who has actually played with a legit scratch golfer/pro level player?

[Dan Drake]

Best golfer I have played with in person used to work at my first club as a bag drop attendant.  Funny story, he was the #1 ranked D2 golfer for exactly 1 week of his college career and it was a week that he didn't even play.  The #1 guy played poorly that week and dropped to #2, only to play well the following week and regain his #1 status all while my friend didn't play either week.  Anyway, he was/is quite good.  

 

So, this one day my dad stops by the club and a few of us get up a fivesome and go play before dark.  My buddy birdies #1, holing a 8'er after a nice little wedge.  Then he birdies #2, a nice par 5, getting up and down from just short of the green.  An easy two putt from 15' on #3, a medium length par 3 was followed by a made 15'er on #4 and another easy par on a tough par 4, #5.  Reached #6 in two, a reachable par 5, two putted for birdie, and then rolled in 12'er for birdie on #7.  

 

At this point my dad's eyes are WIDE OPEN watching this and then, well....., then my buddy REALLY flexes.  He says "We're going to jump over to the back 9 now, y'all have fun!"  My dad was stupefied and after putting out and getting back in the cart, he looks at me and says........

 

"Did he really just walk away from a round -5 through 7 holes?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!!?" 

 

I said "Yeah, don't worry, you'll never have to deal with me pulling some mess like that!"  

 

Hope you are doing well out there Jon, it was a pleasure watching you hit a golf ball.  

Edited June 20, 2023 by Dan Drake

[LoopySwing13]

Got to play with an LPGA player this summer at Bay Hill and also in the same group was a korn ferry player. I am leaving their names off just in case they would mind, but it was very cool to see. 
 

I played off 2nd back with my buddy who is a club pro (and has played with multiple tour pros) and korn ferry guy tipped it, while the lpga player mixed in our 2nd back tees and one up from there.

 

The lpga player was so darn consistent it was almost annoying. We all have those “if I only could be consistent I would be on tour” type thoughts - well she was that to a T. She was pretty long off the tee too, around 260 average. Great short game and great putter.

 

That was my coolest playing experience - although we lost on 18 when she made a 15 footer for birdie and I had a 6 footer for par, which If she missed we would have pushed.

[Phabs]

I recently got together with our monthly foursome of ex college teamates at my local muni course.  One of our guys bailed so we had a threesome and got paired with a mid 60 year old guy who was a decent golfer - probably a 12 handicap.   The two guys that showed up to play one is still a deep plus handicap and could complete anywhere, the other never practices and still hovers around a low single digit.  We always play for money when we play and it gets pretty competitve if skins start to roll over.  The single that joined us about fell over on 18 when he asked what the three of us shot and we we're all below 70.  I shot 69 and got beat by three, lost 100 bucks and had a hell of a time doing it and cant wait to do it again next month.   

 

I actually have to caddy for my buddy next month in a qualifier - can't wait to give him all the wrong numbers and complain about his bag weight the whole tournament. 

[PedronNiall]

On 4/21/2023 at 7:56 PM, Phabs said:

I recently got together with our monthly foursome of ex college teamates at my local muni course.  One of our guys bailed so we had a threesome and got paired with a mid 60 year old guy who was a decent golfer - probably a 12 handicap.   The two guys that showed up to play one is still a deep plus handicap and could complete anywhere, the other never practices and still hovers around a low single digit.  We always play for money when we play and it gets pretty competitve if skins start to roll over.  The single that joined us about fell over on 18 when he asked what the three of us shot and we we're all below 70.  I shot 69 and got beat by three, lost 100 bucks and had a hell of a time doing it and cant wait to do it again next month.   

 

I actually have to caddy for my buddy next month in a qualifier - can't wait to give him all the wrong numbers and complain about his bag weight the whole tournament. 

Your fourth probably felt like the bridge attendant in It's a Wonderful Life, hah

[Phabs]

16 minutes ago, PedronNiall said:

Your fourth probably felt like the bridge attendant in It's a Wonderful Life, hah

It’s not intended I promise. 

[Chungy]

When I used to play the Junior Circuit way back when, had a couple buddies who were trying to go pro...they had much better mental game and more confidence. 

