How much potential is here?

big_drive

Lads, friend of mine plays off 6. Came down from 13 in past 3 years ( had not been a member of a club prior to this) is in his early 30's. Played a bit in his teens but never a member anywhere. Played a lot of pitch and putt in teens which helped with the basics for golf.

Never touched a club in his 20's as he played other sports (gaa, soccer, rugby) only got back to golf 3 years ago when he retired from other sports.

Now the thing is he has never had a golf lesson in his life. Just self taught and picked up tips online, YouTube, etc. so I think he's done very well to get down to 6. He now seems to finding it harder to go any lower

What do ye think proper lessons could do for him? Is there good potential here to go lower?

8under

Plenty of potential. Even the tour pros still "take lessons"

big_drive

He was very competitive at other sports so I think if he gets as determined and focused with the golf he could get down to 1 or 2 maybe. It's hard to know, it obviously gets difficult the lower you go

Myksyk

Potential is one thing. Implementation is another. I may be a good comparison as I'm off 6 myself (5.6) having bought my first set of clubs in late 2008. I recently had a discussion with other guys in the club about getting lower and we all agreed it was about a two things within the confines of a third:
1. Practice
2. Play
3. Time and opportunity

Practice incorporates lessons etc and should focus primarily on short game/putting.
Playing competitively is obviously important if you want to get cuts. The more you play the more opportunity for cuts (and 0.1s of course).
The availability of time to do 1&2 is the main decider I think. You will not get to a handicap of 1 or 2 unless you have time to practice or play at least 3-4 times a week. Less than this and whatever you've learned will not be ingrained and you will be plagued by inconsistency and frustration ... and consequent increases in handicap. Your short game touch will also suffer. This is the first year I have played on average every second day (76 times since March 1st - I keep notes!) and I can see the huge difference that commitment can make and I do feel if I kept that up that I could get down to 3 or 4. Having said that it can also burn you out and my wife might leave me!! The other possibility is to be more patient and catch good runs of form as they come over the next few years. We all agree that if we had started younger (I'm *cough* a young 40 something) we could have got lower more easily as time wouldn't likely be the same factor. Its the same old story ... life will get in the way of your golf! Maybe that's a good thing!

big_drive

Yes the time factor involved is probably a key factor. He'd have a job that would be ok in that regard. I guess a lot will come down to how much determination he might have. If he decides he's happy enough to stay around a 5-7 mark it won't happen

That's a lot of golf you've played. As you mention your current handicap is 5.6, has it dropped much this year with the time you've put into it? Have you taken lessons?

Myksyk

Tbh, I haven't played as much competitions as I would have liked, I think 15 on last count. Last year I played 47 competitions and dropped from 11 to 6. This year most of my golf has been in preparation for Bruen and Junior Cup. We lost the North Munster final of each of those so now I can get back to competitive singles golf. I have dropped from 6.3 to 5.6 this year so far. I'm ok with that as my goal was to simply play to 6 consistently enough throughout the year. My form has been very good the last 4-6 weeks but as I say most of my golf during that period has been trialing or playing Junior Cup. I'm interested to see does the form hold now when I get back to having the scorecard in my hand. Anyway, I hope your friend can commit the time and lessons are definitely a good idea if he can identify a good coach.

L.O.F.T

Myksyk wrote: »

Potential is one thing. Implementation is another. I may be a good comparison as I'm off 6 myself (5.6) having bought my first set of clubs in late 2008. I recently had a discussion with other guys in the club about getting lower and we all agreed it was about a two things within the confines of a third:
1. Practice
2. Play
3. Time and opportunity

Practice incorporates lessons etc and should focus primarily on short game/putting.
Playing competitively is obviously important if you want to get cuts. The more you play the more opportunity for cuts (and 0.1s of course).
The availability of time to do 1&2 is the main decider I think. You will not get to a handicap of 1 or 2 unless you have time to practice or play at least 3-4 times a week. Less than this and whatever you've learned will not be ingrained and you will be plagued by inconsistency and frustration ... and consequent increases in handicap. Your short game touch will also suffer. This is the first year I have played on average every second day (76 times since March 1st - I keep notes!) and I can see the huge difference that commitment can make and I do feel if I kept that up that I could get down to 3 or 4. Having said that it can also burn you out and my wife might leave me!! The other possibility is to be more patient and catch good runs of form as they come over the next few years. We all agree that if we had started younger (I'm *cough* a young 40 something) we could have got lower more easily as time wouldn't likely be the same factor. Its the same old story ... life will get in the way of your golf! Maybe that's a good thing!

Great reply, its posts like this that make this forum worth reading.

big_drive

I suppose it gets harder as you get lower. Only losing 0.1 each time you beat standard scratch is hard going too

Johnny_Fontane

8under wrote: »

Plenty of potential. Even the tour pros still "take lessons"

except Ted Potter Junior, who took down the Greenbrier last week. He's never taken a lesson......

big_drive

Neither has Bubba from what I remember around the masters

Johnny_Fontane

Ted also missed 24 cuts out of 24 on the 2004 nationwide tour....

ssbob

Myksyk wrote: »

my wife might leave me!

Agreed.

8under

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

except Ted Potter Junior, who took down the Greenbrier last week. He's never taken a lesson......

There are always exceptions but not many are pros. The point is that you can only go so far in improving your game on your own. The time comes when an experienced "eye" can help a player improve and move on with his game.

Tones69

I know a good few lads off around 6/7 who havent taken a lesson, but are also stuck there and cant get any lower. To be able to reach and maintain handicaps around 4/5 etc u really need to be putting in the hours, if you have a full time job and family etc that can be very difficult