How low could someone go?

[woody69]

I have often wondered how good you reckon someone could get if they followed the regime of a pro for a year in terms of coaching, practice rounds etc etc?

Say you had an average player of around 22-25 handicap on day 1, that was offered the opportunity to follow a strict regime that the pros follow (i.e. it became your job and you had a full time pro coaching you etc), then at the end of the year, they had their new handicap calculated from 3 cards (as if you were just starting out).

I know it is obviously dependent on the ability of the player and everyone is different, but on average, do you think they could get to scratch? Less than 5? Around 10? Higher? We're talking about playing golf 5-6 days a week, full time with coaching, drills and practice living the life of some of the pros. Of course there will be the odd days off through sickness, holiday etc but its becomes your life for 12 solid months

I think the average would be Cat 1, somewhere between 2-5. What do you reckon?

And slightly different question and perhaps easier to answer, where do you reckon you could end up if the opportunity was offered to you today with your current handicap? I think I could just about scrape in as a cat 1 player

 

[mcbroon]

There was a guy on here a while back who was doing 'Operation Scratch'. If you do a search, you'll find the thread. Can't remember what he started at - mid-teens, I think - and his goal was to get on Tour in 5 years, with a milestone of scratch after a couple of years, if I remember rightly.

His blog is dead, his youtube channel is no more and he stopped updating the forum, which probably gives you a clue as to his level of success

A lot would depend on level of ability but I'd say if you're starting at 22-25, you've no chance of getting to scratch in a year, if ever. If I did it starting today, off 9, I reckon I'd get to Cat 1 but I don't think I'd get to scratch.

 

[Rooter]

in 1 year starting today off 17, i reckon i would be very lucky to get to 5. who knows though in reality. if you chuck me £100k, i will be your guinea pig if you want?

 

[jimbob.someroo]

Would entirely be dependent on the person. Coaching and kit etc could probably get you down to single figures but you still would need the 'golf brain' of sorts to put together a decent score.

This experience would need to be built up over more than a year imho.

 

[guest100718]

There were a couple of blokes who were trying it. One got to 15 the other 10. And that was full time for a year. the 15 had never played before and the 10 was a 90s shooter already.

 

[woody69]

There were a couple of blokes who were trying it. One got to 15 the other 10. And that was full time for a year. the 15 had never played before and the 10 was a 90s shooter already.

Full time sure, but did they also have a dedicated coach etc I'm not just talking about taking the game up and going out there and trying to do your own thing, after all if you did that, how would you know what you was doing was right?

 

[guest100718]

Full time sure, but did they also have a dedicated coach etc I'm not just talking about taking the game up and going out there and trying to do your own thing, after all if you did that, how would you know what you was doing was right?

Yes he had a full time coach, you can read his blog at http://novice2scratch.com/ I thought he may get to single figures but he was no where near in the end. The other is parfromafar, google it, again he had coaching etc and he got to 9.5. But was only really shooting in the mid 80s mostly.

 

[m10johnson]

Very good friend of mine started playing when he was about 15. First handicap was 15. He got down to cat 1 within a year.

He's now 21 and playing off 0.3, got as low as -0.1.

 

[shivas irons]

Read "dream on" by John Richardson, I'm not going to ruin it for people with the finer details but its pretty much what your talking about.

 

[guest100718]

Read "dream on" by John Richardson, I'm not going to ruin it for people with the finer details but its pretty much what your talking about.

It isnt.

 

[patricks148]

Full time sure, but did they also have a dedicated coach etc I'm not just talking about taking the game up and going out there and trying to do your own thing, after all if you did that, how would you know what you was doing was right?

Wasn't there a guy in one of the mags did that and got to scratch, it was a few year ago.

I think if you had some sporting ability why not, if your a complt duffer and never got lower that 20's playing for a few years ....no

 

[shivas irons]

I have often wondered how good you reckon someone could get if they followed the regime of a pro for a year in terms of coaching, practice rounds etc etc?

Say you had an average player of around 22-25 handicap on day 1, that was offered the opportunity to follow a strict regime that the pros follow (i.e. it became your job and you had a full time pro coaching you etc), then at the end of the year, they had their new handicap calculated from 3 cards (as if you were just starting out).

