The Goal

 My goal is simple; to obtain a UK handicap certificate stating I have a playing handicap of 0. Along the way I hope to learn about the golf swing, scoring, the improvement process, and most importantly myself. Using what I learn I hope to be able to offer advice to others about how they can get the most out of their golf games. In particular I hope be able to find methods that increase the speed at which we can all improve.

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.

The Starting Point

The purpose of this post is to provide to myself and others a realistic view of the size of the challenge. This is an honest appraisal of my current strengths and weaknesses and will serve as a starting point against which improvement can be measured.

My current UK handicap is 3.2. I have a low round of 68 (-3) and a low competitive round of 69(-2).The last month has been the inspiration for this mission. I have gone from a handicap of 5 to 3 in the space of 3 weeks, a reduction that was helped by winning the club championship at my home club for the first time. I shot by best ever round at the time of 2 under in the first round and golf suddenly seemed easier to. It gave me such a confidence boost that I felt as ready as I can be to begin this challenge.

My strengths

• Putting. Although it is not perfect it is definitely the strongest part of my game and not coincidentally the part of the game I enjoy the most.
• Chipping. The next best part of my game after putting and always reliable.
• Distance wedges. This is an incredibly important part of the game for scoring and as a result is an area I have practiced until I have developed confidence in.
• Composure. I have developed the ability to stay remarkably calm regardless of the situation and therefore I rarely let a bad start or bad sequence of shots affect me.

My weaknesses

• Mid-long irons. Generally due to a lack of practice compared to my short game, this is probably the weakest part of my game.
• Driving consistency. When I drive well I score well, improvement in this area should dramatically help the consistency of my scoring.
• Strength. I do not lack seriously in distance, however I feel that more strength could help me improve the general consistency of my ball striking.
• Experience. Until this year the vast majority of my golf had been played on one course.

While this post covers my feelings on my abilities in different parts of the game, it contains no actual evidence. I may well follow this post with a post containing the results of various tests of different parts of my game, or perhaps some stats of my recent rounds.