Simple course-management tips for breaking 100, 90, 80 and par

Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series where the game’s brightest minds share their tips to help you, well, shave strokes! Today, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Joey Wuertemberger gives a few simple tips for breaking through every scoring barrier.

Everyone has a scoring barrier they want to break through. First, you focus on breaking 100, then you set your sights on breaking 90 and then 80. The final scoring barrier to break is par — a feat only a small percentage of golfers will ever achieve.

Breaking through each of these scoring barriers represents a milestone in any golfer’s journey — and no matter what barrier it is, the elation remains the same.

What does not remain the same is the skills needed to break through these barriers. Sure, you’ll always build off what you learned in your previous conquests, but the skills you need to emphasize for breaking every successive barrier is a little different.

Below, Top 100 Teacher Joey Wuertemberger shares some simple course-management tips and strategies you can employ in your next mission to break through a scoring barrier.

Every golfer has a personal barrier they strive to break (100, 90, 80, par). Achieving these goals can come from improving your swing, but course management strategies are also vitally important. Here are my recommended strategies to help you break your next barrier.

Breaking 100: Keep it simple

Tee it forward — Play a realistic set of tees that are appropriate for your game. Aim for tees that will allow you to have approach shots inside 150 yards. This will reduce stress and increases your chances of hitting some greens in regulation.

Play for bogey — Remember, if you bogey every hole, you’ll easily break 100.  Study the hole before teeing off and play away from trouble. Your goal is to keep the ball in play — even if your club selection jeopardizes distance — and eliminate penalty strokes from your card. When you get in trouble, don’t be a hero! Take your medicine and get your ball back to the fairway immediately and keep your round on track.

Up-and-down in 3 — A simple chip shot can go a long way in increasing our chances to break 100. We’re going miss greens, and we need a trusty chip to give us a chance to putt no more than twice and finish the hole. Try using a pitching wedge or sand wedge with the ball positioned slightly back in your stance and weight favoring your forward leg focusing on a descending strike. When you’re on the green, prioritize speed over line, which will increase your chances of two-putting.

Breaking 90: Avoid double bogey at all costs

Eliminate penalty strokes — Avoid costly water hazards and out of bounds.  Play conservative shots away from trouble and around the greens so you don’t make a round-ruining mistake. Pick smart targets on each shot by aiming at the center of the green regardless of pin locations. A middle-of-the-green mindset will lead to easier up-and-downs and more two-putt pars.

Approach Shots

Understand your distances — At this skill level, you need to know how far you carry each club. My advice is to use the back-of-the-green distance when selecting your club as typically you don’t carry the ball as far as you think you do.

No 6’s on par-5’s — Plan to play all par 5’s as three-shot holes. Get the ball in play at all costs off the tee and focus on laying the ball up to a yardage of your liking. This will help you increase your greens in regulations and will also increase your chances of a birdie opportunity.

Breaking 80: Clean up silly mistakes

Hit more greens — Be disciplined on hitting the middle of the green and start to practice flighting your shots while controlling spin and distance. Accept your natural ball flight to shape your shots, if this means you hit a fade, don’t play for a draw and vice versa.

Dial in your wedges — Inside 100 yards, you should start to develop a system to control your distance and spin. Tour pro’s miss greens with wedges, so don’t dwell on a wedge shot that doesn’t land as you planned. Scrambling well is an extremely important trait at all levels, so spend plenty of time practicing your short game to avoid the “soft bogeys.”

Limit mental mistakes — Learn how to control your attitude and harness your frustrations while on the course. One bad decision can lead into big numbers — so stay disciplined and stick to your strategy.

Breaking par: Take advantage of scoring opportunities

Have course-specific strategy — Have a plan on how you want to attack the course. Know when to be aggressive and when to be conservative. Elite players capitalize on par-5’s. To break par, you’ll likely need to birdie at least one par-5 during the round.

Make six 3’s — Hit the middle of the green on the par-3s and make four pars, be patient and capitalize on the shorter, getable par-4s. If you can make six 3’s during the round, you’re well on your way to breaking par.

Get up-and-down more inside 100 yards — Focus on converting your birdie chances with your wedges and be more aggressive with putts inside of 10 feet. Limiting three-putts and converting putts inside of 5 feet are paramount in this mission.