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Becoming a scratch or better player.

Looking forward to following this thread and your progress.....
 
TripleBogieTim said:
I understand that completely Jrod, in fact I said as much in my original response in the thread. I was just talking about my goals of getting into the mid single digits. Believe me I understand that going from a 5 to a zero is probably 4 times harder than going from a 15 to a 5.
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Oh I know tbt and thats why I said it wasnt directed at anyone in particular. I am all for people having goals and I hope they are abke to achieve them.
 
JRod said:
This is not a slam on anyone in particular but getting to a zero or + handicap from say 5 is exponentially harder than dropping from a 15 to a 5.
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Amen to that. From 75 to 70 can be a long, long, journey. It's a lofty goal, but it can be done with hard work. The thing about short game is you can practice and practice the shots, but you need to learn and trust them on the course. Some people can practice their way to low single digits or better, but generally they play a lot of golf, which includes a lot of competitive golf. One thing I think scratch or better players have is a natural ability to putt the ball. You can make yourself a pretty good putter, but in my opinion, truly great putters are born.

Hitting the ball a long, long, way also helps.

Kevin
 
JRod said:
Oh I know tbt and thats why I said it wasnt directed at anyone in particular. I am all for people having goals and I hope they are abke to achieve them.
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I think getting to a 5 is probably achievable for me in a just less than a year....then I will worry about the rest...LOL
 
Sounds like a great goal CB. I will be following along.

Quick question about what counts as "short game".

My highest lofted wedge is a 56* and I hit it 115 with a full swing. Is a 70 yard second shot considered my short game where it may be a full swing for someone else? Is any shot with a wedge, full or half, considered part of the short game? I really feel like working on approach shots from 100 and in will benefit me the most at this time.

I really feel like this is what I need to work on, my approach shots. And more often than not, it isn't a full swing.
 
I am not going to put a number on what I want my handicap to be, I just want to continue my work to reduce mistakes and dumb shots, as well as continuing to improve my short game skills and course management. If I do all that, my scores will fall to levels they "should be".
 
Great thread CB! I believe you can get there, if you put in the effort and practice the things that will help you get better. Like you, I got to where I could shoot in the low 80's fairly quickly. I was taught the old fashioned way though. i. e. My dad gave me a mix match set of muscle back irons, and I basically learned how to play on the course. If I could do it over again, I wish I would have learned to play from the cup backwards. IOW short putts, long putts, chips, pitches, approach shots, full iron shots, and then drives. I have taught several people to play from the hole back, with good results.

I just wrote all that to say that spending about 80% of your time practicing short game up to approaches, would serve you well. I'm fully convinced that the short game is what separates all levels of golfers.
 
JRod said:
Oh I know tbt and thats why I said it wasnt directed at anyone in particular. I am all for people having goals and I hope they are abke to achieve them.
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To me there's a HUGE difference between a 10 and a 5. I can't even imagine scratch or better.
 
Awesome thread, CB. Looking forward to following along. I like the fact that you have set a specific, aggressive and attainable goal. That's step one in improving, IMO.
 
TrueFX said:
Sounds like a great goal CB. I will be following along.

Quick question about what counts as "short game".

My highest lofted wedge is a 56* and I hit it 115 with a full swing. Is a 70 yard second shot considered my short game where it may be a full swing for someone else? Is any shot with a wedge, full or half, considered part of the short game? I really feel like working on approach shots from 100 and in will benefit me the most at this time.

I really feel like this is what I need to work on, my approach shots. And more often than not, it isn't a full swing.
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I can only answer for me....but what I consider the short game for me is 100 yards and in....really I have focused alot of work on 50 and in.....it could be different for everybody I guess.
 
My short game is when i play with Bama, Duey or Chunky. lol! :alien:



No serious, I look at short game as anything <100 yards to the hole, including putting
 
TC said:
So they make bogeys too, LOL. Jeez, that's a lot of birdies. Obviously they know how to score. I don't know how to do that.
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I was just thinking that myself.. 8/10 birdies is like.. spend the afternoon in the bar to celebrate something special..

I'm sitting at a 1.9 personally, and feel like I have a TON of work to do just to get to a 1, let alone closer to scratch. In fact, I wouldn't be upset if the summer finished without even getting there. I've had four straight 74's, and each of them had a couple shots that destroyed my round. One bad, hooked drive OB... Add two strokes onto the card. One heavy approach into water.. Add two strokes to the card. Par or better equates to, for me, a reasonably flawless round.

The misses are what destroy me. Out of 36 non-green swings, is it really that easy to avoid missing just one? I pulled a hybrid on the 17th today sitting at even par. Hit a hill and kicked hard left, right into the water. Doubled, ended up two over. One barely missed swing, two strokes.

Scratch is an incredible accomplishment.
 
