How much golf needed to get to/maintain scratch?

[SouthBayGolfer]

I know this is very subjective to the individual player but I am just curious. I have been playing as much as I can (typically one range session and one round a week) without being away from my family too much. I am just curious how many scratch golfers play as infrequently as I do. I imagine 2-3 rounds a week and 2 range sessions might be more the norm for better players but wondering your thoughts. 

[phizzy30]

I have a friend that is a +4 atm and plays tournaments but typically his work schedule and what not only permit him to play once a week and get maybe one or two range sessions in unless he's playing in qualifiers. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by phizzy30

[DFS PFD]

I've maintained scratch this year (only 15 rounds total) with one range session and only 6 of those rounds being tournament golf. Last 5 in a row are sub 70 on par 72 over the course of 8 weeks. I struggled last year with staying  below a 5, and this year everything just "clicked" if you will. I can imagine this will vary year to year for me, and not for other guys. Golf is so dynamic as far as scoring goes from individual to individual that I expect a wide array of answers in this thread. 

[Anser3]

A lot depends on your God-Given ability.  Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus both reached scratch very quickly  (IIRC, Greg took up the game in his late teens).  Of course, one is the best ever and the other is one of the best ever. 

[goaliedad30]

The answer to some extent depends on where you're coming from. Trying to get to scratch for the first time means you're probably doing SOMETHING golf related every day, for a couple of hours. Full swing, short game, putting, playing ... you need all of those things to be essentially reliable. You don't get there without putting in the work?

 

For someone that used to be scratch, getting back there is probably more in the 2-4 days a week doing something.

 

For someone going from +4 to scratch? Just pick up the clubs and play ... 🙂

[Pepperturbo]

To answer your question, not much.  Once mechanics are in muscle memory, and the mental side of golf is ingrained not much is needed to maintain.  Of course, it depends on your physical abilities. 

 

I maintain my 3-5 index with 1 maybe 2 rds per week and no range time.  Haven't been to the range in over two years. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[Precis1on]

Getting there is a formula of your ability and the work you put in. Some need more than the other. 

 

I think the longer you stay at scratch or better, the faster you get back there. If you've entered that realm via a hot streak and can't maintain it, then you have a lot more work to do than someone who's been a + for multiple years. 

[Kmagnuss]

I'm not scratch but my boss is a +1... He started golf as an adult it took him a couple years of playing/practicing 2/3x a week.  Once he got there he never practices and plays one or two times a week.  He's a very athletic person so he picked up golf easily... most people wouldn't do it as easily as him, but many do.

 

In my case, I played some as a kid and took 20+ years off, only playing once a year at most.  Went from a 20 hcp (or more) down to 7.0 in a year of playing/practicing 2/3x a week.  Once I get rid of these shanks I feel like it will take me another year or two of playing/practicing 2/3x a week to get to scratch.  It might not ever happen.

 

-Mag

[TLUBulldogGolf]

To get there depends on natural ability and when you take it up, I think it's probably easier when you are younger. For me it was probably 3 solid years when I played in high school with a fair amount of lessons to get there. Now I play maybe twice a month and practice 1-2 times a week and have been able to maintain it, though I got as low as a +3 at my best. 

[Barfolomew]

This is a great topic that I ponder.  I'm always on DL as I'm coming off achilies surgery now from a year ago and still getting back to scratch... but wonder how little can I play and play par golf.... in order to take the strain off my body so I dont go back on the DL by playin a lot.

 

From what I remember it does not take much to maintain scratch golf as it becomes simple to play par golf once you can on the regular if that makes sense lol...  Its physical and mental.  1 in fairway 1 on green and 2 putting isnt tough.... the couple birds you pick up offsets any sprays.  But once you get there not tough to stay there... bogeys mean something weird went wrong which obviously happens but feels distant from your game and doesnt bother you too much cause kinda funny, like oh I sucked on that one lol and if you get robbed by a bad lie etc then not on you either and also take it light hearted

Edited October 8, 2021 by Barfolomew

[Krt22]

3 minutes ago, TLUBulldogGolf said:

To get there depends on natural ability and when you take it up, I think it's probably easier when you are younger. For me it was probably 3 solid years when I played in high school with a fair amount of lessons to get there. Now I play maybe twice a month and practice 1-2 times a week and have been able to maintain it, though I got as low as a +3 at my best. 

