How to Break 100 In Golf

What Does It Mean to Break 100 in Golf?

Breaking 100 simply means finishing an 18-hole round with a score of 99 or lower. While that may sound like a difficult milestone, it’s often much more achievable than new golfers realize.

Many beginners believe they need to make lots of pars or even a few birdies to shoot in the 90s. In reality, that’s almost never the case.

On a standard par-72 golf course, a score of 99 is 27 strokes over par. That gives you plenty of room for mistakes throughout the round.

For example, imagine your scorecard looked like this:

Your final score would be 99.

That means you could make zero pars, zero birdies, and still accomplish your goal.

This is one of the biggest mindset shifts that helps golfers finally break 100.

Instead of trying to play spectacular golf, your objective becomes playing consistent golf.

A golfer who keeps the ball in play, avoids penalty strokes, chips onto the green, and two-putts most holes will usually score much better than someone capable of amazing shots but constantly recovering from big mistakes.

Where Do Your Extra 15 Strokes Come From?

You don’t need to become 15 strokes better you need to stop giving away 15 strokes.

Breaking 100 isn’t about being perfect.

It’s about making fewer costly mistakes than you did the last time you played.

Why Breaking 100 Is Such an Important Milestone

Every golfer has milestones they remember.

• The first solid drive.
• The first par.
• The first birdie.

For many players, though, breaking 100 is the moment they truly start feeling like a golfer.

It’s often the point where rounds become more enjoyable because you’re spending less time searching for golf balls, replaying shots after penalties, and wondering what went wrong.

You’ll likely notice other improvements too:

• More confidence standing over the ball.
• Fewer frustrating holes that completely derail your round.
• Better understanding of when to play aggressively and when to play safely.
• More enjoyment playing with friends because you’re contributing instead of constantly catching up.

Breaking 100 doesn’t mean you’ve mastered golf.

It simply means you’ve developed enough consistency to avoid the biggest scoring mistakes, and that’s the foundation for eventually breaking 90.

If you are looking for consistency in parts of your golf game:

How to be More Consistent in Golf

How to be More Consistent in Golf

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Why Most Golfers Never Break 100

If you’ve been stuck shooting somewhere between 105 and 120, it probably isn’t because your golf swing is terrible.

In fact, many golfers who shoot over 100 hit several excellent shots every round.

The problem is what happens between those great shots.

Imagine two golfers:

• Golfer A can hit a beautiful drive 280 yards but slices three balls out of bounds, takes four penalty strokes, and three-putts five times.
• Golfer B only drives the ball 210 yards but keeps nearly every tee shot in play, chips onto the green consistently, and usually two-putts.

Most of the time, Golfer B wins comfortably.

That’s because high scores rarely come from a lack of talent.

They come from accumulating small mistakes over and over again.

Here are some of the biggest score killers for beginners:

Penalty Strokes

A single ball hit out of bounds or into a water hazard doesn’t just cost one stroke.

It often costs distance, confidence, and forces you to recover from a difficult position.

Two or three penalty strokes in one round can easily be the difference between shooting 98 and 104.

Three-Putts

Many beginners spend hours trying to hit longer drives while barely practicing putting.

Yet three-putting only four greens adds four unnecessary strokes to your score.

Those strokes are often much easier to save than trying to gain another 20 yards with your driver.

Trying Hero Shots

You’re behind a tree. There’s a tiny gap.

You think,

“I can squeeze it through there.”

Sometimes you can.

Most of the time, you hit the tree, the ball goes nowhere, and you’ve wasted another stroke.

Professional golfers occasionally take risks because they have the skill to pull them off.

Most beginners lower their scores much faster by taking the simple shot back into the fairway.

Poor Course Management

Many golfers automatically grab their driver on every par 4 and par 5.

Sometimes that’s the right decision.

Sometimes it’s the club most likely to put you into trouble.

Playing smart means choosing the club that gives you the highest chance of hitting your next shot from a good position—not necessarily the one that travels the farthest.

Short Game Mistakes

• A chunked chip.
• A bladed chip across the green.
• A bunker shot that never leaves the sand.

These mistakes add strokes quickly because they happen close to the hole, where every shot matters.

Improving your short game is often one of the fastest ways to shave strokes off your score.

The Biggest Myth About Breaking 100

Perhaps the biggest misconception in golf is that you need a beautiful golf swing before you can shoot in the 90s.

You don’t.

If you watch enough golfers who regularly break 100, you’ll notice many have swings that wouldn’t appear in an instructional video.

Some swing a little over the top.

