How to Break 85 in Golf

Stuck in the high 80s and ready to finally sign a scorecard that starts with an 84 or better? You’ve come to the right place. Dropping into the low 80s isn't about a massive swing overhaul or finding some hidden power, it’s about making smarter decisions and eliminating the costly mistakes that are holding you back. This guide will give you a clear, strategic roadmap focused on intelligent course management, smarter play from 100 yards and in, and a mental approach that makes shooting a career-low score feel entirely within your reach.

The Mindset Shift for Breaking 85: Stop Trying to Be a Hero

First, let's get the math right, because this will change how you view your entire round. To shoot an 84, you don’t need a round full of birdies. You need a mix that looks something like this: 13 bogeys and 5 pars. That’s it. Reading that probably feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders, and it should.

From this moment on, bogey is not a bad score. It's a perfectly acceptable, even desirable, outcome on many holes. It keeps the round moving, prevents damage, and keeps you on pace for your goal. The real enemy, the score that destroys your chances of breaking 85, is the Double Bogey or worse.

Your entire goal for 18 holes is not to make pars and birdies, but to ruthlessly eliminate the double bogey. The “blow-up hole” - that dreaded 7 or 8 on a par-4 - is what prevents 90-shooters from becoming 85-shooters. Every decision you make on the course should be filtered through one simple question: “What is the absolute smartest way to avoid a double bogey on this hole?” This mindset shift is the foundation for everything that follows.

Your New Best Friend: Game Management

The fastest way to lower your scores is to improve your thinking, not your swing. The player who shoots 84 consistently thinks about the hole differently than the player who shoots 92. They aren’t just hitting shots, they are managing their way around the golf course.

The "Get It In Play" Tee Strategy

The driver might be fun to hit on the range, but on the course, its sole purpose is to put you in a good position for your second shot. It’s a tool for setup, not for glory. Too many golfers grab the driver on every par-4 and par-5 out of habit, find trouble, and start the hole with a penalty stroke or from deep in the woods. This is where double bogeys are born.

Before you pull a headcover, assess the situation:

• How tight is the fairway? If water or out-of-bounds lines the fairway, a 3-wood, hybrid, or even a long iron might be the smarter play. A shot that puts you 20 yards further back but safely in the short grass is infinitely better than a re-tee or a punch-out.
• Where is the real danger? Identify the one area on the hole you absolutely cannot go. Let’s say there’s water all down the right side. Your target shouldn’t just be “the fairway” - it should be the left half of the fairway. Give yourself a huge margin for error away from the big trouble.

Playing for position off the tee feels conservative at first, but it pays off by taking big numbers completely out of play. A boring shot in the fairway is a massive win.

Approach Shots: Aim for the Refrigerator, Not the Flag

This is a an old saying but it has never been more true. Elite pro golfers may fire at pins, but you shouldn't - at least not yet. When you look at an approach shot, I want you to mentally erase the flagstick from the green. Your new target? The absolute center of the putting surface. Imagine a giant refrigerator sitting in the middle of the green. Just hit the fridge.

Why does this work?

• It eliminates the big miss. The pin is often tucked near a bunker or a sharp drop-off. A miss towards a tucked pin can lead to a difficult up-and-down or a penalty. Aiming for the middle means your slight miss-hits (a small pull or push) are still sitting safely on the green, putting.
• It builds confidence. It’s a much less demanding target. Stepping up to a shot with the goal of hitting a 30-foot-wide green is much less pressure-packed than trying to hit a tiny flag.

Get the distance to the center of the green, choose the club that gets you there with a smooth, average swing, and let it fly. You’ll be shocked at how many “boring” shots lead to simple two-putt pars.

The 100-Yard Scoring Zone: Where Good Scores Are Made

You can manage your way to the 100-yard marker, but your score is ultimately determined by what you do from there. This isn’t about hitting high-spinning Phil Mickelson-esque wedge shots. It’s about simplicity and repetition.

Develop One "Go-To" Wedge Shot

Forget trying to perfectly "dial in" your yardages by hundredths of a decimal with seven differnt clubs. You don't need a perfect 83-yard shot one time, a perfect 58 yard shop three shots later. For now, focus on just two to three comfortable, repeatable partial wedge shots.

Go to the range and figure out how far your pitching wedge goes with a "half" swing - where your lead arm just goes back to parallel with the ground (9 o'clock). Hit ten balls. See where they land. Maybe that shot for you carries 75 yards. Awesome. Now you have a stock 75-yard shot. Now you can do thesame with a three-quater swing and find its "stock" yardage. It will take time, but having a boring, repeatable, 75 swing, or a hundred yard with a little more gusto makes you feel like you are in control of your approach game and feel comfertable over even more shots.

