Why Is This Possible?

A quick search of the internet will show how many people out there are trying to get to scratch. There are many people blogging with a very similar goal to me, some will achieve it, some will not. To show the size of the challenge here are some statistics. In the USA 1.6% of golfers with a handicap are at 0.0 or lower according to the USGA website. However this only includes golfers with a handicap, this does not include the many people who play regularly but not in competition. The actual percentage of golfers with a scratch handicap no one can know.

The main reason I feel I can achieve my goal is I plan to work in the most efficient way possible. I feel the main reason the vast majority of golfers are not close to scratch, 10% in the USA are off 4.9 or less, is a lack of time to practice. While at the moment I have far more time available to me to play golf than most people, I still feel that the key is getting the most out of my practice time. I have some ideas of ways in which I can improve my efficiency while practicing but I do feel more testing is needed before I share these methods.

Another reason I feel people do not reach scratch is that they do not understand what a scratch golfer does differently to them. I have been fortunate enough this year to play golf with some very good players and I have realized that scratch golfers are all different. They all have different swings, different pre-shot routines, and different personalities. However, the one thing I think they all have in common is that they all know their games. By this I mean that they know their strengths and they play to them, while at the same same time they work around their weaknesses. I know one player for example who would regularly lay up to between 90 and 110 yards on par fives even if there was a chance he could get near in two shots. This is because he was far more confident in his distance wedge game than his chipping.

While playing with different scratch and low handicap golfers I have also learnt that a scratch player is not perfect. Even Ben Hogan said "Golf is not a game of good shots. It's a game of bad shots." This comes from possibly the greatest ball striker ever, and yet people have the idea of scratch golfers never hitting bad shots. While a scratch golfer's mistakes are not as significant as most other players' mistakes, they still make them.

I believe that it is because of this that people do not believe they can get to scratch. They do not think the idea of playing perfect golf is possible, and they are probably right. The lowest round I have witnessed in person was 5 under par and even that round included a shot into a hazard and a hook that nearly went out of bounds. Perfect golf is not needed to become a scratch player and because I believe this, I feel I have made the task of getting there much easier.