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3 HCP to Scratch and better


Logan Wood
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Hi everyone! I'm here to ask if getting to a 3 handicap down to scratch and potentially better than scratch, is possible from now, to June of next year. I'm about to start College. I'll have 4 hours 2 days of the week for practice 6-10 hours 1 day, 36 hole tournament for 2 days, and Saturday's and Sundays for practice. All of this is with the help of an instructor, so it will be l more productive than by myself. Golf is what I want to do with my life and this is one of my short term goals to reach that one long term goal. Thanks for any opinions and advice!

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6 hours ago, Logan Wood said:

Hi everyone! I'm here to ask if getting to a 3 handicap down to scratch and potentially better than scratch, is possible from now, to June of next year. I'm about to start College. I'll have 4 hours 2 days of the week for practice 6-10 hours 1 day, 36 hole tournament for 2 days, and Saturday's and Sundays for practice. All of this is with the help of an instructor, so it will be l more productive than by myself. Golf is what I want to do with my life and this is one of my short term goals to reach that one long term goal. Thanks for any opinions and advice!

With out knowing anything at all, under 6% chance. That is just based on people who actually have a USGA Handicap.

http://www.usga.org/Handicapping/handicap-index-statistics/mens-handicap-index-statistics-d24e6096.html

We do not know your current ability, how good your current instructor is, etc.. Lots of unknowns to really say for sure if you have a chance.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Agree with @saevel25, without knowing more, it's tough to tell.  Where do you live?  The chances are a LOT better if you're someplace where you can practice and especially play all year.  That along with a good plan, GOOD instruction, and your own commitment are going to be the key.

As you already know, those 3 strokes are a real challenge.  Not at all like dropping from 10 to 7....

Good luck, keep us up to date, and welcome to the forum!  :beer:

In David's bag....

Driver: Titleist 910 D-3;  9.5* Diamana Kai'li
3-Wood: Titleist 910F;  15* Diamana Kai'li
Hybrids: Titleist 910H 19* and 21* Diamana Kai'li
Irons: Titleist 695cb 5-Pw

Wedges: Scratch 51-11 TNC grind, Vokey SM-5's;  56-14 F grind and 60-11 K grind
Putter: Scotty Cameron Kombi S
Ball: ProV1

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@David in FL Thanks! I'm in Denver, CO, so I have access to a lot of resources. My school has an indoor practice facility and there are plenty of businesses with launch monitors, putting greens, etc. They might not like me being there using them the whole day though haha.

     I trust in my coach to give me the instruction I need, and then it's up to me and my practice plan to improve those skills and take them to the course. I currently use a pretty in depth plan set with 12 week increments to assess my skills, and track my improvement.

    I know I can do it and reach my goals now, and down the road, thanks again and I'll keep the forums updated!

@saevel25

     Thanks, it's all up to me!

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13 hours ago, Logan Wood said:

Hi everyone! I'm here to ask if getting to a 3 handicap down to scratch and potentially better than scratch, is possible from now, to June of next year. I'm about to start College. I'll have 4 hours 2 days of the week for practice 6-10 hours 1 day, 36 hole tournament for 2 days, and Saturday's and Sundays for practice. All of this is with the help of an instructor, so it will be l more productive than by myself. Golf is what I want to do with my life and this is one of my short term goals to reach that one long term goal. Thanks for any opinions and advice!

Yes you can. I did it with less preparation than that.

I started playing again on january 2016, at age 32. 4 handicap, lowest handicap in my life was 2 in 2000.
Between 2000 and 2016 i just played 2 years arround 2007.
Here in Argentina you can play the whole year, even on winter. 
During 2016 i never went to practice and i only played once or two each week. 60 rounds in the whole year, i dropped my handicap to 2.

On January 2017 i decided i wanted to be scratch or better. I started trainning alone 1 or 2 times each week (1 hour and a half per practice), play 1 or 2 times on the weekend and learned a lot of course management over the internet. Almost 8 months later i´m at +1 and improving.

With proper work it can be done ! Hang in there !  

