Great progress. However I think getting to single figures would be possible but the gap between 5 and scratch is almost as big as the gap from 21 to 12 as it is harder to shave those extra 0.1's everytime the lower you go
Non golfer to scratch in a year could it happen ?
- Thread starter sydney greenstreet
- Start date
Great progress. However I think getting to single figures would be possible but the gap between 5 and scratch is almost as big as the gap from 21 to 12 as it is harder to shave those extra 0.1's everytime the lower you go
Qwerty
Tour Winner
I think anyone playing off scratch not only has to have an enormous amount of natural talent but they also need very good course management and that includes knowing their own game inside out,and their own capabilities.
Can anyone whose played the game for 10 years plus remember what their course management was like after playing for 12 months?
I can, and looking back it was pretty poor despite what I though at the time.
The hardest part of this game for most is limiting mistakes to only one dropped shot and not letting them spiral into 2 or 3 by making mental errors/bad shots. Someone who's been playing for 12 months just doesn't have this experience even if they have huge natural ball striking ability.
Can anyone whose played the game for 10 years plus remember what their course management was like after playing for 12 months?
I can, and looking back it was pretty poor despite what I though at the time.
The hardest part of this game for most is limiting mistakes to only one dropped shot and not letting them spiral into 2 or 3 by making mental errors/bad shots. Someone who's been playing for 12 months just doesn't have this experience even if they have huge natural ball striking ability.
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user2009
Head Pro
These things take years and years of blood, sweat and tears, I don't believe it can be done in a year, a couple maybe with an exceptional talent but a year? 
user2009
Head Pro
I agree but also there's a big difference between a non golfer and a 21 handicap too
MadAdey
Money List Winner
2 years I think it might be possible. First year learning the basics and building a solid swing, then really work hard on how you actually play the game in year 2 andi think you might have a chance.
sawtooth
Tour Winner
Not necessarily true, ESR's could have you drop quicker than that.
JustOne
Ryder Cup Winner
Very hard to believe, but all the same very impressive if true. 18 to scratch is golf of the highest order if you're having to put comp cards in every week.
Robobum
Money List Winner
Again, this would need county union consent................blood and stone describes that chance
Foxholer
Blackballed
ESRs were initially not applicable to Cat 1s - but this as 'to be review in 2013'.
Has it changed?
woody69
Journeyman Pro
I asked this question a month or two ago and the responses were all the same in that scratch was a nigh on impossibility, but cat 1 "may be possible" with someone of the right level of natural talent, but most likely it would be either high singles or early teens they would plateau out at.
People get hung up on the number of cards they would need to submit and the 0.1 cuts, when I think in reality all you are asking is would someone be able to shoot level par on a consistent basis after having only played for 1 year. I asked the question as someone else said, i.es play 3 rounds to calculate and unofficial h/cap, have the year training/coaching etc, then 3 more cards to see if the new unofficial h/cap would be 0 or better. Yet still everyone banged on about, "not enough comps in 1 year blah blah".
Personally I think it would be possible for someone with obvious talent, but on average most players would be upper double h/cap possibly early teens. I think I could just about scrape in around 5 or 6 if I had the time and the inclination to do such a thing. (that is play 3 rounds with an average of 5 or 6 over par for them)
People get hung up on the number of cards they would need to submit and the 0.1 cuts, when I think in reality all you are asking is would someone be able to shoot level par on a consistent basis after having only played for 1 year. I asked the question as someone else said, i.es play 3 rounds to calculate and unofficial h/cap, have the year training/coaching etc, then 3 more cards to see if the new unofficial h/cap would be 0 or better. Yet still everyone banged on about, "not enough comps in 1 year blah blah".
Personally I think it would be possible for someone with obvious talent, but on average most players would be upper double h/cap possibly early teens. I think I could just about scrape in around 5 or 6 if I had the time and the inclination to do such a thing. (that is play 3 rounds with an average of 5 or 6 over par for them)
S
Snelly
Guest
I have been at the lowest end of the golf handicap range and I can tell you now that non-golfer to consistent scratch play in a year is not possible. No way. No matter what the circumstances.
If you disagree and you have not ever tried to get from 4 to 0 or better then I would politely suggest that you don't fully grasp the difficulties in improving between these levels. Believe me, it is very difficult. Playing off 4 is a country mile away from playing off 0 or a + handicap. If you haven't tried the game at this level then it is hard to be objective about the OP's question.
