How to Break 80 in Golf

Are you trying to find out how to break 80 for the first time, or how to break 80 more consistently, then this page has all the content you need.

‘Shot Scope have identified the statistic benchmarks required to break 80 in golf and Mark Crossfield discusses these benchmarks whilst demonstrating how to achieve this on the golf course.

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“For the majority of amateur golfers, breaking 80 is not that far away.”

How to Break 80 in 5 steps:

1. Hit 2 more Greens in Regulation per round
2. Perform better on Par 5s
3. Get 4/10 short game shots inside 6ft
4. Have zero 3 putts per round
5. Manage your expectations

Understand how far you hit your clubs

Understanding how lie, stance and weather conditions can affect how far you hit the ball with each club. Some shots are going to roll more, stop quicker, fly further or not fly as far, learning all of this about your own game will help you become a better golfer.

Once you understand this, you can begin to think about increasing your Greens in Regulation. In order to break 80 more consistently, you need to get this up over 40% - think of it as hitting one or 2 more greens per round.

Play the Par 5s better

Golfers who score in the 80s average 5.53 on Par 5s. If you want to start breaking 80, Par 5s provide the biggest opportunity to improve. You can see that Par 5 performance is linked to handicap, the better you play these longer holes the better your golf will become.

There are a couple of ways to approach this depending on your skill level. Mark discusses these in the video and identifies a Par 5 checklist.

Hit more chips shots close

A key aspect to breaking 80 is the ability to scramble when you hit a poor approach shot, do this well and it can save you many dropped shots in a round.

If you can get more shots inside 6ft you are more likely to get up & down, bringing that goal of breaking 80 one shot closer.

Manage your expectations

Having key performance statistics that you can base your expectations on allows you to be more realistic when on the golf course. Far too often, amateur golfers expect to ‘stiff’ every short game shot, and are disappointed when they don’t pull off the miracle shot.

Having these real expectations, based on facts, might allow you to do something really important in golf - manage your emotions and subsequently hit a better shot.

Say good-bye to 3 putts!

Eliminating 3 putts is one of the easiest ways to break 80 in golf. What contributes to a 3 putt is often avoidable with a little bit of practice, yet every golfer kicks themselves for 3 putting. If you can play 18 holes without a 3 putt, you are giving yourself a good chance at breaking 80.

Mark Crossfield highlights some extremely useful tips that you can easily apply to your own game or practice when putting.