Is it possible to play off scratch from 30 in 18 months?

[Mjrowe1]

I started playing golf at the beginning of the year and got a Golf Australia handicap of 27.5 in April, I have set myself a goal of getting to scratch in 18 months. 8 months later I have a GA handicap of 13.7. Is my goal possible? Is there anyone out there that has done the same who can give some solid advice?

[Rainmaker]

That's awesome progress.  Can you make it scratch in 10 months . .sure.  Statistically speaking it's not likely but it depends on your natural talent and you obviously have some.  You're obviously practicing in a way that is effective, too.  If I were you, I wouldn't necessarily worry about making scratch in X number of months . .just keep doing what you're doing until you stop steadily improving.  If you're not already, take a lesson or two . .some people are naturally athletic enough to shoot pretty decently with poor technique but it's limiting to their overall progress.  Good luck!   

[Golfingdad]

@Rainmaker pretty much covered it.  It's certainly not very likely, but obviously not impossible.

I especially echo what he said about not worrying about specific numbers, just that you're progressing.  I've improved every year since I started playing again and it's immensely satisfying, even when it's only a stroke or less in a year.  (Overall I've gone from just upwards of 10 to a 5 in about 3 1/2 years of dedicated play and practice.)

Would I like to get to scratch?  Of course.  But I'm not focused on it - I'm focused on getting better.

Good luck!

[Oz Max]

Anything is possible, all comes down to how much practice/effort you can put in the game. However I think you'll find that the progress from 24 to 13 is quite a lot easier than 13 to scratch... those last few hcp points will be the hardest to ever get!

[rkim291968]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I highly doubt if anyone here has gone from 30 to 0 in 18 months.   I haven't see one yet.   The best you can find are those folks who have been trying - @nosevi for one.   He keeps a blog thread here.  You can also check out http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/45853-the-dan-plan-10000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/?page=217#comment-1163650

 

 

 

 

[Oz Max]

24 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

Welcome to the forum.

 

I highly doubt if anyone here has gone from 30 to 0 in 18 months.   I haven't see one yet.   The best you can find are those folks who have been trying - @nosevi for one.   He keeps a blog thread here.  You can also check out http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/45853-the-dan-plan-10000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/?page=217#comment-1163650

 

 

 

 

I was going to link the Dan Plan, but the Plan (or lack thereof) got too ugly in the end. But surely Mjrowe1 displays more athleticism than Dan if he went down that quickly to 13

[Pretzel]

As I mentioned in the goals thread, it is technically possible but realistically highly unlikely. You will find that, as you progress into the single digits, progress becomes much slower and more difficult than it previously was. 

Some good steps you might take to work towards your goal include:

- Post a "My Swing" thread to receive valuable feedback

- Check out the thread on where to devote your practice time: http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/58816-652015-practice-ratios-where-to-devote-your-practice-time/#comment-757791

- Continue as a contributing member of this forum (helps with the first step, since people are more interested in helping active community members than those who lurk only for free instruction)

 

[Mjrowe1]

3 hours ago, Rainmaker said:

That's awesome progress.  Can you make it scratch in 10 months . .sure.  Statistically speaking it's not likely but it depends on your natural talent and you obviously have some.  You're obviously practicing in a way that is effective, too.  If I were you, I wouldn't necessarily worry about making scratch in X number of months . .just keep doing what you're doing until you stop steadily improving.  If you're not already, take a lesson or two . .some people are naturally athletic enough to shoot pretty decently with poor technique but it's limiting to their overall progress.  Good luck!   

Thanks for the feed back and advice guys, I'm not very forum savy so you'll have to bare with me. I'm interested in this Dan Plan, how is he going? What were he's goals? Is he achieving what he set out to do?

 

as for me, how do I keep you up to date with my progress, training, coarses I play? I'm currently a member at Commonwealth golf club in Melbourne on the Sandbelt, we have the Vic amature championships on at the moment, the place is in ripping condition. Even better I get to play at Kingston Heath on Friday.

 

 

[Lihu]

7 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

I started playing golf at the beginning of the year and got a Golf Australia handicap of 27.5 in April, I have set myself a goal of getting to scratch in 18 months. 8 months later I have a GA handicap of 13.7. Is my goal possible? Is there anyone out there that has done the same who can give some solid advice?

Getting from 30 to a 13.7 in Australia is a pretty decent achievement. Getting there to scratch was done by only one other Australian golfer that I know of, Greg Norman when he was 15 to 16 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Norman#Early_professional_career:_1975.E2.80.931983

 

5 hours ago, Pretzel said:

As I mentioned in the goals thread, it is technically possible but realistically highly unlikely. You will find that, as you progress into the single digits, progress becomes much slower and more difficult than it previously was.

It could even stand still when you get to a 5 to 10.

 

4 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

Thanks for the feed back and advice guys, I'm not very forum savy so you'll have to bare with me. I'm interested in this Dan Plan, how is he going? What were he's goals? Is he achieving what he set out to do?

as for me, how do I keep you up to date with my progress, training, coarses I play? I'm currently a member at Commonwealth golf club in Melbourne on the Sandbelt, we have the Vic amature championships on at the moment, the place is in ripping condition. Even better I get to play at Kingston Heath on Friday.

Dan is not doing very well on the golfing front, but his PR engine is doing great!

