Could a Scratch Golfer break 85 at Augusta?

[Hawkeye77]

A friend of mine who is about a 5 handicap played Augusta a few years ago from the members tees and shot an 82. I'm not sure how much longer the tournament tees play but I would think the OP's friend could shoot low 80s, assuming his short game is on.

 

Don't screw up my defense of Nirvana with real information.

[Railroading13]

Yes

[golf1010]

Yes 85 is no problem for a legit scratch

80 is probably 1 in 10

If he had 4 practice rds and a good caddy 85 gets broken half the time

[tiderider]

zero chance he breaks 85 at august under tournament conditions ... well, maybe 1 % ...

 

claims like this are great, tho, if only to illuminate the people who have no clue how tough tournament golf at the pro level is ...

 

roberto castro shot 79 and 81 this past year ... he plays golf ... tournament golf, which has its own pressure ... but he plays for a living, which is a different cat ... and he's not good enough to have guaranteed tour status every year ... so some tourney player who's never played a course that has augusta's undulating fairways (often overlooked), undulating greens, along with their speed, would be just 5 shots worse than a tour pro ...

 

 

 

[300yard+]

depends on the speed of the greens and pin locations...If it plays like Sunday 4get it...

[golfer929]

depends on the speed of the greens and pin locations...If it plays like Sunday 4get it...

It is Sunday tournament conditions

[The Pearl]

While a tournament scratch lends some credibility, it would depend on how one defines tournament scratch. Local tourney's? Regional amateur level? USGA amateur level? A good proxy starting point would be the Master's low amateur scores. For those that have made the cut, there scores have roughly ranged from par or so to 3 or 4 over per round. These are the top amateur's in the world with practice rounds, experienced caddies and at least some high level knowledge of the course. Certainly not scratch golfers.

 

The big difference of course would be no crowd.

 

Your good solid local tournament scratch, cold, no caddy, no practice with Masters course conditions. Close to zero chance. I would bet a sizeable amount of money against breaking 90.

[stu_man]

Ok..ok..ok.. I'm a scratch golfer so let's get this thing rolling. Someone get in touch with Augusta National and I'll go out there the week before the Masters and give it a shot. Maybe they could get a few celebs to play with me and you never know.. maybe televise it.

[tiderider]

just emailed billy ... sent this back:

 

[Llortamaisey]

I know an almost scratch golfer (+1), who breaks 80 all the time in the Masters on the weekend.

[DCOTTIN]

Yes

[driverhead]

I know someone who played in the Masters as an amateur in the mid 70s. He got in finishing in the semis of the US Amateur the previous year. He was one of the 2 best amateurs in the DC area back in the 70s. He shot 75 75 and missed the cut.

[Darth Putter]

Ok..ok..ok.. I'm a scratch golfer so let's get this thing rolling. Someone get in touch with Augusta National and I'll go out there the week before the Masters and give it a shot. Maybe they could get a few celebs to play with me and you never know.. maybe televise it.

 

I've got a better shot at breaking 72 from the tips at Augusta National than actually playing there.

[mizuno player]

I know someone who played in the Masters as an amateur in the mid 70s. He got in finishing in the semis of the US Amateur the previous year. He was one of the 2 best amateurs in the DC area back in the 70s. He shot 75 75 and missed the cut.

 

 

Marty West? Dude was a machine.

[Big Ben]

I say yes if he is use too extremely fast and hilly tracks. BB

[sekrah]

85? More often than not. 80 Once in a while.

 

These people who think scratch amateurs would automatically shoot in the 90s on PGA tour conditions make me LOL every time I read it. Playing in a casual round for no prizes, I'd bet on scratch golfer breaking 80 about 20% of the time.

 

/End thread.

[titleistman1]

I think it's doable if they have a good day. Ive been lucky enough to play AN with a friend who's a 5 hcp, drives it a legit 300 and he was even going to the back. I think he shot a 79 from the back tees, Sunday pins. He pulled a Rory on 10 and spieth on 12. Greens weren't tourney conditions probably stimping 13-14.

 

I'm a 9 hcp and shot 91 89 94 from member tees. Course is actually not that hard from member tees.

[driverhead]

I know someone who played in the Masters as an amateur in the mid 70s. He got in finishing in the semis of the US Amateur the previous year. He was one of the 2 best amateurs in the DC area back in the 70s. He shot 75 75 and missed the cut.

 

 

Marty West? Dude was a machine.

