How to become a scratch golfer?

[bph7]

[quote name='ej002' timestamp='1413983158' post='10331673']
Blades with .5 tipped c-tapers + txxxx tp head with a tipped xx tourspec 8.3 = scratch in no time.

You're all welcome!
[/quote]

This, best advice by far. You could also shaft up the blades with X7's hard stepped.

[crapula]

If I had 0 penalties/ 3putts in my last 20 rounds I'd be a 0. But the unreality is... I had 0 penalties/ 3putts in my last 20 rounds, I am a 0.

[DaBears]

I'm 15 (16) in a couple of months 13 handicap a good chance i could become scratch lowest round for nine is 38

[AlecEmersonGolf]

hit the ball less times, people make it to complicated. Find where you give strokes up, and eliminate them

[chrisgilly09]

Become a +4, then youll be scratch

[dornstar]

[quote name='chrisgilly09' timestamp='1435448910' post='11846742']
Become a +4, then youll be scratch
[/quote]
Haha, well played.

For me, getting from an 8.7 to a +1 over a 3 year period wasn't so much about the golf swing. In fact, I would say my ballstriking is probably closer to a 5 handicap than a scratch golfer. It's simply about minimizing mistakes and playing "clean" rounds.

Today was a typical round on a 7030 yard, 74.0 rated course. Hit 12 or 14 fairways playing as conservative as possible most of the time. Of the missed fairways, my group was having a little "longest drive" contest that I cold topped trying to smash it on a hole, but wasn't in any real trouble and I actually saved par... driver, 3W to 105, downwind LW to 5 feet, made putt. The second missed fairway was missed by about 10 yards. Then I hit 9 of 18 greens with a bunch of misses that were relatively short up and downs. Made 2 birdies and had 4 bogeys (two 3 putts) shooting 74.... a "scratch" round.

I think a lot of people overthink what it takes to get to scratch. You don't have to be a magnificent ballstriker or hit the ball 300+ yards. You just need to be able to minimize the double and triple bogeys and get the ball fairly close to the green in regulation. My normal weekend group has two 10 handicap golfers and an 18 handicap. I would say that they all hit driver more often than I do. They fire at the pin more often than I do as well. As a result, they make more big scores than I do. They are soooo much more aggressive than I am on the course. I want my round to be as uneventful as possible.

[TB07]

Haha, yep, if you look at the other thread you have a long way to go before getting to scratch. A real scratch is a +4.

[ryan983]

And play the tips at spyglass

[32quattro]

If average Joe's are ripping driver +300 yards straight, hitting 6 irons pin high on par 3 -195 yards, and flying lob wedges +100 yards, shouldn't be so difficult. Putting though is a different animal

[Sean2]

We are ALL scratch golfers:

Haven't you ever scratched your head in confusion after hitting a shot and asked yourself: WTF was THAT?

[Woodrow]

I'm a legit 9 and I'm 62 years old, and I walk. Mine was a 2 in my heyday for a couple of years, haven't lost the swing but I don't practice and play a lot. Here's a few things I used to do. .

- diary your golf. Find where you lost your strokes. Maybe a couple of 3 woods. One quick hook with a driver.
- when you find something in your swing that works consistently. Jot it down.
- play different courses. The good and the bad. Fescue and poa, or both.
- learn to putt on different surfaces, and do play in lousy weather. The worst weather you can find.
- have a routine when you can play. Don't tire on the practice tee.
- don't be a club hoe. You'll lose your game and your wallet.
- only go to one instructor... or read the same author.
- humility, politeness always
- nothing helped my game more than helping juniors. It reaffirmed everything I learned, and I was able to pass it along.

Play well and good luck.

[James Kim]

Agree with all about no hard fast rules on getting there to scratch, have read this a couple times over the years. I started playing at age 45 and six years later am a 3 handicap. Know I have a long way to scratch, we shall see but my teacher who is not a swindler thinks the only thing stopping me is my mind. He is right. I blow great rounds with score awareness...

 

On a separate note, I know a former minor league baseball player who in a year or so became scratch, but is 25. 

