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Thread: novice2scratch
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02-15-2011 12:02 PM #1
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.
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02-15-2011 12:35 PM #2
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!
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02-15-2011 01:40 PM #3
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!
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02-15-2011 01:43 PM #4
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!
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02-15-2011 06:38 PM #5
like my signature say's, a mans got to know his limitations, what a moron
A man's got to know his limitations
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02-15-2011 07:13 PM #6
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
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02-15-2011 07:18 PM #7
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!
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02-15-2011 07:23 PM #8
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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02-15-2011 07:59 PM #9
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02-15-2011 08:03 PM #10
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!
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02-15-2011 09:22 PM #11
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
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02-15-2011 09:25 PM #12
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!
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02-15-2011 10:35 PM #13
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.
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02-15-2011 10:44 PM #14
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!
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02-15-2011 10:52 PM #15
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
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02-15-2011 10:59 PM #16
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!
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02-16-2011 12:42 AM #17
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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02-20-2011 08:45 PM #18
I have 2 words for you... er... wait. Is "pipe-dream" one word or two words?
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07-06-2011 12:36 PM #19
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
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07-08-2011 08:48 AM #20
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...
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07-08-2011 08:58 AM #21
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!
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07-08-2011 09:16 AM #22
What's Dan's handicap at now?
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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
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08-20-2011 07:59 PM #23
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
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08-20-2011 08:30 PM #24
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
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08-20-2011 08:32 PM #25
But you weren't a complete noob when you started, right? If I remember correctly, you started with a 20 handicap or something?
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08-20-2011 08:36 PM #26
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08-20-2011 08:40 PM #27
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
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08-20-2011 08:40 PM #28
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!
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08-20-2011 08:45 PM #29
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08-20-2011 09:16 PM #30
- Join Date
- Apr 2010
- Location
- Ottawa
- Posts
- 271
friend of mine started golf last april, recently broke 80 at prescott. its possible!
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