Finally breaking 100 in golf is one of the game's great milestones, and it has far less to do with a perfect swing than you might think. It’s about ditching bad habits, dodging big numbers, and playing smarter, not harder. This guide provides a simple, straightforward blueprint focused on strategy and decision-making that will help you put that triple-digit score behind you for good.
Most golfers trying to break 100 think they need to overhaul their swing. They obsess over elbow position, hip rotation, and release patterns. While good mechanics are always helpful, they are not the main reason you’re shooting 105 instead of 95. The real culprit is poor decision-making.
Scoring in the high 90s is about strategy. It's about knowing which shots to attempt and, more importantly, which ones to avoid. Imagine you have two golfers. Golfer A has a very athletic, powerful-looking swing but constantly tries to hit hero shots, leading to penalty strokes and blow-up holes. Golfer B has a quirky, less-than-perfect swing but always plays to the safe side of the green and never tries a shot they can't pull off at least 8 out of 10 times. Who do you think posts the lower score? It's Golfer B, every single time.
Starting today, your goal is to be Golfer B. Embrace the idea that your score is a result of the decisions you make *before* you even start your swing.
Let's do some simple math. A par-72 course consists of 18 holes. If you make a bogey on every single hole, your final score is 90. That's ten shots clear of your 100-breaking goal. Ten shots!
This "Bogey is Good" philosophy is a game-changer because it removes the pressure to be perfect. When you step onto a par-4, your mental target is no longer a 4, it's a 5. This one simple adjustment changes everything:
When you see a bogey as a win, you play with less tension and make better choices, which ironically often leads to pars and even the occasional birdie.
For the golfer shooting over 100, the driver can be a weapon of mass destruction - for your own scorecard. A 250-yard drive that sails out of bounds is infinitely worse than a 170-yard hybrid shot that finds the fairway. Every hole starts with one goal: get your ball in play.
Before you automatically pull your driver, ask yourself these questions:
If you answer "yes" to any of these, put the driver back in the bag. Hitting a 5-wood, hybrid, or even a 5-iron 180 yards down the middle is a massive victory. It sets you up for an approach shot from the short grass, while your playing partners might be punching out from the woods.
Leaving the driver in the bag is not "laying up." It's smart, strategic golf. The pros do it all the time, and so should you.
This might be the most powerful strategic tip in this entire guide. Playing a par-4 or par-5 is no longer about getting as close to the green as possible. Your new goal is to get to a comfortable, repeatable distance for your *second* shot. For most players, that magic number is around 150 yards.
Why 150 yards?
By breaking down every long hole into two manageable shots - a safe shot to get to your 150-yard spot, and your 150-yard shot to the green - you eliminate the stress and inconsistency that leads to big numbers.
What truly destroys a round isn't bogeys, it's the 7s, 8s, and 9s. These "blow-up holes" are almost always caused by compounding one mistake with another. The number one rule for breaking 100 is: do not follow a bad shot with a dumb shot.
Around the greens, aspiring 90s-shooters lose countless strokes by trying to hit spectacular, high-flying flop shots like the ones they see on TV. Ditch the 60-degree wedge for now. Your new best friend is the "bump-and-run."
This shot is simple, repeatable, and drastically reduces the chances of skulling it over the green or chunking it two feet. Here's how to do it:
Your goal is to get the ball onto the green as quickly as possible and let it roll out toward the hole like a putt. Practicing this one shot will save you more strokes than any fancy new wedge ever will.
The three-putt is the slow poison that kills scorecards. For players trying to break 100, the mentality on the green needs to change. When you have a putt longer than 10 feet, your goal is not to make it. Your goal is to get your first putt so close to the hole that the second putt is a simple, stress-free tap-in.
This is called lag putting, and it's a superpower for scoring. When you try to hole a 40-foot putt, you often run it 6 feet past and create a pressure-packed "comebacker." When you just try to nestle it inside a 3-foot circle around the hole, you relax, make a smoother stroke, and almost always leave yourself an easy two-putt.
Forget about makes from long range. Focus on eliminating three-putts. That alone can be worth 3-5 strokes per round.
Breaking 100 comes down to a strategy of control, damage limitation, and smart decision-making. By adopting a "bogey is good" mindset, getting the ball safely in play, avoiding penalty strokes, and simplifying your short game, you create a formula that bypasses the big scores that have held you back.
As you work on this a common problem becomes navigating these strategic choices on the course, under pressure. That a big reason why we built Caddie AI - an on-demand coach to help you tackle these very situations. Need a smart plan for playing a tough par-5 or advice on what to do from a tricky lie in the rough - we believe you should get instant, expert advice right from your pocket, taking the guesswork out of the game so you can play with more confidence.
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