4 to 0 is not the same as going from 10 to 4. The journeys are like chalk and cheese.
I am not trying to belittle anyone's views, just trying to help quantify the difficulty of what is being suggested.
If you disagree and you have not ever tried to get from 4 to 0 or better then I would politely suggest that you don't fully grasp the difficulties in improving between these levels. Believe me, it is very difficult. Playing off 4 is a country mile away from playing off 0 or a + handicap. If you haven't tried the game at this level then it is hard to be objective about the OP's question.
4 to 0 is not the same as going from 10 to 4. The journeys are like chalk and cheese.
I am not trying to belittle anyone's views, just trying to help quantify the difficulty of what is being suggested.
G
guest100718
Guest
Take a look at novice2scratch or parfromafar blogs ... Both tried getting to scratch in a year and both failed pretty miserably, 1 got to 15 the other 10. Thats a full year dedicated to golf and nothing else.
Theres another blog out there about a bloke trying to get to scratch from 3 and he didnt make it in a year!
It really is not going to happen!
In_The_Rough
Tour Winner
I would have said no chance. However I thought I heard that Faldo was a scratch golfer within a year of starting to play golf
woody69
Journeyman Pro
For most I would agree. The guy who got to 15 was fairly poor by all accounts from what I read and lacked the je ne sais quoi. However, just because 2 people who have attempted it have got no where near it still doesn't mean it is impossible. Difficult? Yes. Unlikely? Yes. Impossible? No.
G
guest100718
Guest
From a purely theoretical standpoint then clearly it has to be possible. However the likelihood is somewhat different.
Those 2 were ones who actually completed the year. There are plenty more who gave up after a few months of going no where.
Google mygreenjacket, he's another one who got to 12 handicap after 18 months of nothing but golf.
Take a look at the Dan plan, over 3 years of solid golf and counting and he is down to 6.
londonlewis
Tour Rookie
totally agree. Never say never. Obviously it is highly unlikely but there is always someone that breaks the mould.
MadAdey
Money List Winner
I'm with smelly on this. Few years ago I tried to see how low I could go. Speant the winter having lessons and practicing. So playing off 9 and springtime is here at last. Lots of playing and practising, taking lessons pays off and I drop to 6 in a couple of months. Some more hard work and by the end of July I hit 5. Then it started to get difficult and I stagnated there for the rest of the season. I was looking forward to seeing what I could do the following season, but got injured playing football and had to stop playing.
so it took me best part of 12 months to go from 9 to 5. I had been playing golf for about 10 years, so knew about course management so had all the basics that you learn from experience. Ok I did not have the constant coaching from a top 25 coach, but I did put the time in practising and playing. It is hard as hell to get from 9 to scratch IMO, 18 to 9 is far more easier, just cut out the lost balls and 3 putts.
so it took me best part of 12 months to go from 9 to 5. I had been playing golf for about 10 years, so knew about course management so had all the basics that you learn from experience. Ok I did not have the constant coaching from a top 25 coach, but I did put the time in practising and playing. It is hard as hell to get from 9 to scratch IMO, 18 to 9 is far more easier, just cut out the lost balls and 3 putts.
Rooter
Money List Winner
i am firmly in the no camp also. but started thinking, lets pick someone at random with a relatively low handicap (just looked up at the last posters and In_the_rough will do as my example with a handicap of 8.
if he was given the opportunity as per the OP (assuming he would have the desire etc and this will take a lot of assuming!) was given 4 hrs coaching 3 times a week with a proper coach, played 7 rounds plus a week etc etc, could he get to scratch standard? lets not get into the calculations of 0.1's etc, just theoretically, could he play to scratch regularly?
if he was given the opportunity as per the OP (assuming he would have the desire etc and this will take a lot of assuming!) was given 4 hrs coaching 3 times a week with a proper coach, played 7 rounds plus a week etc etc, could he get to scratch standard? lets not get into the calculations of 0.1's etc, just theoretically, could he play to scratch regularly?
Robobum
Money List Winner
Still no
Rooter
Money List Winner
That's what i thought too! was just trying to add some perspective to the question! He would play the odd round under par, but not regularly.
