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Thread: novice2scratch

  1. #1
    Gotta Post Break68 is on a distinguished road Break68's Avatar
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    Talking novice2scratch

    Hey Nokids! Is this your brother?

    http://novice2scratch.com

    I have set myself the challenge of becoming a scratch standard golfer within one year of starting to play the game. I'll be using this site to let the world know how I'm getting on, what I'm doing to improve, and whether my wife divorces me in the meantime. I hope you enjoy it! – The Novice


    I think this guy is loonie!
    Last edited by Break68; 02-15-2011 at 12:22 PM.
    Obviously you're not a golfer.

  2. #2
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    He's crazier than nokids.

    On the plus side, he's unemployed so he can devote as much time as he wants.

    Now for the negatives.

    1. He's an old fart.
    2. As far as I can tell, he's not an elite level athlete in a sport that requires very good hand-eye coordination.

    End of story. No matter how obsessive he claims to be, getting to scratch requires three things.

    1. Time
    2. A certain amount of physical ability. The greater this is, the less time it will take. But even with all the time in the world, some people will simply never become scratch players.
    3. Mental discipline. As everyone here knows, getting from 20 to 10 is a LOT easier than getting from 10 to 5. Much less all the way to scratch.

    I doubt he even gets into the single digits.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  3. #3
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Best advice I'd give this guy is not to set any time constraints. 1 year is not enough time. There's too much to learn about the game and about yourself to do it in a year. 5 years, maybe. The only time constraint I put on myself is I want to get on the champions tour before I die!

  4. #4
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Just FYI, the Champions Tour is even harder to qualify for than the regular PGA Tour.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  5. #5
    Gap Wedge Steel is on a distinguished road Steel's Avatar
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    like my signature say's, a mans got to know his limitations, what a moron
    A man's got to know his limitations

  6. #6
    Champion goochy is on a distinguished road goochy's Avatar
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    I think you guys are very quick to judge. I think it is unlikely (very) but certainly not impossible. I read an excellent article a year or so back in one of the British Golf magazines about a guy who did exactly this. Complete beginner to shooting par within 365 days.

    His secret...he hit balls every single day (often 500) played 3 or 4 times a week, lived in a climate (UK) where he could play year round and took a lesson every week. He also admitted to being very lucky in that he remained injury free. He also did it for charity...but he did it

    I think it requires discpline focus and fierce dtermination...but it is possible..it HAS been done

    As to being an old fart...he didn't look that old to me and as to having no "elite" athletic background...I know nothing about his background. and how many people on here have an "elite" athlete background. I come from a professional sports background and I can honestly say that my previous athletic life has not helped me at all in golf. (except on the discipline/mental side of the game and having a receptiveness to being coached/taught).

    As I said...i think it is very unlikely..but who knows...aim for the sky and hit the treetops is better than aiming for the treetops and hitting the gutter

  7. #7
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    If you can find that article online I'd love to read it. I am skeptical.

    I will stand by my elite athlete background. Remember, I made the proviso that it was in a sport that required hand eye co-ordination. The best example of this are baseball players. As a group, they seem to be the best golfers.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  8. #8
    Gap Wedge Steel is on a distinguished road Steel's Avatar
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    Have to agree with Vincent, if your hand eye suck's you will never be a good golfer, I don't care if you have all the determination in the world. I used to play tier 1 junior hockey and still struggled with hitting the ball when I started, it ain't easy, as we all know
    A man's got to know his limitations

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    Hall of Fame jeffc is on a distinguished road jeffc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jvincent View Post
    If you can find that article online I'd love to read it. I am skeptical.

    I will stand by my elite athlete background. Remember, I made the proviso that it was in a sport that required hand eye co-ordination. The best example of this are baseball players. As a group, they seem to be the best golfers.
    baseball more than hockey? the baseball players are playing all summer, for life and the schedule is horrendously long. hockey players have the summers off.
    I got a fever. And the only prescription is more golf equipment.

  10. #10
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Hockey is probably number 2 in terms of who is good at golf. Even though they play a long season, the baseball players still manage to get a lot of time off plus they all live in the south during the off season so they get a lot of play.

    Also, baseball, like golf, is a "hands together" swing whereas hockey is a "hands apart" swing.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  11. #11
    Gap Wedge Steel is on a distinguished road Steel's Avatar
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    Did anyone see the Trump program with the two ex-Braves pitchers, Smoltz and Glavine. Wow those two guys could play
    A man's got to know his limitations

  12. #12
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Yep, saw that. Also, Rick Rhoden (ex-Pirates pitcher) was consistently a top player on the pro-celebrity tour.

    To give hockey players some props, so was Mario Lemieux.

    In a golf showdown between hockey and baseball, it would be a close battle.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  13. #13
    Champion goochy is on a distinguished road goochy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jvincent View Post
    If you can find that article online I'd love to read it. I am skeptical.

    I will stand by my elite athlete background. Remember, I made the proviso that it was in a sport that required hand eye co-ordination. The best example of this are baseball players. As a group, they seem to be the best golfers.
    I will try to find it..it was a cool article...The guy was about 35 I guess, he had a woman PGA teacher and he was doing it for some cancer charity I believe...I think it was in Golf Monthly..it was an inspiring article.

