Sharing experience on becoming scratch player

Hi Guys,

I'm sure there are a few scratch / single digit handicap in this forum.
I think it would be beneficial for all of us to hear your story on how you achieve this and if there is anything that you learned during your journey to scratch that you think all of us should avoid / absolutely do to get there faster.

Let's here the tale and thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

After one good round of golf ... Am suddenly interested in this

Anybody?

I used to think that I will be first....before mloy....but I admit.....she is likely to do it before me

quality practice over quantity

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

Partner u know i got all that! What else?

Very simple, bet bigger with scratch and you will improve your mental and touch!
Guarantee below 80 every time!

seebayho wrote:

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

So players 160-182 on the PGA Tour that don't hit 250m are not scratch players?

Again, distance is not everything. http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?317

Nick Flado at his peak could not hit 250 with a bazooka, but he played ok....

seebayho wrote:

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

Thinking like that is probably why your not scratch by now

Bangla123 wrote:

seebayho wrote:

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

Thinking like that is probably why your not scratch by now

in the golfing world, it will be great if the great divide coincide.

the long hitters aspire to be more accurate while the sharp shooters seek to hit it longer.

the possible solutions are:

1. learn how to score from 120 meters with pin point accuracy.
2. practise the above instead of smashing 90% of your range balls with your driver
3. stop searching for the perfect driver, irons and wedge and start practising with one that is properly fitted for you
4. find a good gym instructor who knows what muscles to build the right core for your swing

there is a young golfer who hits it no more than 220 meters and plays off a 0.0 handicap. His low score was 69 off blue at OCC.

it proves that length is not the only solution to lower score just like having an high IQ is the not only way to succeed in life.

DGman

Proper practice, quality coaching, learning how to play the game (e.g. get it around the course not just hitting shots), improvements in the short game, putting practice, and a little luck.

Some people will never become scratch players. They might lack the physical skills, they might lack the drive, or they might just enjoy the game the way it is and don't care to waste their time.

My one recommendation would be to focus on your short game. It is where you can save the most strokes. Yes you need to be able to hit the ball and drive it into play, but once that has been established (if you are a 10 or less you probably do this quite well already) you will see the biggest gains from a sharp short game (meaning inside 100 yards). Being able to chip and putt well (unless you are an exception ball striker) are hallmarks of almost all really good golfers. They will rarely lose strokes by 3 putting, chunking chips, etc.

The other important element is to work hard on your weakest areas. Improve those and your scores will drop.

wah lau eh, DGman. Quote "having high IQ not only way to succeed in life". so cheem early in the morning, haha. i like

shorthitter wrote:

seebayho wrote:

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

So players 160-182 on the PGA Tour that don't hit 250m are not scratch players?

Again, distance is not everything. http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?317

Nick Flado at his peak could not hit 250 with a bazooka, but he played ok....

Nick at his peak 15 years ago, was not consider short.
I say is hard to come by, especially for amateur.

Sir, you gave me hope.

Bangla123 wrote:

seebayho wrote:

Say what you like, if you don't drive 250M, scratch is hard to come by.

Thinking like that is probably why your not scratch by now

Yah, you are right I'm only 8.7 I still have work to do.

I'm encouraged by the constructive post by Shorthitter, DGMan and DRGjr72.

I felt so inspired by this

I am going to start and improve my accuracy fm 1 ft upwards....for I still miss fm 1 ft once awhile

Long off the tee isn't everything but it is still an important factor. Most importantly, I feel that one must have a sound fundamental swing that enables consistency hits with any clubs in the bag and a solid short game in order to achieve single handicap or scratch.

almost all of us will break 80 at some point in our golfing journey, but playing scratch is another matter altogether; it's logically the next step but a giant one

zhenxua wrote:

almost all of us will break 80 at some point in our golfing journey, but playing scratch is another matter altogether; it's logically the next step but a giant one

Bro ZX, the vast majority of golfers will NOT break 80 (for 18 holes standard course) in their golfing lifetime. Breaking 80 is in itself an achievement and should be celebrated. It is not a given and requires hard work and dedication.

That being said, I totally agree with you that the gap between breaking 80 on occasion and becoming a scratch player is a HUGE gap ... arguably more difficult than breaking 80

ZX & Derek , agree with both of you ...

The milestones get progressively more and more difficult ... as should be the case!

For the longest time breaking 80 has been my driving motivation ... And now I need to set new targets ...

Playing an even par round may never happen for me ... But in trying to achieve it ... My game is sure to improve!!!

Having said that if I am unable to break 80 again anytime soon ... I may be forced to revert to the same target all over again ... Such is a golfers life ...

zhenxua wrote:

almost all of us will break 80 at some point in our golfing journey, but playing scratch is another matter altogether; it's logically the next step but a giant one

For those who broke 80, do you first break it playing off white or blue tees? I am curious because if you are playing in the 80s, you are long enough for blue tees, yet playing off whites will give u better chance of reaching your milestone.

you don't need to be long to play at the 80's. My playing buddy is a senior, and his drive is around 200m. He is consistently playing at 80's. I drive 220-250, however I don't play consistently on 80's.

The difference ? Chip and put. My buddy is almost always one chip and one put when required. Me, i will sometime do stupid duff and tops.

In my opinion, it matter not you hit far or short, the only things that matter is how many stroke it takes for you to sink the ball into the hole. How is irrelevant.

I still think either white / blue tee is fair game. I will be happy with either one of them (obviously blue is great, but i'll take white anytime... )

bkll wrote:

zhenxua wrote:

almost all of us will break 80 at some point in our golfing journey, but playing scratch is another matter altogether; it's logically the next step but a giant one

For those who broke 80, do you first break it playing off white or blue tees? I am curious because if you are playing in the 80s, you are long enough for blue tees, yet playing off whites will give u better chance of reaching your milestone.

playing off white definitely gives you better chance at breaking 80, especially if you can play driver-wedge for par 4s and 2-on par 5s with just an 8-iron

2 on with 8 iron on par 5
I always think of par 5 as 450-500m... my 8 iron max is 140m (can be more but most likely will be all over the place)... so that means I need to drive 310-360m ?

Man.. that makes me feel really inferior. I should probably call you monsters from your drive distance alone..

bro, you play too much blue tees. some par 5s are about 400m from the white if you go to the right course, eg palm villa

Three of my Golf coach say this to me....

Practice, Practice, Practice
play, play, play

Which means, if you can practice every day
and play everyday

and then practice or rectify the errors you made in the fairway.

You will soon become a better player.

Ive seen some golfers who have an ugly driver swing. ( Not your text book type ) but their irons and putting will kill you. All they did was to practice and play.

Thats what the Koreans do in our country. They play & practice every day. No studying. Just GOLF.

And thats what most senior golfers do after they retire. and become better players than recreational golfers