Sharing experience on becoming scratch player

For anyone who are aiming for scratch and just playing this game socially, do remember to enjoy the game instead of being hard-up on yourself when you don't achieve this goal. It is really not a simple goal to reach and some of us may never reach it even if we did put all our efforts in. In those instances, do learn to let go else you may find yourself hating the game one day.

P.S. I am lousy but I am enjoying it

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.

I broke 80 from white, but I did shoot 80 from blue prior to that ...

While white tees are definitely easier ... for the longest time I played better from blues than from whites ... white tees expose my weakness ... The 20 - 70m range ... Hitting partial shots requires a lot of feel which is gained from practicing , and who practices these shots!?

I think it is impt to note that breaking 80 means breaking 80 regularly and not just once or twice. When u achieve that, then it is perhaps more realistic to look at scratch. Just my 2 cents.

Hopefully more singles will come and chip in their experience. Ppl like slinger for example

skybobo wrote:

I think it is impt to note that breaking 80 means breaking 80 regularly and not just once or twice. When u achieve that, then it is perhaps more realistic to look at scratch. Just my 2 cents.

I agree with your above comment. And also not just the same course, must be an average of a few courses.

In my opinion, single handicap is still achievable but playing scratch requires a different breed ... One needs pure talent for sure ... sad to say I doubt I have ...

Personally I have broken 80 twice.
Once during a social game playing off white.
Another during a society’s medal game.

On both occasions, my GIR % are not very high (as usual).
However my chipping and putting is no horse run.
One chip one putt almost 90% of the time.
This is how I break 80.

In my view, as long as you are able to keep your ball in play and have normal ball striking ability, you should be able to break 80 (provided you have a very solid chip/pitch)
Think of it this way, if you are a 15 or 16 handicap like myself.....most of the time you should be able to drive in the fairway.
Sometimes, we go OB left or right because we are trying too hard, gripping too tight.....but if we just swing like 80%, the ball will generally go straight.
The tighter the muscle, the slower the swing speed, just relax, coil and uncoil......
Yes you may not be able to bomb 250m and above, but wouldn’t you take a 200-220m drive in the middle of the fairway any time? I certainly would.

Ok you are now on the fairway, time for approach shot.
Like I say if you are a mid handicap, you should have no prob getting the ball airborne.
Dun be a hero here. Take enough club, do not force the distance. If it requires you to hit a 5i, then do it.
Do not take a 7i and try to be gungho in front of your flight mate....
Most of the time, we will land a bit short, a bit left, a bit right (with the occasional on).....prob due to aiming or club selection.
But rem, the key is to keep the ball in play. (avoid penalty)
Take note, it makes no difference whether you are chipping from the front, back, left or right of the green, it is still a chip shot.

Assuming you choose the correct club, you should be within chipping distance now. (if you did not manage to get on)
This is the place that separates the single handicap from the mid handicap.
A good short game will get you a par most of the time.
So bros, if you want to break 80, I would encourage you to practice a lot on this area.....
Do not rely on feel. Feel will desert you. Solid fundamentals will keep you in the game.
My coach once told me, you will only have feel when you practice more, practice until it become 2nd nature, then u can talk about feel..
In another words, the more you practice, the more you play, the more feel you have

But sad to say...due to our work schedule, family commitments, we hardly have the time to practice and play.
In my view, in order to maintain your game, you need to AT LEAST play once a week, practice effectively once a week (how I hope I can afford this time)

Well if we cannot dedicate the practice and play time, then I am afraid its very diff to break 80, not even mention single hcp or scratch.
But it is still ok. We can still relax on the golf course, laugh with our mates, engage in friendly sixers or skin.
At the end of the day, its still much much better than a day in the office.

Just my views guys

1) Plan your game,
2) Play to your plan
3) 2 putt max per hole

If you can do the above without mistake, you shoul be a scratch player by now

If you can't execute the above 3 steps, play recovery..... Learn the art of saving from your
mistake by develop the following,

1) good ball striking from any lie
2) excellent chipping and pitching skill
3) 1 putt

Still cannot? Just enjoy the game lor, think so much for what?