[kasting333]

Putting and chipping always helps, but for the most part golfers don’t hit it well enough to be a scratch.
Hitting less than 50% of your greens on avg is not going to result in low enough scores to be a scratch. It’s putting too much pressure on your short game
 

[Railroading13]

Advice is to keep the ball in play - find a reliable shot pattern off the tee, like a go to shot to keep the ball in play...

2nd part is to simply get the ball up and down. When I shoot in the 60's I keep it in play and get up and down, when I shoot in the high 70's I lose 2-3 balls off the tee and miss up and downs. And as a side note, up and downs are not always for par, think greenside shots or shots from 50-60 yards out on par 5's and short par 4's. 

[milesgiles]

19 hours ago, kasting333 said:

Putting and chipping always helps, but for the most part golfers don’t hit it well enough to be a scratch.
Hitting less than 50% of your greens on avg is not going to result in low enough scores to be a scratch. It’s putting too much pressure on your short game
 

 

this. Never seen the genuine competitive scratch who wasn't regularly at 13-14 greens. Some had great short games As Well, but Ive yet to see the mythical scratch short game whizz hitting 9 greens 

probably because ball striking travels. Short game and putting especially, maybe not 

Edited December 5, 2021 by milesgiles

[ezpz]

Be a talented ballstriker, play a ton to learn how to play the game. Address weaknesses as you encounter them. Theres people with less talent that will put a ton of effort into grinding on their swing however. I have never seen any of these players go from lets say a 10 to scratch or even a  5 to scratch. While the stories of "i got hcp 5 in 2 years" "scratch in 7 years" or whatever will always come from players who just have a knack for hitting the ball well and can just keep on improving without having to worry to much about changing 3 things in their backswing to keep the ball in play while theyre stuck at hcp 8. 

 

These topics come up a lot and everyone has seen the stats from multiple sources now 🙂 hit greens = handicap. however improving GIR when you are not a proficient ballstriker is extremely difficult and making swing changes to help people do this is rough, not just because of the grinding and time required but also the time and energy required to find a competent pro who can tell you what YOU need to do to improve and gives you thoughts/drills to help you internalize this. This is why imo the longer you can delay the "being stuck on technique" stage the further you will go and unfortunately this takes talent 🙂

[ColoradoMike]

Play golf with good players and work on your short game. Good players don't always hit the ball well, but they can save a poor ball striking round with chipping and the flat stick. 

[Babydaddy]

18 minutes ago, ColoradoMike said:

Play golf with good players and work on your short game. Good players don't always hit the ball well, but they can save a poor ball striking round with chipping and the flat stick. 

With technology as it is today with the ball and clubs, if someone is playing from the correct tees what is going to separate good scoring players from others is 120 yards in. In my opinion the best way to start shaving strokes off of your score is to learn to putt with one ball on the practice green. Then take that same ball and play a game of get up and down 9 scenarios at a time. Learn to pay for your mistakes in practice so you can do it in a round. Your short game chips and pitches help with your long game if you let them. If you play with good players usually they will hit approach shots roughly pin high and if they mess up, they take their medicine and can get up and down. You don't often see a good player not take their medicine on a poor shot.

For 10-15 handicappers I have yet to see one with a really good wedge game which means regardless of the other full shots, their proximity to the hole 100 yards in makes par golf nearly impossible. We've all got someone at our club that looks like a pirate in the full swing and shoots in the high 60's or low 70's most of the time.

One thing that doesn't get talked about enough in my opinion is the best players I know have a stock, go-to shot that they can ride or die with on days when the club feels like a concrete pylon in their hands. 

Lastly, I think really good players instinctively respond to the club face and therefore can think their way around the golf course with different lies and conditions, whereas the 83 shooter just does what they do.

Also, I'm not a fan of drinking alcohol while playing.

Watch the Champions Tour players- they can get up and down from a parking lot regardless of their ball striking prowess- they shoot a lot of low rounds.