[PracticeSwinger]

Friend of a friend (both local pros), that played in the 2008 US Open. Yeah that one at Torrey. He caddied for Adam Hadwin for a while afterwards. His GHIN number is +5.7, works part time for a tv station covering golf and had the opportunity to play Augusta, the morning after, from the Masters tee (except for the first tee, photos) and he shot 74. I'm a decent stick, but just no fun playing with him, different sound, that ball is shot out of a cannon, distance control is insane and wonderful short game to save it. No fun. Thank god he missed the cut at Torrey haha.

[Mascot]

I have 2 examples of extraordinary players that I have played with, both at the local muni closest to my house.  However this is no ordinary muni.  Its not Tour quality but it hosts various regional tournaments every year and generally attracts better then average players due to the nice conditions and tough layout. 

 

1st was a guy in his 30s, who only played 9 holes before he had to leave early, but he managed to 1 putt every hole.  Every. Single. Hole.  All from various ranges including a bomb from ~20ft out!  It was easily the greatest putting performances I've ever seen in my life.  His playing partner said he does that all the time and he's a pain to play against.

 

2nd was an elderly Korean women who shot the quietest 76 Ive ever seen.  She played from the forward tees given her advanced age but was a solid 175-200 every drive and was cash inside of 100.  She was also one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of playing with.

[SurfDuffer]

So far the best player I've played with is Moriya Jutanugarn.  I've played with a bunch of LPGA and Symetra Tour players over the years as well as Sara Brown from the Golf Channel and Kelly Villarreal from Big Break Atlantis.

 

[Kasparov05]

I've played with a bunch. as a 9 HDC I've always been amazed at the difference between me and a scratch. Whats even more amazing is seeing that the gap between me and a scratch is SMALLER than the scratch gap to a +3

[Phreddy]

Last week I had the pleasure of playing with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple years.  He is his mid 70's and a year to 18 months past chemo.  He had a short lived career as a tour player back in the day.  "Aw, Phred, I've lost so much strength.  My game is terrible and I don't have any length left."  He played up just one set of tees and promptly shot a mid to upper 70's round on a difficult course.  Certainly not long by his standards but long and true for his age.  His short game is terrific and after the second green he had speed, grain and "valley effect" figured out.  He putted beautifully.  His junk would be my gold.

[PracticeSwinger]

On 5/3/2023 at 1:51 PM, Varry_Hardon said:

Friend of a friend (both local pros), that played in the 2008 US Open. Yeah that one at Torrey. He caddied for Adam Hadwin for a while afterwards. His GHIN number is +5.7, works part time for a tv station covering golf and had the opportunity to play Augusta, the morning after, from the Masters tee (except for the first tee, photos) and he shot 74. I'm a decent stick, but just no fun playing with him, different sound, that ball is shot out of a cannon, distance control is insane and wonderful short game to save it. No fun. Thank god he missed the cut at Torrey haha.

Both him and another acquaintance (that played in the WM Open in 2022) both qualified today at the local US Open (4 spots out of 78), on to the final qualification stage. Would be quite the achievement for both of them to make it to the show!

[Its_KBO.]

When I was younger and had a lot of free time I’ considered myself a decent golfer. Played off a +3 at my local club. Shot 14 under on a 6100 yard course once…
 

I was looking at schools down south to play collegiate golf and decided to find a coach to help me make the jump. 
 

I remember walking up to the practice area and the coach I was seeing was hitting balls with a wedge. Each ball he hit had that fighter jet takeoff sound to it. As I got to the top of the range I noticed a hula hoop out at 125 yards. I watched this man hit 25 straight balls into the hoop… 
 

I introduced myself and started to make conversation. He eventually told me he was coach to a former pga pro.

After the quick meet and greet and lesson I finally decided to ask him the question that was burning a hole in my mind. “Sir, I saw you hitting wedges as I walked up. You must have been on the tour as well? You hit 25 balls in a row into the Hulu hoop!”

 

I will never forget the man’s response. Without hesitation he said “Yeah I wasn’t good enough to make either tour.”

 

Right then and there is when life hit me and I realized I would have to get a “normal” job for the rest of my life. 