The Two Chip Shots You Absolutely Need

When you're just off the green, you don't need a tour-pro repotoire of shots. You only need two reliable options. Ditch temptation to always pick up your most lofted club.

1. The Bump-and-Run: When there’s plenty of green between you and the hole, this is your highest percentage shot. Take your 8-iron or 9-iron, use your putting grip and stance, and simply make your putting stroke. The ball will pop onto the green and release like a putt. It’s predictable and incredibly difficult to mess up.

2. The Basic Pitch Shot: For when you have to carry a bunker or rough, use your sand wedge. Don't think about it like a full swing. Play the ball in the middle of your stance, lean your weight slightly toward the target, and make a simple "brushing" motion. Take a few practice swings brushing the grass, feeling the club bounce. The idea is to just land it on a safe spot on the green and let it roll out.

Declare War on Three-Putts

A golfer trying to break 85 should practically never three-putt a whole round. Three-putts are killers. The path to erasing them isn’t by sinking more 30-footers, but by getting your long putts closer to the hole.

Putt for the Trashcan Lid

Your goal on *any* putt from outside 15-20 feet is not to make it. Your goal is to get the ball to stop somewhere inside an imaginary three-foot circle around the hole - about the size of a trashcan lid. Focusing on SPEED over line will drastically improve your lag putting. If you can get your long putt to stop inside three feet, you’ve basically guaranteed a two-putt.

A simple way to pracrice is... don't be worried about embarrasment and find a large putting practice green at the range, and simply through with teepegs, and through tees out at ten yards to fifteen yards away to make you trash can lid to shoot for. Or throw you club cover out in the distance. The goal is to not only make it past the target but seeif youcan also get ball to simply fall within your own self imposed trash lid circle without any a single realhole to confuse everything. Again, you will be surprised on how having and making up a simple lag putting game on the green can change the whole complexity of your thinking on game day.

Spend 75% of your putting practice on this. Hit putts from 30, 40, and 50 feet with the only goal being distance control. Once you’re an expert lag putter, the pressure of making knee-knockers for par vanishes.

The Final Boss: Killing the "Blow-Up Hole"

We've returned to the most important mission. Here is your golden rule: Never follow one bad shot with a stupid one.

A bad shot is inevitable. You’re going to hit a drive into the trees. You'll chunk a chiot. Even the pros do. What separates a round of 84 from a round of 91, is how you recover. A bad shot is fine, it's the panicked, heroic, low-percentage shot you attempt *after* the bad one that leads to a triple bogey.

The Art of the Punch-Out

You’ve sliced it deep into the woods. Your path to the green is blocked by three trees and a dangling branch. In your mind, you can picture the "miracle shot" that carves around the trouble and lands on the green.

Don’t do it.

The smartest and bravesr play isn't going for glory but by accepting your situation and take your medicine. Your only goal is to find your most accessable chute in the direction of the fairway and "punch" a low line drive out with a 8 iron. Hitting your ball back to the safty of the fairway might feel like a defeat in the moment, but you're now just hitting your third. You still have a chance to hit you the next swing up on the geento two pitt and take home that all important bogey

Saving one stroke here by pulling off a one-in-a-hundred shot isn’t worth the risk of it deflecting deeper into trouble and costing you three or four more strokes making a once good day unbearable. Take the safe punch-out every single time.

Final Thoughts

Breaking 85 doesn't happen by accident, but a simple strategy will do more for your scores than any swing tip. By shifting your mindset to pure damage control, managing your way intelligently around the course, and simplifying your short game, you turn those frustrating 91s into satisfying 84s. Focus on playing bogey golf and avoiding the big number - it's a truly freeing way to play.

Knowing the right strategy on the course gets easier with experience, but why wait? Having an expert opinion is what we designed Caddie AI for. A great example of what We do with nossoftsare is helpyou make smarter move while your in game so you can build your confidecne and understand all with smart, a simple in-the-moment statics when your at a lost of what do next. If your in the trees and aren't sure a punch of shot is the safest way to gocan an AI powered second oppoin. In seconds you could snab a quik phot ot yousurroudning and ask and find out what your best chance mightbe from even those tough situations where Caddie is standing by as second pair of eyes that can tell you things humans could even see on first glance and helping you not only get th eadvice whenyou need it most and avoid those biog mistakes so can have the conficence in your game moving fowardCaddie AI analyzing the tough lies for you, it has never be easier to make a a smarter choice on game day and avoid bad shots and to improve your enjoyment of even more time to enjoy your golf and day.