I know it is obviously dependent on the ability of the player and everyone is different, but on average, do you think they could get to scratch? Less than 5? Around 10? Higher? We're talking about playing golf 5-6 days a week, full time with coaching, drills and practice living the life of some of the pros. Of course there will be the odd days off through sickness, holiday etc but its becomes your life for 12 solid months

I think the average would be Cat 1, somewhere between 2-5. What do you reckon?

And slightly different question and perhaps easier to answer, where do you reckon you could end up if the opportunity was offered to you today with your current handicap? I think I could just about scrape in as a cat 1 player

So what is your handicap at the moment?

 

[Keeno]

I dont think you would get much lower than 8or9 if you start at 22-25. At that level hand eye coordination obviously isnt great, so not much chance of being a really good golfer.

 

[londonlewis]

I have often wondered how good you reckon someone could get if they followed the regime of a pro for a year in terms of coaching, practice rounds etc etc?

Say you had an average player of around 22-25 handicap on day 1, that was offered the opportunity to follow a strict regime that the pros follow (i.e. it became your job and you had a full time pro coaching you etc), then at the end of the year, they had their new handicap calculated from 3 cards (as if you were just starting out).

I know it is obviously dependent on the ability of the player and everyone is different, but on average, do you think they could get to scratch? Less than 5? Around 10? Higher? We're talking about playing golf 5-6 days a week, full time with coaching, drills and practice living the life of some of the pros. Of course there will be the odd days off through sickness, holiday etc but its becomes your life for 12 solid months

I think the average would be Cat 1, somewhere between 2-5. What do you reckon?

And slightly different question and perhaps easier to answer, where do you reckon you could end up if the opportunity was offered to you today with your current handicap? I think I could just about scrape in as a cat 1 player

the theory is that it takes someone 10000 hours to become a professional, no matter the subject and it just so happens an individual has tried to test this in golf.

http://thedanplan.com/countdown/

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think the starting consideration for the golfer is as given by Hogan...

'You cannot expect to acquire a real control of the correct movements in a month's time. You must continue to work on the fundamentals throughout the golf season, both on the course and on the practice tee. Through this steady familiarization you will gradually come to execute the movements of the swing more easily and more efficiently. Within six months - as soon as that - an average golfer who has applied himself intelligently should be coming close to breaking 80 or actually breaking 80'

My bold :whoo:

He doesn't say how much lower the average golfer can go on to score from this point - which suggests to me that high single figures is where you'll get to in a year.

 

[duncan mackie]

so much of this depends on what age you start, especially the key formative years when you can be taught!

any reasonably sporty 14 year old taking up the game with committment and resources should be able to make scratch well before hitting 20.

as with most things that require technique before applying strength (skiing is another) the learning rate is almost inversely proportional to age!

 

[JustOne]

Wasn't there a guy in one of the mags did that and got to scratch, it was a few year ago.

I think he shot under par but didn't get a h/cap as low as scratch.

In my opinion 1 year isn't long enough, 2/3 would be a minimum requirement.

 

[TheJezster]

I think Duncan is right, much depends on age etc

I think getting to a level low enough is do-able personally. I took the game up on my 40th birthday (I'm 42 now), and am down to 16.0 as it stands. If I hadnt got a handicap though and had to hand in 3 cards now, I would imagine I would be given a h/c of around 10 to 11 as that seems to be the level im shooting at the moment. So, give me a year of full dedication and pro teaching and I believe I could get a lot lower. I'm not going to say scratch because I will never know, but I believe i could firmly be single figures, maybe 7-8.

It's horses for courses though, some people are more sporty than others, so some could easily get to scratch in that timeframe I would imagine, especially if age was on their side too, along with a natural ability to pick hand/eye sports up.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think age is important as I would have thought anyone with family commitments is going to struggle to find the necessary time. If there was access to regular coaching, especially in the short game then it could happen but as other examples have shown, single figures would represent a good return for the years work

 

[user2009]

It's all down to natural talent, no matter how hard and long you train you need a natural talent for the game to stand a chance. If I quit my job and concentrated full time on golf for 5 yrs I might make a 15 handicap tops, I just haven't got the talent. I used to do a lot of running but no matter how hard I trained (and I did train hard) I was nowhere near being a top athlete, good club runner yes but I didn't have the talent to make it to the top. It's the same throughout all sports throughout the world, the talent gets identified at a young age(with the very rare exception) nurtured, developed and coached to the top, you can't just decide one day to train like mad and become the best.