Some have unusual backswings.

Some don’t generate much distance.

Yet they consistently score better than players with technically prettier swings.

Why?

Because scoring isn’t a swing contest.

It’s a decision-making contest.

The golfer who keeps the ball in play, avoids unnecessary risks, and limits mistakes will almost always beat the golfer chasing perfect shots.

And that’s exactly what the rest of this guide will teach you.

Before You Even Tee Off: Set Yourself Up to Break 100

If you’ve ever walked off the 18th green after shooting a 108 or 112, chances are you didn’t lose those extra strokes because you couldn’t hit a great golf shot.

You lost them because a handful of small mistakes snowballed into big numbers.

• One penalty stroke became two.
• One poor chip turned into another.
• One three-putt became four.

By the end of the round, those little mistakes had quietly added ten or fifteen strokes to your score.

The good news is that you don’t need to become a completely different golfer to break 100.

You simply need to make better decisions before the round even begins.

Think of your score as something you’re protecting rather than chasing. Every smart decision you make before stepping onto the first tee gives you a better chance of finishing in the 90s.

Let’s start with the three most important ones.

Set Realistic Expectations

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make has nothing to do with their golf swing.

It’s expecting perfection.

Maybe you’ve been practicing all week. Your last range session felt amazing. You finally figured something out with your driver.

Then the first tee shot slices into the rough. Instantly, frustration sets in.

You start changing your swing, swinging harder, or trying to “fix” everything during the round.

Sound familiar?

The reality is that every golfer, including professionals, hit bad shots.

The difference is that experienced golfers accept them and move on.

A single bad swing doesn’t ruin a round.

Trying to make up for it with another risky shot often does.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Your goal today isn’t to hit 18 perfect golf shots.

Your goal is to make one smart decision after another.

If you can do that consistently, your score will take care of itself.

Play the Right Tees

This might be the easiest way to lower your score immediately.

Many golfers choose tees based on pride instead of ability.

There’s no trophy for making the game harder than it needs to be.

If you’re consistently hitting long irons or fairway woods into every green because the course is too long, you’re setting yourself up for unnecessary mistakes.

Playing from the correct tees means you’ll have shorter approach shots, more opportunities to reach greens, and fewer situations where you’re forced to hit difficult recovery shots.

Remember, golf is supposed to be challenging but it should also be enjoyable.

Playing from shorter tees isn’t cheating.

It’s playing the game the way it was designed to be played.

In fact, organizations like the USGA encourage golfers to choose tees that match their driving distance, not their ego.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

If you’re just starting out or regularly shoot above 100, don’t be afraid to move up a set of tees.

You’ll spend more time hitting approach shots and making putts instead of searching for golf balls in the trees.

That’s how you improve.

Have One Swing Thought NOT Ten

Before every round, many beginners fill their heads with swing tips they saw on YouTube, heard from friends, or read online.

• Keep your left arm straight.
• Rotate your hips.
• Stay down.
• Don’t sway.
• Transfer your weight.
• Release the club.
• Finish high.

By the time they stand over the ball, they’re trying to remember so many mechanics that they forget the most important part:

Actually swinging the golf club.

Instead, pick one simple swing thought for the entire round.

Maybe it’s:

• Smooth tempo.
• Finish your swing.
• Stay balanced.
• Keep your eyes on the ball.

Whatever it is, make it simple.

Your golf swing isn’t going to transform in four hours.

The golf course is where you learn to score, not where you rebuild your swing.

Save major swing changes for the driving range.

When you’re on the course, trust what you’ve practiced and commit to every shot.

Make Breaking 100 Your Goal Not Playing Perfect Golf

Here’s something that surprises a lot of golfers.

You don’t need a round full of pars to shoot in the 90s.

You don’t even need to avoid every mistake.

What you do need is a plan for limiting the damage when mistakes happen.

Let’s say you top your drive 60 yards…

That doesn’t mean the hole is over. Instead of trying to hit the next shot as hard as possible to “make up for it,” simply hit a solid shot back into position.

Then hit the green. Two-putt.

Take your bogey or double bogey and move on.

Golf rewards patience far more often than it rewards desperation.

A golfer who accepts an occasional double bogey will almost always beat the golfer who turns every bad shot into a triple or quadruple by trying to force a miracle recovery.

As you head to the first tee, remind yourself of one thing:

Your score isn’t determined by your best shots. It’s determined by how well you handle your worst ones.

