2 to Scratch?

FairwayDodger

FairwayDodger

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Slightly reluctant to post this but I'm starting to think in terms of trying to get down to scratch. My good golf is good enough, I've got a few sub-par rounds to my name. My last round of the season felt like a bit of a milestone - breaking par in a bigish competition on a course I'd never played before.

Getting more consistency into my game and shooting par or better more often is needed now!

I've got a glitch with my driving at the moment (been battling it all year) I need to sort out and then my plan is to work hard on the short game over the winter while keeping everything else ticking over. I'm striping my irons at the moment, though, and word from my pro after tonight's lesson is that it's definitely a realistic goal for next year....

Certainly won't be easy though! I know there are a few low handicappers on here - what are your experiences at this stage? What makes the difference to continuing to improve?
 
I can't help you with your goal as you are a world above me in ability (well done BTW), but out of interest, how often do you play and practice? Interested how much an amateur really puts in to get as good as you are.
 
Definitely no advice from me, but watching you at Trump your ability to keep the ball in play and controlling your shots was a pleasure, I wish you all the best and I'm sure if you have the time you will do it.
 
woody69 said:
I can't help you with your goal as you are a world above me in ability (well done BTW), but out of interest, how often do you play and practice? Interested how much an amateur really puts in to get as good as you are.
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Lots - lol!

Probably average 3 or 4 rounds a week in the summer, practice on top of that too. :eek:
 
snell said:
:D :D :D :D

I know its cliche, but every time I play with a Cat 1 player its always a joy to watch their short game, and when they miss the green, they generally get it up and down.....I believe thats the difference


But then again I play off 14, so what do I know :D
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I think that's what will make the difference for me, short game is currently a weakness in my game.
 
It has to be improving your short game from 70 yards in. If you are a decent putter the percentage of putts made increases dramatically if you can get it closer from within 70 yds.

If you watch the LPGA / European Womens tour players they are fantastic from this distance and are much nearer to a scratch mens game than the male tour pros.
 
I'm reading a book called How to score lower. It talks about separation values within your game and what would benefit you most of all. It's also states stats from Every Shot Counts book from the PGA Tour, which is very good if you've not read it by Mark Broadie.
From what your saying, your going to practise your short game? I'm assuming it's from 30-125yds, which is an area I'll be concentrating on myself. If it's just around the green 30yds and under then your wasting your time as you'll be practising the wrong area. It would be approach play (125 and above) that will improve your scoring, as in more greens hit, more opportunities for birdies. Mendie is right that the thinking now is hit it further, the closer you are the better your scoring will be. My aim is to be off 1 by mid next year. So I'm in the same boat, but as most Cat 1 players will know the better you are the less mistakes you got to make.
 
3565 said:
I'm reading a book called How to score lower. It talks about separation values within your game and what would benefit you most of all. It's also states stats from Every Shot Counts book from the PGA Tour, which is very good if you've not read it by Mark Broadie.
From what your saying, your going to practise your short game? I'm assuming it's from 30-125yds, which is an area I'll be concentrating on myself. If it's just around the green 30yds and under then your wasting your time as you'll be practising the wrong area. It would be approach play (125 and above) that will improve your scoring, as in more greens hit, more opportunities for birdies. Mendie is right that the thinking now is hit it further, the closer you are the better your scoring will be. My aim is to be off 1 by mid next year. So I'm in the same boat, but as most Cat 1 players will know the better you are the less mistakes you got to make.
Click to expand...

Cheers, will take a look at that book.

Yes, I'm thinking 100 yards and in is where I can make the biggest gains. I do need to improve around the greens as well though so will be working on that too.
 
As Ian says

IanG said:
Believe .....
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You are already 99% of what you need to do. But when you're having some iffy games, from your posts, you're really hard on yourself. Many years ago my club pro back then was coach for Yorkshire. When I was getting frustrated he suggested I look at the scores posted by top pro's in the competitions they didn't figure well up the leader board. The point he was trying to make was that even the best have many, many bad rounds. How they bounce back from bad rounds, or even a run of bad holes, is about belief. They, like you, already have the swing and the game to score well.

Focus, concentrate, relax... focus, concentrate, relax... you can't concentrate solidly for 4 hours. Manage your resources around the course.
 
A local pro, who uses the same indoor golf centre as I do is reputed to devote at least 50% of his time to getting his distance control right. PaulDJ has sung your praises to me when I've been hacking round with him & says you hit it very straight. If this is the case, the fact that you don't birdie every hole where you hit the green in regulation is most likely to be because you are either short or long, rather than a long way off line. Therefore concentrating on distance control, especially with the wedges, should pay dividends. In the winter, this can be done effectively indoors on a simulator, if you have one nearby. As already said, there aren't many scratch players with a poor short game so any time spent there will be rewarding.
 
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