[msg]

I checked my last 20 rounds and removed three putts and penalties. I plugged in my would be score and I got a handicap of 3 from my current handicap of 9. LOL Still not scratch but close enough. I guess a GIR here and there and sprinkle some up and downs and it will get closer scratch. 

 

Penalties and 3 putts. So simple yet so hard to do. 

[dvq9654]

This is always an interesting topic, as there are generally two camps:

 

Camp A - It's all about short game

Camp B - It's all about ball striking 

 

I am strongly in Camp B. Yes, you need a strong short game to be scratch - all areas of your game need to be good to be scratch - but you are not going to turn 7 GIR rounds into even par on a regular basis, no matter how good your short game is. Shooting at or near par somewhat consistently requires driving the ball in play (ideally the fairway, but not essential), hitting greens (or very close to greens), making some putts (notice I say some) and making a few saves a round.  

 

Right now, I'm a ~1.5 and the reason why is because I do not drive the ball consistently enough and my iron game is weaker than needed, in part cause I'm trying to make some swing changes. I am a very good putter (at least per Arccos) and my chipping is near scratch (per Arccos), but my driver and irons put too much pressure on those parts of my game to allow me to reach scratch. 

 

When I do have an excellent round (e.g., recent two under at a tough course), it's because I drive it well and hit a ton of greens. Yes, many putts fall in a great round, but that's because I have ~12-14 birdie putts, many of which are truly makable. I have to get up and down a few times, but my short game is not the reason for the low score. Heck, even if my short game was terrible and I didn't get up and down I would still shoot ~par.

 

IMHO - Bottom line is ball striking gives you a chance to truly score and go low. Short game is necessary, but it's not going to take you low; it'll mainly save you from bad rounds. 

 

 

[PracticeSwinger]

2 hours ago, dvq9654 said:

This is always an interesting topic, as there are generally two camps:

 

Camp A - It's all about short game

Camp B - It's all about ball striking 

 

I am strongly in Camp B. Yes, you need a strong short game to be scratch - all areas of your game need to be good to be scratch - but you are not going to turn 7 GIR rounds into even par on a regular basis, no matter how good your short game is. Shooting at or near par somewhat consistently requires driving the ball in play (ideally the fairway, but not essential), hitting greens (or very close to greens), making some putts (notice I say some) and making a few saves a round.  

 

Right now, I'm a ~1.5 and the reason why is because I do not drive the ball consistently enough and my iron game is weaker than needed, in part cause I'm trying to make some swing changes. I am a very good putter (at least per Arccos) and my chipping is near scratch (per Arccos), but my driver and irons put too much pressure on those parts of my game to allow me to reach scratch. 

 

When I do have an excellent round (e.g., recent two under at a tough course), it's because I drive it well and hit a ton of greens. Yes, many putts fall in a great round, but that's because I have ~12-14 birdie putts, many of which are truly makable. I have to get up and down a few times, but my short game is not the reason for the low score. Heck, even if my short game was terrible and I didn't get up and down I would still shoot ~par.

 

IMHO - Bottom line is ball striking gives you a chance to truly score and go low. Short game is necessary, but it's not going to take you low; it'll mainly save you from bad rounds. 

 

 

Strokes gained by cap analysis has shown this to be true...

Let's say 'high cap' is a 25 / 'mid' is a 15 / 'low' is a 5... and ball striking is anything off the tee + approaches (all lies included)... while short game is anything inside 50 yards (all lies included) and putting...

 

You get from one level to the other by shaving shots at :

 

high to mid -> ball striking: 8 shots / short game: 2 shots

mid to low -> ball striking: 5 shots / short game: 5 shots

low to scratch -> ball striking: 4 shots / short game: 1 shot

 

And, in my opinion, the answers from members here will tell us where they stand on the spectrum... if they're high single digit; they easily see that a better up&down % would shave a few shots off their scorecard (Camp A)... but to get to stratch, coming from a low cap; it's the tee ball and all those 130-170yds in shots (Camp B)... you just don't leapfrog from a 8 to a scratch by still hitting only 7 GIR and saving it consistenly with a magical short game

Edited December 6, 2021 by MtlJayMan

[Barfolomew]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:36 PM, James Kim said:

Agree with all about no hard fast rules on getting there to scratch, have read this a couple times over the years. I started playing at age 45 and six years later am a 3 handicap. Know I have a long way to scratch, we shall see but my teacher who is not a swindler thinks the only thing stopping me is my mind. He is right. I blow great rounds with score awareness...