Before You Hit Your First Shot: A Quick Checklist

Before every round, take thirty seconds and run through this mental checklist:

• Am I playing the right tees for my skill level?
• What’s my one swing thought today?
• Am I committed to avoiding hero shots?
• Am I okay with making bogeys?
• Is my goal to play smart golf not perfect golf?

If you can answer “yes” to those five questions, you’ve already given yourself a better chance of breaking 100 than many golfers who step onto the first tee.

Off the Tee: Your Goal Is Position, Not Distance

There’s something almost every beginner does on the first tee. They pull out the driver.

It doesn’t matter if the fairway is only 25 yards wide, there’s water down the left side, out of bounds on the right, or a strong wind blowing straight into their face. The driver comes out because it’s the longest club in the bag, and most golfers believe the longer the drive, the lower the score.

Unfortunately, golf doesn’t work that way.

One of the biggest reasons golfers struggle to break 100 is because they confuse distance with scoring. While hitting the ball farther can certainly help, distance only matters if your next shot is playable.

A 280-yard drive that ends up deep in the trees isn’t nearly as valuable as a 210-yard tee shot sitting comfortably in the middle of the fairway. From the fairway, you have a clear look at the green, a clean lie, and the confidence to make a solid swing. From the trees, you’re often forced to chip sideways, punch out under branches, or take a penalty stroke.

The scorecard doesn’t care how far your best drive traveled.

It only cares how many strokes it took to get the ball into the hole.

Stop Trying to Win the Driving Distance Contest

If you’ve ever played golf with friends, you’ve probably experienced it. Someone absolutely crushes a drive. Everyone lets out a “Wow!”

Then, five minutes later, that same golfer is searching for their ball in the woods while someone who hit their hybrid 70 yards shorter is calmly walking down the fairway.

We’ve all fallen into this trap at some point.

Golf makes us believe that longer is always better, but for beginners, that’s rarely true.

When your goal is breaking 100, consistency is worth far more than an extra 30 or 40 yards.

Imagine these two golfers playing the exact same par 4:

Golfer A

• Driver: 270 yards into the trees
• Punches back into the fairway
• Hits the green
• Two putts

Score: Bogey (5)

Not terrible, but notice that the recovery shot was completely avoidable.

Now imagine the punch-out clips a tree or the ball is lost. That bogey quickly turns into a double or triple.

Golfer B

• Hybrid: 205 yards in the fairway
• 7-iron onto the front of the green
• Two putts

Score: Bogey (5)

Same score. Less stress. Far less risk.

Now imagine this happens over 18 holes.

The golfer who consistently keeps the ball in play will almost always have more opportunities to save strokes than the golfer constantly recovering from trouble.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Distance only helps if it leaves you in a position to hit your next shot.

Before every tee shot, ask yourself:

“What’s the longest club I can hit and still expect to keep the ball in play?”

That answer, not always your driver, is usually the right club.

Your Driver Doesn’t Need to Stay in the Bag… But It Doesn’t Need to Leave It Every Hole Either

This might be the hardest advice for some golfers to accept.

Just because you own a driver doesn’t mean you have to hit it on every par 4 and par 5.

Professional golfers choose clubs based on the hole in front of them. They aren’t trying to prove they can hit driver every chance they get they’re trying to leave themselves the best next shot.

Beginners should think the same way.

Before pulling a club, take a few seconds to look at the hole.

Ask yourself:

• Is there water within my normal driving distance?
• Where is the widest part of the fairway?
• What happens if I miss left?
• What happens if I miss right?
• Is the driver actually giving me an advantage here?

Sometimes the answer is yes.

A wide-open fairway with little trouble is a perfect opportunity to swing the driver confidently.

Other times, taking a hybrid or fairway wood might increase your chances of finding the fairway by 20 or 30 percent. Over the course of a round, that difference can save several strokes.

Remember, the goal isn’t to hit the longest club.

The goal is to hit the club that gives you the best chance of playing your next shot from a good position.

Find Your “Fairway Finder”

Every golfer has one club they trust more than the others.

• Maybe it’s a hybrid.
• Maybe it’s a 5-wood.
• Maybe it’s a 7-iron.

Whatever it is, that club can become one of your biggest weapons when you’re trying to break 100.

Think back to your last few rounds.

Which club gives you confidence when you stand over the ball?

Which club usually goes where you’re aiming, even if it isn’t your longest?

That’s your Fairway Finder.

A Fairway Finder is the club you can rely on when accuracy matters more than distance.

Maybe your driver carries 240 yards but only stays in play half the time.

Meanwhile, your hybrid carries 195 yards and finds the fairway seven or eight times out of ten.

