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Scratch Challenge - Blog

C

Cookie

Medal Winner
Joined
May 15, 2011
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Ledbury, Herefordshire - England
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Hi there,

A few people suggested I should start a blog for the challenge I set myself to get to scratch next year. I have no experience of blogs but had a look into it, and with a little help from a friend have set one up. If anyone is still interested it is at the following address, and I can promise no lengthy descriptions of range ball hitting!

http://scratch-challenge.blogspot.com

Many thanks.
 
Hi there,

A few people suggested I should start a blog for the challenge I set myself to get to scratch next year. I have no experience of blogs but had a look into it, and with a little help from a friend have set one up. If anyone is still interested it is at the following address, and I can promise no lengthy descriptions of range ball hitting!

http://scratch-challenge.blogspot.com

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Excellent - another blog to follow.

This is brilliant. So far, I've got 235 blogs to follow - all of people trying to get to scratch.

Not one has decreased their handicap as of yet..... :eek:

Good luck though.
 
Try mine, I've gone from a 25 to 18 in a month, which I know isn't the hardest part, but I am aiming to make it way more than just a normal golf / scratch blog. I only started it as people on here asked me to start one after I wrote my first lengthy post. It may not be for everyone but would be good to have a fair trial before being hung. Fair comment though Auburn haha
 
Geezer, two weeks ago I played with two scratch players. I consider myself a good golfer. Their game was a country mile and then some ahead of mine.

You want scratch - spend EVERY minute of EVERY day at your golf club. Practice shots from places that you'd hate to be in.

No offense but I'll not read the blog of an 18 handicapper. There's only one person's blog on this forum that I'd follow and he ain't got one.

Get to scratch for you, not for us.

I wish you the best.
 
I'd rather you started a blog I don't have to read then post everything on here.

Well done for that.

And when/if you achieve the goal then what?

Scratch is nothing in the world of golf.

Top 100 in the world in two years might sell a book though if you want a goal.
 
The cause is mainly for charity. And being a [****] golfer getting down that low is going to mean every minute outside of work will be practise. Anyway, respect to your opinions. As mentioned, I only put the blog link on here as a few people asked me to when I posted. If you don't want to read it then don't, but I'm sure there are better things to do with your time than having a pop at someone trying to do something for a good cause. And yes I've played a 9 handicapper and scratch, you're right on the gap in standard, getting to a 9 doesn't worry me at all...
 
Apologies, didn't realise it was for charity mate.

The first you have mentioned of it so far as I'm aware.

Which charity are you supporting and on what basis are you collecting funds?

Will you match any donations if you don't reach your goal or will you be reaching the goal 'at any cost'??
 
I'm doing a few things for different charities. First is 100 holes in a day for Guatamalan kids. I am hosting a few golf days for cancer charities - my Mum passed last year from it after a huge challenge with chemotherapy etc and I wanted to do something which would be a tough challenge also. Some other charity things on the way.

I'm going to make it more of a charity thing along the way, rather than all resting on the final goal, otherwise it has the risk of me not making it. If I don't do it in 18 months then I carry on for another year and raise more for charity on the way.

I realize I probably should have mentioned the charity thing earlier now, bit I hadn't realized that there were so many people doing this kind of thing. I have to admit it surprises me, but maybe due to the fact I realize how much bloody work there is involved, and I happen to have a social life and a tough job as well!
 
Golf and golfers (in general) do a lot for charity so 100 holes in a day and the challenge of getting to scratch in 18 months or not isn't the most appealing.

I've been to plenty of badly run charity days too. It's all about 'this', 'that', 'her' or 'him' but to be honest I'd rather they asked for £20 not to put a day on as they can't run it properly. The fact I play and expect little should say that I am happy to support charities in the bulk but put a little thought into it, which on the whole there is none.

I'm sorry to hear of any loss to cancer and for yourself but there are a lot of people who do these things (Charity days and H/C Challenges) for selfish reasons or selfless ones.

You might have more luck having a bath in baken beans as at least people can see results and then you can always do something crazier next year.
 
I run charity events with several charities and they are run exceptionally well, and a 4 ball generally costs £500 for a company sponsored group - but I am in a lucky enough position to have clients who look to and want to support these events to give something back and also as it carries strong networking opportunity and a generally good day.

Anyway, I have a game plan and I am not asking anyone on here to donate, I am looking to do something worthwhile and on a selfish level I wanted a channel to regain some focus. I am sure there are harder challenges but I also happen to love golf, and wanted to use the business channels I have built to do some good.

