Define "blow up holes" better for us. I know people who blow up because they can't keep it in play off the tee and others who get off the tee fine but chunk every shot into the green multiple times per hole and others still who get to greenside just fine but blade and chunk wedges around the green or 3,4 or even 5 putt from 20 feet. Knowing your weaknesses is the only way anyone can help you improve.

It’s a mix between hitting a bad tee shot and then having to recover and then topping the recovery shot. Or I’ll hit a great tee shot and then top 2 in a row or hit it OB. And I’ll end up finishing the hole double over par.

First i would implement a little course management. If there's O.B. on a hole (and if it's possible to avoid it somehow) then identify it and aim away from it and/or play a club that will absolutely not reach it under any circumstance. If you are really looking to improve your scores you have to put pride aside and play smart. Two shorter shots into a green will always improve your chances of a lower score rather than having to take a stroke and distance penalty. Work on your swing on the range, not on the course. Play the shots AND clubs you know you can execute well on the course. If your driver is whats giving you the most problems then try a 3-wood teed up low or a hybrid or even a long iron off the tee until you work out your problems on the range. I had a problem topping balls many years ago and i just couldn't figure it out. I was hitting balls with the club champion of Colonial before a round (the only time I ever had the chance to play that course) and I was topping shots and told him I just couldn't figure it out. I told him I was trying to stay down on it but it felt like I was lifting up through impact. He told me somewhat cryptically...it took me a while to decipher what he was saying...that maybe my body was making me top the shots. I figured out that it was my posture that he was talking about. Specifically bending incorrectly at the waist and not with the pelvis at the hip flexors. If you aren't using your pelvis correctly the speed of the swing forces your body to stand up through the shot instead of retaining your spine angle. So maybe see if that's whats happening with you. It could be something more simple like the ball being too far forward in your stance or a reverse pivot causing you to top the ball but I always start with looking at Posture, Grip, Alignment, Ball Position. You can't work on other swing faults if those are fundamentally flawed. So start there. To me topping the ball would indicate that you aren't retaining your spine angle through impact (some people incorrectly call this "looking up") or you are not transferring your weight to your lead side correctly perhaps because of a reverse pivot or just lack of a good transition move. Either way, if your weight is staying on your trail side and your upper body's center of rotation (your sternum) is behind the ball at impact your swing arc will be moving up through impact instead of down through impact. All things you would need to analyze or work with a swing coach to pinpoint. I like to work things out myself but thats just me. Hope something in this helps. Always happy to help people make the game more enjoyable!

There is a lot to be said for lessons. That aside, maybe you need to curb your inner Phil. Hit a bad drive? Don’t try to recover it all in the next shot. Hit a shot you can control to a distance you can then control to be on the green. This can include a pitch shot from deep rough back to the fairway.
If you are trying to cover with a 3 wood that you only make contact and hit straight 1 out of 5 times, leave it at home until you can do better.
If you top/chunk a shot. Take a practice swing that is better, then forget about the last as you approach the next.
Setting up for a bogey beats trying to save par when your handicap is not a single digit

I really like this idea. Next round I’ll definitely try this!

I was in the same camp as you at the beginning of last season, and one thing that helped me mentally as I was working towards breaking 100 was just allowing myself an extra stroke on every hole, regardless of par. It takes the pressure off of feeling like I need to hit the green in two strokes on a par 4, etc. Bogey golf is an even 90, which is another thing to keep in mind.

Keeping the ball in play off the tee box made a big difference for me as well. I would add a good handful of penalty strokes from going OB off the tee. I took a couple lessons to get drills to work on to help improve my swing and that helped a lot.

When you hit your recovery shot, are you hitting it with the goal of just getting back into play even if it means hitting it laterally or even backwards? I used to try and advance the ball at all costs and would often just end up in a worse spot.

If your chipping and putting is solid, work on figuring out what is causing your miss off the tee, and try the mental approach of giving yourself an extra stroke on every hole. Hopefully it'll lead to less of the disastrous holes and more bogeys and pars!

