What is the diff between a Scratch and a Tour player?

I do know tour player is definitely scratch....but can scratch player be good enough for Tour?

nope. there was a recent article on golfdigest about this but I couldnt find an online version.

the difference is not a gap, it's a CHASM.

basically, tour players up and down and scramble a lot more often, makes less bogeys and makes a lot more one putts for birdies.

not to mention the pressure playing in front of fans, mental/physical grinds, pro course setup (not country club setup), pro green speed, killer winning instinct etc etc

those young amateurs who played few good rounds at Pro tournament are not run of the mill scratch players. They were just young budding world class talent e.g. Mickelson, Justin Rose, Mannasero, Tiger etc

world class talent must be scratch at some time, but not all scratch players have world class talent/skills.

Ian poulter wasn't a scratch player when he turn pro.

Ian Poutler is the only exeption , the other were between +3 to +5 . Jason Day was off +5 , Rory Mcilroy . there is a difference off 6 to 12 stroke between tour player to scratch because when tour player play normal course condition these are easy for them . the golf course there are playing have tight fairways , green speed high , rough very long and length will be at least 7000 yard if not more ... If you look at a easy tournament in oneasia tour or asean tour just see the winner score and the winner score of an amateur open it will have a difference of at least 10 stroke . PGA tour professional are good . i met a KLPGA tour player which she has the same coach as me she didn't play well and still shot 6 Under and i play my best golf and shot 3 under par . ... these are the difference clearly. The main think between top amateur and profesional on tour is that the mental of the tour pro is so strong that they can still perform at best under 1000 of people watching them . And also excute crutial shot when it's needed . but as an earlier post say they spend at least 6 hour on the range practicing their short game and their yardage. They no exactly the distance of an iron if they hit fade , draw , low , high ect...

duffader wrote:

Ian poulter wasn't a scratch player when he turn pro.

just "turning" pro, yes. SPGA playing test treshold is max 78 for 3 rounds right?

but whether one is good enough to stay on the tour? Par is not good enough.

duffader wrote:

Ian poulter wasn't a scratch player when he turn pro.

I am pretty sure he did not show up to qualifying school playing as a 4 handicap. Technically his card might have stated a 4 handicap when he turned pro (he was working as a club pro at the time and that makes perfect sense as you need to be around that handicap in Europe to turn pro apparently), and that is under the UK system which is closer to a scratch golfer under USGA's system. There is also a tidbit of him shooting 66-66 to win his first tournament while still working as a golf pro. If those scores are true...he would not be a 4 handicap under any system.

As far as the original post is concerned.

If someone is a legitimate scratch player, they can play golf. However they are quite far from being good enough to play on the tour.

I have played in a PGA tour event and have played many rounds of golf and tournament golf with current tour players as well as many prominent Grey Goose tour players.

Here is what I think are the differences...

1. I was a good ball striker......
They are just a little better and more consistent, misses are better
2. I am a decent putter
They were just sightly better and very rarely three putted, not to mention made a ton from inside 10 feet
3. I drive the ball pretty well
They drive it just a little better (maybe not longer, but more accurate)
4. My game is solid from tee to green
They are just a little more solid than I am

As you can see they were just a little better is most/all facets of the game. At that time I was probablly a plus 3 or 4 and most of those guys would have beaten me more often than not.

the bottom line is they are just a little bit better than the top non-tour players are. Until you can improve in all areas and be at least close to the best, you are going to have a hard time. I thought after I qualified for a tour event that I was on my road to making it, the problem is that I realized how far I had to go. They hit it a little closer, a little better, and their short games were just that much better. They knew how to turn a 73 or 4 into a 71 or 70.......that is the difference. You need tohave the ability to turn your bad rounds into decent rounds. After being inside the ropes, it is a different arena, and unless you have been there......You have no idea.

Dan

scratch is your handicap

tour is because you join an organized competitive sports.

tour players are scratch players (by definition when they turn pro, they dont have handicaps anymore, handicaps are for amateurs) but scratch player may not be tour players??

I'm a scratch player.













































I always scratch my head after a shot, and wonder what the &*%^ happened...

I also!! But I scratch my backside instead of head
Always afflicted with IBS(ichy backside syndrome)

A couple of million in prize money?

scratch as in 72 ?
you won't win any tournament then.. all the winner I see are below par.

So from my naive perspective. Scratch player aim for par, while tour player aim for below par ie birdie. For tour guys I think the aim is to get on the green in Par - 2 stroke and then 2 or 1 putted for that chance of the elusive birdie.

The more birdie the more they have chance to win the tournament. An on tour I think to win you need to have 40-30% chance on birdie. This might sound easy if you're playing white tee, but these guys plays black tee, so ......

Golf Digest June 2011