Which one is really helping your score?

If using the hybrid leaves you with a slightly longer approach shot but avoids penalty strokes and recovery shots, you’ve probably made the smarter decision.

Golf rewards consistency far more often than aggression.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Find the club you trust not the club you’re hoping works today.

Confidence on the tee box is worth more than an extra 20 yards.

Commit to the Shot

One of the easiest ways to hit a poor tee shot is to stand over the ball wondering if you’ve chosen the right club.

Indecision creates tension. Tension creates poor swings.

Once you’ve selected your club and your target, commit to it.

Don’t second-guess yourself because someone in your group hit driver.

Don’t change your mind halfway through your swing because the fairway suddenly looks narrow.

Trust your decision.

A committed swing with a 5-wood will almost always produce a better result than a hesitant swing with a driver.

One of the best habits you can build is having the same simple routine before every tee shot.

For example:

1. Stand behind the ball and pick a small target in the distance.
2. Take one relaxed practice swing that matches the shot you want to hit.
3. Step into your stance.
4. Take one final look at your target.
5. Swing with confidence.

The exact routine doesn’t matter. What matters is that you repeat it every time.

Consistency before the swing often leads to consistency during the swing.

What If You Hit a Bad Drive?

Let’s be honest. It’s going to happen.

Even after reading this article, you’re still going to hit slices, hooks, topped drives, and the occasional shot that leaves you wondering how the ball ended up there.

That’s golf. The mistake isn’t the bad drive.

The mistake is believing you have to make up for it immediately.

Picture this.

• Your tee shot leaks into the trees on the right.
• You have a tiny window between two trunks.
• The green is 180 yards away.

You think:

“If I can just thread this gap…”

Stop.

Ask yourself one question instead.

What’s the smartest way to keep this hole alive?

Sometimes the answer is punching the ball back into the fairway.

It isn’t exciting.

Nobody is going to clap for it.

But punching out and making a bogey is much better than hitting a tree, staying in trouble, and walking away with a triple bogey.

One smart recovery shot can save more strokes than one spectacular recovery ever will.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

You don’t need to recover all your lost distance with one swing.

Recover your position first. Your score will thank you later.

Your Goal Off the Tee

Before every tee shot during your next round, remember this simple sentence:

Your tee shot has one job: make your next shot easier.

• Not longer.
• Not more impressive.
• Not Instagram-worthy.

Easier.

If your ball is sitting safely in the fairway with a clear view of the green, you’ve already given yourself a chance to score.

If it’s buried in the trees, behind a bush, or floating in a pond, the extra distance didn’t help you.

Every hole begins with a decision.

The golfers who consistently break 100 aren’t always the biggest hitters.

They’re the golfers who repeatedly make the decision that keeps the next shot simple.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Before your next round, identify one club you trust most off the tee. Use it on every hole where the driver brings unnecessary risk. You might hit the ball a little shorter, but you’ll likely spend more time walking down the fairway and less time searching for golf balls in the rough or trees.

Approach Shots: Stop Attacking Every Flag

If there’s one part of golf where beginners quietly throw away strokes, it’s the approach shot.

You’ve made a decent drive. You’re somewhere in the fairway or light rough.

The flag is tucked just a few steps behind a bunker.

Instead of aiming for the middle of the green, you decide to attack the pin.

“If I hit the perfect shot…”

That’s the key phrase.

If.

Golf is full of “if” shots.

• If I can carry the bunker.
• If I don’t slice it.
• If I flush this iron.
• If I can stop it quickly.

Sometimes those shots work.

More often, they don’t.

The bunker catches the ball.

You come up short. Or you fly the green completely.

Now you’ve turned what should have been a simple approach into a difficult recovery.

The golfers who consistently break 100 understand something many beginners don’t.

The flag isn’t your target. The green is.

Aim for the Biggest Part of the Green

Professional golfers often attack tucked pins because they have the distance control and consistency to do it.

Most beginners don’t and that’s perfectly okay.

Your goal isn’t to hit every shot close.

Your goal is to give yourself the easiest possible next shot.

Imagine the green is divided into three sections.

• Front
• Middle
• Back

The flag is cut just three paces from the front-left bunker.

Where should you aim?

Most beginners instinctively aim right at the flag.

Instead, aim for the middle of the green.

Even if your shot misses a little left or right, you’ll usually still have a putt.

Missing in the center is far better than missing in the bunker.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Golf rewards large targets, not perfect shots. When you aim for the center of the green, you give yourself room for the small misses that every golfer makes.

