Are you a scratch golfer?

I was once. Everyone’s journey is a little different.

I took lessons. Did Golftec and got my swing on camera with instant feedback. That was more beneficial than their lessons by far. I went from a high handicapper to single digits in no time… getting to an 8 or 7 was easy… it’s the next 7 strokes that took me a while. You have to have a solid game top to bottom. I’m not a scratch anymore. Back to a 4-5 now. But I don’t work on my game like I used to.

Some guys have to grind. A few are just gifted with excellent hand eye coordination.

No. Focus on keeping it in play and in front of the green. Find any consistency you can even if the swing is “bad.” 100 and in comes when you start making pars and want to eventually score. It’s the next step. Just my opinion though.

At my best I was around +3.5 currently I’m .7.

Lot’s of good practice. Go to the range with a plan, aimlessly beating balls does nothing but relieve stress.

Swing you swing and know your miss.

When you get in trouble, take the best path to safely advance the ball. Low percentage hero shots do nothing but add strokes.

Find your “money” distance for approach shots and when you lay up play to that number. So if you know you’re great from say 70 yards and know you can’t get to the green from your current position, play to have that 70 yard approach shot.

Limit 3 putts. Learn to lag. On long putts, don’t try to make the putt, try to get it within a 3 foot circle around the cup, making the putt is a bonus, shouldn’t be the goal.

Develop a fairway finder for tight fairway holes. Short and in the fairway is better than long and in the trees, hazards, etc

Could go on and on, but these tips are critical.

At my best, I was a 4 hcp.

My long game was superb and distance was really easy.

My short game was feast or famine, mostly very erratic.

Combining my age and with my numerous injuries, I don't hit range balls at all and I only play.

Short game is where it is at when you are trying to go low.

Short game wizards can usually save a round going south.

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I went from a high handicapper to single digits in no time… getting to an 8 or 7 was easy… it’s the next 7 strokes that took me a while.

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I can vouch for that. At one point I was playing 3-5 rounds a week and going to the range 3-5 a week.

I got down to about 7 or 8 but never could do any better. I just didn't have any additional time to dedicate to golf to lower my handicap further.

Currently a +2.3….

I started consistently shooting around even par when I started working at a golf course while in college. I was able to get my short game really good by practicing a lot. Still couldn’t putt that great, so I rarely shot less than 1-2 under.

Now, since I put the TM ZT putter in my bag a yr ago, I’ve shot scores of 60, 63 twice, and and consistently under par. If I shoot above even, I’ve played really bad.

Cut down on missing greens from 125 yds and in.

Learn to lag putt to avoid 3 putts.


Learn to accept course management. This will easily save you a couple shots a round.

I'm in the mid 3's right now. Ive spent the last 4 years grinding away to get from 15 or so happy to break 90 to where I expect to get into the 70's on any given round. Here is what ive focused on

1) getting off the tee box safely. Blow up holes start at the tee box usually. You need a couple of different shots you can rely on here beyond just a full bore driver, whether its a wood/hybrid, or my personal favorite, the low penetrating easy driver swing

2) lag putting. I spent an entire offseason just coming up with a system for getting close to the hole from 40+ feet on the green. As you get better, youll.hit more GIR, but then you will tend to have more 3 putts if you dont work on this area

3) short range putting (<8'). You have to feel reasonably confident here. Even with a ton of practice you won't tmake everything, but again, avoid 3 putts at all costs, and that involves making short putts
4) close approach shots ((<100 yds). This range just kills high handicappers, because most people.dont practice half swings at the range for different short yardages. Look up some videos on this, put i like the clock system (tiger talks about it)

5) chipping. No matter how good you get at ball striking with irons. You are going to miss half your greens, usually. Youre not going to get up and down every time, but you definitely need to get down in 3 95% of the time, and probably up and down half the time. Side note here: dont make a double trying to make a hero shot to save par. Bogey is ok, depending on the circumstances. Double is a round killer when your trying to get to scratch.

6) my final piece has been ball striking with irons. I was stuck around a 5 doing all.of the above but never could get this straightened out. I caved this offseason and started taking lessons on this part, cause I just couldn't get consistent on my own. That was with my own indoor golf Sim, cameras, watching videos, etc. I played baseball.in school and only dabbled in golf, so its been helpful.to have someone really helping my retool how I think about a golf swing.

Also - I do.something almost everyday. Even if its just 20-30 minutes. I rarely go more than 2 days without picking up a club. Even with all.the reps it leaves you quickly. So you have to enjoy grinding

Side note 2: I find that if I hit too much inside, I have trouble transitioning my swing outdoors. I cant really figure out why. I think its something about how I am visualizing the swing or target lines. It usually takes me about a day or so to transition my swing to outdoors comfortably. Its weird, but something worth mentioning.