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14 hours ago, Logan Wood said:

Hi everyone! I'm here to ask if getting to a 3 handicap down to scratch and potentially better than scratch, is possible from now, to June of next year. I'm about to start College. I'll have 4 hours 2 days of the week for practice 6-10 hours 1 day, 36 hole tournament for 2 days, and Saturday's and Sundays for practice. All of this is with the help of an instructor, so it will be l more productive than by myself. Golf is what I want to do with my life and this is one of my short term goals to reach that one long term goal. Thanks for any opinions and advice!

It is possible, but not for everyone. As someone who's done it (got to a +2 at my best), it isn't easy at all.

There are two things that helped push me over the edge. The first is that I started making birdies, where before I was mostly stuck with pars and bogies and maybe 1-2 birdies in a round. The second is that I stopped making double bogies or worse, for the most part. Avoiding blowup holes entirely and making more birdies, while it sounds obvious, is hard to do. I practiced a lot with my short irons and wedges to try and hit approach shots tighter to make more birdies, and I started to plan my entire round before I set foot on the course to avoid big numbers that could come into play from poor decisions. 

It's definitely possible for some. It took me 2-2.5 years to go from ~3 to where I finally got past scratch, but it could be accelerated (I slowed down my playing time significantly after dropping from an 8 to a 2 in a summer, so perhaps it could have been quicker). It will require a lot of work, and in the right areas, and for some people it may end up not happening. Not everyone is physically capable of getting better than scratch, and everyone will eventually find their limit. I don't know for certain that I found my limit when I got to my lowest handicap, but I do know that I learned enough about my limits to realize that a career in golf was never, ever going to happen for me (unless I taught, but that isn't something that greatly interests me for a variety of reasons). 

Edited by Pretzel
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The more pertinent question is where are you losing your 3 or so strokes a round.  Is it strategy, a bad area of your game or is a 3 handicap exceeding your current skill (for example you are hitting badly but recovering brilliantly in your short game).  Depending on where your weakness is it can take a few hours, weeks or years to drop those strokes

What's in the bag

  • Taylor Made r5 dual Draw 9.5* (stiff)
  • Cobra Baffler 4H (stiff)
  • Taylor Made RAC OS 6-9,P,S (regular)
  • Golden Bear LD5.0 60* (regular)
  • Aidia Z-009 Putter
  • Inesis Soft 500 golf ball
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(edited)

@pganapathy

It's clear to me that I lose strokes on the tee and with my approach. I hit wayward of the tee which makes my second shots harder, and when I do hit well off the tee, I can't get it close enough to make the putt, if I can even get it on the green haha. I think it's my clubface position at impact and perhaps my swing plane as well. I will work hard at this. I feel my short game is actually pretty good, it's just hard to save par every time, you know?

Edited by Logan Wood
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4 hours ago, pganapathy said:

The more pertinent question is where are you losing your 3 or so strokes a round.  Is it strategy, a bad area of your game or is a 3 handicap exceeding your current skill (for example you are hitting badly but recovering brilliantly in your short game).  Depending on where your weakness is it can take a few hours, weeks or years to drop those strokes

I don't think he's a 3 right now.

I think he's asking if he can get down TO a 3 or scratch.

19 hours ago, Logan Wood said:

I'm here to ask if getting to a 3 handicap down to scratch and potentially better than scratch, is possible from now

But it's unclear.

So I'll ask this: @Logan Wood, what scores do you shoot now from what tees?

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Well, you're in the neighborhood. You're also in the zone where improvement gets really difficult. A 20, with proper instruction and practice, can become a 15 seemingly overnight! A 15 can become a 10! Improvement can come big jumps at that level.

If you're averaging a 77 on a course rated at 73, that's very respectable. But, you're also in the realm where improvement comes slowly. Stroke by stroke. I'd advise that you just don't get in a rush.

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1 hour ago, Logan Wood said:

@iacas

Thanks for the reply. Currently I have an average of 77 from the farthest tees at my home course 7,100 yards and a rating of 72.9     

Okay, so you are a 3.0 right now.

And if that's the case… then you probably have a better idea whether you can get down to 0 or better than many of those responding, who haven't gotten to a 3 or better themselves (yet).

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Note: This thread is 2416 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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