Know When the Green Isn’t the Right Target

This might sound strange in a golf article about scoring better but sometimes…

Don’t go for the green.

Yes, really. Let’s say you’re 210 yards away with water in front.

You don’t consistently hit your 4-hybrid that far.

Trying to force that shot introduces several ways to make a big mistake.

Instead, lay the ball up.

Hit an easy 8-iron 130 yards into the fairway. Now you have an 80-yard wedge into the green.

Which situation gives you a better chance of making bogey?

For most golfers trying to break 100, it’s the second one.

Laying up isn’t giving up. It’s choosing a shot you can execute with confidence.

One smart decision can save multiple strokes.

Every Shot Has a “Miss”

Here’s a concept that better golfers understand instinctively. Every golf shot has a likely miss.

Maybe you tend to:

• Push your irons to the right.
• Pull them left.
• Hit them a little thin.
• Come up short.

Knowing your common miss is one of the simplest ways to make smarter decisions.

For example, if you usually miss your 7-iron to the right, don’t aim at a flag protected by a right-side bunker.

Aim farther left and let your normal shot work for you.

You’re not trying to eliminate every miss.

You’re trying to make sure your most common miss ends up somewhere safe.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Many beginners aim where they hope the ball will finish, not where it usually finishes.

Golf gets much easier when you plan for your tendencies instead of pretending they don’t exist.

Stop Trying to Make Up for Bad Shots

Let’s say you topped your drive.

Now you’re farther back than you wanted.

A lot of golfers immediately think:

“I need to crush this next one.”

That’s usually when another mistake happens.

• They swing harder than normal.
• Lose balance.
• Miss the center of the clubface.

Now they’re in even worse shape.

Instead, ask yourself a different question.

“What’s the highest percentage shot I can hit from here?”

• Maybe that’s a smooth 6-iron.
• Maybe it’s a hybrid.
• Maybe it’s simply advancing the ball back into position.

Golf isn’t about erasing mistakes with one swing. It’s about refusing to let one mistake create another.

Hero Shots Rarely Save Rounds

Every golfer remembers the miraculous shot through the trees that somehow reached the green.

What we forget are the dozens of times that same shot hit a branch and dropped straight down.

Those memories trick us into believing we’re capable of shots that our current skill level simply doesn’t support.

Before attempting a difficult recovery shot, ask yourself:

If I played this same situation ten times, how often would I pull this off?

If the honest answer is once or twice…

Don’t do it. We’re here to break 100 not get a clip.

• Punch the ball back into the fairway.
• Hit the green with your next shot.
• Take your bogey.
• Move on.

The smartest golfers understand that boring golf often produces exciting scorecards.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

One successful hero shot is memorable. Ten failed hero shots are expensive.

Think One Shot Ahead

One habit separates improving golfers from frustrated golfers.

They don’t just think about the shot they’re hitting. They think about the one after it.

Instead of asking: “Can I reach the green?”

Ask: “Where do I want to hit my next shot from?”

Sometimes that means laying up.

Sometimes it means aiming away from trouble.

Sometimes it means choosing one more club and making a smooth swing instead of trying to hit a perfect shot.

Golf becomes much simpler when every shot is designed to make the next one easier.

A Realistic Example

You’re playing a 420-yard par 4. After your drive, you have 185 yards left.

The flag is tucked just behind a deep greenside bunker.

Option 1: Attack the Flag

You grab your longest iron. You try to hit it perfectly.

The ball lands in the bunker. It takes two shots to escape.

Two putts later…

You make a double bogey.

Option 2: Play Smart

You know 185 yards is near the limit of that club. Instead of forcing it, you aim toward the center-right of the green, away from the bunker.

The ball finishes on the front edge.

You have a long birdie putt.

You two-putt for bogey.

You never hit an amazing shot.

You simply avoided the one shot that could hurt you.

That’s how golfers break 100.

Not by chasing birdies. By collecting stress-free bogeys.

Your Goal on Every Approach Shot

Before every iron shot, remember this: Your job isn’t to hit the perfect shot.

Your job is to leave yourself the easiest possible next shot.

• Sometimes that means putting from 35 feet.
• Sometimes it means chipping from just off the green.
• Sometimes it means laying up short of trouble.

All of those outcomes are better than standing in a bunker, dropping another ball after finding water, or trying to recover from behind a tree.

Breaking 100 is about giving yourself opportunities.

The more simple opportunities you create, the fewer disasters you’ll have to recover from.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

On your next round, ignore the flag unless it’s sitting in the middle of the green. Instead, aim for the largest, safest part of every green.

