[FelixQY]

I have always wondered, what is the difference between some of you low handicappers (1-3) or scratch golfers vs the pros?

I realize that the pro course is longer but if you low 'cappers were to play a tour level course on the tour tees, would it still be possible for you to shoot as low as you normally do?

[lh88gFzI]

A lot. In every stretch of the imagination.

[qikolax]

I think most tour players are around a +6 handicap or better. I have heard people say that they can't handle the pressure of being on tour. I have also heard that they have the talent to do it, but not the mental game.

[bjacogaerllyo]

Huge difference. The difference between a 0 and a +2 is huge.Same goes for the guys that are a +2 and want to compete against +4's.Such a different level.


Some of the other differences is,Many play the same courses over and over,which help them maintain a lower handicap .

Conditions are never close to tour quality as in speed and firmness of greens and thickness of rough.

[TagBahthuff]

ummm, a lot of money, private jets, your pick of perkins waitresses, 500k watches, free golf, more perkins waitresses, having your strokes counted by a fatty in a recliner, fast cars, free clubs, unlimited golf balls

[KirillAristov]

I've heard it said that the difference between tour pro level and a scratch golfer is bigger than the difference between scratch and a 15 handicap. The old PGA Tour slogan of "These guys are good" was doing them a dis-service. They aren't good. They are unreal. Impossibly good. Gooder than good. Should have been "These guys are frickin' unbelievable" or something.

[benderkoz]

They have an army of people behind them. If any one of us had there caddy for a round we would see our score drop. There caddys do most of the thinking for them. Then it's a coach for every club and swing. This includes the putting coach and short game coach. Not to mention there sports psyc there with them. I had a 4 day pass to last years Barclay and it turned me around from what i thought. They are not gods of golf that for sure. Not what they seem to be on TV or in mags.

They are good for sure. They have to step up and hit the ball the way there caddys suggests them too. They don't always follow it and it shows. Lots of mis hits,slices,hooks etc.

Put that army of people behind any one of us for a year and we could be there too imo.

[FelixQY]

I've heard it said that the difference between tour pro level and a scratch golfer is bigger than the difference between scratch and a 15 handicap. The old PGA Tour slogan of "These guys are good" was doing them a dis-service. They aren't good. They are unreal. Impossibly good. Gooder than good. Should have been "These guys are frickin' unbelievable" or something.

So what would a scratch golfer or +1 have to do to really make a push for the pros? Just curious about how you recognize that you are good enough to play with the big boys.

[67Irralphaisa]

The 2 best golfers I personally know will tell you it is putting, both were small college All-Americans and spent several years playing the mini tours. They both say that their putting held them back. One of them is the best putter I personally know too, so it is unreal how important it is among the great ball strikers. All you have to do it look at TW's putting after all of his escapades and see what they mean.

[Agedprepdoock]

They have an army of people behind them. If any one of us had there caddy for a round we would see our score drop. There caddys do most of the thinking for them. Then it's a coach for every club and swing. This includes the putting coach and short game coach. Not to mention there sports psyc there with them. I had a 4 day pass to last years Barclay and it turned me around from what i thought. They are not gods of golf that for sure. Not what they seem to be on TV or in mags.

They are good for sure. They have to step up and hit the ball the way there caddys suggests them too. They don't always follow it and it shows. Lots of mis hits,slices,hooks etc.

Put that army of people behind any one of us for a year and we could be there too imo.

You couldn't be more wrong. IMHO.

[Vokbeelllicky]

You couldn't be more wrong. IMHO.

+1 thats just not right...

[Agedprepdoock]

My instructor is a +2 and has been a +3. He is the best I have ever played with, he has played some on the Asia tour, and has made a living playing professionally. He tells me he isn't even close to PGA tour level, mostly due to his length. The holes are so long on tour now and average par 3 is well over 200 yards and and average par 4 is 450. To be a PGA pro you have to have unbelievable talent, good to great length, a short game that makes any 40 yard shot look easy, and putt lights out, all under more pressure than you can imagine. Very few can do it.

[whatisthebluepill]

The 2 best golfers I personally know will tell you it is putting, both were small college All-Americans and spent several years playing the mini tours. They both say that their putting held them back. One of them is the best putter I personally know too, so it is unreal how important it is among the great ball strikers. All you have to do it look at TW's putting after all of his escapades and see what they mean.

