Breaking 80

Maybe worldwide it could be 2% but in Ireland it's significantly more than that. A good way to see is looking at your personal golfireland profile and where it shows your Index. Underneath that are some boxes that show your exact handicap relative to other golfers in "your club, your county and your country" by percentage

Going to safely say that if I am in the top5% for ireland, its probably minimum 10% or more that break 80 in their lives at least once. Probably significantly more than that

Shot a 78 during winter comp few years back, best I've done in summer is 81. Shot an 83 round this year which probably equates to a below 80 round at my old course. Breaking 80 remains a goal, not imminent though and I'm fairly happy with breaking 90 at the moment. I don't need to make any more birdies it's just getting rid of the doubles of worse which kills me.

I broke 80 for the first time this year 2 weeks before qualifying Gross 78 (off 18) PB before that was 86. I really taught I hit a light bulb moment! but sadly I haven't broke 90 all summer! On the plus I had 48 points won the competition and got a general play cut for exceptional score of 2 shots which I was delighted with and have maintained the cut all summer.. Sadly because it wasn't qualifying it didn't go on my golf Ireland app.. But asked the handicap sec for my scorecard after the competition had closed. 😁

That's a percentage of all golfers who are members of clubs though. If you include people who play golf occasionally and don't have a handicap, the percentage that break 80 would drop significantly I expect.

That said, I agree that 2% to ever do it sounds very low. I would have thought it would be close to 10%

If you only include male club golfers then I would say the number is above 40%.

The USGA handicap stats show that 39.67% of men have a handicap index lower than 12.0. Surely most of them will break 80 in their lifetime. That does not include a lot of older golfers who now have a much higher handicap but would have been single figures at their peak.

Only 6.14% of women in USA have a handicap index lower than 12.0. Combine that with casual golfers that will never have a handicap and that 40% number is probably halved.

Broke 80 a few times over the years.

Once this year twice last.

Most of my golf is 80's 90's

11 out of 20 in the 80's at the moment, looking back its a consistent average.

Index range 9.0 to 12.3

In my club about 15% have a HI under 10. Given that HI is an average over 8 best scores, you could assume that all of them would have broken 80 at least once.

I've never broken 80. My 2 best are 81 and 82, both for +9 and a Medal 🏅🏅

I'm on a serious late summer run and have found some form from somewhere. In last 6 games I've broken 80 4 times. 74 (on a par 72 course) and then 75, 77 and 79 (on a par 73 course) delighted. Need to knuckle down now even more to ensure that breaking 80 becomes the norm /not the exception!

Don't think I'll break 80 until I start putting in more effort, which I haven't been doing in recent years for various reasons. Have had quite a few in the 80-83 range, many on tough courses, so it's not too far away with a bit of work hopefully.

Probably should have broken the duck this month in a causal round with someone on here!

Standing level par on the 5th tee I announced that I "should have recorded the round"... Treble bogey.

6 over on the 15th tee and I "might be in with a chance of breaking 80"... Treble bogey.

Maybe keeping my mouth shut will be key to it!

My next golf milestone will be to break 80. I think it would a nice achievement as someone who recently took up the game as an adult, albeit I do have a sports background. I don't think of it as some mythical unicorn but something that can be worked towards. Breaking 75/Par is different gravy though. From what I've read and seen, the basic requirements to break 80 seem to be:

• Aim to eradicate penalties/doubles.
• Reduce 3-putts to an absolute minimum (1-2/round)
• Get up and down for pars regularly.
• Make 8+ GIRs (this is a known stat for 6-9HC range golfers).
• Distance becomes more important now vs breaking 90. Regularly hitting approach shots from shorter distances or hitting short irons over the same distance someone else hits a longer club.

Only been playing since the summer of 2020 so this is my first proper full year. I'm mid-30s and my sports background is that of an average club hurler. My best round is 84 and I play off 12.2 now. I'd have plenty of rounds in the 80s at this stage. I think my normal score now should be somewhere between the mid-80s to low 90s. I've had a couple of decent chances to post an 80/81 this year but it's always come down to a lack of consistency overall, usually 3 putts, poor striking or compounded errors on 1-2 holes. Feeling good about my chances for next year though.