Master spoke liao....hahaha

One more thing to add is.....

Follow what Louis Oosthuizen does....

#1) Make a routine...like a dance step

Like Tennis player mental coach will tell their player to smell the tennis ball before hitting.

We must use the same similar routine to make us Focus.

#2) rehearse your pre shot and hit the ball

#3) Louis Oosthuizen uses a Red Dot as a reminder for him to stay Focus on the game.

Thats why Louis Oosthuizen has been voted as the Best Tour Swing on Tour

Comment of King Louis Swing

Another comment on Louis Swing

even Golf Fix honcho, Michael Breed, is telling all the Golfers to follow or COPY Louis Oosthuizen swing.

if you can download Michael Breed Golf fix video about Louis Oosthuizen swing, you will get Good Pointers on how to be a Scratch Golfer

Lastly, a few years ago, when Vijay Singh was suspended from Asian Tour circuit.

He went to our country and played and played Golf. Everyday, two rounds of Golf.

KJ Choi did this too.

Se Ri Pak was a product of Cebu island, Philippines. She played every day and practice everyday to be Great!

Now if there is someone out here who cand do that and practice, Lived & Breathe Golf, I am sure you will be a scratch player.

Major difference between scratch and tour player...while I agree with the dedication aspect and living and breathing golf, aside from that many will not achieve that level of success. The people that you mentioned are special examples and illustrate what it takes to get to the top level.

There are many in the world, despite all the money, time, and effort, will never achieve that level of golf.

But through practice and hard work, average golfers can become much much better.

Don't be alarmed. I got no sub 80s round to boot to offer advice here. But there is a story on this current issue of Golf magazine (with Rory on the cover) that really intrigued me. It is a story of this guy, coincidentally called Dan. It's about what he went thru in order to be scratch. He actually quit his job and puts in loads of hours of focused practice. Interesting read. I thought I share it.

As I start my journey couple years ago to be touring professional . I can tell you that hard work and qualitative work is the most important .As hitting 1000 ball a day isn’t the way to turn pro or be a decent single digit as you got to understand and feel what you doing as well as focusing on a part of the swing your coach and yourself think is the crutial part of the swing that need a change for more constituency ball flight as well as the bad shot will be better by getting proper coach I’ll consider only PGA member are the best as they know how to make you better as they play the game long enough to teach you from technique to course management . I’ll advice to get a mental coach to establish a solid pre-shot routine as well as improve your mental game as being able to accept shot that aren’t the way you wanted to hit it.

To be able to be a scratch player you got to identify what kind of golf player you are .There is 3 type of player technical , feel , and feel & technical . this is very important as it work with the brain and your golf swing is link with your brain . This type will be a great information for your coach as a feel player will not be able to play as good by always perfecting his technique , but technique player got to perfect is technique to play his best.
I’ll say to be able to be scratch spend 70% of your practice inside 100 meter in including chipping and putting as it’s where all you score come to when you laying up on Par 5 to make easy birdie or getting out of trouble on par 4 to save Par . Finally I will say play more holes and try to play and enjoy the game there isn’t one way to be a scratch player the goal is to be more consistent and efficient on the way you do it. In addition , you should have a practice plan on which part of your game you will work on at certain time of the day .

pocketace wrote:

Don't be alarmed. I got no sub 80s round to boot to offer advice here. But there is a story on this current issue of Golf magazine (with Rory on the cover) that really intrigued me. It is a story of this guy, coincidentally called Dan. It's about what he went thru in order to be scratch. He actually quit his job and puts in loads of hours of focused practice. Interesting read. I thought I share it.

Haven't read the article, but I just looked up Dan on the net .. http://www.thedanplan.com/ .. after 2 years of full-time golfing ... he has finally managed to break 80 ...

However, the fact that he quit his day job at the onset to achieve this ... makes me feel this is no more than an experiment we can learn very little from ...

http://www.thedanplan.com/ My utter respect!

thedanplan is really interesting. altho i seriously doubt that pure dedication and hardwork alone is enough for one to turn pro. still need a good amount of talent, and some ball sense

nonetheless, it's still very inspiring.

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