Scratch By 50: Can I Really Do This?

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m having a mid-life crisis. I’m rapidly approaching my 50th year and it finally hit me that I’m not going to live forever. I probably should’ve realized this sooner but what can I say? I’m a late bloomer.

So, I’m freaking out, which is what a lot of people do when they reach the middle of life and start taking stock of things. This is the point where some might decide to blow their life up by getting a mistress or pursue the cliche sports car/hair plug path. I don’t have the energy for a girlfriend or the money for a sports car so I’ve decided to take the mature route and try to get really, really, good at golf. I want to reach scratch by the time I turn 50. That gives me roughly a year to acquire a level of proficiency that most golfers dream about, but few ever achieve. 

Piece of cake, right? 

You know the statistic. Roughly one percent of all golfers are scratch. Most of us never even try. Not really. Maybe we take a lesson or two, promise ourselves that we’ll put in a dedicated hour of short-game work every week but then we get bored and just hit drivers at the range until our shoulders hurt. It takes too much time and energy to get really good at golf. 

But what if I gave it everything I have? For a year. The best coaching, the best gear, the right training aids and drills. What if I play an obscene number of rounds? Can I reach scratch in a year? Before I turn 50? 

I know this is an ambitious project and you could argue that I’m a fool for even trying. I wouldn’t disagree with you. I don’t have a preternatural gift for golf. I am a 13 handicap who reads greens at a third-grade level. I’ve never had any instruction and really only started playing golf a few years ago. OK, I played a little golf in high school while working at a country club but I gave it up in college when it got too expensive and time consuming.

My hiatus from the sport lasted 25 years. I started playing golf again a couple of years ago on a whim, dragging my high-school clubs out of the garage to walk nine holes with a few buddies. But you know that “After-school Special” where a kid tries pot at a party and ends up addicted to crack a few weeks later? It was exactly like that. I hit one decent 7-iron and fell head over heels for the sport. Full-blown addiction. You should see my closet: nothing but golf shirts. I think about very little else during my waking hours. 

I understand that reaching scratch before I turn 50 is not a realistic goal. The odds of success are slim. Tackling this goal at any age is rife with mishaps and attempting it in middle age comes with extra complications. I have 49 years’ worth of compiled injuries to deal with. My shoulder mobility is … less than optimal. Executing a proper turn and getting my arms on the right plane? That shit is hard.

This is also the age that most golfers start to lose distance. And then there are the time constraints that plague most middle-aged people. I have a full-time job. I have two teenaged kids and a wife. A wife that often wonders (out loud) why I would spend so much time and money playing a glorified lawn game. 

It’s not going to be easy. There are no guarantees. But that’s the point. I want to make the most of the next chapter of my life and try to accomplish something really hard. Something that few people can achieve.

I have some advantages. I’ve spent the last three decades working in adventure journalism which has kept me in decent shape and forced me into a pattern of learning new skills from downhill mountain biking to rock climbing to finding water in the desert (seriously. I know how to find water in the desert). I’m pretty good at sports and I’m pretty good at learning new things. But more importantly, I’m fascinated with the process of getting better at golf. 

I like walking nine at lunch and dropping balls at awkward lies and trying to get out of trouble. I like taking my 7-iron to the range and trying to figure out how open I can leave the face before the ball starts to fade. I played a lot of golf over the last couple of years and worked my handicap down to a 13 on my own.

But I hit a plateau. I stopped getting better. That’s what happens when you get all of your swing tips from YouTube. I’ve never had lessons. I just took my baseball swing and applied it to golf. I know I can’t make it to scratch with that swing so I’m rebuilding it from the ground up with the help of a coach.

Sam Hahn, the CEO of L.A.B. Golf, reached out and offered to be my golf/life guru. He’s helping me rebuild my swing from the grip to the follow-through. We send each other videos constantly. It’s adorable. If Sam Hahn can revolutionize putting, he can help make me a better golfer, right? Right?

So, yes, even though the odds are stacked against me, I think I have a chance of success as slim as it might be. The worst that can happen is I spend a lot of time and money playing a game I love. There’s an element of public humiliation thrown in, too, but life is short. I want to do something cool while I still can.

And the coaching is just the foundation of my plan. I’m going to attack my golf game with fitness and swing speed training. I’m going to pursue the mobility conundrum with yoga and assisted stretching. I’m going to layer in smart training aids and tech that helps quantify every aspect of my game and (hopefully) help me manage the course better. I’m going to find the best gear that will help me inch closer to my holy grail of golf. Scratch. By the time I turn 50. 

And I want to share everything I learn with you. In this weekly series, I’ll keep you updated on every step of the process from the grip training aid that works to the swing thoughts that drive me crazy. I’ll detail my successes and my setbacks, letting you know what works for me and what was a waste of my time.

Because I want you to use this project to help you on your own journey to get better at golf whether you’re trying to reach scratch or break 90 for the first time. 

Because scratch is the goal but this project is really about the process of getting better. 

So let’s get better at golf together.