You might not finish as close to the hole, but you’ll hit more greens, avoid more hazards, and give yourself far more chances to two-putt for bogey.

Around the Green: The Fastest Way to Save Strokes

Ask a group of beginners what they should practice to lower their scores, and you’ll probably hear the same answers.

• “My driver.”
• “My irons.”
• “I just need to hit the ball farther.”

While those skills certainly matter, they’re usually not the reason golfers struggle to break 100.

Think back to your last round. How many shots did you lose because you couldn’t hit a 280-yard drive?

Now ask yourself a different question.

How many shots did you lose because you chunked a chip, bladed one across the green, left a bunker shot in the sand, or needed three more strokes after reaching the edge of the green?

For most golfers, the second number is much higher.

That’s why improving your short game is one of the fastest ways to lower your score.

You don’t need to become a short-game magician.

You just need to stop turning simple situations into complicated ones.

Stop Trying to Hit the Perfect Chip

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is believing every chip shot needs to finish right next to the hole.

It doesn’t.

Your first goal is much simpler.

Get the ball safely onto the putting surface.

That’s it. Once the ball is on the green, you’ve given yourself a chance to two-putt and move on.

When beginners try to hit the “perfect” chip, they often:

• Swing too hard.
• Try to help the ball into the air.
• Decelerate through impact.
• Catch the ground first.
• Blade the ball across the green.

Now one simple chip has become two… or three.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

A chip that finishes 20 feet away is almost always better than a chunk that never reaches the green.

Choose the Simplest Shot Available

Not every shot around the green needs to fly high.

In fact, most shouldn’t.

Watch experienced golfers and you’ll notice something interesting.

Whenever possible, they keep the ball on the ground.

Why?

Because the ball is easier to control when it’s rolling than when it’s flying.

If you have plenty of green between you and the hole, consider a simple bump-and-run.

The idea is straightforward:

• Land the ball on the front part of the green.
• Let it roll like a putt.
• Remove unnecessary risk.

It’s one of the highest-percentage shots in golf and an excellent option for beginners.

The more time the ball spends rolling, the less time it spends in the air where mistakes become larger.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Whenever you can, let the ground do the work. A rolling golf ball is much easier to predict than one flying through the air.

You Don’t Have to Use Your Wedge Every Time

Here’s something that surprises many new golfers.

Sometimes your putter is the best club even when you’re not on the green.

If the grass between your ball and the putting surface is short and smooth, putting from just off the green can eliminate many of the mistakes that happen with wedges.

There’s no rule that says you have to chip.

If putting gives you the best chance of getting the ball close to the hole, use it.

Golf rewards smart decisions, not flashy ones.

The scorecard never asks which club you used. It only records the number.

Don’t Fear the Bunker Shot

For many beginners, the bunker feels like a guaranteed disaster.

The first shot stays in the sand. The second one flies over the green.

Before long, a bogey has turned into a triple bogey.

The truth is, most bunker mistakes happen because golfers panic.

They swing too hard. Or they barely swing at all.

If you’re in a greenside bunker, remember your priority.

Get the ball out.

Don’t worry about spinning it back toward the hole.

Don’t worry about making it look like a PGA Tour highlight.

Simply get the ball onto the green. Once you’re putting, you’ve already avoided the biggest mistake.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Trying to hit the “perfect” bunker shot often leads to leaving the ball in the sand. Your first objective is always escaping the bunker.

Everything else comes second.

One Bad Chip Doesn’t Have to Become Three

Let’s look at a common situation. You miss the green.

You have an easy chip. Unfortunately, you hit it fat and the ball travels only a few feet.

Now frustration creeps in.

Many golfers immediately become aggressive.

They try to make up for the mistake.

The next chip rockets across the green.

Now they’re farther away than when they started.

Instead, pause.

Take a breath.

Treat the next chip as a brand-new shot.

Golf doesn’t care what happened thirty seconds ago.

Neither should you.

One poor chip isn’t expensive. Two or three poor chips on the same hole are.

Think in Circles, Not Cups

This is one of the easiest mindset changes you can make.

Instead of trying to chip every ball into the hole, imagine a circle around the cup.

Maybe it’s six feet wide. Maybe it’s eight feet.

Your goal is simply to finish somewhere inside that circle.

If you consistently leave yourself short putts, you’ll eliminate a huge number of unnecessary strokes over time.

