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Do you desire to become a scratch golfer?

Of course I would love to be a scratch golfer and hit every shot just about damn near perfect and where I want it to go. I want to hit those birdies, eagles etc on a regular basis. When I do get a birdie or par, its awesome, but mostly its bogey golf for me...

I shoot in the mid to low 90's most of the time, which is fine for me, but I would like to break 90 on a regular basis, then try to get better and better to where I am breaking 85 then 80. but if I never get there, I'm ok with it.
 
TheWoo said:
Yes. I've been scratch before, and I'm close now (though an entire stroke away is a LONG way at this point). I want to get there again.
The problem, as is always the problem with golf, is that once you've broken a barrier, staying there is rarely enough. No reason once your index is 0.0 to not try to get to +1, you know!
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^^^^ This!^^^^

Getting to a scratch just increases your desire to get to a +2.5!!
 
Unknown... as a relatively new player I have only 3 goals I want to achieve in the next couple of years.

1: Get my Handicap (I would likely be about 30 at the moment so wouldn't register)
2: Become a Bogey golfer.
3: Improve and re-assess goals.

I think once I am confident enough to log a handicap it will give me that push to get better... I like seeing a trackable stat that I can bring down and having a theoretical handicap is just not the same!
 
I don't put the time in or the ability to be a scratch golfer. My goal is just to practice when I can, play when I can and see where it gets me.
 
Do I have the desire to get there, absolutely. Do I think it is possible going forward, no due to lack of time / money and physical limitations. I believe I could have gotten there 5 - 7 years ago if my job afforded me more time to play than 2 times per week max.
 
I would love to be scratch, but that will probably never happen. But I want to be a mid teens handicap golfer eventually. And I would be happy with that.

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Really, my goal is just to be consistent in the mid 80s. When I get there then I will think about what I need to do to get better.
 
My goal with most everything is progression. If i stop progressing I will lose interest and move on to something else. I enjoy golf because I love the game but I love the challenge of constantly getting better. My short term goal is to shoot in the 70's, long term is scratch or better. I try to make each round better than the last, which isn't always the case. But it is motivation keep trying.
 
Every time I step foot on a course it is to get better. In reality I don't see myself ever being a scratch golfer, mainly because I don't have the time to practice that much and the golf season lasts about 5 months where I live. I play like I am striving to be scratch, but in reality I would be very happy with single digits.
 
My goal is to get low enough to go out for the U.S. open qualifier one year, so 2.0ish or less.
 
Absolutely I do. I was close to playing at the scratch level last towards the middle and end of last year. I'm not practicing nearly as much or for as long this year and it has showed. Plus not to make excuses but the beginning of this season I was still implementing new changes to the swing. I made a goal for myself to be legitimately scratch by the end of the goal season when I turn 27 which is 2 years from now. I'm currently a 3.2 but trending to a 2.8. It was a whole hell of a lot easier going from 8 or 9 to 3 or 4 than it is going from 3 to 0.
 
Six4three5 said:
Absolutely I do. I was close to playing at the scratch level last towards the middle and end of last year. I'm not practicing nearly as much or for as long this year and it has showed. Plus not to make excuses but the beginning of this season I was still implementing new changes to the swing. I made a goal for myself to be legitimately scratch by the end of the goal season when I turn 27 which is 2 years from now. I'm currently a 3.2 but trending to a 2.8. It was a whole hell of a lot easier going from 8 or 9 to 3 or 4 than it is going from 3 to 0.
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I told my coach that scratch was my first goal and then I wanted to get into competitive stuff.

His exact words were, "15 to 5 is pretty easy. 5 to 0 is ridiculous!" Lol

He was spot on though. I was an 8 when we started working together. My last official hdcp was a 4 but I'm sure I'm right around 2.5 to 3 now. Shot my first ever even par 18 the other day and now the 60s seem so far away!
 
rtparty said:
I told my coach that scratch was my first goal and then I wanted to get into competitive stuff.

His exact words were, "15 to 5 is pretty easy. 5 to 0 is ridiculous!" Lol

He was spot on though. I was an 8 when we started working together. My last official hdcp was a 4 but I'm sure I'm right around 2.5 to 3 now. Shot my first ever even par 18 the other day and now the 60s seem so far away!
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I went from 15 to 6 in just a few months... Then it was hard work for almost the same amount of time to go to 5
 
rtparty said:
I told my coach that scratch was my first goal and then I wanted to get into competitive stuff.

His exact words were, "15 to 5 is pretty easy. 5 to 0 is ridiculous!" Lol

He was spot on though. I was an 8 when we started working together. My last official hdcp was a 4 but I'm sure I'm right around 2.5 to 3 now. Shot my first ever even par 18 the other day and now the 60s seem so far away!
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Couldn't agree more dude. It takes A LOT of solid CONSISTENT golf to drop strokes when you hit the 3,4,5 range. I have one round in the 60's in my life and just about everything was clicking that day. It's ridiculous to think if I get to where I want to be I'll need to be throwing rounds out at 2 to 3 under consistently to get to scratch.
 