In my case, I have the distance/CHS from my age and sports background. What I really need to work on is my ball striking, short game, putting and crucially the mental game. That's appropriate shot selection, patience and handling frustration/adversity. The technical and practice parts of the game are fine, I get lessons and do the drills over time. It is trickier to develop the mental side of the game IMO and a lot of this is lived experience on the course. I've often played a cold, soft day with the same approach as 25C and wonder why my distances or putting are miles off. In my head, I'm an absolutely class golfer - the same delusion we all share 😂. Going off topic a bit but just writing this post again reminds me how much I've enjoyed picking up the game. There's always something new to learn or work on. Really looking forward to the final major qualifier at the weekend.

There are 2-3 holes that just religiously blight my cards and some of it is the mental side, sometimes it is tiredness or technique. My drives are typically of a draw shape. However, for those particular nemesis holes, I can set up away from the OB/trouble and it's a slice. I can setup at the OB for my draw (+ a little more shape for good measure) and I block it into the next property where people are walking.

I've decided to play with the mindset of overcoming this problem by mostly taking on the drive and accepting I will still make some of those misses over time even as I improve. I took this approach from my mate who's a pro: work on the driver, trust the driver, and leave yourself with more scoring clubs for the approach. Though sometimes if I'm going well or playing stroke/match I'll just hit a 7-wood instead and hit another 7w/hybrid/iron.

I managed to break 80 twice. Both times in 2020, within 6 days of each other. First time was a casual round, was certainly cursing my luck anyway. Chipping in for birdie on 1st hole sent me on my way. Knew was having a decent score but only realised on 17/18 that it'd be possible, just be +1 for those 2 holes.

Thought it'd never happen again, especially as don't play much. At least the next round was in competition so made it nice. Was like 41 points off 12 so couldn't be happier. Playing partner actually said a few weeks later congrats on winning the comp....wasnt in the prizes. Was really just a consistent round, probably only 1 birdie. Keeping ball in play was the biggest contributing factor I'd say.

Biggest downside is my HI is at 9, its a struggle playing to whatever the course handicap is. And that's not a good enough excuse for the missus to allow me out more

100% there are plenty of guys that can break 80 with no club hitting longer than 200yds (unless it's a long difficult course - forced carries etc). The help from having a good distance is the increased stopping power from descent angle/spin. You can also take some bunkers, water etc out of play.

Accuracy is massive for sure but I don't think it's purely a binary measure of accuracy vs distance. I'm taking that for granted when I say improving my ball striking and making those GIRs is down to improved accuracy due to practice/playing time plus lessons. Would I rather have a PW from 120 in rough or 8i from 150 in the middle of the fairway? I fancy the 8i here . What about 150 from rough vs 200 from the fairway? I think that many times I prefer to hit my 7/8/9 in rough rather than 7w. Of course, that's contextual to the hole, lie and shot unique variables of that moment.

It's just such an amazing game with so many variables that there isn't always a universal answer - player's ability, course setup etc. For myself a least I don't need more distance but I'd take it if it magically appeared. I drastically need much better consistency, particularly in iron accuracy and shot selection/course management. I played new forest recently and you can't rip the driver on every par 4 or par 5. A recipe for disaster. Whereas in Mullingar (home club), there are probably only 2x par 4s where I should leave it in the bag. One of those holes is my most birdied (#6) because I've had wedges from 60-90yds after hitting the driver.

Breaking 90 can be done with a half-set bag for bogey golf - just keep poking it along 150 yards. Ultimately my original point about distance becoming more important for breaking 80 is that it's easier to get those GIRs if you're closer to the hole or hitting scoring clubs more often. More GIRs -> more pars and a few birdies. Relying on pure distance without any course management or accuracy is a waste of time.

