BREAK 80

Where the strokes are

Strokes a round between your number and the 5 band, by area. The areas overlap — a chunked chip is a short-game miss and a double — so the bar is an ordering, and the blue tick is the index gap it should roughly agree with.

The opportunities

In order of strokes. Each card: your number on a scale with the two bands marked, what the provider counted beside what the record counted, the price and its arithmetic, one move on the course and one on the range, and the number that retires it.

1. 01

   Chip on, one putt

   4.2 strokes a round

   you

   14% · n 43 · watch + card, 7 linked rounds

   bands

   13: 35% · 5: 47% · higher is better

   price

   12.8 missed greens a round × (47% − 14%) = 4.2

   on course

   Putt from the fringe. From rough, pick the club that lands on the green and runs — the lob wedge reaches the green 66% of the time from inside 50 yd. Then the 4–8 footer gets a full routine.

   practice

   Two 25-minute sessions a week from rough, 15–35 yd, scored by leaves inside 6 ft (8 of 23 measurable so far), each ending with twenty putts from 4–8 ft. External cue: the landing spot, not the hands.

   retired

   up-and-downs at 35% over 20 linked rounds

   definitions · sources · medium confidence

   you count

   the last heard shot started inside 50 yd from off the green and reached it, then the card shows one putt or none — any score on the hole

   13 counts

   Holed in two or fewer from off the green, any score on the hole — Shot Scope users with a 15 handicap, tracked rounds — Shot Scope — 15 handicap Law of Averages · checked 2026-09-29

   5 counts

   Holed in two or fewer from off the green, any score on the hole — Shot Scope users with a 5 handicap, tracked rounds — Shot Scope — 5 handicap Law of Averages · checked 2026-09-29

2. 02

   Greens from 100–175

   2 strokes a round

   you

   5.3 greens/round · n 20 · scorecards, last 20

   bands

   13: 5.3 greens/round · 5: 7.6 greens/round · higher is better

   price

   (7.6 − 5.3 greens) × (1 − 14% saved) = 2

   on course

   One more club. 44% of your classified misses from 50–200 yd stopped short of the hole; outside 140 yd the target is the middle of the green, never the pin.

   practice

   Random-order approaches 100–175 yd, one ball per target, club changes every swing, scored by "on the green" not by proximity. From 125–200 the record is 12 of 62.

   retired

   6+ greens a round over 20 rounds

   definitions · sources · medium confidence

   you count

   greens in regulation per round from Grint's own chart, last 20 charted rounds (positional, not dated)

   13 counts

   Greens in regulation per 18 holes, average across all rounds of players with an 11–13 index — Arccos users by handicap band (Lou Stagner, Arccos Data Insights Lead) — Golf.com — GIR by handicap (Stagner table) · checked 2026-09-29

   5 counts

   Greens in regulation per 18 holes, average across all rounds of players with a 5–7 index — Arccos users by handicap band (Lou Stagner, Arccos Data Insights Lead) — Golf.com — GIR by handicap (Stagner table) · checked 2026-09-29

3. 03

   Lag speed

   0.4 strokes a round

   you

   8.1 % of holes · n 359 · scorecards, last 20

   bands

   13: 10% · 5: 6% · lower is better

   price

   (8.1% − 6%) × 18 holes = 0.4

   on course

   Outside 20 ft every putt is a speed putt: pick the 3-ft circle past the hole, never the line. The miss that three-putts is short.

   practice

   The 20/30/40 ft ladder, every first putt inside 3 ft, ten minutes at the end of each session — not a session of its own.

   retired

   three-putts under 6% of holes over 20 cards

   definitions · sources · high confidence

   you count

   holes with three or more putts, last 20 full 18-hole cards

   13 counts

   Share of holes with three or more putts — Shot Scope users with a 15 handicap, tracked rounds — Shot Scope — 15 handicap Law of Averages · checked 2026-09-29

   5 counts

   Share of holes with three or more putts — Shot Scope users with a 5 handicap, tracked rounds — Shot Scope — 5 handicap Law of Averages · checked 2026-09-29

4. 04

   Contact off the tee

   0.3 strokes a round

   you

   2.4 per round · n 94 · watch, 7 rounds

   bands

   13: 3.3 per round · 5: 2 per round · lower is better

   price

   (2.4 − 2 a round) × (+1.71 on those holes − +1.03 on the rest) = 0.3

   on course

   Driver only where there is 60 yd of playable width; otherwise the 3 Hybrid, which flew 175+ on 8 of 9 tee balls at Lincoln. Distance is not the problem — the driver goes 251 when struck.

   practice

   The first blocked 15 minutes of every range session is low-point work: a line an inch behind the ball, strike the ground in front of it, half swings before full. No driver until the irons brush the line ten times running.

   retired

   2 troublesome tee balls a round or fewer over 10 watch rounds

   definitions · sources · medium confidence

   you count

   par-4/5 tee balls that were a driver, wood or hybrid under 170 yd, finished in a bunker, or forced a recovery next — a lay-up with an iron is not one

   13 counts

   Tee shots ending in a lost ball, hazard, trees or a forced recovery, per round — Shot Scope users who score in the 80s (a scoring band, not a handicap band) — Shot Scope — The Shot Scope Six: benchmarks for success · checked 2026-09-29

   5 counts

   Tee shots ending in a lost ball, hazard, trees or a forced recovery, per round — Shot Scope users who score in the 70s (a scoring band, not a handicap band) — Shot Scope — The Shot Scope Six: benchmarks for success · checked 2026-09-29

