What's the quickest you heard of anyone going from 20 to scratch?

[Jimbobjones]

What's the quickest anyone has seen someone move from about 20 to scratch?

I wonder how quickly it is possible given perfect conditions ie full time coach, full time commitment etc

 

[Backache]

What's the quickest anyone has seen someone move from about 20 to scratch?

I wonder how quickly it is possible given perfect conditions ie full time coach, full time commitment etc

I suspect innate sporting talent has a lot to do with it as well. I've certainly heard of talented sportsmen taking up golf and getting to low single figures very quickly, I don't know about scratch. Though Greg Norman apparently got to scratch in eighteen months.

 

[Jimbobjones]

I suspect innate sporting talent has a lot to do with it as well. I've certainly heard of talented sportsmen taking up golf and getting to low single figures very quickly, I don't know about scratch. Though Greg Norman apparently got to scratch in eighteen months.

Interesting Yeh I seem to remember Brian Robson saying Gazza was instantly brilliant having never played before. Wow! 18 months?! How old was a Greg Norman when he started??

 

[Backache]

Interesting Yeh I seem to remember Brian Robson saying Gazza was instantly brilliant having never played before. Wow! 18 months?! How old was a Greg Norman when he started??

I think he was 15

 

[Jimbobjones]

Wow! Amazing

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Depends on their starting position in the game . My first handicap was 16 and within a year I was single figures...but then again I was 25 and had been playing for 12 years though I'd never got myself a handicap. But of course that's kinda cheating and not the starting point that you are thinking about. And of course I didn't continue to improve my handicap at that initial rate...in fact it hit the buffers at 6, rebounded and stabilized at 8...ho hum.

 

[The Squirrel]

My very first thought was likely person to achieve this was professional player in another sport retiring and taking up golf, particularly if they’re elite level, so retiring fairly wealthy. Fits all the criteria: training and work ethic and used to long training sessions, high physical fitness and flexibility, absolutely freakishly good body control and hand-eye coordination and suddenly lots and lots of free time on their hands that their mindset wouldn’t allow them to waste.

Just imagine; I bet even if Roger Federer had never held a golf club before, he’d be better than nearly all of us inside a fortnight once he started.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My very first thought was likely person to achieve this was professional player in another sport retiring and taking up golf, particularly if they’re elite level, so retiring fairly wealthy. Fits all the criteria: training and work ethic and used to long training sessions, high physical fitness and flexibility, absolutely freakishly good body control and hand-eye coordination and suddenly lots and lots of free time on their hands that their mindset wouldn’t allow them to waste.

Just imagine; I bet even if Roger Federer had never held a golf club before, he’d be better than nearly all of us inside a fortnight once he started.

Look at the likes of Bullard, Henman and Bale. All very good golfers having played other sports to a hgh level so clearly a level of aptitude to develop the skills needed for golf. That and they usually play decent courses and have access to good coaching

 

[pendodave]

I suspect innate sporting talent has a lot to do with it as well. I've certainly heard of talented sportsmen taking up golf and getting to low single figures very quickly, I don't know about scratch. Though Greg Norman apparently got to scratch in eighteen months.

Don't have any facts to hand, but I think Faldo took up golf pretty late, so is likely also in this ballpark.
I'm sure there are plenty of talented kate teen/earky 20s lads who have done the same - a bit of time on their hands + plus strength, speed and the fitness to play/practice regularly.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Don't have any facts to hand, but I think Faldo took up golf pretty late, so is likely also in this ballpark.
I'm sure there are plenty of talented kate teen/earky 20s lads who have done the same - a bit of time on their hands + plus strength, speed and the fitness to play/practice regularly.

Faldo was apparently a very good cyclist as a youth especially road racing

 

[Arthur Wedge]

My very first thought was likely person to achieve this was professional player in another sport retiring and taking up golf, particularly if they’re elite level, so retiring fairly wealthy. Fits all the criteria: training and work ethic and used to long training sessions, high physical fitness and flexibility, absolutely freakishly good body control and hand-eye coordination and suddenly lots and lots of free time on their hands that their mindset wouldn’t allow them to waste.

Just imagine; I bet even if Roger Federer had never held a golf club before, he’d be better than nearly all of us inside a fortnight once he started.

