for a great up and down.
7. Putting Inside 5-Feet
Missing a putt from inside 5-feet is a total momentum killer, and for many golfers this can be the thing that derails their next few holes (or even their round).
A player shooting scores in the 70s misses around 1.9 putts per round from this critical distance, while a player shooting in the 80s goes through this heartache slightly more regularly - with 2.8 putts per round missed.
There are a few things I like to do in order to reduce the amount of times that I miss from inside 5-feet.
Once I have read the line I pick a spot in between the ball and the hole to roll my putt over. Alternatively, I also sometimes pick an imperfection at the back of the cup which can help me to be a bit more committed through the stroke.
Finally, I like to use a ball with some alignment assistance on it. Either go for a model that already has a line printed on it, or draw one on yourself, and use it to ensure your alignment in spot on before rolling the ball home.
3 Key Takeaways
There are plenty of data-driven ideas there to help you break 80 in golf, either for the first time or more consistently, but if I had to provide just three key takeaways these would be my best tips...
- Hit at least nine greens in regulation
- No more than two three-putts per round
- No more than two failed chip or pitch shots from inside 70-yards
FAQs
What is my handicap if I regularly break 80?
This is a tricky question to answer, as there are many factors that contribute to a player's handicap index. If a golfer shoots in the 70s consistently over the course of their measured rounds, on the same golf course with a rating of around 71 and a slope rating of 126, the player will likely play off a low-figure handicap (perhaps around 4 or 5).
Do golfers tend to shoot better scores on the front or back nine holes?
According to the latest Shot Scope data, amateur golfers tend to shoot better scores on the back nine holes during a round of golf.
This could be due to a number of factors, like the swing becoming a little more finely tuned throughout the front nine or you physically feeling better after firing those muscles over the course of the opening half of the round.
The only caveat to this trend is a scratch golfer, who actually tends to start stronger in the front nine and shoot a marginally better score on the way out as opposed to the way in.
