Breaking 85 in Golf Consistently: A Practical Guide & 8 Proven Tips

You’ve probably broken 100 and even 90 by eliminating three-putts, cleaning up your short game, and getting rid of the slice.

But breaking 85 is a different challenge.

Bogeys aren’t enough – you’ll need to start making pars, and the occasional birdie can be a game-changer.

To break 85, your strategy has to evolve. It’s time to go deeper on fundamentals and course management. Here’s how to do it.

Breaking 85 in Golf (Key Takeaways)

Bookmark this post so you can review the specifics of each step later. For now, consider the basics of what it takes to break 85:

• You need a repeatable pre-shot routine that you actually use.
• Wrist control will manipulate the clubface, produce better compression, and give you control over ball flight.
• Focus on each shot individually, not the entire round at once.
• Get creative off the tee box – it’s not always the driver.
• Look at your percentages. If you can’t hit a shot 7/10 times, don’t do it.
• Put the ball in the middle of the green.
• Know your carry yardage and take the club you are most comfortable with.
• Get good at lag putting from anywhere on the green.
• Develop 3 wedge swings so you have better distance control.
• Make sure you have the right equipment in play (go for a fitting).
• Use breathing exercises to calm yourself after an undesirable shot.

Planning to Consistently Break 85 in Golf

Breaking 85 takes more effort than breaking 90. It requires a smarter, more focused approach.

Start by collecting data on your game: track distances, fairway positions, greens in regulation, common miss locations, putts per hole, and putt distances. This helps you identify weaknesses and build a targeted practice plan.

Allocate your practice time wisely:

• 45% on short game
• 40% on irons and approach shots
• 15% on the driver

Improve your visualization and course strategy. During practice or warm-up, mentally play through your home course. When it’s time to execute, you’ll already have a plan.

Most importantly, play one shot at a time. A bad swing doesn’t ruin your round; you have plenty of holes to recover and still break 85.

8 Actionable Tips to Break 85 in Golf Consistently

Now we get to the important part: the actionable tips you can use to break 85 in golf.

If you don’t know where to start, you can begin at the top of the list and master each one.

If you think you have already made some progress in one of these areas, go to the weakest point of your game and start from there.

1. Control Your Wrists – To Control the Face of the Club

The wrists control the clubface. A flat lead wrist is needed to deliver a square clubface at impact.

Using the HackMotion wrist sensor, we’ve analyzed over 1,000,000 golf swings to uncover what golfers who consistently break 85 do differently.

Here’s what we found:

• Great ball strikers avoid adding extension in the lead wrist at the top of the backswing.
• The best players have a flat or slightly bowed lead wrist at the top.
• Low-handicap golfers start squaring the clubface shortly after the top, not just before impact.
• At impact, the lead wrist has less extension than it did at the top.

To improve your wrist action, try the Motorcycle Drill. It helps you feel how the lead wrist should move and respond through impact.

2. Be Smart From the Tee Box

Breaking 85 is much tougher to achieve when you don’t hit the fairway.

It makes more sense to use your driver on the holes where it benefits you.

For some par 5s, you aren’t going for it in two, so hitting the driver may or may not be necessary. A long par 4 could also be a situation where you have to layup, so just get the ball into the fairway.

Use a hybrid or fairway wood that you are confident in. Some golfers even prefer a long iron. If you end up 20 yards short of your best drive but are in the middle of the fairway, it’s not a bad thing.

3. Lay Up Only when You Need To

Laying up can save strokes, but only when there’s real trouble in play. Too many golfers get overly cautious, laying back too far and leaving themselves long, tough approach shots. That often leads to unnecessary bogeys.

When possible, play aggressively to get closer to the green. Being inside 100 yards gives you a better chance of getting up and down than playing from 160 with a 6-iron.

Of course, there are times when a layup is the right move, like when water, deep bunkers, or thick rough protect the green. In those cases, take your medicine and pick a club that puts you in a position for a manageable wedge shot.

