any success stories???

I was wondering if anyone or anyone u know has gone from like a 30 handicap when they just started playin to like scratch??? is this possible and say what age u started playing golf because i am starting to think that u gotta start playing golf from birth almost to be any good.

I know a guy who started playing in Law school at UF. He got crazy-addicted to the game. He practiced, played and read golf books and magazines everyday - and still managed to get a law degree AND land a job at a firm in Ft. Lauderdale. He went from a complete novice to a 10ish handicap in that year. He played with good golfers (scratch and single digit guys). He soaked up everything they could teach him and studied what he saw in them that worked well.

Last May I had played golf maybe 5 times in my life and didn't even know how to grip a club much less swing it.

I shot under par on 9 holes last week.

Amazing what plenty of free time and not having any bad habits to break will do for you.

After struggling for over 20 years, I found some swing instruction that worked great for me. I went from a 25 handicap to a 3 in about 6 months. The three guys I play with did about the same thing.

So, I would say it is not when you start or how long you practice and play. It is much more about finding the right instruction.

Defiantly.

I have only been playing for 7 months but I feel I have come a long way in those 6 months. I don't have any trouble consistently hitting the ball in the air, it has become quite ordinary feeling. I have decent feel for the short game but I admit that I am pretty terrible at putting. I know if I could learn how to put I could take 10-15 strokes off of my game easily but I just haven't learned that part. My main focus has been on my swing at full and I can say now that after studying different pro's and different swing coaches on the net, I have a good swing plane, I have good 90 degree wrist action, I have a consistent ball placement and preshot routine, and I have decent hip turn and soft hands. I would say that my fundamentals are sound so from now on it will just be little tweaks and more practice with feel. I feel like that is an accomplishment in 7 months with no teacher and I feel really great playing golf right now. From first playing where I could barely hit 1 of 3 shots in the air to being able to at least have a shot at getting on the green in two on a par 5 or hitting a par three's green in one shot. I feel like those are significant increases and I totally agree that if you were someone like me who had never even watched golf more then 2 or three times in my life to having it become a main hobby, you can really get a good fundamental swing that isn't riddled with bad habits.

That's pretty close to my situation actually. I started playing last season and I fell in love with the game, completely addicted, reading, watching everything and learning everything I could get my hands on. My first 9 hole round, I shot a 51 on a par 34 (2 dollar green fee school course). Coming back in August, I was shooting regularly between 36-39. In the summer I played a par 72 course 3 times and shot 91, 85, 80. I've started taking a golf class offered here at school, taught by a local pro, so hopefully I'll pick something good up as I would love to make it to scratch. But my main problem probably lies in the fact that I'm a bogey golf player who makes a lot of par. I make too many mistakes. I feel like making it to scratch requires me to settle down, make those gir's and less mistakes, like flubbing a chip for birdie instead of nestling it real close. Hope I can make more progress this season. Just gotta get in the practice and build the habits.

At the risk of being accused of negativity, I have to say that the likelihood of 4 friends going from mid 20s to low single figures in 6 months would be very unlikely. I would love to see some links to your USGA handicaps so that I can marvel at the dramatic reduction.

But I assume you are joking, right?

Yes, I'd think this were unlikely too, but you'd be very surprised by the amount of change that can be experienced with the right feedback. As an athlete growing up, I've seen kids transform from ok competitors to top of the league. Actually, that's how my highschool swim career ended up, I was totally inexperienced, got the proper instruction, learned how to approach the sport mentally and physically, and moved up in ranking extremely fast. Those kinds of revelations which change your game to a competitive level are a lot more accessible than most people think and just takes a bit of focus. I also found having a bunch of friends striving to achieve the same goal helps accelerate any progress as well. The competition as well as the support can go a long way. Congrats to JackLee and your buddies.

Wow great stories guys! And here I am feeling good about myself because I've "only" been playing seriously for 4 years and I'm down to an 11. Guess I need to keep working to keep up with you guys. :)

Well, I look at it a couple of ways. I'm an athletic guy and played several sports in high school and could have possibly played college basketball if I wasn't such a knucklehead.

But aside from decent hand eye coordination all it really takes is the right instruction and free time. Our business isn't doing shit right now, I'm not yet married, I have no kids, and I'm financially very stable so I hit 500+ golf balls per day and still squeeze at least 9 holes in every day too. When you do that its tough not to get better if you are practicing the right way. That said I do feel like I'm getting to the point where I have to improve my short game to go any lower. I only missed 2 fairways yesterday and still was 5 over with 4 holes to play when I had to quit. Hell on hole number 1 I was 40 yards out and hitting 2 on a par 4 and made a bogey.