Perfection isn’t required. Consistency is.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

If every chip leaves you with a realistic two-putt instead of another difficult chip, your scores will drop much faster than trying to hole every shot.

A Real Example

You’re just off the green on a par 4. The pin is only a few yards onto the putting surface.

Option 1: High-Risk Shot

You grab your lob wedge. You try to hit a soft flop shot.

You catch it thin and the ball races over the green.

Now you’re faced with another difficult chip…

Option 2: High-Percentage Golf

You grab your pitching wedge, or even your putter if the path is clear.

You play a simple bump-and-run. The ball rolls onto the green and stops 15 feet away.

Two putts later… You walk away with a bogey.

No spectacular shot. No highlight reel.

Just another stress-free hole. That’s exactly the kind of golf that breaks 100.

Your Goal Around the Green

When you’re inside 40 yards, forget about trying to impress anyone.

Instead, focus on one simple objective:

Get the ball onto the green as quickly as possible while leaving yourself an easy putt.

You don’t need incredible touch. You don’t need tour-level spin.

You simply need to avoid turning one short-game shot into three.

Golf is often won, or lost, not by the spectacular shots, but by the routine ones.

The golfers who consistently shoot in the 90s understand that the safest shot is usually the smartest shot.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

On your next round, challenge yourself to use the simplest shot available whenever you’re around the green.

If you can putt, putt. If you can play a bump-and-run, do that.

Only hit a high wedge when the situation truly requires it.

You’ll likely find that your misses become much smaller, your confidence grows, and those frustrating double chips start disappearing.

Putting: Where 100 Becomes 96

You don’t need to become an incredible putter to break 100.

You simply need to stop giving strokes away on the green.

That might sound obvious, but it’s one of the biggest differences between golfers who consistently shoot in the 90s and golfers who stay above 100.

Many beginners think good putting is all about making long putts.

In reality, good putting is usually much less exciting than that.

It’s about leaving yourself easy second putts.

Every time you turn a potential three-putt into a simple two-putt, you’ve effectively saved a stroke without changing your golf swing.

Over the course of a round, those saved strokes add up quickly.

Imagine you three-putt four times during a typical round.

Now imagine you eliminate just three of those.

You’ve already lowered your score by three strokes.

Do that while making one or two smarter decisions off the tee, and suddenly a score of 102 becomes 97.

That’s why putting deserves just as much attention as your full swing.

Distance Is More Important Than Direction

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is standing over a long putt and focusing entirely on the break.

• “Does it move left?”
• “Does it move right?”
• “How much should I aim outside the hole?”

Those are important questions but not the most important one.

The first thing you should be thinking about is speed.

A putt hit with the correct speed has a chance to finish close even if you misread the break.

A putt hit with the wrong speed usually leaves you with another difficult putt, even if you picked the perfect line.

That’s why golfers trying to break 100 should think about distance before direction.

Your first objective isn’t making the putt. It’s making the next putt easy.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

Most three-putts don’t happen because golfers misread the break. They happen because the first putt finishes too far from the hole.

Welcome to the Friendship Circle

Here’s a simple concept that can completely change how you think about long putts.

Imagine a three-foot circle around every hole.

This is your Friendship Circle.

If your first putt stops anywhere inside that circle, you’ve done your job.

You’re now close enough that your second putt should be comfortable.

Notice what we’re not trying to do.

We’re not trying to make every 25-footer.

We’re trying to avoid leaving ourselves six, seven, or eight feet coming back.

Once you start thinking this way, you’ll notice something surprising.

Your long putting immediately feels less stressful.

Instead of trying to make the impossible putt, you’re simply trying to roll the ball into the Friendship Circle.

Every time you do, you’ve dramatically increased your chances of walking away with a two-putt.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

On any putt longer than about 20 feet, stop asking yourself, “How do I make this?”

Instead ask, “How do I get this into the Friendship Circle?”

That one question can completely change your mindset on the green.

Good Putters Rarely Leave Difficult Second Putts

When people think about great putting, they usually picture someone making a 30-foot birdie putt.

Those moments are exciting.

They’re also rare.

The golfers who consistently score well don’t rely on miracle putts.

They rely on boring ones.

They leave themselves tap-ins. They rarely blast a putt six feet past the hole.

They don’t leave uphill putts racing ten feet by because they were trying to make everything.

Instead, they control their speed.

That’s what separates good putters from everyone else.

Not how many unbelievable putts they make.

How few difficult second putts they leave themselves.

If every first putt finishes within the Friendship Circle, you’ll naturally eliminate a huge number of three-putts without changing your stroke.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

A two-putt from 35 feet is a great result.Don’t judge your putting by how many long putts you make.