[JetPilot]

In the mid 2000's, living in the midwest, there was a multiple PGA tour winner in his prime that would occasionally hit balls at the local driving range I went to.  Yes, a driving range - although it was pretty nice.  He would be off on a corner of the range by himself with a bucket of balls.  I see he plays on the Senior PGA tour now.  

 

At my current club there is a former PGA pro from the mid to late 90s who will frequently spend some time on the driving range.  

 

Watching them both hit balls was special.  You just wanted to watch their motion.  They were both so compact without any seeming wasted motion, or effort.  

Edited May 13, 2023 by JetPilot

[CT007]

Cabo del Sol

 

I have played with club pro that was very good, has played in couple PGA’s, etc. he was very good. But there was one that I had forgot until reading this.

 

Late ‘90’s I win trip to Cabo with work, about 20 of us from our region go for 5 days , 4 nights. All 1st class, and the group that ran it for the Mfg has about 12 former PGA pro’s that mostly chased the Monday qualifying day in 80’s and waiting to try and get chance at Sr Tour.  

 

But 1 player has really good.  And when you play with a tour caliber player and then play with a winning Tour player it is remarkable.

 

The daily routine was we would go over in am for some range time, lessons, etc. grab lunch then go out and play 18 in afternoon. The week was fun, not too hard core lessons, just good stuff and lot of laughs.

 

1 day, maybe 3rd day iirc, we go out as 4some and our pro that day in Dan Halldorson.  He didnt look like much and was more quiet than the rest of the former pro’s, they had guys that could tell stories all day long.  He was the straight guy in this crowd, but very good to play with and very helpful on range.  The pro group was like the Rat Pack, its hard to stand out, until you get to golf course.

 

We are playing Cabo del Sol, and it’s in the fall and it is perfect.  Place is gorgeous.  We are playing 18 then heading to cocktails at resort, then dinner at nice place in Cabo San Lucas later on.

 

We are all playing the same tees, we are having fun, there is no game, we just enjoying the trip. I think the last day we played some type of better ball game, for something, and the Pro’s would try and even up the teams somewhat. But today is just for fun.

 

Dan misses 1st green and gets up and down from green side bunker, remarkable only in that he made it look so easy.  Nothing about his appearance indicates how good a player he is.

 

Dan proceeds to hit every green thereafter and effortlessly makes birdies / eagle to point that we are watching and start thinking 59 is possible.  We are whispering and talking, but not saying anything to him.

 

On the 15th tee, he’s at 9 under - Dan looks at us and says guys, I think we should play this hole and head in, cocktails are starting in a bit.  

 

What?!

 

I think we got him to finish, we all wanted to play in.  Pretty sure he shot 63 and we talked with other Pros that evening over drinks and they said, yep he’s that good.  We’ve seen it before, then laughed and said Dan doesn’t miss our cocktail hours.

 

[sanjaygolf]

Drove to Orlando recently to spend the weekend at Disney with my family who were flying in late. I decided to grab a last second tee time around 3pm at Orange County National and upon getting to the first tee was told I would be joining a threesome. I could instantly tell that all 3 were sticks and asked the starter if they were Pros, which he had no idea. Turns out one of the guys is a current Korn Ferry player and the other two were friends on his college team. I decided to play the tips with them to keep up play. I'm a single digit and a long hitter but it was 7300 yds and I came straight in from driving 3.5 hrs directly to the first tee. I was actually able to keep up with them on driving distance which makes me feel pretty good. But their iron shots were a whole other leveI. The compression and sound he got with his irons were something I'd ever heard; and the ball flight had this piercing flight that hit this tour apex and fell down. I looked up the Korn Ferry player afterwards and found his OGWR is in the 500s, which is pretty impressive. He was a good size dude, maybe 6'2-6'3 and 200 lbs. It was a humbling experience to say the least. They were all nice guys as well. 

[SupSup99]

My dad. A lot of people say they have played with scratch golfers. I am a scratch golfer. Most of my friends are scratch. My dad played professionally from 1991-2003. On the Korn Ferry and Canadian Tour. Missed getting his card by 2 shots in 1997 at final stage of tour school. He’s 53 now. We play head to head a lot so that I can work on improving my own game.

