Scratch Dreams

[kennay92]

Get back to us in a year's time, and tell us how you did it.

when did i ever talk about me shooting par or how long it will take me? dont know what you did all that for?

Great points here. Also, a 5 over 77 is quite a bit different from 6200 yards than it is from 6700. As your handicap drops, you should be challenging yourself on the longer tees.

and i play from the back tees if you were referring to me

[delav]

Kennay, i don't believe either posts were geared toward you. Just thoughts on scratch golf in general.

[kennay92]

Kennay, i don't believe either posts were geared toward you. Just thoughts on scratch golf in general.

well i was assuming his was because he quoted my post when he made his, so yeah.. and yours i didnt know, but if it was i was just clearing the water, thats all.

[JML22]

16 to a 10 is doable... scratch is out of the question.
Practice putting
practice putting
practice putting and chipping
practice putting and chipping

[wrx_junki]

There might be a small possibility if you quit school or your job and decide to devote all your time on golf. Reality is that you most likely won't be able to do this.

You ask what you should be focusing on to become a scratch? Keeping the ball in play is a must. Hitting a good amount of fairways is another must. Hitting a good amount of GIR's is a must. Having a good short game to scramble for par is a must. Putting of course undoubtedly has to be very sound. So basically you need to be good at everything or else one aspect of the game will put more pressure on another aspect of the game.

[Shorty]

thats ridiculous, my one year just rolled around at the beginning of this month, and well, you can see my hc to the left. so saying that'll take 5 years is straight outrageous.

That fact that you've written this would indicate to me that this is a DIY handicap and not one which has been earnt in competition play.

There is absolutely no reason at all to think that a person off 10 would ever get below 7 or 8 or even 9. It doesn't happen automatically. Once you have reached your potential, that's it. No amount of time or money can do that much about it. The fact that you think it's "ridiculous" that you'll take 5 years to get to scratch probbaly means you'll never come close. To be a genuine 9.8 after one year would be an extraordinary effort. And don't assume that you just keep on getting lower, because you don't.

[Shorty]

16 to a 10 is doable... scratch is out of the question.

And that's after you've developed a superb driving and iron game.

[kennay92]

That fact that you've written this would indicate to me that this is a DIY handicap and not one which has been earnt in competition play.

I was stating that its ridiculous for him to say that to the OP part based on that the OP says he's going to be working hard and determined and part to give OP moral support and not undersize his goals.

And for that comment of yours, when your at the chipping/putting greens & range every single day hitting hundreds of balls and playing multiple times a week, talk to me.

[Shorty]

I was stating that its ridiculous for him to say that to the OP part based on that the OP says he's going to be working hard and determined and part to give OP moral support and not undersize his goals.

Thee's a difference between giving moral support and saying that anything is possible. If you think that it is possible to become a scratch golfer just because you want to and are prepared to work hard, it shows how few really good players you have seen.

[kennay92]

Thee's a difference between giving moral support and saying that anything is possible. If you think that it is possible to become a scratch golfer just because you want to and are prepared to work hard, it shows how few really good players you have seen.

I never said that anyone can become a scratch golfer just because they're gonna work hard, your putting words in mouth. Stop being a tool,all youve done is doubt people, doubt the OP can do it, doubt my handicap is true, doubt i could be scratch in less than five years, doubt ive seen more than a few good players. im just tryin to help a guy out.... Black Hulk if you think you can become a scratch golfer in a year by all means go for it.. /argument with shorty

[max power]

I played sporadically for about 13-14 years, I didn't keep track of any kind of official handicap, but it probably fluctuated between 14 and 18 depending on how often I played or hit the range. Last year I shot my career low round with borrowed clubs one day on vacation, and got the golfing bug bad. I became serious about the game for the first time, started hitting the range with relative regularity, and probably squeezed in 50 rounds between April and the beginning of November. I was about a 12 after a couple months, and single digits by the end of summer. That was as low as I ever thought I'd get, and I was thrilled. I managed to take a couple more strokes off the index this Spring, so I improved approximately 9 strokes in 1 year. But it gets exponentially harder every half-stroke lower I manage to get. I'd like to see scratch someday, but it's probably an unrealistic goal, even if I did invest time and money in lessons and significantly more practice. Nothing wrong with having a goal, but I recommend focusing on smaller steps. My next goal is to become a 5, and I imagine it could happen in 2-3 years, but I'd have to continue to play as much as I have been over the last year, which is not a given.

