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What Keeps You From Being A Scratch Golfer?

My game!... Jokes aside it is mainly mental.
 
My biggest issue is my pace of play. The catch 22 of it is my swing is let mental when i dont over think my next move and when i play quickly so as not to allow my previous mistakes to creep into my swing thought. The problem this can create is i dont allow myself the opportunity to make all the reads that i want like adjusting for pin position.
When you always play by yourself its hard to keep on focus and pace.
 
I dont think it can ever be one thing that keeps me from it. my driver swing sucks. I need to work on it. My putting is so inconsistent, I dont practice enough. my iron game is improving quite a bit, I have a feeling if I could straighten my driver out then my cores would show. Its the only problem really in my game right now.
 
I don't know if my putting/short game keeps me from attaining a scratch hcap, but it definitely keeps me from getting lower. I think accuracy with the longer irons would help a lot. Hitting more greens and gaining confidence with the putter would get me sub 2, I think.


John Deere Tap'n
 
Right now I think its my whole swing. It's too long and leads to too many inconsistencies. In 08 & 09 when I was getting close to scratch my swing was short and compact, but I gave up the game for a year or so until I found this place and started up again and built a really ugly swing. Sometimes it looks good, and other times it looks terrible. I really think I need an overhaul though, of just my swing. I'm happy with my short game and putting right now!!
 
Simple answer for me - I can only hit so many balls because of my back / shoulder issue. I played 4 rounds in the past 1 1/2 weeks, and I paid for it lol! I know what to do, and how to improve, but I just can't physically do it most of the time - and that is about as frustrating as it gets. But even more frustrating thing for me is, I have a friend (or 2! ) who has the time ( not married, no kids ) and physical capability, to practice, but won't do it. And his HC refects it.
 
this one is simple for me, time and money.

Money to spend countless hours practicing with a pro, getting intensively fit properly for proper equipment
Time for spending countless hours practicing and playing on the course
 
Work and my inability to take a round seriously. Also struggle to keep my focus on the course.
 
I forgot to add weight gain. I've put on 20+lbs since 2007 and that has jacked me all up!!
 
Lefty78 said:
According to the GHIN definition, A "scratch golfer" is a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on any and all rated golf courses. A male scratch golfer, for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two shots at sea level. A female scratch golfer, for rating purposes, can hit tee shots an average of 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two shots at sea level.

What keeps me from being a scratch golfer? Inconsistency in my swing. Scratch is When everything is working and inconsistency is low I can get to 3.5 index but that is a looooong way from scratch. I probably will never get any lower than 3 or 4 (if I ever get back there again) partially because of physical degradation which, unfortunately, comes with age.

I'm not sure that I could ever have been a scratch golfer even I had possessed a good swing. I'm a fairly good ball striker with pretty good eye-hand skills but scratch requires extraordinary physical skills along with a decent swing, lots of work and lots of play. The percentage of golfers with physical abilities to be scratch is pretty low in my estimation. In other words, golfers can work on every aspect and get as good as they possibly can be and still not be scratch golfers. I think most could get into single digits and many can get down below five but never be scratch. Scratch is a good goal to work toward but it ain't ever happening for most of us.
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I would agree with that Lefty... although I think if you took most any above average athlete when he was young and had him focus on golf he could be scratch - IF - and this is the elephant in the room - he had the mental acumen & drive to play at that level. My dad tried his a$$ off to get me to play when I was young, but baseball and football dominated my time, and at that age, were much cooler to play! It is much cooler for the youngsters now to play, and my son is doing what I wouldn't do - although I have never forced him.
 
dhjkelly said:
Work and my inability to take a round seriously. Also struggle to keep my focus on the course.
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you know what, I need to add that to my list-mental focus, it's more important than some people realize
 
Mr. Satchmo said:
you know what, I need to add that to my list-mental focus, it's more important than some people realize
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Hugely important man. Not to put anyone down but sometimes playing with players not at your level can be a mental strain just like playing with someone who is having a bad day
 
BIGBALL said:
I would agree with that Lefty... although I think if you took most any above average athlete when he was young and had him focus on golf he could be scratch - IF - and this is the elephant in the room - he had the mental acumen & drive to play at that level. My dad tried his a$$ off to get me to play when I was young, but baseball and football dominated my time, and at that age, were much cooler to play! It is much cooler for the youngsters now to play, and my son is doing what I wouldn't do - although I have never forced him.
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I do not disagree at all, this is a good addition to what I said.