Indeed, its pretty easy to see scratch golfers come in various forms, mainly those who picked the game up early vs later in life. Very different looking swings that require different levels of upkeep. There is the occasional non-conventional swing that the guy has clearly owned for 20+ years though

 

 

[SouthBayGolfer]

Definitely some surprising responses. I thought it would be a lot tougher to maintain it. I guess if you have a good swing grooved, it is not hard to keep it going once a week. 

[ZA206]

Currently a 4 index and was in the low 2's last year. I basically play once every other week and never practice. I think it would take me playing 2-3X a week for 3-4 months straight and some practice and I would be at scratch. If I played the tips at my home course it would also help as well (it's a couple strokes harder rating on the card but not really any "harder" for me).

 

YMMV

 

-ZA

[Krt22]

1 minute ago, SouthBayGolfer said:

Definitely some surprising responses. I thought it would be a lot tougher to maintain it. I guess if you have a good swing grooved, it is not hard to keep it going once a week. 

I am beginning to realize "grooving" a swing really translates to how well you compensate. You can have some quirks in your swing, but if you play enough you can keep your compensations pretty well timed such that you can play decent golf. If you have a really mechanically sound swing, it may not take a lot because you simply have to compensate less. There are also guys who play 4 times a week and struggle to break 90...

[msg]

I've played with scratch golfers in our local muni tournaments who have ugly swings, old clubs, does not have a membership, plays once a week / 15 to 20 times a year (short season in Canada) and rarely has time to visit the range. And I have buddies who plays 100 games from April to October and cannot even break 80. 

 

Life is so unfair. lol 

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, Anser3 said:

IIRC, Greg took up the game in his late teens)

 

Yeah, he started at like 15 and was scratch by 18 and turned pro around 20 I think. 

 

Dude's kind of a tool but ya gotta respect that. 

[ShowMe]

For those with single digit handicaps, he's asking about scratch golfers.  That is not us.  Going from a 14 to a 4 is a lot easier than going from a 4 to scratch.

[Anser3]

5 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

Yeah, he started at like 15 and was scratch by 18 and turned pro around 20 I think. 

 

Dude's kind of a tool but ya gotta respect that. 

 

He was scratch in 18 MONTHS after taking up the game.

[Obee]

6 hours ago, SouthBayGolfer said:

I know this is very subjective to the individual player but I am just curious. I have been playing as much as I can (typically one range session and one round a week) without being away from my family too much. I am just curious how many scratch golfers play as infrequently as I do. I imagine 2-3 rounds a week and 2 range sessions might be more the norm for better players but wondering your thoughts. 

To get a scratch? Play 3x times a week. Or more. To stay there, once a week is fine. 
 

I can't compete against top ams in my age bracket, but I can maintain scratch there.

[Ty_Webb]

Friend of mine played 11 rounds one year. 6 of them were alternate shot and one practice round. The other four were tournament rounds. For those he shot 66, 69, 67 and 71. On proper golf courses. 

 

My standard answer to this question is you really don't need to play much. Bruce Lietzke managed to not touch a club through the off season and come out as a top level tour player. The catch is you have to have put in the time somewhere. My friend I mentioned was practising and playing for several hours a day during school holidays when he was around 12-18. He put in his time and is able to walk onto a golf course having not played in a month and shoot par or below. I've played about 20 rounds this year and my index is +0.4 right now. What's really hard is to get better without playing or practising a lot. 

[milesgiles]

5 hours ago, Anser3 said:

A lot depends on your God-Given ability.  Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus both reached scratch very quickly  (IIRC, Greg took up the game in his late teens).  Of course, one is the best ever and the other is one of the best ever. 