Thanks for your feedback though, I guess we can agree to disagree and I really do want to spend my time focusing on the challenge rather than prove it works before I even have a chance to action it. Off to sleep now anyway, cheers again for your support, much appreciated.
 
I really want to like a golfing blog, honestly. Just started to read this one with high hopes.......................but, sorry Cookie, it's the same as all the others.

Quick question for you (and any other xx to scratch bloggers):-

Who starts to play golf seriously and DOES NOT want to get to scratch?? If all of us just want to get better then surely the end goal would be scratch, would it not?

Although he came across as a bell end Timgolfy was a person who looked at h'cap reductionfrom a new perspective, everything else just seems like the same old meat with a slightly different gravy to me.

Good luck with the charity thing though.

In fact that might be more interesting thing to read...."I could be scratch but prefer to hack it round off of 18 - the trials of protecting my handicap"
 
Cookie, and anyone else writing a blog or a course review etc
You MUST MUST MUST have pictures, videos, diagrams.....anything to break up huge long pages of text.
When people see pages of nothing but text, they switch off.

Break up the page with interesting pictures of what you're talking about and the chances are the reader will continue reading.

Good luck
 
I had no idea these blogs were so prevalent, might start one myself if I can work out what to do, I totally agree about making it appealing to the eye as well as the mind..............hmmmmm mine could be on making 26 putts per round and all my blogs will feature some totty helping me focus :D

Well done cookie for doing all the charity work, very commendable and rewarding no matter how long it takes.

P. S I went from 18 to 5 in 1 year but the difference from a 5 h/cap to scratch is like my standard of motorway driving compared to Lewis Hamilton ;)
 
In your blog and posts you come across as more level headed, rational and methodical than the usual scratch wannabees. You also are putting in a fair amount of work at it, which is essential, so you have a head start on most of the wannabees.

If you are truly determined to achieve a Congu scratch level handicap within a couple of years then I suggest focusing on the following:
- Get a decent golf swing, but once its pretty reliable and consistent then dont mess with it, tick it off as done, as you'll be needing to focus your efforts on other areas.
- Find a club where the CSS remains pretty consistently at or above Par. At the moment this will probably seem rather irrelevant, but once you get to Cat 1 it will become very important for your weekly club comps to reduce handicap.
- Play in every counting comp at your club and open tournie that you can get into. Forget doubles and all the odds and sods nonsense, spend that time practising. The more counting rounds you can get in the more opportunities you have for handicap cuts, and the fastest way of getting down is playing scratch open events. Dont worry about going up 0.1's when you are above buffer, its small fry compared to the possibility of a large cut each time you play a comp.
- Learn to play the game. Most decent golfers get too wrapped up in equipment and golf swing. Its called Golf, not Golf Swing. It is a game and requires strategy and tactics. The black art of how to score is something you will need to learn.
- Ultimately if you can get the ball in play a reasonable distance every time (say 230yds), and become a good putter then you could achieve a very low handicap. The bit between drive and putt is less important. You'll need a reliable short game but your goal is to be hitting 12-14 greens in reg per round and making 3-4 birdies, you only need a 50% up and down ratio to be shooting level par or lower.
- Dont forget that almost all golfers you meet or get feedback from over the net (including club pro's) dont play to a geuine scratch level. So once you are competent then seek out real scratch level players (Open tournies is a good way, and of course from your own club if you can break into their clique) and observe how they play, you can learn a lot just from observation and those that have trod the path.

Excuse the long post, felt some things worth saying, and maybe you'll get something from them. My own credentials for waxing lyrical? Started golf late in my late forties and had 2 handicap in 3 years. Age and ailments prevented me from going further. So I sorta have been there, though must comment that I was never handicap motivated, just always played the game as a scratch game and the handicap followed.

I wont wish you good luck as its not about luck :)
 
Best of luck with your challange.

I still think your time frame is a little short, but still best of luck.

My own personal target is to break 20 this year, then, depending where I finish handicap wise at the end of 2011, I'll set my new target from there (Maybe 16 by the end of next year??)

The way I look at it is like this. I'm (hopefully) going to play this game along time, so what's the rush? I might as well enjoy my golf and set myself achievable targets for each season based on the lasts, over a period of time.

The last thing I want is the pressure of a target set too high breathing down my neck every time I play a medal/stableford/betterball whatever.
 
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