I think most of the answers in the thread that blame lack of time may be misleading themselves. I also agree with you about starting young and proper teaching from the beginning will make a difference. I see it in the kids at the club but still only a small percentage of them ever become "scratch golfers" most do become low single digits. It is a thousand miles from a 3 handicap down to scratch but only 40 miles from scratch back to 3. (and 40 more miles from 3 to 10 which is what I've done in just a few months.)
 
For me it is drive. I want to play well... but there are many other things in life that are of higher priority to me. To be a scratch golfer, many (if not most) golfers would need to take their internal drive and direct a huge portion of it towards golf. While I direct some of my drive towards the game, I just direct too much of it elsewhere to be a scratch golfer. That may change someday, however. Perhaps when I retire.
 
Good question, Lord know's I've put enough time and effort in. I'm pretty happy with how consistent my short game has been, especially putting, but hitting fw's and greens are just so inconsistent. With my lack of length it's doubtful I would be scratch even with fw's.
 
Sheezzz, where do I start , from putting to ball striking and the mental part of the game . I have several times started a round off paring the first 6 - 7 holes then when i think a good round is coming here comes the blow up holes and they seem to run together two 7's in a row just kills the mental part and takes all the effort of the first few holes and throws it out the window. The pro mental coach would do me well. Then there's the rounds of starting off the 1st hole with a 8 just kills the rest of the round . When that happens i realize there are plenty of holes left and will have a few good holes and then here comes the big number again. Of course hitting the ball closer to the pins on my second shots would help tremendously cause a 3 putt is pretty much expected on putts longer than 20-30 feet . If I spent more time on putting practice that would be a great start shaving a minimal 5 strokes off every round .
 
A combination of playing the wrong tees, and mental game.... probably about 10% tees, 90% mental.

When we play other courses, we always play the tees that the other 3 guys want to play, which is never the appropriate tee.
 
The mental part of the game is probably #1. Talent is #2
 
Tie between lousy swing and lousy body.

If I magically got back my knees, lost 80lbs, and dropped 25 years, I STILL wouldn't be scratch, because the swing has never been that consistent. And even if I could go back, I don't think I'd have the mental game to put the work in. 25 years ago, I don't recall anyone local actually working on something at the range. Warm up, try and figure out distances, sure. But I can't recall seeing anyone working on ballflight or working it both ways, or even playing poor/different lies. And that's the stuff I'd have needed to be scratch.
 
For me #1 is the mental game I just don't have the ability to stay focused, to many small things affect me out on the course. #2 is talent... I think I could be a good golfer if I could devote that much time to practice. maybe get to singe digits but at my age I can't see how I could ever get to scratch.
 
No offense JB, but what's the big deal about being a scratch?

Yes, I wish I was but I golf for enjoyment, a veritable Hacker's Paradise. If I was a scratch, I could not come here anymore.
 
I think a couple of things.
1. Just playing more. More reps = more consistancy
2. I don't have putting stats like Luke
 
Lefty78 said:
The percentage of golfers with physical abilities to be scratch is pretty low in my estimation. In other words, golfers can work on every aspect and get as good as they possibly can be and still not be scratch golfers. I think most could get into single digits and many can get down below five but never be scratch. Scratch is a good goal to work toward but it ain't ever happening for most of us.
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I have heard that it gets exponentially more difficult the lower you go to improve handicap-wise.

If I could work harder at it and play to the best of my ability, repeatedly, I still don't think I would get lower than 6. The guys I have known who are "scratch" (one is a 0.1 the other is a +2) - they both have good swings and stuff, but they also have super sharp hand-eye coordination, mental stamina, and superb short games.

I make too many errors and miss too many putts - either because of a swing/form mishap or a tactical mental mistake.
 
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