There have been a couple of sports stars that have tried or played in a few pro events

Shevchenko
Curry


There are a couple of American Footballers as well

And tennis players also do well

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think it is a massive jump from getting to scratch to playing pro events

 

[Backache]

I think it is a massive jump from getting to scratch to playing pro events

I suspect the bigger difference is for qualifying for pro events and getting too them. I remember back in the 80's Mansell playing in some.

Heard the one about Nigel Mansell playing golf in the Australian Open?

That 1980s Sports Blog: Greg Norman knew Mansell had a low handicap, so he arranged for his friend from F1 to play the tournament as a wildcard

www.theguardian.com

 

[Depreston]

It’ll be a lot quicker and easier than it once was with the WHS

Of the scratch players I’ve played with it’s the 100-150 yard shots that stand out

 

[kp17]

I can remember a guy at a previous club I was at just taking up golf and starting at 28 somehow but could absolutely stripe it off the tee. The rest and short game in particular needed a lot of work but I’m sure he got down to 3 or 4 within a season or two at the most. To start it was ridiculous he was winning every week by some margin net, I actually think match and handicap went out with him to review and almost halfed his handicap. He got in the scratch team for a few games but used to get found out away from home, it was almost as if he’d mastered the home course bombing it off the tee and could get round low 70’s but anywhere else he was getting hammered.

I played with him a few times and he would drive it 300 and he used to give it a half swing with his putter almost from 30 yards off the green and make birdies. Fascinating to watch. Then would take 4 to get out a bunker. Would shoot 72 or 92. There was no inbetween.

 

[The Squirrel]

I can remember a guy at a previous club I was at just taking up golf and starting at 28 somehow but could absolutely stripe it off the tee. The rest and short game in particular needed a lot of work but I’m sure he got down to 3 or 4 within a season or two at the most. To start it was ridiculous he was winning every week by some margin net, I actually think match and handicap went out with him to review and almost halfed his handicap. He got in the scratch team for a few games but used to get found out away from home, it was almost as if he’d mastered the home course bombing it off the tee and could get round low 70’s but anywhere else he was getting hammered.

I played with him a few times and he would drive it 300 and he used to give it a half swing with his putter almost from 30 yards off the green and make birdies. Fascinating to watch. Then would take 4 to get out a bunker. Would shoot 72 or 92. There was no inbetween.

Well in that case I'm half way there!

The exact half I can do being the shooting 92 bit

 

[jim8flog]

Pre WHS there was only one 'scratch' golfer at our club. However with the par being 3y/2w over the SSS there were a few that might have been 'scratch' had they been members at another club.

We had 2 very good players who turned pro before reaching scratch Marcus Higley and Hennie Zuel (The SKY presenter) they both started as young juniors and took a few years to get there.

Never been that close personally (best was 5) but best run of form was 16 to 8 in 6 months.

 

[Swango1980]

I'm sure it has been said above.

But, technically, you could have someone get from 20 to scratch in a very very short time. Only because they may be naturally brilliant golfers, but their 20 handicap was from when they just started, and they had a few significant flaws / course management issues at the very beginning. I played with a guy who used to play off +3 in Florida, and hit the ball further than I have ever seen in my life (and straight). He was driving 380 yard par 4 greens (not downhill) in cold winter conditions. But, he hadn't played in 4 or 5 years, and although his chipping technique looked good, his timing was clearly out with awful results. So the system gave him a handicap of 12, based on his scoring. It just shows how being a little off can have a big impact over the short term.

But, if the question is what is the quickest that someone has played off 20 longer term, and then suddenly managed to get down to scratch, no idea. All I know is that this would be remarkable, and please give me a number of the pro they had lessons with, even if it took them several years to make the drop.

 

[Voyager EMH]

It would be interesting to hear from G1z1

 

[Springveldt]

I think you also need to have some sort of natural gift for golf/rotation sport/hand to eye co-ordination to get to scratch. There are some people who would never get there no matter how much time they put into the game imho.

I'd love to know how many people took up the game as an adult and who weren't a sports person in a previous life and made it to scratch. Just some ordinary guy working in a office that decided to take up golf and made it to scratch without playing it for years as a kid etc. That would be some achievement.

All the scratch and better guys I know all played the game as youngsters at some point. They might have played other sports like football and tennis as their "main sport" but they still played golf before it became their main sport.