How to break 100 in golf

Do the arithmetic first

Bogey on every hole of a par-72 course is 90. That leaves nine shots to spare before you reach 100: a double bogey on half the holes is still a score in the nineties. Seen that way, the target is not good golf. It is avoiding the triple bogeys and worse that eat the spare shots two and three at a time.

Find where the big numbers come from

Look at your last few cards and circle every hole of triple bogey or worse. Then write down what happened on each one. For most golfers shooting over 100, the same few causes come up again and again:

• Penalty strokes: balls lost, out of bounds or in the water, each one costing a shot and the distance.
• Three-putts and worse from long range.
• Chips that stay in the rough or race across the green, turning one short shot into three.
• A recovery shot gone wrong: trying the gap through the trees instead of chipping back out.

A plan for the next round

1. Tee off with the club you hit straightest, not the longest. A hybrid in play beats a driver in the trees.
2. Aim at the middle of every green. Ignore the flag unless it is in the middle too.
3. From trouble, take the simple way out: back to the fairway, even sideways. One shot lost beats three.
4. On long putts, aim to finish within a stride of the hole. Two putts from anywhere is the goal.
5. Play the long holes as three-shotters. A par 5 in three comfortable shots and three putts is still a bogey.

What to practise

Split practice by where the big numbers came from rather than by what feels worst. For most golfers aiming at 100 that means far more time on putting from 20 to 40 feet and chipping from just off the green than on the driver. The range session that saves the most shots is often the one spent finding a tee club you can keep in play.

Caddora reads your scorecards and ranks where you lose shots against golfers of your handicap, so you can see which of these is your biggest cost rather than guessing. Scan a paper card and the counting is done for you.