 

At our local course we play at about 6700 yards and I out drive him by 30-40 yards every hole, I’ve never seen him shoot over par at our course. The last time he did was in 1984 when he was 13. Consistency isn’t the word, his short game is unbelievable every where we play. He hasn’t played in a competitive tournament in 20 years and he shot 64 last week. Twice. I shot -2 on the front last week and was down 3 at the turn. Now there are days he’ll shoot 67-69 but I’ve seen him shoot in the 70s less than 5 times. He says it’s because when you get used to Course conditions professionally you can blitz most every other course.

The first time I ever saw him shoot over par was at a RTJ course in Alabama he shot 40 on the front side and I gave him HELL. I was 16 and he was 44. I shot 42 on that side and let him know I thought he was slipping with his age… he shot 29 on the back. For a -3 round. I shot 47 on the back for a smooth 91. That mother****** can play.

[Haroputt]

At my club we have few plus and zero handicap. Playing with them really helps me game as I can see their consistent play 

sometimes explaining ways to playing a shot I never really thought off 

it’s a pleasure to see them roll their putts 

Too often I see higher handicapper including myself “ hit” their putts and not give a nice smooth

I really like watching pros putts so it looks like it has a chance on every green 

[AlohaPineapple]

its always the sound of the ball that i've noticed.  just sounds completely different as it pierces through the air.

[PhillipG78]

I’ve golfed with a couple +2,+3 HC golfers literally no weak points in their game. 

[bobfoster]

My $0.02

 

Bit of an odd title to this thread - :scratch or pro". The two aren't interchangeable. I was a legit scratch golfer off and on in my 20s/30s. Good enough to know that my game wasn't remotely close to that of even lower-rung pros. Those men and women are simply at a whole different level at every aspect of the game - from how consistently purely they strike their irons and how precise their short games are, to course management - the way they think themselves around a course. (Old anecdote about Ben Hogan - during a tourney, a golf writer noticed he didn't have a 7i in his bag and asked why, Hogan said "Because there are no 7 iron shots on this course" ... I mean, who the heck thinks like that?)

 

Anyway, when I was good it was the late 70s and 80s. The difference between scratch and the pro level has only increased since then (just a casual observation). 

 

Apologies for the threadjack.

[joeconn]

Locally, I used to play with a guy who was (still is) about a +2, his wife who is about a 10, and sometimes his nephew who was about a 5 back then and is close to scratch now. That was 1994-2001, before I took 20 years off and they switched home courses. That guy could really bring it. We'd be chatting it up, end of day after work nothing conversations, and he'd hit every shot flush barely paying attention. I was decent back then, could beat him once in awhile, but 90% of the time at the end of the round I'd be 3-4 over and we'd start going through his round and he'd be 1-2-3 under. Never felt that way during the round.

 

The other one, a high school teammate of mine ended up a club pro, played a few seasons of mini tours. He won the PGA Club Pro Championship a bunch of years back, has qualified for a whole bunch of PGA Championships and one or two US Opens. Guy has all kinds of game! For awhile he was a club pro in the summer near where I live and we had a chance to play together a couple times when I was playing my best. Distance-wise we were about the same, I remember being a little longer than him off the tee. But into the greens, that was a world of difference. My goal was to hit greens. His goal was to put his approach in the right place on the green. I could hit spin with my short irons, he could control spin. Huge difference! Shaping the ball, I can hit a draw or I can hit it straight, I can't hit a fade to save my life. He could move it whichever way he wanted, high or low, whatever was called for.

 

Heck of an education playing with both those guys.

[MountainKing]

I have 7 guys that I play with regularly that range from +2 to 5.   I won't get into my history too much, but somebody I grew up playing against and still keep in touch with is out on the PGA tour making a decent living.    All that said, I'll tee it up with whoever as long as your cool.

