How did you get to a single digit handicap?

[NickDarius]

ive played for 4 months and am a 12 handicap

WOW, that's amazing. I was happy to be a 18.2 Handicap after my first summer of playing regularly!!!

What's your secret? I beleive I can hit the ball well, probably for low 80s golf, but my course management and putting is 100 golf, that's why I sit at a 18.2 handicap. Hopefully I can improve my thought process and get down to single digits eventually!!!

[kennay92]

WOW, that's amazing. I was happy to be a 18.2 Handicap after my first summer of playing regularly!!!

no secret really... like i dont wanna brag or be cocky, i think i just have a natural swing and golf ability.. again not tryin to brag just the only really thing it could be, besides me watching stuff online.... cause today was the first lesson of my life.

[NickDarius]

Natural ability...that's what I lack.

When I was a younger man I was quite the pool player, competing in amateur tournaments and doing well. But if I stopped working at it, it would slip away fast.

Golf is like that for me. I constantly need to work at it, but I have improved drastically this year, and do plan on working at improving more.

Ideally my goal as a casual golfer would be to play at around a 10 handicap. I think that can be a enjoyable level of golf to be at.

However if I do ever get there, I'll probably want to break single digits

Man this game is addictive!

[kennay92]

Natural ability...that's what I lack.

expensive and addictive.. but hey, i love it.

[Jay-Bird]

The best thing about golf is that no matter how low your handicap gets there is always room for improvement. It's a pursuit of an unattainable perfection, like life itself.

I got to my lowest ever this summer.

Here's how, in no particular order:

Natural ability.
Sound fundamentals.
Dedication.
Practice.
Study.
Play a lot.
Focus on long term goals.
Selective memory.

[cody west]

the biggest thing i do is im never completely satisfied with my score, il never say it unless its bad but if i come in with a 73 or 74 or even 72 i look at my round and think about everyshot i screwed up and i go do my normal practice routine and at the very end i go practice my trouble shots a little bit more.
like today i shot 38 at a course with a rating of 37ish. i look back at my round and im thinking ok well i had 8 pars that good but i missed a few short birdie putts, missed a green from 60 yards and lipped out some short putts.
so tomoro at the range im going to be working on my wedge distance control, and my tee shots
then i will go to the putting green and work on putts from 10-20 feet.
golf is about progressing. make notes of what you are doing on the course look at your putting routine from practice to course, keep track of girs and if you hit the gir how long your putt is. keep track of penalty strokes.
and the most important thing is dont lose golf balls. iv baught very few golf balls this summer and i lose most of them out of anger throwing them into the woods after a bad hole (i dont play a ball after making double or worse). keep track of how many holes u can use the same ball for. little things like that will shave off those last few strokes

[pshizz]

Do what works best for you, and dont try and copy adam scott's or tiger woods swing. You need to develope proper fundamentals, but dont get too concerned with mechanics etc. Taking some lessons will be helpful, but in the end it is you that puts in the work. Handicap is a good reflection of how much time and work you put into your golf game i believe. Practice on the course rather than on the range as well, because for most people, shots on the range sont carry over to the course.

[DJDuran]

perfect practice makes perfect. i hovered at 12.0 for almost 6months before i buckled down and said to myself ill be single digits by the end of summer.

i made sure to get at the very least 3 rounds of golf in each week (even if it was a par 3 course), with the other 2 days spending about 1-2 hours on the range, and 2 days of 2hrs of putting, chipping, pitching, and sand.

biggest mistake i used to make was hitting the range up and going through every club in my bag not paying attention to where i was hitting just trying to make solid contact. now i focus on one area of my bag each time i go. i warmup the same way each time, 15-20 balls with an 8iron, 15-20 with a 4iron, and then what im working on (woods and rescue, long irons, mid irons, short irons).

learning your clubs inside and out, and cutting 3 putts to a minimum, lowers your score. im hoping to get down to around a 5 index by years end.