 

No it wasnt Marty. Marty was the best in the area. He won the individual ACC tournament at Woodmont beating the likes of Lanny Wadkins..

[titleistman1]

AN

[Hawkeye77]

I know an almost scratch golfer (+1), who breaks 80 all the time in the Masters on the weekend.

 

Sandbagger!

[Llortamaisey]

I know an almost scratch golfer (+1), who breaks 80 all the time in the Masters on the weekend.

 

Sandbagger!

 

Haha. I guess Jeff is lucky he doesn't have to turn in his Aug Nat scores.

[Dave230]

Most people say that Augusta is quite generous off the tee if you hit it a good distance. So it really depends on the scratch player's short game. If it's the weakest part of his game, he may well struggle to hit 80. If he's a short hitting scratch, he may struggle to hold greens and may struggle to hit 80. If he's long/decent short game, he has a decent chance.

 

If he's actually playing in the tournament, with that pressure, then he's probably way over 80.

[golferdrmjr]

Wait can we clarify here, are we talking tournament "conditions" only, or an actual tournament with fans?

 

I played Torrey south a few weeks before the tournament when the rough was in, from the one up tees and shot 81 with new clubs and didn't hit it super well. Qmany shot 69 that day as a +1.

 

Obviously Augusta is harder but we're talking shooting 84 here not winning a tournament and unless I'm mistaken it's not even in front of fans

Jeff, I hate to rain on your parade, but you guys played the two up tees. The Pro tees are not even marked 50 weeks out of the year. The tees one behind you were the taupe tees from 7,051 yards. There's another 600 yards behind those! :-)

[TerpFangolfer]

Friend and I were having a discussion. He says he could do it and would not only break 85, but 80 as well! Stipulations are no caddie, no cart, no walking the course beforehand, and 1 hour warmup before the round. Sunday tournament conditions, from the back tees. He said he wouldn't make a double bogey, and would birdie #13. What do you all think?

 

I say no way with true Master's Sunday conditions (esp if dry/windy)...as someone said - the "par" for a scratch Am is basically ~78...

[bladehunter]

It's grass .... not mystical Sherwood Forrest. Good lord.

[lowheel]

Friend and I were having a discussion. He says he could do it and would not only break 85, but 80 as well! Stipulations are no caddie, no cart, no walking the course beforehand, and 1 hour warmup before the round. Sunday tournament conditions, from the back tees. He said he wouldn't make a double bogey, and would birdie #13. What do you all think?

 

[lowheel]

Friend and I were having a discussion. He says he could do it and would not only break 85, but 80 as well! Stipulations are no caddie, no cart, no walking the course beforehand, and 1 hour warmup before the round. Sunday tournament conditions, from the back tees. He said he wouldn't make a double bogey, and would birdie #13. What do you all think?

 

I say no way with true Master's Sunday conditions (esp if dry/windy)...as someone said - the "par" for a scratch Am is basically ~78...

 

no way. its like 81-82 minimum more if windy. 99.9% of scratches have never played 13.5 greens

 

I played Baltusrol with the assistant pro and 2 future web.com players the tuesday after the monday finish at the PGA in 2005. we couldnt break 75. were all competitive pro golfers on various tours, think about it

[MtlJeff]

Wait can we clarify here, are we talking tournament "conditions" only, or an actual tournament with fans?

 

I played Torrey south a few weeks before the tournament when the rough was in, from the one up tees and shot 81 with new clubs and didn't hit it super well. Qmany shot 69 that day as a +1.

 

Obviously Augusta is harder but we're talking shooting 84 here not winning a tournament and unless I'm mistaken it's not even in front of fans

Jeff, I hate to rain on your parade, but you guys played the two up tees. The Pro tees are not even marked 50 weeks out of the year. The tees one behind you were the taupe tees from 7,051 yards. There's another 600 yards behind those! :-)

 

The ones we played were roughly 6800 if I recall. It's likely they were two up from tournament on some holes yes. But it's just to say 84 isn't crazy.

[Yuck]

Often a state golf association will have a play day at a course that has held a major. I had did one at Olympic club. Sunday Open pins & tees. No practice round, no caddies. I did break 40 my first 9, and I was maybe a three cap when did this. Breaking 85 on a high slope tourney course, especially with no rough will depend on the quality of the short game. If you goal is to break 85 as opposed to shoot par, I am sure many scratch players can get around Augusta in 85 strokes or less. Stay below the hole!

[golfer929]

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