I have a friend of mine who has just sold his company and has suggested that he takes a year off and dedicates himself to golf to see how good he can get. Got me thinking, if you could dedicate a year to golf and money / family commitments weren't an issue, what do you think your handicap would be at the end of the year? I would like to think mine would drop to around 10. I would love the opportunity to find out!

Actually I'm being modest, i'm pretty confident that I would qualify for the PGA tour!

Lovely thought but lottery win aside dont think is gunna happen. If it did I would like to think I could get to about 7-8 as I am capable of getting pars its just the consistacy.

Is there a prize for the most optimistic golfer?

Dave CAC handed Geordie.

If it was an option I would hope I'd go from hacker bogey golfer to single figure golfer.

Lots of people have tried various other ideas before and published info online:

Dream On - was a book

http://novice2scratch.com/

I've read Dream On (actually quite an amusing read) and did follow novice2scratch - thought that novice2scratch was always going to be too ambitious, at least the chap in Dream On had played golf in his teens and was not totally new to the game. My friend plays off 18 and reckons he could get down to somewhere around 8 - probably not an totally unrealistic target?

It's not quite the same thing but Tom Cox has written an excellent book, 'Bring me the Head of Sergio Garcia', that documents his 12 month effort to make it on the EuroPro Tour.  It is really well written and very amusing.  Highly recommended.

Richard

DH

I know the Novice2Scratch guy very well and he is a lot better than the 15 he got himself to within a year.

Due to the ammount of pressure he put himself under on his final 3 rounds he didnt shoot anywhere near what he is capable of.

IN general I suppose how much natural ability one has to begin with.

Matt - yeah, I felt a bit sorry for him reading the blog of his challenge and actually commented on his site that he would have the round of his life as soon as the challenge had finished and the pressure was off! Apparently his new goal is a handicap of 5 which he feels his play deserves - natural ability or not, that is a hell of a high level in the 'real world'.  Found his blogs very amusing and it sounds as though he had a great year (Euro Lottery tonight - just bought a ticket!)

I'd like to think that I could get to single figures maybe even low single figures, 1 to 5?

I know people at my club who are fortunate enough not to have to work and some of them do nothing but play and practice.  None of them have made singificant improvements in their handicaps. 

If you are fairly new to the game it's (relatively) easy to improve but at some point you will hit a wall where no amount of practice or ambition will make up for lack of talent.

Richard

There is a big difference between playing and practising in general (usually some degree of enjoyment is essentual) and practising and playing what you have practised with the only goal being improvement !

To dedicate myself completely to improvement would result in changing the way i feel about the game as much as the way i play it.

I would love to try it but not at the expense of the enjoyment i get from sharing 4 hours with my friends on the course.

Darren he could maybe get to a Pro if he tried out the 10,000 hour rule.

My calculations are that's 5.47 hours practice every day for the next 5 year!!

Darren R - on that basis he could make the Seniors Tour! Ben Hogan reckons that someone with an average talent, who practices hard and in the right way should be a single handcap player (based on that, I'm obviously not practising hard, or in the right way - it surely can't be a lack of talent!).

Great post Tim, I agree. If it becomes to much like work then it is work but for no financial reward!

Before he went off to South Africa I watched Jamie Elson play a few holes at my club (where he was a junior).  The thing is, they are good when you watch they play competitive golf on TV.  When you watch players of that calibre just playing for fun you start to realise just how good they actually are.  He was making golf look so effortless you start to wonder how he doesn't shoot 63 every time he plays.

As much as we dream about being as good as a touring pro for most of us it will never be more than a dream.

I agree with what has been said above - we should enjoy our golf and be thankful we don't do it for a living!

Golf is a sport, like any other sport natural abilty is a major factor.

But practice & lots of it will gerally improve most players games.  The feel & touch part of the game, start to come into effect.

The other way can always occur, I injured my back,at the time I played off 9. I can't play that often these days & have only been back in the  game for around five years.

I am back down to 16, but miles away from the short game I once had.

I would hope to be off single figures if I could play several times a week, but then again I'm not getting any younger.  NOT Fair!

We have to love thi sgame, on any given day any one can lay like a pro, even if for only a few shots or even holes.

Thats why we do it, isn't it?