4. Aim for the Middle of the Green

If you’re working toward breaking 85, stop aiming at every pin. Even better players rarely fire at flags unless the shot is perfect.

Aiming for the center of the green gives you margin for error; if you push or pull it slightly, you’re still putting.

To reinforce this on the range, practice with alignment sticks. Set one along your target line and another across your feet to check the setup. This helps you build consistent aim and eliminate one of the most common causes of missed greens, misalignment.

The goal isn’t hero shots. It’s hitting more greens, giving yourself looks at birdie, and avoiding short-sided misses that turn into doubles. Center-of-the-green golf is boring—and effective.

5. Choose the Right Club

At some point, you’ll face a shot where you’re between clubs.

Your options: swing a shorter club harder or take a longer club and ease off.

The smart play is clubbing up, griping, and making a shorter, controlled swing. It’s more comfortable mentally, you know you have enough club, so you’re not forcing the shot. You should also be practicing this shot on the range so you know how to do it.

There’s one exception: if there’s trouble (like water or a drop-off), go with the shorter club to avoid a big mistake.

Either way, always accelerate through the shot. Taking more club doesn’t mean babying it, it just means you can swing within yourself.

6. Improve Your Lag Putting

Lag putting is key to consistent scoring. If you can two-putt from anywhere on the green, breaking 85 becomes much easier.

Your goal should be to leave every first putt within a 2–3 foot radius of the hole. Then, practice those short putts until they’re automatic, eliminating three-putts altogether.

This video has a great drill for you to learn to stop three putting.

7. Control Your Wedge Distances

When you know how far each wedge shot goes, scoring gets easier. Rob Cheney (video below) teaches a simple system that helps you build three reliable wedge distances using any club in your short game setup.

The goal isn’t to guess, it’s to have three go-to swing feels that each produce a predictable carry number.

• Shot 1 (Short): Stand closer to the ball with a narrow stance. Keep the wrists quiet. Cheney suggests a “thumbs down” feel in both the backswing and follow-through. This keeps the arms and torso connected and the motion simple. It’s great for controlled shots under 30 yards.
• Shot 2 (Medium): Take a wider stance and stand slightly farther from the ball. Let the wrists hinge naturally, creating an “L” shape in the backswing and follow-through—what Cheney calls “thumbs up.” This adds height and distance, roughly double Shot 1.
• Shot 3 (Long): Make a full backswing and follow-through at about 70–80% speed. It feels like a smooth, full motion without going after the ball. This is your go-to for those tricky 60–80 yard wedge shots.

8. Have a Pre-Shot Routine

To break 85, you need a pre-shot routine. The routine helps you get your mind in the right place to execute a shot.

Pre-shot routines can incorporate some personal preference, so it’s best to watch the routines of professionals and then decide what works for you.

This video gives you some ideas of what to include in the pre-shot routine. However, you should also be incorporating alignment and visualization into the routine as well.

Practice this on the range as you would any other skill.

FAQs

How long does it take to break 85 in golf?

It could take an 18 handicapper 6 months to break 85, compared to a 36 handicapper who would need 2 to 3 years of consistent practice and dedication.

Ultimately, the time it takes to break 85 in golf varies based on your current handicap and frequency of training and play.

What percentage of golfers can break 85?

According to various authors who cite the National Golf Foundation, only 26% of amateur golfers break 85. However, these numbers are continually changing, and they all depend on the accuracy of the scoring methods. Breaking 85 is a good score.

What would be my handicap if I shoot 85?

If you shoot 85 consistently, your handicap will be between 12 and 14.

Summary

Now that you have the theoretical knowledge on how to break 85, it’s time to analyze your current situation, develop a practice plan, and enhance your mental strength.

Don’t forget to incorporate a bit of technology into the game to track your progress. The HackMotion can work for you as a golf professional or coach would and help you take your game to the next level. Before you know it, you’ll need all the tips on how to break 80.