How long to scratch golf?

[JackLee]

After I found instruction that actually told me how to swing a golf club, I got to scratch is less than a year. I was practicing and playing a lot then. Now I don't have as much time and money. Once you get to scratch or better, it requires a lot of practice to maintain it, especially the short game.

I think to get there you must be using good techniques, and have fairly good athletic ability.  Being in good physical condition is a big plus too.

[Beachcomber]

I'm 34yrs old and the lowest my handicap ever reached was a 3.  That was 10+yrs ago when I was playing lots of golf in college / post graduation.  Over the last 5yrs I was barely playing due to work, and traveling all over the country... But now I'm in a different role/company and able to get out a lot more and put in some solid practice sessions, followed up by playing on the weekends.

This past summer I was consistently in the low 6's, I believe I was actually a 5.9 right when I joined this site?  But then I started tinkering with my swing searching for ways to get back to my better days and my handicap has actually went up.  Right now my handicap is hovering in the mid 7's...  But I'm not too upset because I know I'm really close to having a break through...

Lately, I've been working on my grip... I've always had such a strong grip as I'm naturally left handed but play golf right handed... It's helped me hit a natural draw.  But my misses, they are hooks... Especially with my longer irons/fairways/hybrids (above 6i).  So I've really been working on weakening my left hand on the grip.  I'll hit 10 good to great shots with my irons and then throw in another 2 or 3 bad to awful shots.  Recovering from those bad shots is tough and really impacts my scores at the moment.  I've been on a binge where I'm low 80's with a double and triple mixed in which sucks.  I believe if I can just keep at it though... I'll be back in the low 5's - if not lower by mid Spring.