 

On a separate note, I know a former minor league baseball player who in a year or so became scratch, but is 25. 

 

James brought back a 6-year old thread with his first post

Been playin 6 years

Been reading this thread for 6 years and never posted

But you're a 3 cap.... coach says you got mental blocks.... ya I can see why.  If you want to go at the flag its ok try it sometime, its just golf 🦆

[tboh]

For my game it's ever challenging driver that is the key to the final step ... hitting long fairway bombs (for me) gives opportunity to go low ... missing fairways then greens then 2 putting (mostly) does not 

 

Good thread to resurrect 

 

[khalespace]

I gave up on using a golf coach and challenged myself to become a single digit handicap golfer on my own. I think the best I can do is get down to a 5 handicap on my own and this is my big hairy audacious goal. May be when I get to 5 with 1 or 2 years I can think about aiming to become a scratch golfer

I was at 21 index last year. Currently I am at 13 and with using a preshot routine for the first time ever it seems like I am ready to make a big jump to 10 index within 1 or 2 months. I am still not completely comfortable with using a preshot routine but I get better and better. It helps me to focus on the process rather than the score.

 

Here are what I am doing to get down to 5, and possibly scratch later:

• I had a golf simulator built at home 9 months ago - this is the biggest help
• Subscribed at George Gankas online website course - the course is so detailed it gives me so much more understanding of the golf swing - I am only 5 weeks into the class
  • Swing change is so hard, I am doing hundreds of slow motion swing everyday
• Two weeks ago, I developed a preshot routine and use visualization for full swing, chipping and putting - it is amazing - I have so much clarity and calmness on the golf course now
• Fitness
  • Strength training - golf specific
  • Stretching
  • Balance exercises
  • Overspeed Training with Superspeed Sticks - driver speed went from 92 to 99 mph after 2 months - goal is 105 mph
• Better golf course management
  • Aim at fat part of greens
  • Avoid sucker pin locations
  • Know my misses
• Better practice
  • No more mindless pounding of balls with the same club
  • Doing drills
  • Use video camera
  • Real course simulation

[Buzzkill]

How to become a scratch golfer?
 

Practice, practice, practice, play, play, play then of course have the ability to do so!

[Wormkiller]

On 3/25/2013 at 3:53 AM, redhead said:

I was wondering, is it so unbelievable difficult to reach the last part of this quest? Does it need daily training for instance. Is it lack of time, age factor, swing speed, physical build, mental, etc. Why this so small but important difference exist in your play?

 

A bit about me: I'm 30 years old now. I've been playing more than 3 years. I started playing relatively late. I regularly shoot low 80s, a couple times high 70s. I play on the weekend (depend on the weather) and doing practice/drill everyday at home.

 

So to the other scratch players out there, how long do you think it would take me to get to a scratch or somewhat close? Do you have any advice on shooting scratch golf?

How long's a piece of string?

 

Its too general a question to ask.

[liquorandpoker]

13 hours ago, Wormkiller said:

How long's a piece of string?

 

6?

[Superbrit]

Might be worth reading about this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_McLaughlin_(golfer)

 

 

[milesgiles]

2 minutes ago, Superbrit said:

Might be worth reading about this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_McLaughlin_(golfer)

 

 

 

thats how NOT to be a scratch golfer..

 

what does 10,000 hours mean anyway? 50 balls in an hour or 300? with Monte, Joe Pro, or no pro at all? Time on the course?

[liquorandpoker]

8 minutes ago, Superbrit said:

Might be worth reading about this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_McLaughlin_(golfer)

 

 

I remember this guy.  Interesting to see how it resolved.  Thanks!

 

Speaks to talent?  Appropriate coaching?  Other?