Golfers who have done it: How did you finally break 80?

For me it was finally driving the ball somewhat straight. I am not talking about hitting a load of fairways, but straight enough that I had a shot at the green with no penalty even if from the rough. That eliminated a load of double bogeys. If I don't double, I will break 80. My lowest score for 9 holes came one day when I made the turn and threw my driver in the bed of my truck.

don't count your strokes mentally or add them up on the scorecard until the round is over. You'll know you're playing well anyway and it only puts more pressure on you.

For me, it's all about chipping. The times I've broken 80 (probably 5 or so but I'm like you and hover around it all the time), I don't remember chilli dipping a chip the whole day. If you're around the 80 line fact is you're going to miss some greens. Hit good chips and the worst you'll make is bogey. The worst is when you fat a chip shot leaving yourself either another chip or a long 3 putt opportunity.

Haven't read the responses yet but the answer is 2 words...

Short
Game

I went to the range and stayed on the practice green.
Several times a week for several months.

On the day my driver and irons were working, my short game was there to shoot low.

1) putting
2) short game
3) keeping ball in bounds/out of hazards
4) greens in regulation

For most people a great short game day will get you to break 80 the first time. Once your short game is above average, greens in regulation will get most people to consistently break 80, but short game and putting must come first.

Short game and putting are your two best friends. Those will lower scores quickly...even if you’re hitting it all over the place you can get up and down and save a ton of pars.

That and like chappy said, play to your strengths, know when to take your medicine and play for par.

It’s not about how good your good shots are. It’s about how bad your bad shots are. Manage your misses

And make some putts

for me it was all mental, I'd do stupid shite when I had a chance to go low bc I was nervous. The first time I broke 80 I ended up shooting 76, I made an unexpected eagle late on the back nine and it kind of freed me up to know that I had room to play with and bogies wouldn't kill me. Since then it's not the same type of mental hurdle

quote:

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ive hit 80 on the number probably 10 times and have yet to break it.

has to be mostly short game and mental toughness.

when I have a good round going it's hard to calm the nerves in the end because you are thinking about the great round you have going.

what did you do to finally break 80?

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From what I remember, it started happening a lot when I became confident about two things:
- barring a quite tough lie or shot, I could get up and down from just about anywhere
- I could keep it in play with a driver off the tee almost every single time

Everything else fell into place pretty quickly after that. I was playing and practicing a lot (and hitting a growth spurt), but those two things were critical.

It gets much tougher as you get closer to scratch as the marginal benefits of your practice time diminish, but getting to scratch for me took a lot of effort in three areas:
- controlling wedge distances and wedge game from 50 to 140 in general
- becoming even more consistent with your driver and fairway woods
- learning to shape shots

Key to breaking 80 is avoiding the big number. Key to getting to scratch is getting the precision to make enough birdies to offset the bad swings.