Judge it by how many easy second putts you leave yourself.

Every Putt Deserves Your Routine

Here’s a mistake almost every golfer has made.

You hit a long putt. It finishes three feet away.

Without thinking, you walk up quickly, tap it toward the hole, and…

Miss….

Now you’re frustrated. What should have been an easy two-putt has become a three-putt.

It usually wasn’t because the putt was difficult.

It was because you stopped treating it like it mattered.

Whether your putt is forty feet or three feet, give it the same respect.

• Take a breath.
• Read the putt.
• Commit to your line.
• Then make your stroke.

Good habits don’t begin on difficult putts. They begin on the easy ones.

Practice Like Someone Trying to Break 100

If you only have fifteen minutes before your round, don’t spend the entire time trying to make ten-footers.

Instead, practice the skill that’s most likely to save strokes.

Distance control.

Here’s a simple drill:

Drop ten golf balls roughly 30 to 40 feet from the hole.

Your goal isn’t to make a single one.

Your goal is to finish every ball inside the Friendship Circle.

If all ten balls stop within three feet, you’ve had an excellent practice session, even if none of them went in.

That’s because you’ve practiced the exact skill that prevents three-putts during a real round.

The more comfortable you become with lag putting, the more confident you’ll feel every time you step onto the green.

🏌️ Start Playing Tip

The next time you’re on the practice green, forget about making long putts.

See how many you can finish inside the Friendship Circle instead.

You’ll build confidence, improve your speed control, and give yourself far more opportunities to walk away with easy two-putts.

🏌️ Final Thought Before You Leave the Green

When you’re trying to break 100, every avoided three-putt is almost like making a birdie.

You won’t remember every long putt that stopped three feet away.

But when you add up your score at the end of the round, you’ll be glad they did.

Final Thoughts

Breaking 100 isn’t about hitting the longest drive, sticking every approach shot, or making highlight-reel putts.

It’s about making one smart decision after another.

• Keeping the ball in play.
• Aiming for the middle of the green.
• Getting up and down when you can.
• Avoiding three-putts.
• Accepting the occasional bogey instead of forcing the hero shot that turns into a triple bogey.

None of that is flashy.

None of it is likely to go viral on social media.

But one day, you’ll finish the 18th hole, add up your scorecard, and realize you’ve finally done it.

99.

Or maybe 97. Maybe even 94.

No one can take that away from you.

From that day forward, you’ll know you’re capable of breaking 100 because you’ve already proven it to yourself. Every round after that becomes about building on what you’ve accomplished instead of wondering if you’ll ever get there.

That’s one of the things I love most about golf. Every milestone opens the door to the next one.

If there’s one part of your game that’s still costing you strokes, check out some of our other beginner guides:

Why You Keep Shanking the Golf Ball (And How to Fix It)

Why You Keep Shanking the Golf Ball (And How to Fix It)

Why You Keep Shanking the Golf Ball Few things in golf are more confusing than suddenly shanking a shot. One moment you’re hitting the ball reasonably well, and the next the…

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How to Stop Topping the Golf Ball

How to Stop Topping the Golf Ball

Why You Keep Topping the Golf Ball Few things in golf are more frustrating than making a swing that feels decent, only to watch the ball shoot forward a few yards…

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How to Stop Chunking the Golf Ball (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

How to Stop Chunking the Golf Ball (Beginner-Friendly Guide)

Why You Keep Chunking the Golf Ball Few things in golf feel worse than making a swing with your iron and watching the club slam into the ground before the ball….

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I’d Love to Hear Your Story

If this guide helped you break 100 for the first time, I’d genuinely love to hear about it.

Seriously.

Send me a message, leave a comment, or share your score. Whether you shot a 99 after months of trying or finally reached your goal after years of golf, I’d love to celebrate it with you.

You can reach me here:

• Instagram: @StartPlayingHQ
• TikTok: @StartPlayingHQ
• Email: bryan@startplayingsports.com
• YouTube: Coming soon!

Hearing that someone reached a goal because of something they learned on Start Playing Sports is exactly why I created this website. We’re all trying to improve together, and your success is what keeps me motivated to create more guides like this one.

Keep Improving Your Game

Breaking 100 is a huge milestone, but it’s only the beginning.

Every improvement you make builds on the last one.

Keep practicing.

Keep learning.

And most importantly…

Keep playing.

Because the only golfers who never break 100 are the ones who quit before they get there.

Frequently Asked Questions