Luke is an avid weekend-warrior golfer from the East Coast who plays golf more than he cares to admit.
The more you play golf, the more serious you may start to take your game. Along with this, you may start wondering more about certain aspects of golf and start wanting answers to various questions you might have.
One such question many golfers have is “what percentage of golfers actually break 80?” Breaking 80 is not an easy feat to achieve in golf. Because this tends to take skill, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that not a huge number of golfers break 80.
Answer:
If you’re in a hurry and want to know the answer now, here it is – only around 8.42% of golfers ever break 80. Told it was low!
In today’s post, we are going to dive a little deeper into why it is so rare for a golfer to break 80, but we will also discuss ways in which you can give yourself the best possible chance of breaking 80.
The Percentage Of Golfers Who Break 80 Is…
If a golfer ever breaks 80, there’s no doubt that they are a very good player. Finding the exact percentage of how many break 80 is pretty difficult, but it’s generally agreed that only around 5-10% of players achieve this.
There are numerous reasons why it is challenging to retrieve this exact number but it is also quite easy to understand that breaking 80 is no easy feat and is therefore rather rare.
The fact that most golfers struggle to even break 100 shows how hard it can be to achieve this feat.
There are also many reasons why breaking 80 is difficult in golf. First and foremost, there are stringent rules to follow in the game. Each player must play with integrity and honesty to become the best they can possibly be.
Unfortunately, however, some golfers may not enforce these rules onto themselves as strictly as others. Therefore, some players who break 80 may not be playing by the rules they should be.
Certain rules will change a golfer’s score by a few shots. On occasions, you may play alongside a golfer who claims to break 80 regularly but when they hit the ball out of bounds, they may not understand how to handle it properly and within the set laws of golf.
For example, some players may take advantage of rolling the ball over when it is in the rough or a mulligan shot (a second shot when you have struck a poor tee shot).
If a golfer does not follow these rules “to the tee” (pun intended), then their scores are not what they should be.
Percentage Of Golfers In The U.S. Who Break 80
Recent data from the United States Golf Association, suggests that there are around 1.8 million male golfers in the U.S. Out of these, around 9.77% are breaking 80. Out of the 378,000 female golfers, only 1.98% are breaking 80.
If we were to follow this data, approximately 8.42% of the world’s golfers would be breaking 80. This equates to less than one person out of ten. With numbers like that, it’s plain to see how rare breaking 80 really is.
What Handicap Does A Golfer Who Breaks 80 Have?
This essentially depends on the golf course, in particular, its slope and rating. But, in general terms, when a golfer hits 80, it typically corresponds to a handicap of between three and eight.
What Is Required In Order To Break 80?
Around the world, the majority of golf courses are par 72. In this instance, a player would need to shoot eight over par or less to break 80. When playing 18 holes, this equates to ten pars and eight bogeys over the entire course.
What separates players who regularly break 80 with those who struggle to achieve such heights is consistency. And, they are not just consistent in one aspect of their game.
They are consistent in their short game, their drives, and are good at staying calm with anything that may happen on the course. So, if a golfer misses their drive, they can make up for it and recover with their short game. That’s the sign of someone who can break 80 often.
If you fail to make a few birdies on the course during a round, it will become much more challenging to break 80.
For new golfers, it can be difficult to learn how to break 80 because of mistakes on some holes. Everything could be going swimmingly until you come to a water hazard and your ball starts swimming instead.
In this case, your score can take a hammering, resulting in a lower chance of breaking 80.
How To Improve Your Chance Of Breaking 80 In Golf
As with any sport, in order to get better, you need to practice. But, of course, there is no secret recipe to breaking 80. You just need to become a better golfer. To do this, you need to prioritize aspects of your game to reach your target. Some of these include:
- Improving your mental focus – the more “in the zone” you are, the better you can control your emotions and have a stronger chance of hitting good shots.
- Working on your short game – this is vital on any course and any tee.
- Investing in and using better equipment – having the best equipment possible can give you confidence.
- Taking golf lessons – coaches can fix bad habits of long time golfers and teach the fundamentals of golf to newbies and help you become a better player.
- Being around good golf players – learn from experienced players to become the best you can be.
- Practice and even more practice – hit the course often and play as much as you can, no matter how talented you are.
In Summary
The percentage of golfers to break 80 is very low at around 8.42% worldwide. That equates to less than one in ten players.
However, practice hard and often, and you will give yourself the best chance of breaking 80 regularly.
