Chasing Scratch (the Podcast)

[alleztom]

@iacas thank you so much for the commentary here. I really enjoy the podcast, fwiw, because they're tilting at windmills, which they do with a bit of charisma and a good mix of humour/seriousness. But having got to the end of the last season, and then reading through this thread, your 'commentary' on it made it even more enjoyable. Thanks, made me smile a lot, I hope you keep it going.

[iacas]

7 hours ago, alleztom said:

@iacas thank you so much for the commentary here. I really enjoy the podcast, fwiw, because they're tilting at windmills, which they do with a bit of charisma and a good mix of humour/seriousness. But having got to the end of the last season, and then reading through this thread, your 'commentary' on it made it even more enjoyable. Thanks, made me smile a lot, I hope you keep it going.

Thanks. I think they have the talent to get to scratch, but their planning and methodology is really bad.

They outed their names so now we can track them on GHIN, too.

Mike Shade and William Strait.

[Carl3]

12 hours ago, iacas said:

Thanks. I think they have the talent to get to scratch, but their planning and methodology is really bad.

They outed their names so now we can track them on GHIN, too.

Mike Shade and William Strait.

What state are they from?

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Carl3 said:

What state are they from?

NC and KY. Do you listen? (And I don't mean that snarky like — I know of at least one person who just reads this topic and follows along that way, ha ha.)

[alleztom]

14 hours ago, iacas said:

 their planning and methodology is really bad.

I think that's the chaos and fun of it. I think then it's more than they're tilting at windmills, that they possibly could, and aren't, is part of the fun. I think if they just approached it methodically and logically they'd get there and I wouldn't enjoy it.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, alleztom said:

I think that's the chaos and fun of it. I think then it's more than they're tilting at windmills, that they possibly could, and aren't, is part of the fun. I think if they just approached it methodically and logically they'd get there and I wouldn't enjoy it.

I don't think it's fun.

[alleztom]

I know, and I'm cool with that. I can see why you'd find it excruciating.

[Wanzo]

They pledged to get to scratch. Five years later, what have they learned?

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Mike and Eli set a goal to get to a scratch handicap in one year and documented their progress — along with all the twists and turns.

[iacas]

They’re 5.7 and 4.7 right now.

They got to 3.6 at one point in year two I think.

[Bucki1968]

I listen to a lot of golf podcasts but for some reason I have never really gotten into this one. It's really blown up but I've never gotten hooked. I would have thought that I would.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Bucki1968 said:

I listen to a lot of golf podcasts but for some reason I have never really gotten into this one. It's really blown up but I've never gotten hooked. I would have thought that I would.

You're too old, perhaps?

It's definitely targeted at about people within ± 5 years or so of them.

[iacas]

In general, the guys bounce around too much. They're constantly looking for a lever to pull, as if it's "instant," when really they don't seem to appreciate how long they have to work on something.

Mike had something that he was told would take him six months. I don't think he was still working on that same thing six weeks later.

P.S. No real reason for this, except that I watched their visit to Titleist, where they once again think "man, this is so good, I'm going to play so much better now!"

[bkuehn1952]

I gave up following nobodies on their golf path to [fill in the goal] after the "Dan Plan." Suckered into something like that once but not again.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, bkuehn1952 said:

I gave up following nobodies on their golf path to [fill in the goal] after the "Dan Plan." Suckered into something like that once but not again.

I mean, these guys are at least entertaining. They won’t achieve their goals, but it’s funny to listen to.

It’s getting old though. Same jokes.

[iacas]

Well, at the end of the "S5 Ep 20: The Fifth End, Part 1" episode, Mike and Eli are both somewhat downtrodden about their prospects for continuing.

I suspect they're making a decent amount of money, so I don't think they're going to walk away, but it didn't sound great. They both said that unless they do something dramatically different than what they've done in the past, they see no point in continuing.

So I think they're probably going to find a way to say they're going to do something dramatically different.

I hope they do. My offer still stands, too. And in fact I'd be happy to have them both up to get on GEARS. But if they don't want to do that, well, they're still entertaining as heck, and they still seem to enjoy playing golf.

But… there's a non-zero chance they're done. I don't think it's much higher than zero. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

[play18]

Chasing Scratch is one of my favorite golf podcasts, and I am a Velcren member, too.  Getting to scratch is a monumental goal, but their irreverent humor, everlasting friendship, and journey are better than the struggles to get to the Holy Grail of 0.0.  Their story motivated me to reach a current 5.5 (formerly 10 5 years ago).  I hope they continue with the podcast.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, play18 said:

Chasing Scratch is one of my favorite golf podcasts, and I am a Velcren member, too.  Getting to scratch is a monumental goal, but their irreverent humor, everlasting friendship, and journey are better than the struggles to get to the Holy Grail of 0.0.  Their story motivated me to reach a current 5.5 (formerly 10 5 years ago).  I hope they continue with the podcast.

You've made roughly the same jump as they have, eh?

IIRC they were about 10s or 11s.

[NZ Golfer]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:43 AM, play18 said:

Chasing Scratch is one of my favorite golf podcasts, and I am a Velcren member, too.  Getting to scratch is a monumental goal, but their irreverent humor, everlasting friendship, and journey are better than the struggles to get to the Holy Grail of 0.0.  Their story motivated me to reach a current 5.5 (formerly 10 5 years ago).  I hope they continue with the podcast.

Great Work .. I'm working to lower my HC to your level 5 at present ... did hit a +4 "76" last week in local comp ... +8 over yesterday same weekly club comp(Driver was woeful + missed so many birdie putts!!!!) ... game has really picked up a gear after my first Tournament couple weeks ago must have been all that time I put in prior week ...along with added pressure(50+ watching tee off etc) that I think has helped my mental game aka the more pressure situation the better your'll play when the pressure isn't so relevant ...

Looking forward to more competition to push me further...