804, I'm confused. Your handicap index says 18.9, so you're a bogey golfer. Do you think that's bad? You're already better than the VAST majority of people who play. With that index, you're not losing balls in the water or out of bounds. Your drives are long, and your second shots are good also. Basically you are having fun out on the course, as opposed to struggling.

To make the move from being a bogey golfer to scratch (or even to single-digit HC) is going to require a lot of time. Practice time, mostly with your short game, but also being able to "shape" your drives at will - fade or draw when necessary. Also, you get better when you just get out and play. But to get to scratch, you would need to have a club in your hand pretty much every day, either on the range on on the course. Does anyone disagree?

People go from 30+ handicap to scratch I'm sure, it just takes loads of time PRACTICING THE RIGHT THINGS. You can spend 10+ hours per week doing the wrong things and you will only get worse.

As I stated earlier I started last May and then I seriously doubt I could break 140. But I immediately went to a phenomenal golf teacher and didn't pick up any bad habits so with countless hours of range time I'm now down to a single digit handicapper. The key is having a very good teacher, a willingness to get rid of bad habits, a willingness to beat new good habits into your head, and a very good understanding of how the golf swing works. Not to diminish anyone's efforts or accomplishments but I fully believe that you can pull any reasonably athletic person off the street, spend 2 hours a week teaching, 8 hours a week practicing, and have them shoot under 100 within a month. Less than 3 months later under 90. Past that you quit your day job or find a night job. At the end of the day if you can quiet your body down, stay in an athletic stance, have a good plane line, and good wrist fundamentals then you can be a single digit handicapper given a good amount of time.

To be a bit more precise, being a good golfer isn't hard to do it is just time consuming.

What makes it hard is when people spend 400+ dollars on a new draw biased driver, or 800 dollars on new draw biased clubs, rather than take 200 dollars worth of lessons and actually fix the problem.

You can spend countless hours on the range beating balls (believe me as much time as I spend on the range I see some regulars) practicing the worst swing in golf and never figure out why you aren't getting better.

Who knows you might get lucky and have Joe Drivingrange help you with your swing and screw you up even more and give you something even worse to practice.


99% of the people in this world cannot teach themselves how to play golf. Every dollar spent at the range practicing a bad swing or buying new equipment like that ridiculous new Diablo driver that is like 6 degrees shut is only making you a crappier player faster.

I too started in May of last year, but didn't play all winter

Down to a 17 right now, though my last round was a 107 (I blame the 7 hours it took to complete the round ), so my handicap will go back to what it was if I don't get back into the high 80s in my next 10-15 rounds (not too worried). Had a case of the shanks, but am working my way back with a return to fundamentals.

It's tough to get good at this game. There are so many obstacles in your way. Free time is key. Access to grass ranges is key (only ONE in my area, and only open mid-April to October). Studying and memorization is key. Filming your swing is key.

My biggest obstacle right now is my poor spine angle, which is the main source of inconsistent play for me. I'm doing some stuff in the gym right now to increase my flexibility. Then and only then will my handicap start to drop again like it did in the last month or so of last Fall. I still can't stop reading about golf when I'm just sitting around though. I feel like I have the mind and etiquette of a scratch player, but the body of a 17

I'll let you guys know how it goes in a few months with a potential thread bump!

I've never had a lesson actually, unless you count Ben Hogan's Five Lessons and the various other books and articles I've read. The Golf Channel and Youtube are other good sources for free information.

If I got a lesson, I know exactly what the guy would tell me my problems are because my problems are very common early golfer things. For me personally, getting a golf teacher would make more sense when I'm down to a single digit handicap, when improving on your own becomes that much harder. If you're not practicing the right things though and just beating balls into the side-netting, yea, you're wasting a lot of time and energy. EDIT: Oh yea, to answer the original question, I started when I was 25 years old and am currently still 25.

hook a brother up on a plane ticket and greens fee . haha business has been slow out here in LA,Ca. i wish i was able to get out everyday... gotta work all day mon-sat to make the money to waste on green fees,range, etc. lucky you

I am very competitive so for me personally, an 18.9 is bad to me. I want to get in the single digits, but I only play a couple times a month at BEST. Maybe this summer I can play more than that cuz i am in college right now. And I would say that my main problem is putting cuz i hit the ball a longgg ways.

O yea, and swing is totally self taught never had a lesson in my life. Is there only so much u can do in this situation??

well i started at 17 currently 19 got my handicap down to 5 and never had a lesson so it is possible.