Question for scratch golfers

[nikfriz]

Regarding the person who asked if you can become a scratch golfer in a year. I think It is possible, my son who started at 14 who by the way is an incredibly gifted all around athlete who started playing golf 8 months ago  is now around a 3 or 4 handicapp and approaching scratch very quickly.  The only thing that is holding him back is he is very small for his age. he is 2-3 years behind where he should be size wise. he is 5'2" 100 lbs. Doc say's he will be about 5'9".  he drives the ball around 240 yds and usually hits 10 -12 greens in regulation. of course he usually 3 putts 3-5 holes. once he 2 putts every hole he will be a scratch golfer. he just needs more experience with the putter and reading greens.he has what I would call a perfect natural swing which he had the first time he picked up a club so there is a very good amount of natural ability that goes in to golf. Most people can not become scratch golfers. I know from my own experience.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by jl923

Here's a question for the weekend warriors - how did your game progress playing/practicing once a week? I really want to improve but can only play once a week or every other week. Will i ever reach single digits at this rate?

It's certainly possible to get to single digits that way.  (I know 9 is the highest of them, but hey, its still single, right?)  I only play once or twice a month, and I try and practice once a week or so at lunchtime when I can.  (Any more than that and my spine starts freaking out on me)  I've never really played more than that since college (15 years ago) and even then it was once a week at best.

But scratch is a whole other ball of wax.  I can't imagine any of those guys aren't playing or at least practicing 4 or 5 days a week to stay sharp and get better.  I envy the ones who have the ability and the time to do that.

[mchepp]

I was a 2 handicap in college. Does that count? I started when I was about 11 yrs old and reached the 2 handicap in my senior year so about 10 years. Then I went to work and I hover around a 5 or 6 now. If I practiced and played more often I am confident I could get to scratch because I was a 2 mainly because of my short game and today I am a better ball striker than I was then.

[binga7]

Just thought I'd share on the practice side of things. I have 2 mates who are very good golfers. One is off 1 and the other off 3. Both have been playing for much longer than my 3 years but both have different styles and practice methods.

Golfer 1 who plays off 1 is not an overly long hitter, I can outdrive him occasionally. But he is deadly inside 150, usually inside 10 feet. He practices 4 nights a week.

Golfer 2 that plays off 3 is a monster hitter. His GIR is not so good but his short game around the green is amazing. His putting also lets him down though. He might practice once a fortnight if lucky.

So as you can see it is possible to play good golf with not much practice, but imagine all the hours they have both put in over about 15-20 years.

I believe if you have good swing mechanics then its like riding a bike. Of course if you want to get better you need to practice.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by nikfriz

he drives the ball around 240 yds and usually hits 10 -12 greens in regulation. of course he usually 3 putts 3-5 holes. once he 2 putts every hole he will be a scratch golfer.

How do these numbers add up?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikfriz

he drives the ball around 240 yds and usually hits 10 -12 greens in regulation. of course he usually 3 putts 3-5 holes. once he 2 putts every hole he will be a scratch golfer.

How do these numbers add up?

0.240 + (10 - 12) x (3-5) + 2 = 0.24

Near scratch. Like me - on a clear day I can see scratch from my house.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

0.240 + (10 - 12) x (3-5) + 2 = 0.24

Near scratch. Like me - on a clear day I can see scratch from my house.

So I've been figuring my handicap wrong all this time?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

So I've been figuring my handicap wrong all this time?

Yes. On odd days of the month you're a +11, and on even days you're a 7.

[poser]

I didn't pick up the game till 26 and got to scratch around 2 1/2 years in.  Had back surgery begining of my 3rd year and didn't play any that year now I'm about to approach my 5th year playing and working hard to get back there.  I had a job that allowed me to play alot more then.   It did help that the people who got me started playing were already very very good golfers and made me try that much harder to keep up.  I was never a great ball striker but, had a great short game then.