 

they both practised for many hours a day, every day, to get there though. So did Faldo.

 

Might have been 'quick' in years, but not in the volume of work they did to get there

[milesgiles]

5 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

To answer your question, not much.  Once mechanics are in muscle memory, and the mental side of golf is ingrained not much is needed to maintain.  Of course, it depends on your physical abilities. 

 

I maintain my 3-5 index with 1 maybe 2 rds per week and no range time.  Haven't been to the range in over two years. 

 

For almost everyone, its a lot of work to get to scratch. Golf pretty much has to be your main focus. Maintaining it is a different matter.

[iteachgolf]

I almost never practice and play 4-6 holes once a week and 10-15 rounds a year.  If I kept a handicap it’s be a +3 or so.  I’m not going to get better with my level of commitment, but maintaining isn’t that hard

[phizzy30]

6 hours ago, goaliedad30 said:

The answer to some extent depends on where you're coming from. Trying to get to scratch for the first time means you're probably doing SOMETHING golf related every day, for a couple of hours. Full swing, short game, putting, playing ... you need all of those things to be essentially reliable. You don't get there without putting in the work?

 

For someone that used to be scratch, getting back there is probably more in the 2-4 days a week doing something.

 

For someone going from +4 to scratch? Just pick up the clubs and play ... 🙂

You mean 4 cap, not +4.  +4 cap means you shoot under par on a regular basis.  😉

[Justsomeguy]

I've been playing 6 years. Late 30s start. Desk job. Not athletic at this point in my life, but very enthusiastic. Started as total beginner and can now boast a hc estimate of high single or low double digits. I haven't tracked in awhile, but made a lot of big progress this past year. Injuries have derailed me a lot, and age of start and desk job didn't help.

I originally took the question as how long it takes a beginner to get to scratch, kind of like the 10k hours to mastery idea. For me, 6 years has not been enough, playing sometimes 4 times a week (less range than play).

Superior hand eye in game type scenarios (billiards, darts, shuffleboard, driving), but sport scenarios I'm just too many years removed from an active life.

I hope to become scratch before age decline really makes it impossible. Already not super long (got longer with improvements this year), so it's very uphill. 45 now, so I suspect I've got another 5 years to get the reps in. After that it would take a lifestyle change to have a shot, and with a young family I'm not likely to escape the desk anytime soon.

[iteachgolf]

1 hour ago, phizzy30 said:

You mean 4 cap, not +4.  +4 cap means you shoot under par on a regular basis.  😉

Reread it. He meant +4

[twidener]

I got down to a +2 my last year in college in '74. I was playing 27-36 holes everyday Monday-Friday and 18 on Saturday and Sunday. My goal was to be able to play high level amateur golf and I knew to achieve that my worst score had to be 72 or 73. My average score back then was 68. I never went to the range because our club did not have a range. I just played and practiced my putting and chipping. It was a lot of work. Now I play very little but I'm still able to shoot 76 or less playing the course at around 6800 yds. I feel that all the work I put into my game years ago taught me how to manage my game and how to score and it's carried over through the years.

[Ghostwedge]

I play a lot of golf with former collegiate and Mini Tour players, rarely see any of them hit the range. Maybe a small bucket before a  local tournament is it.

They are almost all scratch or better. My son has been scratch a long time, he never does range time anymore. He will be on the practice green putting while waiting for me or his buddies.to show up for a tee time.

 

[nitram]

Once you have a dependable swing and way to get out of trouble it's pretty easy to maintain scratch. The difficult part is having the mental strength to avoid messing with it once you have it.

[airjammer]

10 minutes ago, nitram said:

Once you have a dependable swing and way to get out of trouble it's pretty easy to maintain scratch. The difficult part is having the mental strength to avoid messing with it once you have it.

Very true..the ones I know ones that have maintained scratch for a long period of time have a couple of things in common. Started playing early as a kid or when they started playing they got really good quick with their own swing or very little instruction for the most part. 
 

All If my friends that worked hard to get to scratch go back to being a 8 handicap once work or kids get in the way.