[zrlaegel]

Anybody can have all the natural ability in the world. But, if they do not practice and learn they have absolutely no chance at reaching a single digit handicap.

1) Practice
2) Course Management
3) Short Game and Putting
4) Practice more

[zrlaegel]

To Cody West:

Cyprian Keys is a tough course.......great respect for single digits there. How Did you fair @ Kettle Brook?

[cody west]

To Cody West:

i shoot right around even at kettlebrook. i shot 33 there last year once but my last few rounds there for school have been 36 38 39. i actually live like 5 min from there so iv been playing there so often for so long

where do you usually play being from mass. i love cyprian i think its easier from the tips than from the whites mainly because the hasards are farther away from the tee.

[deano99]

I became a 6 hc by always having a goal in mind. For example, it was a goal to break 100 strokes a few years ago, then it was 90, then it was 80, and now it's 72. When I went to the range, I had an objective; I would look at a lesson on Youtube and then hit the range and practise it, or get the Mrs to video my swing, and try to correct any flaws I saw. I'd like to add though, I've never had a real lesson in my life.

The biggest change came when I changed the clubs in my bag. I got a Superfast driver that got me 300 yards nearly every time, and I worked on getting the drive straight consistenly. So then, most approach shots were within 100 yards. For this sort of shot, I bought a Wilson wedge set: a lob wedge and a 'trouble wedge,' that went 90 and 60 yards respectively. With these clubs, I learned to land the ball near the pin nearly every time. On par 5s, I can reach most greens in two, simply because I've spent a lot of time practising with the 4-iron in my Rocketbladez set, and this I can lash nearly 250 yards off the deck. I think the only reason that I'm not a scratch player is my putting. It stinks. So now that's my next goal: to master that and shoot a round in or under par.

I'm 36 and I play once a week, but get a lot of range time in.

It takes time, but as I learned, it CAN be done.

[tmac20]

Took me two summers of playing a lot of golf.

[460CompMark]

I've played about 5 times in the last year.  I could probably go to most courses and shoot in the 70s.  I'm just awesome like that.

[rkim291968]

Originally Posted by iacas

Most 18 handicappers could become 9 handicappers inside of a month if they work on:

a) course management

b) putting

c) short game (chipping, pitching)

It'd be very rare to go from 18 to single handicap in a month.   I went from 16 to 12 in a month (played 11 rounds in that month) and thought that was a small miracle.  Since then, I am back to 15 and soon to be 16 as my two best scores will come off the list.   If you know of any secrets in improving a), b), and c) to go from 18 to single in a month, let me know.

[rkim291968]

Originally Posted by Jeepthrills

I divided mine by 2.

LOL.  That'd work for me, too.  Or, count only 9 hole scores.

[kw purp]

My dad is about a 2 or 3 handicap and I just copied his game and made minor tweaks for personal preference. As I play more and find more minor tweaks I like, I improve.Thats about it.

All these guys saying practice a lot, I'm not buying it. To get to scratch yeah, but single digit nah.

I don't practice at all. I just play 9 holes on Mondays and Friday nights then anywhere from 36 to 72 holes on the weekends.

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by rkim291968

It'd be very rare to go from 18 to single handicap in a month.   I went from 16 to 12 in a month (played 11 rounds in that month) and thought that was a small miracle.  Since then, I am back to 15 and soon to be 16 as my two best scores will come off the list.   If you know of any secrets in improving a), b), and c) to go from 18 to single in a month, let me know.

A is simple, just learn when to hit driver and when not to, when to lay up and when not to. Part of it is knowing the course also, where the trouble is, as well as if the pin is back right you want to be on the left side coming in type decisions. That's really just a matter of taking ego out of the equation, which I'm horrible at doing. B, for me putting has come around a lot once I started picking a spot a few inches to a foot in front of the ball that I want to hit instead of just hitting and hoping. Doing that I rarely 3 putt these days and make a lot more putts out to 8-10 ft than ever before. C is the biggest problem, I would say. It requires developing touch and learning to hit 1/4 - 1/2 shots which I've never been good at.