[RockitSauce]

I played with Gary Koch once at TPC Tampa. Impressive with how easy he made it look and a really nice guy…. I also played with the boxer Antonio Tarver, who wasn’t that good, but holy crap he could CRUSH the ball

i also played with former LPGA rookie of the year Beth Bauer a couple of times at a club she worked at in Tampa

Edited July 5, 2023 by RockitSauce

[FuzzyDunlop69]

One of my best high school friends that I am still very close with to this day won a couple of tournaments at the Division 1 level and did some time on the Mackenzie and Sunshine Tours.  When COVID hit he started doing some real estate as a side deal and now just does that full time.  I have been lucky enough to play with him several times, but mainly when he was in the thick of his career.  Seen him shoot a couple of 65s. I played Texas Star here in DFW with him on Monday.  He had not played golf in probably 2 months.  He pulls up, no range balls, no stretching, just a Gatorade from the cart girl.  Birdies 1, 6, 7, bogeys 14 some how, birdies 18, for a solid 69.  Did not have a putt outside of 25 feet.  Missed a couple of greens but put every chip within 10 feet and made all of them except that bogey.  Went straight to a showing right after.  
 

I caddied for him a few times when we were in high school and college in some tournaments and Us Am/Byron Nelson Monday Qs.  This was before I even picked up the game myself.  I have a much better appreciation for it now.  I still will never forget us getting into a 7 for 2 playoff at a US Am qualifier and 5 of us making birdies and 2 dudes making eagles to bounce us from going to Atlanta Athletic Club, lmao.

[JimMLINY]

One of my childhood pals (schoolmates and teammates) is a PGA club pro.

Voted Best in his NY county many years in a row.

Fun to play with.

Always appreciate his pointers and they have worked so far.

Usually play at least one charity outing a year with him.

[TonyDAnnunzio]

Many years ago I worked with a fella that played on the old Nike Tour.  Unfortunately, I only had the privilege of playing with him once...  we played a Pete Dye course from the tips.  At the time I was a decent player and was about a 3 - 4.  He had not played in a couple of months and shows up to course about 20 minutes late so he didn't have time to hit any balls at the range... straight to the first tee and he puts down a 68.  I swear he had 5-6 putts lip out and could have easily shot 64-65.

 

About the same time frame I reconnected with a friend from high school that was our shortstop on the baseball team.  He didn't go on to play ball in college and said he got into playing golf to keep up his competitive spirit.  He birdied the first five holes and then eight and nine for a smooth 29 on the front.  IRRC, he shot a 32 on the back for a 61.  A few months ago I ran into him and he said he still plays but not nearly as much as in the past.  We got together and played at my home course.  My home course plays 7100 yards from the tips and has a rating of 74.4 and a slope of 145.  He said he played the course once back in 2008.  He hit 14 greens and shot a 70.

[Kai Slater]

A relative of my wife was a club pro for 30+ years.  He made it to the final of the Champions Tour Q-School in Palm Springs but missed it by two strokes.

 

I played with him numerous times over the years and, just as others have mentioned, he made the game look easy; often cruising around some Tuff courses in the most casual 68's and 70's you've ever seen.  His ball sounded different that ours off the face and has that tour-quality trajectory.  The most casual, I-don't-care looking swing, almost lazy looking, but t he ball just rockets off his club face.

 

Another was this guy that used to play occasionally at a local club I used to belong to many years ago; just some local guy with a regular job, Chris was his name, no last name, just Chris.......and he would sometimes jump in with our team on some week-day scrambles.  During one competition, as my team-mate, he cruised around the course in the most effortless 67 that I'd ever seen.  No care, no thoughts, no stress; just line it up and swing.  We used to make fun of his golf equipment because  he used an old set of Walmart-looking Dunlop cavity back irons and some older "Wilson" titanium driver that looked like it was bought at a local Goodwill.  But, man-o-man, his shots were straight and true, and I never saw him, EVER, 3-putt.  Chris has this one single rule....never three-putt.

[golfingchuck]

Played with a few mini tour guys back in the late 90s early 2000s. Had a couple of guys at my local club when I lived in Louisiana that made shooting 3-5 under look like nothing. Was really cool to watch and be apart of their rounds

[sheepdawg]

Played a scramble where our ringer had played and made money on the Korn Ferry Tour. The guy was 5'9" and weighed 140 lbs. soaking wet. He drove a 360 yard par 4, hit 6 iron from where I hit a 3H. A balky putter was his only issue.

 

When I got home I told my wife I was never playing golf again.