Breaking 80

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sharkey35

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What does it take (besides making the putt for 79)? Most guys I play with are 90's shooters with the potential to play in the 80's. I am routinely in the 80's and have been below, but not in a few years. What is the biggest difference between those that can and those that can't? It has been my goal for a while. I had a few nines in the 30's last season, but best scores were low 80's.

What do the teachers out there see as the difference? For those of you who have dropped to a single digit, what was the key?
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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I would say course management, short game, consistency off the tee. You have to keep the penalties low to none and try to keep them damn double bogeys off the card. Just a guess.
 
tennisdu

tennisdu

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If you have competent ball striking abilities and can keep big numbers off the card, it's all about the short game!
 
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savydan

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sharkey35 said:
What does it take (besides making the putt for 79)? Most guys I play with are 90's shooters with the potential to play in the 80's. I am routinely in the 80's and have been below, but not in a few years. What is the biggest difference between those that can and those that can't? It has been my goal for a while. I had a few nines in the 30's last season, but best scores were low 80's.

What do the teachers out there see as the difference? For those of you who have dropped to a single digit, what was the key?
Click to expand...

As said, avoiding doubles and penalites. The key for me is putting the tee ball in play.
 
Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero

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Know your swing inside and out. Play 9 or 18 holes 3-4 times a week and practice the short game every day. I use to practice the short game following the round. If you have a par 3 course play it a few times a week as well. I use to do this when I was a studio musician before teaching full time and maintained a 4.6 index.
 
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Robbohank

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A lot of responses to this question will focus on having a good short game, and there is no doubt a really good short game might get you into the 70's on occasion. But, if that's what you rely on to shoot 78 or 79, then breaking 80 will be a rare occurance (imo). I just don't think many 80's shooters have the quality of short game needed to break 80 very often. I play with lots of golfers of different skill levels and rarely does their short game expertise not match their long game expertise.

I think Kevin Shields hit it on the head......... GIR's!! And that means you have to have some level of control over your full swing and your ball-striking.

Robbo
 
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Brian Manzella

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Back in the day...

I used to do quite of bit of study into these sorts of things...

Here is my take:

You have to hit 6 greens in Regulation and get up and down a third of the time (4 of 12) and convert one of the six GIRs into a birdie.

+7

You CANNOT have—what I call—"throwaways."

3-putts, Penalty shots, take more than four inside 100 yards.

How?

Well, remember this: it is WAY EASIER to shoot 79 trying to shoot 76-78, then to shoot 70 trying to shoot 72. ;)
 
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GPM1985

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To the OP, I would say that you should identify the worst part of your game and work on it, a lot. People tend to neglect practicing what they're bad at because it's humbling and difficult. Tough noogies, but the work pays off. Well-rounded golfers break 80.
 
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Robbohank

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Brian Manzella said:
I used to do quite of bit of study into these sorts of things...

Here is my take:

You have to hit 6 greens in Regulation and get up and down a third of the time (4 of 12) and convert one of the six GIRs into a birdie.

+7

You CANNOT have—what I call—"throwaways."

3-putts, Penalty shots, take more than four inside 100 yards.

How?

Well, remember this: it is WAY EASIER to shoot 79 trying to shoot 76-78, then to shoot 70 trying to shoot 72. ;)
Click to expand...

I bet if you can only hit 6 greens in regulation then you almost ALWAYS have "throwaways"!
It's part of the reason you have only 6 gir's.
 
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Brian Manzella

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Robbohank said:
I bet if you can only hit 6 greens in regulation then you almost ALWAYS have "throwaways"!
It's part of the reason you have only 6 gir's.
Click to expand...

I averaged 3.5 throwaways per round in college.

So a 79 shooter would surely have some too.

But that wasn't my point.

What was my point?
 
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adamscot89

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I think the point is about mental strategy.

Obviously you have the game to break 80 because you have done it before.

If you go out and say I am going to try and break 80 and this is what I need to do then if you make a couple mistakes or even one mistake or extra throwaway then you are already up in the 80's

If you go into a round thinking this is what I need to do to shoot say 75 or 76,
then you have a solid mental base and you have room to make a couple extra throwaways and still end up shooting 78.
 
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puttmaster

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Brian Manzella said:
I averaged 3.5 throwaways per round in college.

So a 79 shooter would surely have some too.

But that wasn't my point.

What was my point?
Click to expand...

Play smart -- know your limits and play to your strengths -- and develop a short game that is an asset. (That's what it takes for me to shoot in the 70s.)
 
cal7426

cal7426

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Brian Manzella said:
I averaged 3.5 throwaways per round in college.

So a 79 shooter would surely have some too.

But that wasn't my point.

What was my point?
Click to expand...

I think the point is you have to believe you can break 80. If you start off thinking you can't you probably won't. Thus if you settle for a 72, if you make the chance to shoot 70 you won't because you'll switch off mentally having already achieved your limiting goal.

Perhaps you should work out your eclectic score if you play the same course regularly - i.e. add up your best scores on each hole ever. Mine are: 2,3,1,3,3,3,1,2,3,3,3,1,3,3,2,3,1,3 = 43 (28 under). Why would I think breaking 80 was difficult?
 
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