What is your goal as a scratch golfer?

Can you rephrase the question?

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2-3 holes every round that I fall apart

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Not do that

To be a scratch golfer

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+3 on 3-4 holes is an extra 9-12 strokes. That would put me in the 86-92 range

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According to the USGA, a scratch golfer is defined as "a player who can play to a Course Handicap of zero on any and all rated golf courses.

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Unless you’re playing the most difficult 18 holes ever assembled, you need to knock about 15 strokes off your average.


None of your OP makes any sense. You shot 104. Last 3 scores were all above 98. Yet you say you always end up +3 or +4.

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Course maintenance and chipping.

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Yes sir along with putting.

An average golfer would be surprised how his scores would fall if he stopped aiming at the pin and played to the middle of the green on every hole.

Most Scratch and Plus Golfers play to their strengths and avoid trouble.

Like Harvey Penick told a guy, why do you want to learn to back a ball up when you always hit it short of the pin ?

I took his post to mean:
“I am a high handicapper and know what my goals are, what the goals of a scratch golfer?”

As in, what keeps a scratch motivated and goals that a scratch golfer would set for themselves.

Reading isn’t hard.

+3 or + 4 on 3-4 holes means I shot 3 strokes over aka triple bogeyed on 3-4 different holes adding 9-12 extra strokes

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Reading isn’t hard.

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No, it's not...but neither is writing or basic math.

My man, your avg. score over your last three rounds is a 103 (I rounded up) based on the numbers you provided.

My guess would be that of the 3-4 holes you mention, you're likely looking at two par-4's, a 3, and a 5. So, if we go happy path and say you blow up on 4 holes, and those 4 holes are split as stated above, then you're looking at the following scenario:

Hole 1, par 4, scored 8 - 4 extra strokes
Hole 2, par 3, scored 7 - 4 extra strokes
Hole 3, par 4, scored 8 - 4 extra strokes
Hole 4, par 5, scored 9 - 4 extra strokes

Therefore, on those four holes, with a par of 16...you are shooting 16 over, 32, with an avg. score per hole of 8. So, your max strokes is 16, not 12 as you mention.

Now, if we take your avg. score of 103 and back out the 32 strokes it took you to play those four holes, then you would be playing the remaining 14 holes in 71 strokes to hit 103.

71/14 = 5. If we take a normal course and a par of 72, then you have a par of 56 for the remaining 14 holes, or par-4 per hole.

My assumption would be, if you're shooting a 103 (or 109), that you're not playing the remaining holes at +1, when you're knocking down a couple of snowmen, or worse, per round.

But, I'll give you some slack and say you are at 5.5 strokes for the other 14 holes, for a score of 77. Combine that with your 32 on the holes you blew-up on, and VOILA!...you have a score of 109, which is what you're likely shooting, but you're just not counting a few shots on your score card.

amiright?

Come on, be honest...we're all friends here.

SOOOOO...if you're wanting to shoot around an 87, then you would have to take 22 strokes off per round, or 1.22 strokes per hole.

As previously mentioned, course management will be important for you. I know a few guys who don't really care about their score, so they will try hero shots any chance they get, and this leads to blow-ups, but they normally don't give a shite. Is this you?

The hero shots are fun, don't get me wrong, but if you're really concerned about lowering your score, then focus on the score, not if you think you can hook a ball around a tree out of the woods and up to the green...but you wind-up slicing into the woods on the other side of the fairway and in even worse shape.

Also, one thing I would say to do is go to ghin.com and start working on your handicap. What I love about the tool is that the app on your phone allows you to input your stats for each hole so you can see where your flaws are. If you are honest with what you input, then you will easily see what part of your game you need to work on.

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I’m guessing tee shots going out of bounds is an issue. Start there

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I’d bet that as well. Everybody likes to tell high handicappers to work on their short game which they should but most high handicappers are horrible off the tee. If you can hit fairways and be near the green on the approach you should break 90 pretty easily with a below average to bad short game. My short game is the weakest part of my game. Well specifically my chipping. I need to practice more but 3 kids and work barely have time to get out to the course to begin with. I strike the ball like a 4/5 handicap but chip like a 12.