Can you get good playing once a week

Hi there I've been reading posts on 606 for ages and followed you all to 606v2 too to carry on reading your funny and always informative posts. Thought I'd take the plunge and post myself.
Not long taken up the game seriously ( used to have a knock with the lads at the local on society weekends but was normally too drunk to compete!!) Have now got myself a membership and handicap(28). Problem is I can only get on the course once a week due to wife and kids etc. Just wondering how good can I get playing once a week, and maybe an hour or 2 down the range if the wife isn't watching!!
Cheers

I don't see why you can be steady low teen handicap with 1 practice session and 1 round a week, it may take a few years though...

I'd make sure you practice your short game/putting as well as the range work as well though... 1 round and 1 evening bashing balls on the range is not a recipe for success with out the short game practice. There is stuff you can do at home or at the office as well, like putting and working on posture and grip

No.

Define good.

But the answer is you can be reasonable... but by the standards I use... probably not.

That's not to say you can't be competitive at whatever level you achieve.

McLaren wrote:No.

That's a little unfair I feel - at least without any further qualification.

Playing once a week with perhaps an hour down the range? No you'll probably never get to a decent Cat1 standard unless you have a real natural talent. But can you get to a fair standard? Of course you can.

It's all in the definition of "good". McLaren clearly has very high standards.

I know some very naturally talented guys who probably only play once a week with a little practice and higher single figure handicap is well within their reach.

I also know people who play 2 or 3 times a week and practice and they will never be more than a genuine 28. It depends very much on what sort of talent you have for the game. Having said that the genuine 28s still love the game and get out of it what they want

The big question is 'do I enjoy it', if the answer is yes, then who gives a frig how good you get. Playing once each week is only what most people do, and over time your game improves,

personally i've only ever felt i've been on the road to maximizing my potential one summer when i played more days a week than i didn't. i'd been playing for 2 years at that point and that summer i got down from 11 to 5.5 [so close to cat 1, but so far !], before heading back to uni. 6 years of a dozen rounds a year [all competitive] and my handicap spiralled up to 9. last year i joined a new club where i now live in edinburgh and after a pretty rotten start [first few months were abysmal, the lowest point was scoring over 100 for the first time since about my tenth ever round] i've discovered a bit of consistency again. aiming to get down to cat 1 by the end of this year but i know i need to be playing and practising a lot for that to happen.

well my sister's bf plays on the weekends and his scorecard has gone from 128- 83 in 11 months so if your determined there no reason you can't get where you want to be unless you hit your talent limit.

Harsh response from Mac without giving any justification.

Know plenty of single figure guys who play once a week, my brother is a scratch player. Only plays and practices once a week.

So can it be done yes it can, but it depends on what is the natural talent you have.

If you wish to be a consistent scorer and get low then, you will need to put more into it.

But when you got a wife and kiddies it can be hard to balance golf and family trust me I know but am fortunate to have an understanding Mrs either that or she's glad to be rid of me!

But if you enjoy the game and get what you want out of it, handicap is irrelevant.

Welcome to the most mad, mad, maddening of games

I would say good is all relative. there are a lot of very very good golfers on this forum

As a fellow 28 handicapper, i would say that to get to 18 handicap would be good,

At this pont if you are enjoying it (Most important) and with the improvement you may be able to find another couple of days to sneak out a month.

On a side note do people find that playing in club comps help with the improvement, due to more competative nature.

Well I'm loving it at the moment even off 28. I'm hoping it drops just with simple things like course management and not duffing the odd chip or 10! Before I joined my new course my rounds were few and far between so I'm hoping even just a bit of regularity on the course will help me out

Nellie - the short answer is you will get as good as you want to. However, that is the beauty of the handicap system. You have had answers from at least one scratch player and 3-4 low single figure players. Truth be told, with the time restraints you have, it is unlikely you will get to what the general conception of good is, i.e. a consistent category 1 player.

However, through the handicap system, you should be able to give all of the people who responded (yes even the nomally loquacious Mac) a close game and even throw them the odd scare.

As Doc said - do you enjoy yourself, if the answer is yes, then have fun! Be a concientious golfer and a pleasure to play this fabulous game with.

oldshanker wrote:However, through the handicap system, you should be able to give all of the people who responded (yes even the nomally loquacious Mac) a close game and even throw them the odd scare.

Very true.



except if you're oldshanker playing an evil little imp from epping. :606laugh:

Nellie

Firstly, welcome! Glad to hear you find the banter on here both informative and entertaining.

To answer your question, well there isn't really an answer. As stated before, it very much depends on what you consider to be 'good'. But more importantly, you can get to a standard where you enjoy the game quite easily. What I would strongly advise though is that you take a few lessons to ensure that you are practicing the right things. This will not only help you improve but also increase your enjoyment of the game.

Good luck, keep us posted!

quote: LJ
Very true.



except if you're oldshanker playing an evil little imp from epping. :606laugh:

OK OK - to be fair, the first time I was playing like a loon and you did have a putt for a gross 69 - the next time I was trying too hard to redeem myself.