By all means I'm not a pro as I only started playing a few years ago as well. What has been helping me more are 2 things. 1. not trying to absolutely destroy every ball...lightened by grip, slowed my swing speed down a bit and let the club do the work. 2. i really tried to work on my putting over the winter. learned what putting at 3ft, 6ft, 9ft, and 12ft felt like (this was in my basement so had to learn more when the season started with uneven terrain). I also tried to learn more about reading greens...not the best but i'm understanding it much more and it's leading to less doubles and triples

As a struggler to break 100 for a number of years. I can honestly say course management and being realistic in my abilities of what I can or cannot do made the difference.

It's easy to say get lessons, but I got comfortable with 3 clubs in my bag that I could turn to given most situations and driver wasn't one of them.

Maybe even study the course map before a round and go in with a game plan with those 3 favorite clubs.

Good luck and keep us posted!!

To improve score, so important to see where ur misses are; your tee shots including Fairways hit…when missing fairways, you loose both stroke and distance ( chipping out or having to lay up). Missing fairways also means not being able to go for greens. For me personally, I find driver off tee is important to me.
Also eliminating mental mistakes, like chunks around the green. And of course dreaded 3 putts.
Tough to have all parts of ur game show up, but playing within ur means…and knowing your distances.
Just my 2 cents….but practice..practice ..practice
Good luck in ur journey

Course management and smart play is easiest. Play within YOUR ability. And find a pencil with a good eraser

Thank you everyone for the responses and advice! I’ll do my best to implement the recommendations. I struggle with driver a lot actually so I usually hit 3 wood or hybrid off the tee depending on how I’m feeling that day. After reading everyone’s responses I took a second to think about what I do often when I end up topping 2-3 shots in a row and I think I try to make more out of a shot than I need to. Even when I have a good tee shot I mess up the second shot by trying to go for the “hero shot” and go for the GIR on a par 4 even if it’s 200+ yards out when I can just hit a nice easy shot and not put myself in a higher pressure situation by having to hit a longer club with more accuracy than I’m capable of. Also I totally agree with the point of not trying to recover all the yards lost on a recovery shot when I probably am not capable of since I’m probably in a bad lie and position.

Course management is key. Hitting 3 150 yard 7 irons on a 450 yard par 4 is better than hitting your driver ob or in the trees and punching out and having 2 more shots to reach the green.

Use your strengths, rather than what everyone else is doing. If you struggle keeping your driver in play, but you can pipe a 3-wood or a hybrid all day long, use that off the tee on normal driver holes. If you struggle with woods altogether, but 3-iron is your go-to, hit 3-iron off the tee. Fairways and greens are more important that crushing one just to watch it peel off into the OB. Like others have said, set pride aside and play smart. If your tee shot is in the trees, don't necessarily try for the small glimpse of daylight toward the green when punching it out into the fairway and then going for the green would be the safer play. If you hit a bad shot, try to focus, put the bad shot behind you, and play the current shot. Remember, if the course is par 72 and you can bogey every hole, you can shoot 90. Throw in a par or birdie now and then and you'll do even better. Best of luck.

Hey there! Breaking 100 can be challenging, but you're already doing some good things with those pars and birdies. Here are a few tips that might help with those blow-up holes:

Play it Safe: Sometimes, it's better to play smart than to go for the big shot. If you're facing a tough hole, consider playing it safe by laying up and avoiding trouble areas. Focus on getting the ball back in play rather than trying for a miracle shot.

Short Game Focus: Your short game can make a big difference in your score. Spend some extra time practicing chipping and putting. Getting better at saving shots around the green can really help minimize those high scores.

Stay Calm: It's easy to get frustrated after a bad hole, but try to keep a positive mindset. Every hole is a new opportunity. Focus on your next shot rather than dwelling on past mistakes.