Canadan said:
I was just thinking that myself.. 8/10 birdies is like.. spend the afternoon in the bar to celebrate something special..

I'm sitting at a 1.9 personally, and feel like I have a TON of work to do just to get to a 1, let alone closer to scratch. In fact, I wouldn't be upset if the summer finished without even getting there. I've had four straight 74's, and each of them had a couple shots that destroyed my round. One bad, hooked drive OB... Add two strokes onto the card. One heavy approach into water.. Add two strokes to the card. Par or better equates to, for me, a reasonably flawless round.

The misses are what destroy me. Out of 36 non-green swings, is it really that easy to avoid missing just one? I pulled a hybrid on the 17th today sitting at even par. Hit a hill and kicked hard left, right into the water. Doubled, ended up two over. One barely missed swing, two strokes.

Scratch is an incredible accomplishment.
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very valid comments!
 
That is a great goal to have, coolbreeze, and best luck of luck to you.

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago when I realized how far away I was from being the player I wanted to be. I was playing in a charity tournament with a guy on my team who was an All-American in college, caddied on the PGA Tour, and played on the Nationwide Tour until last year. He didn't hit the ball super far (the reason why he said he has had a hard time making it to the next level) but he hit it down the middle every hole; was a great ball striker; unbelievable with his wedges; and was the best putter I have ever seen. It made me realize how much practice you have to put in to be really good at this game, plus having natural ability like this guy doesn't hurt either. You have to make the decision to be better and then put in the time.

I had the same goal of betting to scratch or better this year but I haven't been able to play or practice nearly enough. I haven't played in 3 weeks and that was in the Captain's Choice tournament, and haven't posted a round in over a month. So remember your goal and make the time to play and practice, because I've been derailed by telling myself that I don't have the time to practice or play because there are so many other things going on.
 
coolbreeze said:
I think you can too Chunky!

I hear you, I'm lucky that I have a job where if I want to I can spend an hour or two every day at the range in the middle of the day and still be home before dinner from work.
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CB, that is a great goal, and I will be pulling for you to do it. The bolded part above will certainly help. Maybe if Chunky was more concerned with work instead of getting to a + handicap I would have that luxury too. Hehehe..JK
 
yorkem said:
CB, that is a great goal, and I will be pulling for you to do it. The bolded part above will certainly help. Maybe if Chunky was more concerned with work instead of getting to a + handicap I would have that luxury too. Hehehe..JK
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Thats a great point Yorkem, he really needs to work more.
 
Good luck CoolBreeze, are you going to be attending the A.R.C? If so Mac, Karl or Craig? I know people who have been to all 3 for lessons and are very low, if not positive, handicaps. One being RC's Jr. Club champ.
 
BigCountryStein said:
Good luck CoolBreeze, are you going to be attending the A.R.C? If so Mac, Karl or Craig? I know people who have been to all 3 for lessons and are very low, if not positive, handicaps. One being RC's Jr. Club champ.
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No sir, I am not. I am a member at Bear Mountain and will be taking lessons from our head pro there John Randall
 
Can't wait to follow your progress CB. It will be interesting to see what parts of your game you work on and the amount you practice. This should be fun for you buddy.
 
yorkem said:
CB, that is a great goal, and I will be pulling for you to do it. The bolded part above will certainly help. Maybe if Chunky was more concerned with work instead of getting to a + handicap I would have that luxury too. Hehehe..JK
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Oh if you were kidding...hehe
 
coolbreeze said:
No sir, I am not. I am a member at Bear Mountain and will be taking lessons from our head pro there John Randall
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That's awesome! I'm also seeing John at the moment, he explains things really well. The practice facilities at Bear are first class too, way worth the drive from in town.
 
BigCountryStein said:
That's awesome! I'm also seeing John at the moment, he explains things really well. The practice facilities at Bear are first class too, way worth the drive from in town.
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Agreed, I live in Sidney and still make the drive out there 5-6 times a week.

Thats great you are taking lessons from him and you're cap is impressively low. I've had him look at my swing once or twice but never a full lesson.
 
Just read through the entire post, great stuff in here.

CB, how many or often did you have lessons in three years to get to the point you are now? I am super competitive as well and have right around a year under my belt golfing and want to know how much time it will take to get to the next level.

Thanks.
 
Anyone can get to that point if they have the time to put in the work. I'm a college player and i'm still not a scratch golfer, my handicap floats between 2 -4. I can say tough that the quickest way to drop your handicap is practice your putting more than anything. If you break down the average 10 handicap, he takes 40+ putts a round( i know cause i used to be there). I used to practice my ball striking, chipping and pitching more than my putting and I hovered around an 8 for a long time. Once I started practicing my putting more and became confident with my putter my handicap dropped drastically. Now I have the confidence of knowing that any putt within 10 ft is going to drop, that takes a lot of off those difficult short game shots.
 
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