“I think it has never been easier to get to scratch,” said PGA Professional and regular co-host of the Your Golf by NCG podcast, Jack Backhouse.
A scratch golfer is a player that has a handicap index of 0.0 or lower. With this they are expected to shoot level par on a golf course of standard difficulty.
In reality, only a small percentage of amateur golfers ever reach scratch, making it a benchmark for elite amateur ability.
At least it has been for a number of generations of golfers. But is this still the same now?
Does being a scratch golfer still hold the same value it once had? Or has the rapid advances in golf equipment, technology, and an overhaul of the handicap system taken its toll on the prestige of being a scratch golfer?
Speaking on the latest episode of the Your Golf by NCG podcast, Backhouse was confident that it was the latter.
“When I think back to a scratch golfer when I was 14, they were really serious players because they were doing it in competition rounds only,” he added.
“You only ever went down point one for every shot under your handicap. So it was a much more of a grind to get to scratch than I believe it is now.
“Not that it isn’t any less of an achievement now, but I know people who have a good six weeks of golf and can get the handicap way down. Then that six weeks of golf ends, and they’re sort of still a low handicapper on paper, but aren’t in reality.
“The old system sort of, you couldn’t really do that.”
As well as the evolution of the handicap system, Backhouse pointed out how the advancement in golf equipment has made the game easier.