    I remember he got pretty good quite quickly but really struggled to get those last few shots off his score and he made it with about a week to go.

    Fair point about sports with hand eye co-ordination...that does make sense.

  14. #14
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Google is my friend. I found it.

    http://breakparblueprint.com/blog/about-2/

    He was already a golfer and the course he played on is relatively short, 6300 yards from the tips. His challenge was to break par. He did it once, which is a long way from being scratch.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  15. #15
    Champion goochy is on a distinguished road goochy's Avatar
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    thats it!

    I said in my OP that it was break par. I recalled he was a beginner, I didn't remember him being a golfer (but he had still never broken 100)

    As to the course length...c'mon mate..give the guy some slack...lol...a 100+ to sub par in a year is pretty fricking amazing...a his aim was to do it within a year and he did. I doubt he only did it once since then

    Thanks for finding the article...I enjoyed reading it and I was starting to think I'd dreamed the whole thing...lol

  16. #16
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    No slack from me!

    I'm not saying what he did was impressive, it was. But the length/difficulty of the course does come into play when you are comparing scratch to breaking par.

    The new crazy guy on the block is specifically trying to get to scratch. I'll define that as 0.0 index. That is freakin hard to do. Under par on a short course is doable for lots of guys who aren't scratch.

    As a very good example, I was a couple of shots away from breaking par last year at Equinelle from the tips. I'm nowhere close to being a scratch golfer (6.5 index). Give me a year off of work with nothing to do but golf, I guarantee you I break par at several area golf courses from the blue/white tees.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  17. #17
    Champion goochy is on a distinguished road goochy's Avatar
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    A couple of interesting youtube interviews with the guy (John Richardson) from 103 to 70 in one year. I find his story very inspiring. He talks often about just having belief.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoTzu...eature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udWdH...eature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QywtE...eature=related

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    Wannamaker mjf is on a distinguished road mjf's Avatar
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    I have 2 words for you... er... wait. Is "pipe-dream" one word or two words?

  19. #19
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    3 months to go and he has yet to shoot better than 85. I dont think he's gonna make it.

    http://novice2scratch.com/progress-chart-2/
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  20. #20
    Wannamaker mjf is on a distinguished road mjf's Avatar
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    After 9 months he's still got a handicap of 18 eh? I would think that to have any chance of achieving his goal he'd need to have his index somewhere in the 5 or better range by now. Ain't gonna happen...

  21. #21
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    Let's compare the novicetoscratch guy with the Dan-Plan guy.

    http://www.thedanplan.com/index.php

    The Dan Plan is based on research that with 10,000 hours of deliberate practice you can excel at anything. 10,000 hours is a long time. It's the equivalent of 5 years of full time work.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  22. #22
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    What's Dan's handicap at now?

    -----------

    Nevermind, I see he's not tracking one yet.
    Last edited by nokids; 07-08-2011 at 09:45 AM.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  23. #23
    Team Match Play Champ 2010 DenisO is on a distinguished road DenisO's Avatar
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    Just found this thread. The first guy is completely nuts, definitely not devoting enough time.

    The 10,000 makes sense, but still, that's a really long time! 4 hour rounds, 100 rounds/year, is 25 years!
    I'm actually strongly considering moving to California because:
    a) much better salaries there
    b) I can golf ALL year round

    Not golfing for 5 months out of the year really puts a damper on your golf game, and if I want to make it to the tour, I can't do that by living in Canada

  24. #24
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Me and my approx 250 round lifetime, or 2 canadian seasons of golf are ahead of both these clowns. 3.5 index now.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  25. #25
    Team Match Play Champ 2010 DenisO is on a distinguished road DenisO's Avatar
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    But you weren't a complete noob when you started, right? If I remember correctly, you started with a 20 handicap or something?

  26. #26
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DenisO View Post
    But you weren't a complete noob when you started, right? If I remember correctly, you started with a 20 handicap or something?
    I dont believe they're complete noobs either. Come on man
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  27. #27
    Team Match Play Champ 2010 DenisO is on a distinguished road DenisO's Avatar
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    Ummm, he shot +25 on his first front 9, yea that's his first round of golf. 50 over par and 20 over par is a big difference

  28. #28
    Hall of Fame jvincent is on a distinguished road jvincent's Avatar
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    The DanPlan guy was a complete noob.

    He's not playing rounds of golf yet. He's "training" for 10,000 hours, which is the equivalent of 5 years full time work. Well full time for everyone but Pablo.
    Not fat anymore. Need to get better at golf now!

  29. #29
    Golf Padawan nokids is on a distinguished road nokids's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DenisO View Post
    Ummm, he shot +25 on his first front 9, yea that's his first round of golf. 50 over par and 20 over par is a big difference
    Not proof of anything. That just means he sucks.
    You only get out of something what you put into it

  30. #30
    Driver threeunder is on a distinguished road
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    friend of mine started golf last april, recently broke 80 at prescott. its possible!

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