Do you believe you can get to scratch?

[PJ87]

What do you shoot/what is your cap at the minute? Have you played a long time, or just starting? Do you know where you're dropping shots?

(Sorry, I don't know many posters at all!)

22.7 , shoot in the 90s. My course is long and battered with wind but whs don't rate on that they said not enough bunkers so whenever I play another course I usually score my best because their more open and slope is higher.

Id need 89s to be 18 where as 91 elsewhere is enough , my dropped shots is lack of distance but that can be addressed over time, I had my purple patch in September but had some poor form.

If I can get my driver going like it was Jan - sept I'll drop but I've developed a case of the open faces

 

[Mel Smooth]

No chance.

As I said in another thread, I've seen loads of young golfers that are scratch or close to it this last year, and plenty more that will get there. I've got nowhere near the ability to achieve those levels.

 

[nickjdavis]

In all honesty, scratch is almost certainly beyond me. Lowest i've ever been was 6.2 under the UHS about 16/17 years ago. As I've aged and got slower and fatter then my handicap has crept up...as high as 14 a couple of years ago. Now back under control at 9.5 and having just retired (59 in a months times) I should have plenty of time for practice, which has been neglected a bit in recent years due to changing work circumstances.

Hopefully I still have the ability to get back down to mid single figures and if i was able to go as low as 5, or something that would give me a playing handicap akin to the old Cat 1 status, then i reckon I'd have achieved everything that an amateur golfer could reasonably expect to do in their golfing lifetime.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

What stops people from getting to scratch or single figures etc is mainly ability

I would say mainly time.
Playing once or twice a week won't see your hcp come down, only maintain and hold.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Mental or physical?

Mainly physical - mental ability will have a very small part to play

 

[Oddsocks]

I would say mainly time.
Playing once or twice a week won't see your hcp come down, only maintain and hold.

100% - and hitting long balls on the range all week won’t get you there either.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I would say mainly time.
Playing once or twice a week won't see your hcp come down, only maintain and hold.

Time will also be a factor but there are players that will play 5-7 times a week and still not improve etc

It’s the same with any sport - your limitations are you’re natural ability for that sport.

 

[Crow]

No.

I'm the wrong side of 60.
I don't practice enough.
I have a dreadful short game.
I play with clubs that are usually over 50 years old.
I play a different set of clubs every week, putter included.

 

[rulie]

Do you believe that you can run the 100 meters in less than 11 seconds?

 

[Billysboots]

I firmly believe everyone has their level, and mine will never be scratch. I’ve been single figures now for a few years, and whilst I think I can get down to 5/6 if I stay fit long enough (I’ve had several injury/illness absences in the last three years), my natural game is such that I will never achieve the consistency required to get much lower.

 

[HPIMG]

I expect to be scratch at worst next season aim is +1.
I Took up golf 4 years ago and scratch was always the goal right from the start. I’ve met a few people along the way who would tell me scratch was not realistic. I played with one of them a few weeks ago, first time I had seen in him in about two years. Very half glass empty type of guy who’s horrendous at golf. Told him I was down to 1.9 and cheeky bugger said oh let’s see then. Shot -4 and took great pleasure in that rounds.

 

[garyinderry]

Mainly physical - mental ability will have a very small part to play

Can't say I agree there.

There will be umpteen people at any given range who hit the ball further than I do yet have no idea how to get the ball around the course without making a double bogey.

Put all those guys in the mental ability holding them back pile.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Can't say I agree there.

There will be umpteen people at any given range who hit the ball further than I do yet have no idea how to get the ball around the course without making a double bogey.

Put all those guys in the mental ability holding them back pile.

Physical ability isn’t just down to hitting the ball as far as possible

 

[Voyager EMH]

No.

I'm the wrong side of 60.
I don't practice enough.
I have a dreadful short game.
I play with clubs that are usually over 50 years old.
I play a different set of clubs every week, putter included.

Those are all very poor excuses.

Your only barrier is a lack of ambition.

 

[bobmac]

Can't say I agree there.

There will be umpteen people at any given range who hit the ball further than I do yet have no idea how to get the ball around the course without making a double bogey.

Put all those guys in the mental ability holding them back pile.

Interesting you say that.
Before turning pro, my scores fluctuated around low 70s
After turning pro, things changed for the better.
I suppose before there was a fair amount of h/cap protection going on towards the end of the round.

''Don't blow up now and ruin all that hard work, I might even get chopped''

After turning pro, there was no h/cap to protect, just the course to attack.
Birdies were £s
Within weeks, with no change to my swing, my scores improved 2-4 shots and were often sub par.
So the game hadn't changed, just the attitude.
It was liberating

 

[sunshine]

Hypothetically yes. I can reach every green in regulation at my club (and most courses), I'm a good putter, have a decent short game.

Realistically no. My swing isn't consistent enough to hold up over 18 holes, and I don't have the time to practise enough to improve. I probably have a mental ceiling too (which I have never tested).

 

[srixon 1]

Mental or physical?

I would say both.

 

[hambugerpete]

Has anyone tried to do it in a year ?

 

[Voyager EMH]

Has anyone tried to do it in a year ?

Only about 50 times.
Usually realise by early May that it isn't going to happen.

 

[bobmac]

Has anyone tried to do it in a year ?

There's been a few over the years.....
I wonder how they are getting on