That of course is one of the issues of not playing sufficiently often - the first thing to suffer is consistency.

But I enjoyed myself immensely on both occasions (thank you SJ) and hopefully you had a good enough time to repeat at my gaff some time in the future.

Hmm haven't quite got the hang of these quotes yet. :rugby:

oldshanker wrote:Nellie - the short answer is you will get as good as you want to. However, that is the beauty of the handicap system. You have had answers from at least one scratch player and 3-4 low single figure players. Truth be told, with the time restraints you have, it is unlikely you will get to what the general conception of good is, i.e. a consistent category 1 player.

However, through the handicap system, you should be able to give all of the people who responded (yes even the nomally loquacious Mac) a close game and even throw them the odd scare.

As Doc said - do you enjoy yourself, if the answer is yes, then have fun! Be a concientious golfer and a pleasure to play this fabulous game with.

Can I ask how often the cat 1 players on here practice and play rounds?

During the summer I play at least twice a week, quite often a lot more. Last summer I played in 13 36 hole comps plus all the usual club medals etc then add in the knockouts and finally bounce games with the guys. I'm the highest handicapper (5.6) in the group I play with and we always play off scratch so that really helps my game. During the winter I generally play once a week and usually hit the range one evening a week as well.

Nellie.

When playing at my best I practice two or three times a week and get onto the course about the same amount.

I might not play 18 but I'll be on the course practicing the skills that help me score rather than just those that help me hit it good.

Shanker... Those are fair comments...

I didn't pay too badly at Crondon to be fair. I had a nightmare on the back but I was under playing the 9th hole. great 50 yard 3 wood into the ditch that put me back to level there. :606laugh:

Hmm haven't quite got the hang of these quotes yet.

just press the quote button and remove the internal message while not messing about with the stuff in the [] brackets.

Incidentally. I was out and about with the ringer the other night.

Mentioned your 'Ringers welcome' comment. He still finds that amusing and says howdy

Nellie wrote:

Can I ask how often the cat 1 players on here practice and play rounds?

As I said I have a very understanding Mrs!

Practice 3 times a week at the range. Plus play the same amount, but as with LJ not always full rounds, likely that it's 1 full round a week and the other 2 are based on working on on course scoring
Such as pitching! Bunker play course management.

Most important though is just enjoy it

Can I ask how often the cat 1 players on here practice and play rounds? [/quote]

I play around once a fortnight during the golfing season and prob hit balls twice a week, going up to 3-4 times a week in winter with the odd par 3 course thrown in.

My opinion on improving is that getting better takes a lot of time and effort but maintaining a standard is relatively simple. This is why it is easier to get good at a young age as you have loads of time with school/uni not taking up too many hours - I got to scratch at 17 and haven't strayed too far away since when you compare the time I was putting in then to how much I put in now.

I'm sure I read a stat somewhere that the USGA compiled a survey showing that on average and adult golfer will reach their peak 3 years after starting playing. For myself and for most people I know this probably was about right.

My advice on improving is focus on your short game and course management as this is where your shots are made or lost. You will go through your golfing life swinging it better and worse season on season but with a solid short game and good course management your scores will not change too much.

Thanks for the info guys, i intend to work on my short game and my putting. I lose far too many shots a round in these ares. Also will work on my course management, just because the pro's can hit that shot doesnt mean i can!!

I have my first comp next week ill let you know how i get on.

Cheers

i got from 17.3 to 10.6 in about 18 months when i returned to the uk 4 years ago without too much effort. i then had my swing rebuilt and at the same time (due to work and family) reduced how much golf i was playing to about once, maybe twice a month on average with very few practice sessions. i maintain a handicap of 12. this year, i've started to practice a lot more often and aim to play more often with a goal of reaching 9 by the end of the summer.

but as many have said, it's whether you enjoy it and the handicap system should help to enable that. for the past 2 years, i've played very average golf but have enjoyed the company, mild exercise (S_R can butt in here ;-)), views and odd good shot/ run of holes.

i have the ability at my handicap of playing half a round to scratch, hitting shots with sort-of controllable spin, hitting shots with lots of carry, all things that low single figure golfers do. it's just not consistent enough and that only comes with lots of play and practice on every aspect of your game to get you to low single figures and then a good amount to maintain it.

i accept that if i don't play often enough, i can't expect too much, so i enjoy what i know i deserve. mind you, doesn't mean it's not bluddy frustrating sometimes ;-)

I'm not sure you can become good by only playing once a week, but you can certainly maintain a good standard by playing only once a week if you were good to begin with.

However, someone who has good course management who only plays once a week is likely to improve more than someone who plays three times a week but doesn't play with any sort of intelligence or thought and so consequently learns nothing at all. It's a bit like hitting 25 balls with purpose on the range being better than raking 100 balls with no particular thought or consideration to the shot.

It is not necessarily how often you play, but the quality you put into your sessions on the practice area and on the course.