5. 05

   Doubles or worse

   unpriced

   you

   5.7 per round · n 126 · watch + card, 7 linked rounds

   bands

   13: 4.7 per round · 5: 1.4 per round · lower is better

   price

   the doubles carry 87 of 143 strokes over par on 126 holes — an outcome of the four areas above, not a fifth

   on course

   A double is a mishit tee ball, a short-sided miss, or a chunked chip, then a three-putt. Bogey is fine; the second dropped stroke is the one to refuse — take the medicine shot sideways, chip to the fat of the green, two-putt.

   practice

   None. This line moves when the four above move.

   retired

   1.44 doubles a round or fewer over 10 linked rounds

   definitions · sources · medium confidence

   you count

   holes scored two or more over par — score from the card, par from the watch, linked rounds only

   13 counts

   Holes scored double bogey or worse, per 18 holes — Shot Scope users by handicap (data shared with Golf Insider UK) — Golf Insider UK — Birdies, bogeys and doubles by handicap (Shot Scope data) · checked 2026-09-29

   5 counts

   Holes scored double bogey or worse, per 18 holes — Shot Scope users by handicap (data shared with Golf Insider UK) — Golf Insider UK — Birdies, bogeys and doubles by handicap (Shot Scope data) · checked 2026-09-29

37 of 126 watch holes end their last heard shot exactly on the pin — the watch has no putts, so that pin is where the shot stopped. Those shots are excluded from every leave and short-of-the-hole call above.

On the course, for nothing

Decisions with a sourced number behind them and no practice cost. The record’s own figure sits beside each so the rule is about you, not about golfers.

1. 01

   Take one more club into the green. The amateur miss is short, and a long miss costs less than a bunker.

   you

   44.2 % of misses · n 86 — approaches from 50–200 yd that missed the green and stopped short of the hole, of the misses the watch could classify

   source

   54% — Share of approach shots from beyond 50 yd that finish short of the green — Shot Scope — 5 stats to track to improve your game

2. 02

   Driver only with 60 yd of playable width from rough to rough. Otherwise the 3 Hybrid — it starts a hole as well as the driver does and mishits less.

   you

   2.4 per round · n 94 — par-4/5 tee balls that were a driver, wood or hybrid under 170 yd, finished in a bunker, or forced a recovery next — a lay-up with an iron is not one

   source

   2 per round — Tee shots ending in a lost ball, hazard, trees or a forced recovery, per round — Shot Scope — The Shot Scope Six: benchmarks for success

3. 03

   Outside 140 yd the target is the middle of the green. Nobody hits many greens from 175; the miss that costs is the short-sided one.

   you

   19.4 % greens · n 62 — approaches from 125–200 yd that finished on the green

   source

   140 yd — Distance beyond which DECADE's rule is to aim at the middle of the green rather than the pin (a rule, not a measurement) — Wicked Smart Golf — DECADE golf review

4. 04

   Miss on the fat side, away from sand. A bunker approach costs half a stroke more than a fairway lie.

   you

   6.7 % of approaches · n 135 — approaches from 50–200 yd that finished in a bunker

   source

   0.5 strokes — Extra strokes to hole out from a greenside bunker versus the fairway after an approach from 50–150 yd (4.00 vs 3.46) — Shot Scope — Is there such a thing as a good miss?

5. 05

   Putt from the fringe. The lob wedge is the wrong default from inside 25 yd.

   you

   65.7 % reached the green · n 67 — shots started inside 50 yd from off the green that finished on it

   source

   0.2 strokes — Strokes saved by putting rather than chipping from 15–25 ft of fringe (reported 0.15–0.25; the midpoint is stored) — Arccos — Putting from off the green

6. 06

   On par 5s advance the ball. Laying up to a number costs 0.6 a hole; the threshold that matters is getting the third shot inside 175.

   you

   1.0 over par per hole · n 24 — mean strokes over par on par 5s

   source

   0.6 strokes/hole — Extra strokes on a par 5 when laying up versus advancing the second shot — Shot Scope — Par 5s: go for it in two vs a lay-up

Is it moving

The last 20 charted rounds, oldest to newest, with the 5-band benchmark as the blue line. Positional, not dated: Grint’s charts skip nine-hole rounds.

This week

The week of 2026-09-29, measured against the newest capture — a goal stays open until the record outruns its week, then the record says achieved or missed. Goals are about the next round, not the range.

• missedup-and-downs in the week's first watch round

  now 0 holes · target 3 holes · over 6 chances

  Chip on, one putt — the biggest line in the ledger (4.1 strokes a round): you get up and down 15% of the time, a 13 index 35%, a 5 index 47%. Three of the usual six or seven chances in the next watch round. Putt from the fringe; from rough, the club that lands on the green and runs; then a full routine on the 4–8 footer.

• achievedgreens in regulation in the week's first round

  now 6 greens · target 5 greens · over 18 holes

  Greens from 100–175 (2.1 strokes a round): 5.1 a round now, a 13 index 5.3, a 5 index 7.6. Five greens in the next linked round. One more club — 45% of your classified misses stop short of the hole — and outside 140 yd the target is the middle of the green.

• misseddoubles or worse in the week's first round

  now 4 holes · target at most 2 holes · over 18 holes

  Doubles or worse: 6.2 a round over the five watch rounds, a 5 index 1.44. Two or fewer in the next linked round. Bogey is fine; the second dropped stroke is the one to refuse — sideways out of trouble, chip to the fat of the green, two-putt. All three goals need the round on the watch AND its Grint card captured; the 3 Hybrid range block is dropped, not carried — a club measured at a monitor is a number on the bag page, not a stroke.