Breaking 80 (@people who have done it)

[Bamberdele2.0]

How long did it take you?

More importantly how long did it take you to repeat it?

And what’s the best piece of advice you would give someone breaking through this holy grail milestone for the average joe?

There’s a few of us that are knocking on the door as we’ve all had low 80’s this summer. Like most milestones in golf I imagine once it’s done the pressure is off and can be repeated a lot more often but atm we all seem to bottle any good card we have going for us. There’s a decent little payout for the first of us to do it and all of us wants to be that ‘guy’.

 

[Backache]

And what’s the best piece of advice you would give someone breaking through this holy grail milestone for the average joe?

.

Play an easy course.
Actually the first time I did it was on a moderately difficult course.
I'm a high handicapper and only do it on an occasional basis so can't really give advice but I rarely check my score as I'm going along.

 

[sunshine]

Once you’ve broken 80 my advice is to keep going and try and break 80 on the back nine too.

 

[SteveW86]

I can and probably have birdied every hole on our course, but for me to break 80 it is all about keeping doubles off the card.

 

[Crow]

You've got to be reasonably decent, make a lot of pars and not make any big mistakes.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

12 years [I was 12 years old]
To repeat ....probably a couple of weeks
Advice........practice hitting wedges and playing out of bunkers and putting 100 times more than you practice hitting your driver.

 

[Swingalot]

If you're close to doing it, the moment you start going out to play and not thinking/aiming/worrying about beating 80, it will follow pretty damn quickly.

 

[Bamberdele2.0]

Play an easy course.
Actually the first time I did it was on a moderately difficult course.
I'm a high handicapper and only do it on an occasional basis so can't really give advice but I rarely check my score as I'm going along.

checking scores as we go round is something we all do (but probably shouldn’t) as we all like to play for small change on the front/back/overall so everyone likes to see who’s in the money

Pretty sure I play best when nothing is at stake and someone else is taking notes of my score

 

[hovis]

Easiest way to consistently break 80 is to focus all of your practice on your driver and putter.
Also, don't think for one second that once you break 80 you'll be flooded with satisfaction. I find golf more frustrating now than I did when shooting in the 100's

 

[Bamberdele2.0]

Easiest way to consistently break 80 is to focus all of your practice on your driver and putter.
Also, don't think for one second that once you break 80 you'll be flooded with satisfaction. I find golf more frustrating now than I did when shooting in the 100's

I can kind of relate to what you’re saying.

The thing is I am a strong believer of the psychological aspect of hitting such milestones in golf as the pressure is off once I have achieved it.

 

[Val]

Beoke it a handful of times and years between them all. Did it this year for the first timenin 5 or 6 years but peg it up every week with the sole aim to do it.

 

[RRidges]

Easiest way to consistently break 80 is to focus all of your practice on your driver and putter.
Also, don't think for one second that once you break 80 you'll be flooded with satisfaction. I find golf more frustrating now than I did when shooting in the 100's

Done it a small number of times with no particular pattern of reason why - though chipping/pitching close enough to single or even zero putt seemed to be the most common reason.

 

[pendodave]

I can and probably have birdied every hole on our course, but for me to break 80 it is all about keeping doubles off the card.

This.
I've shot 80 and 78 in my last two rounds with this as my key ambition. I've had 1 double in 36 holes. Pars and birdies come along when they fancy it.
Previous to this, I've probably shot sub 80 less than once a year for 10 years. Took about 7 years since starting golf to manage it for the first time.

 

[Depreston]

Doubles or worse off the card

I broke it 8 times last season and was down to 7.1

I had a kid in February which is where it gets interesting

I would say my ball striking is better this year compared to last. but my short game is a bit more hit and miss

The biggest difference is concentration I reckon I’ve made some stupid errors when my game has been on and made a 7 or 8 even 9 that’s cost me a sub 80 round

Also birdie putts … I convert them less than I should I almost go into defensive putting mode

 

[Orikoru]

I finally broke 80 this year in March after shooting dead on 80 about 5 times last year. And since then I've already done it at least another 6 times, so it does get millstone off from around your neck.

Can't give any better advice than what's above really. If you can hit a good consistent drive, cut down on three putts and get up and down a few times, and try and keep as few double bogeys on the card as you can, you'll get it. Avoiding doubles is just about being sensible and not compounding a mistake with a second one.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Course management. Have you ever had a birdie? Of course you have. So you have the ability, just focus on the good and bad places to miss and you'll break 80 on a regular basis.

 

[Voyager EMH]

1975. Less than a year after changing from junior-size clubs to full-size.
Course was par 69. That was social golf. Probably did it again a few weeks later.
Did it in competition in 1976 when I got down from 18 to 10.
Got down from 10 to 5 in 1977 and won a board comp with a gross 69, nett 61.

Advice: Hit it straight, do not strive for more distance and practice 75, 50 and 25 yard shots a lot.
The "state of mind" is important when you get that "my-best-ever-score" opportunity. You have to be calm and relaxed mentally, but very focussed on the task of each shot.
Finding the fairways and greens with good straight shots is boring in a way and you have to embrace that and play boringly good stuff.

 

[Maninblack4612]

Easiest way to consistently break 80 is to focus all of your practice on your driver and putter.

Don't think so. Practice to improve the worst part of your game. For me, it's the short game. Last time I broke 80 I missed 8 greens & dropped 8 shots. It was only because I was having a good day with the driver & didn't 3 putt that I did it. On a normal day I'll miss more greens & fail to get down in two & shoot mid / high 80s.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Posted this before.
I had a friend who was desperate to break 90.
I said I would get him to do it if I clubbed him and did exactly what I said.
He was obsessed with length and would normally lose at least 3 balls a round.
I told him to leave his driver in the boot of his car.
He was very good with shots 150 to 100 yards, and putted well, so I clubbed him accordingly.
A long par 5 would be two 3/5 woods and a 9 iron, a tricky par 4 would be 4 iron and 8 iron etc.
He comfortably broke 90 and with a decent finish would have broken 80.

Following week he was back with the driver and scoring in the 90's

 

[Albo]

I did it maybe 8 or so years after starting, I’d have been 19/20 at the time. I didn’t do it again until mid to late 20s then again not until 40s and now still in my 40s I’ve broken it twice in the last week and a handful of times this year and last.
For me it’s all about my tee ball (I’m aware others this isn’t the case) the rest of my game is generally solid and mostly dependable, though we all have days where any one part of our game can fall apart! If I’m in play and in a decent position off the tee that’s when I tend to score well.
2 days ago I played and hit 16 tee shots that were good enough, not brilliant but in play and not in the long stuff. I hit a 79 (on a par 70 course), the 2 holes where I hit errant tee shots, I made treble on both. Had to finish with 6 pars to break 80. Being in a position after the 12th where in my mind I had little or no opportunity to break 80 made it easier as I wasn’t score focused, hit 4 of the last 6 greens in reg and got up and down on the other 2.
So for me keep it in play off the tee as long as you have a tidy game overall. Though I broke 80 with 2 big scores on the card I would agree that doubles or worse have cost me countless times for breaking 80, so avoid them, if you’re in a tough spot play the shot that gets you back in play 90% of the time, not the one in a million shot where you bend it round trees with a draw when your usual shot shape is a fade, take the bog and move on. If you play that way you’ll break 80 with a lot more regularity