[brgolf]

Play 365 rounds this year, practice every day for 2-3 hours before collapsing in a heap. Get fitted for the correct equipment take lessons each week, read books and implement good advice. Be super intelligent and accurately understand precisely what you did wrong on a bad shot- not guesswork. Be incredibly fit both physically and mentally. Optimise everything around golf from gym sessions to nutrition.

You'd be unlucky not to get to at least >3 if you made those efforts but for most of us it is impractical. Indeed the kudos of being that good at golf would be limited in my mind by the fact that you spent so much time and energy to get there that you ought to have gotten there! There would be nothing remarkable about it as such.

Leading a normal life but being pretty good at golf is good enough for me. If in 3 years my handicap is less than 4 I'd be happy and would impress most people I play with if that happened to be my goal.

[Bump-n-MI]

Everyone keeps taking about the quantity of practice time….you can spend 8 hours a day 364 days a year on the range and never get anywhere if you do not understand the golf swing. Get some lessons to fine-tune your swing….swing flaws are fairly easy to fix if you have not been playing long.

It's all about quality and not quantity IMHO.

[Black Hulk]

Some from what it looks like EVERYONE is saying it is damn near impossible! And am i reading Paper Tiger now! So most of you would say putting and chipping and lessons?

[delav]

I never said that anyone can become a scratch golfer just because they're gonna work hard, your putting words in mouth. Stop being a tool,all youve done is doubt people, doubt the OP can do it, doubt my handicap is true, doubt i could be scratch in less than five years, doubt ive seen more than a few good players. im just tryin to help a guy out.... Black Hulk if you think you can become a scratch golfer in a year by all means go for it.. /argument with shorty

Easy Champ... nobody is out to get you.

If you can become a golfer with a USGA index of 1 or less within a years time, I'd actually give you my bag of clubs and give up golf (seriously). At that point, you'd need them more than I do. It's a long, hard road, and as others have said, it takes tons of quality practice and a commitment to learning the right things. Seems like you've got the drive and work ethic to get there. I think some guys (in thread) might be a bit torqued because they've worked hard for years and years to get to a sub-5 handicap. This is normal, and anyone here on the board with a strong game and lower handicap has likely gone through the agonizing process of trial by fire in their golf game. Hell, I spent 3 years fluctuating around an 8 while I was working on swing changes and practicing constantly. It sucks to make backward progress after a year of hard work as you deal with swing changes, short game woes, injuries, etc... But I'll be honest that it's taken me the last 12 years of hard work to attain a 2.8. Perhaps I am a slow learner, but I think you'll likely find thousands of other guys in my exact shoes. In my 15 years of golf, I've yet to meet someone who shot near par golf inside 10 years at the game... it just doesn't normally happen that way. With that said, I've seen your swing. With good instruction and some hard work, you've obviously got the athleticism to tighten things up and take a few strokes off the handicap this year.

[DavidFehertysBike]

If youre only 16, i would say scratch is a very realisitc goal. Perhaps not within a year, though. But if you are dedicated and willing to work, i would even say its probable. Once you get into the low single digits, its really mostly about putting and conisistancy. Being able to repeat what you do. A scratch player doesnt really strike the ball much better than i do, but he is more consistant. Where i might shoot 70 one round and go out and shoot 80 the next, the scratch players peaks and valleys are not as dramatic.

[walk18]

Join a competetive league or enter some local tournaments that have scratch golfers. You'll quickly see how you stack up and how far you have to go.

[sean_miller]

I have been playing golf for a little over 3 years now and have really began to take it seriously within the last year. I really would like to be a scratch golfer, and think I can do it within a year. What should I be focusing on to make this happen!

Focus on keeping the ball in play and scoring around the green.

Spend some time determining your best, most consistent, long clubs. If you need to tee off 90% of the time with a 2-hybrid, do it. Spend enough time with each iron that you know how to hit it +/- 20 yards and different trajectories. To be a scratch player you need to shoot around par (just above or below) in almost any weather. Not saying you'll shoot low 70s in a hurricane, but you don't want to be a fairweather scratch player. Work on putting - lag putts on difficult greens, make almost 100 percent of your 0-3 footers, and a really high percentage or the 4 and 5 footers too. Again, learn to grind out a decent score, even with your B or C game. It sounds like you're about to enter the prime of your athletic life (18-30) and although it's a lofty goal, nothing is "impossible" if you have enough talent, commitment, and luck. Good luck!!!