Six4three5 said:
Couldn't agree more dude. It takes A LOT of solid CONSISTENT golf to drop strokes when you hit the 3,4,5 range. I have one round in the 60's in my life and just about everything was clicking that day. It's ridiculous to think if I get to where I want to be I'll need to be throwing rounds out at 2 to 3 under consistently to get to scratch.
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It's quite easy to find where I lose strokes when shooting 80+. When I shoot a 73, I just scratch my head and say, "Where the hell do I find a few strokes to lose?"

After 20+ years of playing, I'm finally scratching the surface of "how to score" and what that really means.

I'm fully prepared for a high 70s round my next time out...
 
rtparty said:
It's quite easy to find where I lose strokes when shooting 80+. When I shoot a 73, I just scratch my head and say, "Where the hell do I find a few strokes to lose?"

After 20+ years of playing, I'm finally scratching the surface of "how to score" and what that really means.

I'm fully prepared for a high 70s round my next time out...
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Haha I know what you mean brother. What absolutely KILLS me is when I shoot a low round and have bogeys. Just 2 weeks ago I went out and shot 71. I think I had 4 bogeys and 5 birdies and 9 pars. It drives me nuts because it's not really my game. I'm learning how to score the more I play, but my game is to just par the course to death. It's nothing for me to go out and shoot 2 or 3 or 4 over with 16 pars and 2 bogeys and so on, but when I have the rounds where I'm throwing out a lot of birdies (for me) I always seem to even the round out with bogeys and I'll fully admit some bogeys are good bogeys and some are bad. But I think it all goes back to the handicap and average. You can have hot rounds but 99 times out of a 100 you'll end up where you normally shoot. Same thing goes for guys in the MLB if the guy is a .280 average hitter even if he has 2 or 3 months where he lights it up and bats .320 or .330 at the end of the year he'll average out to a .280. It's all about improving, but also improving your consistency.
 
I had a stretch shooting mid to upper 70s where I would have 3 or 4 double bogies and the rest pars and birdies. I wish I knew about taking ones medicine and simply punching one to a playable spot rather than trying to be a hero after a botched shot.
 
Six4three5 said:
Haha I know what you mean brother. What absolutely KILLS me is when I shoot a low round and have bogeys. Just 2 weeks ago I went out and shot 71. I think I had 4 bogeys and 5 birdies and 9 pars. It drives me nuts because it's not really my game. I'm learning how to score the more I play, but my game is to just par the course to death. It's nothing for me to go out and shoot 2 or 3 or 4 over with 16 pars and 2 bogeys and so on, but when I have the rounds where I'm throwing out a lot of birdies (for me) I always seem to even the round out with bogeys and I'll fully admit some bogeys are good bogeys and some are bad. But I think it all goes back to the handicap and average. You can have hot rounds but 99 times out of a 100 you'll end up where you normally shoot. Same thing goes for guys in the MLB if the guy is a .280 average hitter even if he has 2 or 3 months where he lights it up and bats .320 or .330 at the end of the year he'll average out to a .280. It's all about improving, but also improving your consistency.
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My 71 was 5 birdies (3 easy birdies missed as well) 3 bogeys, a double and 9 pars. My double? A 105y par 3 where I chunked my first into the water. It's the dumbest hole on the course. Almost like the designer finished his plans, went to number the holes and only had 17. So he added this hole in a chunk of space. It just doesn't match up.

Back on topic...

We just have to keep pushing and make our average that .320...or die trying!
 
YetiLooper said:
I had a stretch shooting mid to upper 70s where I would have 3 or 4 double bogies and the rest pars and birdies. I wish I knew about taking ones medicine and simply punching one to a playable spot rather than trying to be a hero after a botched shot.
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That's something that I've become much much better at. Taking my medicine and playing for par or a good bogey that is. It's hard but it pays off.
 
Do I want to? Yes. But I don't honestly think I have the talent. I'm gonna do what I can to prove that idea wrong, but I just don't know if I can go that low.

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I think a lot of people can. It's just a big commitment, like a huge commitment. It's not just practicing, it's mental. I also think a ton of it is fitness level too. I know not all pro players look like athletic specimens, but those guys have exceptional talent. The average golfer would benefit greatly from being in better shape. Strength and endurance can only help.
 
Nope I go our and have fun. The moment it feels like work I'm done

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Scratch is a little tough. For me low singles is more attainable. It's not easy to get better when I play only once a week and the first thought that comes to my mind on the first tee is, "How the heck do I do this?"
 
I would love to be scratch but I'm starting to realize that just may not happen. I'm pretty happy with being a 4 right now and I know if I could just get out 2or 3 times more a week it could happen but that may have to wait a few years.

I'll keep having fun and see what happens, who knows maybe one day I'll realize a dream I've had for quite some time.
 
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