[bunkerputt]

I've never been scratch.  I started really trying to play 6 years ago.  When I stumbled upon this site a few years ago, I was maybe around 25 index, all self taught from reading golf magazines and listening to random driving range tips, shooting low 100s.  My swing was really crappy and I was lucky to hit the ball most days, but just by concentrating and slowing down a bit, I could make it sort of work, but I had no idea where the ball was going.  Eventually I just practiced enough to get down to somewhere around 12 over for 18 holes, then I actually figured out how to compute a handicap and found this was actually somewhere around a 16 index for the course I was playing.  I took a couple of lessons and worked my way down to as low as 4.6 index, but hit a wall.  I just wasn't hitting enough greens and getting up and down enough to get lower, so I started really working slowly and specifically on my ballstriking and chipping, making sure I had a fundamentally correct action.  Since then, I haven't played much, but when I did, I didn't do as well as 4.6, though I was striking the ball much better.  I'm definitely striking the ball well enough to be scratch at this point, but I need some course management work.  Last round I hit 14/14 fairways and 0/18 greens.  Every single green was long, with the exception of one where I flat-out chunked it trying to decel and not go long.  I used to hit PW from 120, now it's probably SW, but it depends a lot on elevation and wind.  It's been hard getting over the visual leap of knowing that I'm hitting two clubs less to the same distance without having to swing hard and have the club flip or swing break down or whatever.  This year I'm confident I'm going low if I can get some practice time in.  I'm just hitting the ball way too well not to.  At this point I need some re-work on finding yardages and then some CM work on finding actual yardages, selecting a club and trusting the swing.  I've only got very rough numbers and it isn't enough for some of the pool table sized greens I play.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by iacas

Yes. On odd days of the month you're a +11, and on even days you're a 7.

There are times when it really does feel that way, too. Sometimes, even from hole to hole. Stupid game.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

There are times when it really does feel that way, too. Sometimes, even from hole to hole. Stupid game.

BTW, don't play money games on odd days of the month. Unless they're against me.

[IndianScout]

I play scratch,

I scratch my head every time I hit the ball OB..

[scottyjoe145]

To shoot PAR golf consistantly is more mental than anything else.  I would say I had the physical game to break par many years before it actually happened.  Once I broke par, I didnt continue to do it every time.  Its a mental game when you get to the single digit handicaps.

For two years (wasn't married, had no kids) I rattled off the best rounds of my life.  I was 24-25 years old, and I had been playing for about 10 yrs.  I'm now 31, I play maybe 10 times a year at the most, and I can still shoot 75's wherever I go.  Once you get there, its like riding a bike.

[k-troop]

This is an old, but good, question.  According to myscorecard.com, my handicap index is currently 1.4; I just started keeping a handicap again at the start of this year.  None of my "counted" scores in my index are even par or better, and only two of them are at one over par (though a few are par or better when adjusted for course rating).

Looking at my index, you would expect to see several scores at par or better.  But that's not how the index works--if I was shooting several scores at even par or better, my index would be + due to adjustments for course rating and/or slope.

To be "scratch," you have to be able to shoot even par or better half the time, at least at your home course.  Even at a 1.4, I'm a looooong way from that.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by k-troop

To be "scratch," you have to be able to shoot even par or better half the time, at least at your home course.  Even at a 1.4, I'm a looooong way from that.

That's not true. You need to shoot the course rating half the time, whether that's 69.7 or 74.1.

Too many people think par has to do with their handicap. It doesn't matter one bit.

[NM Golf]

It takes a lot of work, but once you get to that level it is easier to stay there, although you still must play and practice a little. I witnessed this this year as my wife and I had a baby in December. I didn't play much and didn't practice at all in December, January, or February. When I did start back playing again at the end of February I had some atrocious rounds. In fact I had 4 scores in the 80's before I finally got it together. I am practicing just about everyday now and the game is returning quickly.

[BuckeyeNut]

I only know of 1 player who got to scratch in 1yr after taking up the game................his name was Greg Norman.