What's Preventing You From Playing Scratch Golf?

[iacas]

When I was a 2, what prevented me from getting to zero?

Lack of Boredom.

[nevets88]

When I was a 2, what prevented me from getting to zero?

Lack of Boredom.

Variety is the spice of life.

[David in FL]

When I was a 2, what prevented me from getting to zero?

Lack of Boredom.

'splain please.

I suspect there's something here that is worth understanding.....

[Golfingdad]

I think the easier question to answer would be what ISN'T preventing me from becoming scratch.  Answer:  My equipment.  I have new, fitted clubs, I use good balls, my glove doesn't have a hole in it, and I have nice shoes and clothes.

And that's pretty much it.  Almost literally, EVERYTHING else is keeping me from being scratch.  My tee shots more than most, but everything.  If I could play a modified alternate shot game with a scratch golfer, and just have him hit all of the shots from one category, here's what I think would happen.  (I'm an 7.9 index right now by myself)

I hit all shots to the green, then scratch golfer hits all of my putts.  My guess is that my handicap would be  ........................................................ 7.0

If I got it tee to near green, and also hit all the putts, but had a scratch golfer play all of my short game shots, I'd probably be a ......................... 7.0

If I played everything except full iron shots, I'd probably be .................................................................................................................................... 6.0

If I could have a scratch golfer hit all of my tee shots for me, I believe I'd be about a ............................................................................................ 3.0

My tee game is definitely my biggest weakness right now ... but scratch golfers are really, really, really good (compared to me) so I would have to improve all of it.  I don't do one single thing as well as a scratch golfer.  (Except maybe dress )

Look at it this way:  If I could take my best 10 out of my last every single round I've ever played , my handicap would still be probably something close to a 3.  I've never had one single round where I had a "scratch" differential.  And to be a scratch golfer, I have to do that HALF of the time????  Yikes!!

[nevets88]

'splain please.

I suspect there's something here that is worth understanding.....

I interpreted his post as there were way too many other interesting things to do.

[Abu3baid]

I think I have the physical ability to do it..  However, lack of good Mechanics & understanding of how the body parts work together to produce a good shot on a consistent basis prevents me..

[rkim291968]

Below is what came to my mind when I saw the subject line of this thread.

You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the !#$ do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.  Listen, you scratchers, you pros. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the golfnow.com, the singles, the pros, the marshals, the golf gods. Here is a man who stood up.

I started too late in golf to even answer the question.   But I believe I can score a par 18 round someday.   Doing that consistently to be called a scratch golfer?   Not in my life time ... sadly.

[iacas]

'splain please.

I suspect there's something here that is worth understanding.....

I mostly meant that my game was too far from boring to be a scratch golfer. I'd hit too many poor shots. The golfers even two or three strokes better than me were playing a far more boring game than I was.

My mechanics were largely responsible for this lack of boredom, in many facets of the game. Not my putting, though that improved too.

[jamo]

then 100% of my shots are mis-hits because I'm not getting eagle 2's on every par 4…

I know you were being hyperbolic, but that's probably closer to the truth than you'd think.

[David in FL]

I mostly meant that my game was too far from boring to be a scratch golfer. I'd hit too many poor shots. The golfers even two or three strokes better than me were playing a far more boring game than I was. My mechanics were largely responsible for this lack of boredom, in many facets of the game. Not my putting, though that improved too.

Ahhhh, that makes absolute sence. Hit green, two putt, move on. No excitement there. Fortunately (?) I have much more going on in my game! :-D

[David in FL]

Ahhhh, that makes absolute :~(sence . Hit green, two putt, move on. No excitement there. Fortunately (?) I have much more going on in my game! :-D

sense........ .....where's the auto-correct when you need it? :~(

[Abu3baid]

Not activated on the forum... Kills me..

[David in FL]

I know you were being hyperbolic, but that's probably closer to the truth than you'd think.

@jamo is right.....and it's the same point that @Phil McGleno made too.  Playing off 14 you're "missing" a LOT more than 2-4 shots per round.  In fact, by scratch standards, you're likely not hitting more than 2 or 3 well-struck shots per round.....maybe less.  To put it into perspective, I shot 78 yesterday while hitting 10 greens (which is damn good for me) and lipping out 3 birdies.  In replaying the round in my mind, I only struck 4 shots really well all day.

Until someone understands what it really means to strike the ball well by the standards of a scratch or better player, they're going to have trouble genuinely answering the OP because they don't understand where the real difference lies between their skill level and that of a real scratch player.

[Dave2512]

I would be surprised if anyone didn't understand the difference. I suppose there is a time in every golfers life when they mistakenly think they are better than they are but if they are progressing it's usually fleeting. A couple of minutes on the range with impact tape or a marker is enough to dispel those thoughts when you see the ball marks all over the face.

[The Recreational Golfer]

If you give nine mulligans, I’ll shoot par. Why do I need them? Because I’m lacking that much security in my skills to hit my better shot first as often as I would like to. The do-overs are always much better. Second, my skills do not allow me to recover from a bad shot where it lies all the time so I still have a chance at par.

I hit the ball very straight, though not far, I chip well, putt well, but there is fuzz around the edges that adds up to strokes leaking away here and there. When I look back on my bad shots, it was usually because of something I forgot to do in my setup, I tried to get too much out of the shot, or I hadn’t really convinced myself that I could hit this shot well -- mental errors.

[David in FL]

If you give nine mulligans, I’ll shoot par. Why do I need them? Because I’m lacking that much security in my skills to hit my better shot first as often as I would like to. The do-overs are always much better. Second, my skills do not allow me to recover from a bad shot where it lies all the time so I still have a chance at par.

I hit the ball very straight, though not far, I chip well, putt well, but there is fuzz around the edges that adds up to strokes leaking away here and there. When I look back on my bad shots, it was usually because of something I forgot to do in my setup, I tried to get too much out of the shot, or I hadn’t really convinced myself that I could hit this shot well -- mental errors.

Interesting thought, but I don't know.....  With a 9.5 index, your scoring average is probably around 84ish....?  Do you really think that 9 mulligans would be enough to save you 12+ strokes very often?

I certainly wouldn't guarantee 72 with 9 mulligans and my scoring average is 79.9 right now.

[Stretch]

I don't hit it far enough. And I'm a terrible putter.

No! I'm not! I'm an excellent putter! Nay, an exceptional putter! I love putting! Every time I walk on the green, all I think about is how happy I am to be there and to have a chance to show how good I am at putting! Yeah!*

(* Can you tell I'm working on my mental game in 2014?)

[rkim291968]

Wouldn't it be too boring to be a scratch golfer?  That'd prevent me from being a scratch golfer as I don't want my golf outing to turn into boring event.   Top 10 reasons what is preventing me from being a scratch golfer.

1. It would be too boring to be a scratch golfer

2. I don't want to be too good to piss off others.

3. I am not obsessed enough (but close)

4. I got other hobbies.

5. I don't want to practice too much.

6. I don't have money to hire Tiger's ex-coach.

7. I started too late.

8. I don't have time.

9. I am too short.

10. I am too old.