Practice Consistency: Work on making your swing more consistent. Often, blow-up holes happen because of inconsistency. Practice hitting smooth, controlled shots that you can rely on.

Plan Your Round: Think about your strengths and weaknesses when you play. Try to plan your shots around the course in a way that avoids trouble. Knowing when to play it safe can help you avoid those big numbers.


Remember, breaking 100 is a process, and you're already showing progress. Keep practicing, stay positive, and enjoy the journey. You've got this!

This is an interesting topic. Breaking 100 is personal and unique to the golfer. How one person goes about breaking 100 is different than another. You see from the responses and questions above about is it your tee game, short game, putting, approach....etc.

My thoughts are understanding what your general miss is. Are you more often left or right when you miss. Yes, all of us amateurs can miss both ways but there is a general miss we have more often. Know your miss.

What are you good at? Can you hit the driver well or do you hit fairway metals better? What is your favorite iron to hit? Can you stripe your 7 iron? There was a post above that mentioned 3 7 irons from 150 is better than a drive out of bounds. Very thoughtful way to put it.

I also saw a comment about not trying to get the missed shot back right away. Take your medicine and be smart. If you have to hit 2 wedges to avoid carrying a shot over water, so be it, you would be putting for par and with a wedge have a greater chance to hit close for that par save than trying to carry a shot 200 over water or trouble.

What Olivia B shared is really good stuff.

Aim for the center of the green regardless of where the flag is. In very general terms most greens are 30 yards deep so if you aim for the center of the green you are likely to have 30 feet or so for birdie?

Practice shots from 100 yards and in. if you are good from 100 yards and in, you can save a lot of shots no matter what getting to that 100 yards looks like.

Take inventory of what you are good at in your game and play to those strengths.

Enjoy the process.

Maybe I missed it in other posts, but how often do you play and practice? As Hogan said, the truth is in the dirt. For me, the biggest impact on my score is the driver. Good day, I can break 80, bad, I'm mid 90s. Driver has always been my biggest weakness. Playing more and practicing more was a huge help, as I was able to get more consistent in other areas, while coping with a balky driver. (FWIW, I've been fit multiple times over the years for my driver and I play a TSR4.)

Keeping the stress level lower is a key for me. Trying to thread the needle or hitting back foot 7 irons from under the trees, can I do it? Yeah. Does it put the stress on me and my score? Yeah. Sometimes you just have to take the medicine and chip back to the fairway. Take the bogey, or even double. Double is better than triple or worse.

Maybe you're like me. Much older now, but I seem to get my aggression out by just hitting the ball. Using the driving range prior to a round helps to calm me down a little.

I think it becomes a mental state of mind after settling down. Some days you will string some pars and maybe have a birdie, some days its the pits. Its a game, people want to score well, we all do, some don't care what they score.

Take a lesson if you think you need to and really serious. Hook up and play with people who are better than you and willing to cope and play within your abilities. But most importantly is to have fun no matter what your score is.

There is a tab on this web page that says INSTRUCTIONS, some of the best teachers in the game.

I would work on minimizing your body sway while swinging and making sure you are gripping the club correctly. This has helped my game drastically by giving me better consistency.

Work on your concentration.It is so easy to get side tracked and forget what you have learned. Try to concentrate on the shot. See it in your mind before you hit the shot. Relax and let the swing happen.

Eliminate those three or four triple bogies.

Work on avoiding those 3 to 4 putts. If you’re having trouble breaking 100 don’t always try to make those hero shots . Try to walk off with a bogey instead of doubles. Don’t always chase birdies or eagles they’ll come naturally once you start playing calm and playing to your abilities

Take speed off the club and minimize body movement is key to hitting consistently playable shots. Once I stopped thinking of the tee box as a long drive contest, I found more consistency. Once I learned to minimize my head movement (and key my eye on the ball) on iron shots, my consistency improved dramatically, even in uneven or imperfect lies. Turns out anyone can be a natural ball striker (at least with irons and wedges) if they actually keep their eye on the ball through contact!