If you’re a golfer, one of your ultimate goals is likely to become a “scratch golfer,” a player who can play to a course handicap of zero on nearly every course. If you’re a 10-handicap player, you’re already a great golfer, but with some improvements and practice you can reach scratch.
Becoming a scratch golfer isn’t easy, but it is possible. Some things you can do to go from 10-handicap to scratch include tracking your stats, getting a golf coach, creating a realistic practice schedule, improving your short game, and staying calm on the course.
In this article, I’ll explain in more detail some of the methods you can use to go from being a 10-handicap golf player to a scratch golfer. Let’s get started!
How To Get From 10 Handicap To Scratch
If you’re already a 10-handicap golfer, you’re already better than approximately 29% of golfers in the United States, so congratulations! However, there’s always room for improvement, and in this case, you’re eyeing the scratch title. Committing to improving your golf game requires dedication, time, and consistency. Here are some things you can do:
Track Your Stats
There are many great apps available to golfers that keep track of your strokes and statistics, and they even offer suggestions on which areas you need to improve so you can use your practice time more effectively. I recommend Arccos, SwingU, and ShotScope. Pick an app that works with your phone and that keeps as much information as possible so you can get a comprehensive idea of where your golf performance stands.
Here are some statistics you’ll definitely need to know:
- Number of fairways hit
- Number of greens in regulation
- Total score
- Scramble percentages
- Number of putts per round
- Hazards
- Proximity to the hole
The more information you can get about how you play now, the more you’ll be able to evaluate and adjust to improve your game.
Get a Golf Coach
You may not have all the time in the world to commit to practicing golf and improving your game, so you’ll need to fully take advantage of the practice time you do have and use it to the fullest. A golf instructor can watch your swing and help you make adjustments to your technique to help you reach your goals.
Create a Practice Schedule
Practice makes perfect, but it can be difficult to get enough practice in time if you have a busy schedule. Therefore, you should focus on making a realistic practice plan and hold yourself accountable to follow through with it. Create goals for each practice session before you reach the green, and while you’re practicing, stay focused on the task at hand.
Work on Your Short Game
The best scratch golfers are good at the short game, which many amateur golfers overlook. The short game includes putting, chipping, and bunker strokes. These strokes may seem less glamorous and important than the big swing shots, but becoming a scratch player means improving all parts of your game, not just the big swings. Diversifying your short game is one of the best ways to lower your score on the course.
Here are some chip shots you can work on adding to your repertoire:
- Bump-N-Run
- Flop Shot
- Texas Wedge
- Sand Trap Spinner
- Bellied Wedge
- Rescue Club
- Toe Down Pitch Shot
The above shots are just the tip of the iceberg! You’ll need to practice your ability to pull off a variety of shots to experience the most success possible.
Practice Working Around Hazards
Part of becoming a scratch golfer is working on eliminating double and triple bogeys (or worse) on your scorecard. The best way to do this is to avoid penalty strokes and to take extra time to learn how to play around hazards and from less-than-ideal positions. You’ll have to know how to recover from a bad shot, because you aren’t going to be able to shoot perfectly all of the time.
Stay Calm
This is easier said than done, but often, when golfers have a bad game it’s because of their mental state. Golf can be incredibly frustrating, and when you make a bad shot, it’s tempting to waste energy by getting angry, throwing clubs around, complaining, and being negative. Surely scratch golfers get frustrated too, but they handle it better, and they don’t let one bad hole lead to more bad holes. Here are some recommendations for improving your mental golf game:
- Practice meditation. Regularly meditating reduces stress, controls anxiety, and helps you control your emotions. If you’re a more mindful and calm person in your daily life, you’re less likely to allow your emotions to get the better of you on the course.
- Take deep breaths. When people get angry or anxious, they often start taking short, sharp breaths, which triggers their body’s panic mode. Taking slower and deeper breaths helps your body and your muscles relax, which improves your performance.
- Chew gum. People who chew gum regularly usually have lower levels of anxiety and depression than people who don’t. If you’re often anxious on the golf course, chewing gum may help you calm down.
- Forgive yourself. For many golfers, it just takes one bad shot to ruin a game. After that mistake, they’re so focused on that blunder that they never really recover, so one bad shot turns into a bad game. No one is perfect, even scratch golfers, but scratch golfers perform better because they can forgive themselves for their mistakes and focus on making better decisions in the future instead of beating themselves up.
By implementing the above practices in your life, you can prevent having one bad shot or hole ruin your entire game, which can help you become a scratch player more quickly.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to sports, often the most difficult part of improving is when you’re already good, but you want to be great. Going from 10-handicap to scratch is difficult, but it is not impossible. Some things you can do to become a scratch player include tracking your statistics, getting a golf coach, creating a realistic practice schedule, working on your short game, practicing working around hazards, and staying calm on the golf course, even after making a mistake.