Are you serious? 10 strokes off your game?

[brgolf]

Making such improvements would put him in the top bracket of improving golfers from mid to low handicaps. Whilst he may get some admiring comments, getting a lower handicap if he does not merit it will only be a disadvantage to him.

A hot streak is also possible. A player playing well might hit a lot of greens during a round, a player playing well and getting lucky might hit even more still. It is less common than a low handicapper hitting a few rounds in the high 80s but a hot streak is possible.

Another question to ask is about the overall ability of this player. Maybe this player was good but in one aspect of his game he was dropping shots like you would not believe. You've identified his putting. It's an area people neglect and its possible if he made short game 90% of his practice rather than 0% that he has made up a bunch of shots.

And then there is people like me who get to where I am with lake balls and $300 irons, no gap wedge and so forth. Did he make an equipment change which is making the difference?

In the end you should ask him, tell him its a remarkable improvement and give him several rounds to prove his new form.

[shades9323]

can't control your driver at all

That is me. It cost me a trip to my league championship round. If I could straighten out my drive I could get into the single digits.

[LongballGer]

possible, but unlikely.

I can only speak for myself, but 5 months ago I wasn't able to break 90 and today I shot a career low 63.

Having said that I pretty much practiced everyday from 7am to 10pm for 5 months straight and hit a zillion balls.

Anything is possible, I doubt however your friend practiced that hard.

[TN94z]

aka Vanity Handicappers

Man, to get in the TN Mid-Am you only have to be a 10 or better.

[golfbarefoot]

These posts crack me up. Seriously, you should worry about your own game. People tend to be too wrapped up in other people's blades and spending time justifying why they should not be playing blades.. Or worried about other people's handicaps and spending time justifying how it just can't be true....

Worry about your game, that's the only way for your scores to improve, unless it is truly more important to you to monitor other peoples games...

Just my 2 pennies..

[sirshanksalot]

These posts crack me up. Seriously, you should worry about your own game. People tend to be too wrapped up in other people's blades and spending time justifying why they should not be playing blades.. Or worried about other people's handicaps and spending time justifying how it just can't be true....

I don't know about you, but in my group, there's something called bragging rights and bets on the line. Think about how Tiger's game has pretty much upped the bar for everyone else on the tour. I simply asked what people's opinions were in someone improving that quickly in a matter of 3 weeks. Your kind of response simply adds ZERO value to the discussion.

[Clambake]

I can only speak for myself, but 5 months ago I wasn't able to break 90 and today I

But what did you shoot on the back nine?

[diducmyball]

possible, but unlikely.

So in five months you've personally gone from worse than a bogey golfer to being scratch? Seems highly unlikely due to the simple fact that a swing that can't break 90 is entirely different than a scratch swing. Any swing change and in your case pretty sure overhaul is just simply not possible in 5 months. Simply look at Paddy Harrington and or an amateur like Barkley. Regardless if somehow you managed let me get in contact with your coach I might just be able to get on tour!

[LongballGer]

So in five months you've personally gone from worse than a bogey golfer to being scratch? Seems highly unlikely due to the simple fact that a swing that can't break 90 is entirely different than a scratch swing. Any swing change and in your case pretty sure overhaul is just simply not possible in 5 months. Simply look at Paddy Harrington and or an amateur like Barkley. Regardless if somehow you managed let me get in contact with your coach I might just be able to get on tour!

I don't have a coach.

I just read a ton of golf books, watched swing analysis of the pros, watched my own swing on camera etc... then I went to the range and worked on it. My swing was actually fundamentally sound, I just did a lot of minor things wrong which led me to spray the ball all over the place. My short game was what absolutely killed me though.

[diducmyball]

I don't have a coach.

Interesting to say the least. You should go out and qualify for a some mini tour events.

[TN94z]

possible, but unlikely.

WOW!!! That is some crazy improvement there. It usually takes years to get to scratch and you did it in five months! Now that is amazing

[alf174]

Interesting to say the least. You should go out and qualify for a some mini tour events.

I believe he would need a verifiable GHIN handicap to gain entry.

[diducmyball]

I believe he would need a verifiable GHIN handicap to gain entry.

I am sure he has one. An index that low is like a trophy wife, you take her out and show the world every chance you get and yell "you will never get this you will never get it lalalalalala..."

[alf174]

I am sure he has one. An index that low is like a trophy wife, take her out and show the world, "you will never get this you will never get it lalalalalala..."

It would be interesting to see the index history, how he progressed. Something to aspire to.

[diducmyball]

It would be interesting to see the index history, how he progressed. Something to aspire to.

Can't disagree one bit with that. Classic story of rag to riches. He might just be the first player to challenge Lee Trevino's record for fastest hacker to major winner in the history of Golf.

[DJYoshi]

not completely impossible. in the past month since I went to see an instructor to tweak my swing for the rest of the season.. i've gone from a 9.1 down to a 4.9. I've been having money rounds in the low - mid 70's with 1 of 5 rounds in each week i've played in the low 80's... but my anti HC is still 12...so take the strokes and win some money...just like my brother who's a 36 did against me 2 nights ago and he shot a 110 and I shot 9 over

[cody west]

im sure its a mental thing. once people realize that they can make their bad holes bogeys by playing the safe shot when in trouble instead of going for the green from the woods you can lose 2 to 4 strokes per bad holes.
think about it most peoples bad holes are 7,8,9 depending on how much trouble they get in and if they get out of the woods. if people learn to punch out of the woods and put it on in 3 and 2 putt for a bogey they can drop strokes like crazy. i know when i learned that i went from losing 1 or 2 balls a round to losing 1 ball about every 2 and a half rounds.
i bet he jsut learned to play smart

[flopdarock]

to the op... i wouldnt worry too much about him and would like to actually play against him... if he really has improved that much its a great accomplishment... if not...
i love playing vanity caps when my game is on... but sometimes i think i have a vanity cap when im not playing well... i played with a coworker of mine and he shot a 90 in one round and 4 under a week later... needless to say i was impressed... thank god we werent playing for money