Fair old difference between 80 on a par 70 and a par 73! 10 over vs 7 over. Should really be a separate Break 77 thread for you @moycullen14 🙂

I broke 80 once in a casual round, 78 on a 133 slope.

Other than that I'm constantly shooting 90 but when I break 90 im in the low 80s. I compound errors and my putting should/could be better. To paint a picture I shot 82 recently which consisted of 3 birds, 6 pars, 5 bogies and 4 double bogies.

Extremely frustrating. I use a hybrid or 5i off the tee all the time because driver is too erratic, even after lessons and practice.

Have broken 80 3 times in the last couple of years since i got back playing but on a par 70. Have a 78, 79 and 77 but the 77 was off the whites rather than the more difficult blues that the other 2 were off. I should have broken it two other times this summer but completely bottled it, was -3 through 5 holes and contrived to shoot 81, -2 through 5 another day and shot 80. The front 9 is tougher than the back on my home course generally and whats notable about all the times i've broken 80 has been the a better than normal front 9 followed by a good back 9. I've shot +1 on the back 9 plenty of times at various points but usually its after ruining the card on the front 9 so its irrelevant.

I notice comments about birdies vs double bogies and my experience is similar but the other way, if i have more pars than bogies i'll break 80 or very close to it. Main difference looking at arccos is a few up and downs and the odd birdie. If the putter is hot for me and i'm in play i'll usually score, if i'm struggling off the tee and putter is cold i won't. Another thing based off my game is I think i'd rather another couple of par 5s on my course to get it to par 72 as i can reach both par 5s fairly comfortably in 2 with a good drive which gives me an advantage against the shorter hitters. Have had some near misses to break 80 on par 72s where i think if i'd known the course i'd have managed it easily enough. I'm a very patchy player though, my lack of consistency drives me crazy but i assume most golfers are the same!

Shot 86 off whites over the weekend in a major rd1. I lost a ball wildly off the tee and missed three putts inside 4ft. I also thinned one over the green from 80 yards and doubled that hole when generally I'm a decent wedge player for my hc. It's very frustrating but at the same time I know I'm not that good of a golfer, nor am I entitled to be able to post that low score I desire. Ultimately those mistakes/inconsistencies are what has plateauing me in the mid-80s at the moment. I'm 100% certain there's an 80-82 in me before the end of the year with a bit of luck. Maintaining that level and trying to shave the further couple of strokes will be the tough part. Another thing I'm trying to do more often is pairing up with single-digit players. Sponging by watching their play and discussing how they approach various spots.

No it's not :(

Our club competition yesterday was a 4ball off the back tees. Due to late withdrawals myself and my playing partner were left in a 2ball so we decided to enter a general play score for our handicaps.

We knew it would be a slow round so there was no point in moving up to the white tees. So we set up ourselves up for a long slog from the back tees with no run on the fairways. My hybrids and fairways woods never got used so much but luckily my long game was behaving itself on the day.

I reached the final tee on +7 knowing that I needed par on the final hole for a 79. A tough prospect on a 473 yard par 4. I hit a driver and 3 wood about as well as I could and left myself a 40 yard chip. Luckily I managed to hit it to 5 feet and hole the putt.

Factoring in how long the course was playing, I would have to rate that as one of my best rounds in a very long time. Just a pity it wasn't a competition round as it would have been a banker for a prize.

11 FIR

7 GIR

28 putts

1 birdie

10 pars

6 bogeys

1 double

Where is the Par 66, is that Corballis? I recall someone mentioning it has a shortened layout or is being reworked.

@paulos53 - savage shooting wp. That's a monster par 4 any time of the year.

sorry dude, saw your post on the dedicated thread there... This wasn't a dig!!

what would you regard as the equivalent of breaking 80 around corballis?

+7 (73) as per par 72 as each hole is its own unique challenge or should it be pro rata like (79/72)*66= 72

I just realised that it is highly likely that I have never broken 80 on an Irish links. I don't play much links golf but this will have to be a new target for me.