+1. I also think the ability to practice daily is a big help. I feel that my game would be that much better if I could get in 200 swings a day plus short game work.

[whatisthebluepill]

My instructor is a +2 and has been a +3. He is the best I have ever played with, he has played some on the Asia tour, and has made a living playing professionally. He tells me he isn't even close to PGA tour level, mostly due to his length. The holes are so long on tour now and average par 3 is well over 200 yards and and average par 4 is 450. To be a PGA pro you have to have unbelievable talent, good to great length, a short game that makes any 40 yard shot look easy, and putt lights out, all under more pressure than you can imagine. Very few can do it.

I agree that they have to have amazing talent but the equipment they have access to will also help some. The golf balls they use are hotter than any ball we can buy off a shelf. That's not a major reason but it is still an advantage.

[Indoendris]

ummm, a lot of money, private jets, your pick of perkins waitresses, 500k watches, free golf, more perkins waitresses, having your strokes counted by a fatty in a recliner, fast cars, free clubs, unlimited golf balls

I've seen a +2hdcp snag a Perkins waitress in my time...it might have been the ole beat up, 40+ -pall-mall-smoking-hairs-lost-in-the-80s'-drives-a-trans-am-and -has a side-job-cutting-hair-in-her-basement-waitress....but a perkins waitress none the less.

[Cricequorie]

There's a book out there called Paper Tiger, which is about a guy who spent a year trying to go from low handicapper to pro golfer by hiring a personal trainer, swing coach, sports psychologist. He failed miserably. I haven't read it, but my buddy says its a great read.

Also, I used to play with a guy who used to play on the Hooters tour back in the day (pre Nike/Nationwide tour). He's a +2 and said he got his butt handed to him. He said shooting 68-70 wasn't good enough to compete on the Hooters tour (courses aren't nearly as demanding as PGA tour stops).

My 2 cents, not only are there differences in the short game, but tour pros hit just about everything to inside 20 feet, include long irons. I can hit it out there 280-330 just like they can, but a tour pro expects to hit a certain section of the fairway so they can attack the pin, and I am happy when my ball just finds the short grass!

[FelixQY]

I've seen a +2hdcp snag a Perkins waitress in my time...it might have been the ole beat up, 40+ -pall-mall-smoking-hairs-lost-in-the-80s'-drives-a-trans-am-and -has a side-job-cutting-hair-in-her-basement-waitress....but a perkins waitress none the less.

Hahahaheheheheeeeeeewwwwww....

[Agedprepdoock]

ummm, a lot of money, private jets, your pick of perkins waitresses, 500k watches, free golf, more perkins waitresses, having your strokes counted by a fatty in a recliner, fast cars, free clubs, unlimited golf balls

Good stuff One-t.... good stuff!!

[Sdinozes]

I've played with a few 0 - +2 handicappers and they hit the ball fairly long off the tee, but it was around the green that made a world of difference. Putting is a different ball game for the one's at that level and I'm sure at the pga pro level it's several steps beyond!!

[Meerenuch]

In an edition of Golf Magazine a few months back (Sept. 2010 - NFL'ers who love golf) it had an article about football players who thought that they could join a pro tour when they retired from the NFL. Jerry Rice was the main focus of the article, but it highlighted several other players who all were either scratch golfers or better. It basically detailed how they were all major failures on the tours they joined, whether it was the Nationwide or Senior tours.

These guys who carry a +2 hcp were shooting in the mid 80's on the Nationwide tour. They admitted that even the Nationwide pros have unreal talent when compared to your local club champion. Fairways are much tighter, greens are much faster, and the pressure of having a gallery surround you on every shot is just something that you can't prepare for when you're going low on a Sunday afternoon with your buddies.

“If you’re not beating the best players in your club every day,” he adds, “and you’re not shooting 68 or better every single day, don’t waste your time. The average person out there has no idea how good Nationwide Tour players are.”

“When we play golf with our buddies in our own little world, the atmosphere is a lot easier, simpler and less stressful,” says Rypien, now 47 and living in his hometown of Spokane, Wash. “The setup of the course [on Tour] is incredible -- you don’t appreciate that as much watching on TV as you do standing on the tee box trying to make par.

“And the skill set [difference] is glaring. There’s a small gap between the best players in golf and guys on mini-tours -- and a large gap between those players and us.”