Looking forward to your progress reports!

[RussUK]

@Mjrowe1I learnt never to rule anything out so if you're a determined person then why not. I really hope you achieve it or at least get to low singles. Keep us all posted on your progress, and dont forget us poor hackers when you reach your target 

 

@Lihu is the Dan PLan plan no longer going to plan? He was in Golf monthly a while ago and the likes of Nike, TM and Titleist were all over him. Has he bitten off more than he can chew (slightly OT i know)

[Lihu]

Just now, RussUK said:

@Mjrowe1I learnt never to rule anything out so if you're a determined person then why not. I really hope you achieve it or at least get to low singles. Keep us all posted on your progress, and dont forget us poor hackers when you reach your target 

 

@Lihu is the Dan PLan plan no longer going to plan? He was in Golf monthly a while ago and the likes of Nike, TM and Titleist were all over him. Has he bitten off more than he can chew (slightly OT i know)

Dan is still working on his plan, but I'm not sure how he's progressing.

His driving distance is going to limit his chances of advancing. I doubt he even has the 106 mph swing shown on his Trackman reports, he carries the ball 220-230.

[mvmac]

Poll added.

10 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

Is my goal possible?

That's great progress but you might start running into a "plateau" stage soon. Just depends on how your ballstriking progresses. If you consistently hit your driver over 250 yards and are getting close to hitting more greens than you miss, then you have a chance. Obviously going from a 30 to a 14 is MUCH easier than going from a 14 to a scratch. Going from a 2 to a 0 is huge.

[natureboy]

You could be the next Greg Norman. Worth a try anyway. Play & practice a TON.

8 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

Welcome to the forum.

 

I highly doubt if anyone here has gone from 30 to 0 in 18 months.   I haven't see one yet.   The best you can find are those folks who have been trying - @nosevi for one.   He keeps a blog thread here.  You can also check out http://thesandtrap.com/forums/topic/45853-the-dan-plan-10000-hours-to-become-a-pro-golfer-dan-mclaughlin/?page=217#comment-1163650

 

 

 

 

Nosevi was trying to get from a 5 to 'pro' level. He had played for years (may have grown up with the game) and was a well-established 5.

[rkim291968]

17 minutes ago, natureboy said:

You could be the next Greg Norman. Worth a try anyway. Play & practice a TON.

Nosevi was trying to get from a 5 to 'pro' level. He had played for years (may have grown up with the game) and was a well-established 5.

Yes, and I think he did a decent job coming down from 5 to where he is at now.  But that took dedication, resource, and hard work.   The OP may get to 5 at some point and will be on path to repeat what @Nosevi did, not to get to pro level but to reach scratch.

 

We all faced the dreaded handicap "plateau."   For some, like me, it plateau'd at 16 - 19.  For others, it comes at 10, 5, scratch.   But as our handicap goes lower, it becomes exponentially tougher to reduce it.   The progress is not linear.  Going from 20 to 10 may have taken 12 months.   That does not mean the same golfer can go from 10 to 0 in another 12 months.

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

Yes, and I think he did a decent job coming down from 5 to where he is at now.  But that took dedication, resource, and hard work.   The OP may get to 5 at some point and will be on path to repeat what @Nosevi did, not to get to pro level but to reach scratch.

We all faced the dreaded handicap "plateau."   For some, like me, it plateau'd at 16 - 19.  For others, it comes at 10, 5, scratch.   But lower the handicap goes, it becomes exponentially tougher to reduce the HI.    The progress is not linear.  

Agree with your first statement, but I doubt the second thing is a permanent situation. Remember that you were a 12 less than 2 years ago. You have a great short game, nicely fitted clubs, and you average 215-220 yards off the tee. That should get you down to 12 again pretty handily. . .

[Dave2512]

I made similar progress with a similar trend. Started April 2012 and by mid summer I was returning scores for handicap. My first official handicap was 26.x and by the end of the 2012 handicap season I was down to 12.3. I can honestly say it wasn't that tough. The quality of golf I was playing at 12 not much different than 20. More than swing progress I shaved a bunch of strokes just realizing my limitations and planning appropriately (course management).

From 12 to where I am now was significantly more difficult. I ended 2013 at 7.3, 2014 at 8.3 and this year 6.9. Most of the work was done in 2013 I played a lot and practiced a lot. I had a great instructor early 2014 but work related stress and buying/selling a home derailed me late summer 2014. I am sure I will trend down in 2016 but it gets tougher. My early quick trend down was followed by 3 years hard work just to maintain where I was at.

 

[bkuehn1952]

12 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

I started playing golf at the beginning of the year and got a Golf Australia handicap of 27.5 in April, I have set myself a goal of getting to scratch in 18 months. 8 months later I have a GA handicap of 13.7. Is my goal possible? ...

Well, you only have 10 months to go.  Get out there and practice, play and see what happens. Prove most of us were wrong when we told you "no."    

[natureboy]

13 hours ago, Mjrowe1 said:

I started playing golf at the beginning of the year and got a Golf Australia handicap of 27.5 in April, I have set myself a goal of getting to scratch in 18 months. 8 months later I have a GA handicap of 13.7. Is my goal possible?

It might be. About how many hours a week do you practice and play since you got your handicap? And about how many hours had you played per week before you got your HCP?

Edited December 9, 2015 by natureboy