Player's Journal: Let's End The "Scratch vs. LPGA Pro Golfer" Debate Once and For All

Let's set the record straight, scratch golfers can't beat LPGA pros. It's a debate that has floated around for years, decades even, and yet somehow continues to permeate its way through online golf culture. I'm here to put the argument to bed, and perhaps provide context on where I believe the myth gained its legs while also giving some insight as a second-year tour pro that can hopefully eradicate this...rather silly belief.

I've been around the game since I was five years old. I grew up playing with those older than me, usually men, so this is a topic that hits close to home. Though my pro career has been rather brief, I've heard the same things echoed around me for most of my golf journey.

Me (blue shirt) with my big sister August.

I grew up around the ideology that G.O.L.F is for Gentlemen Only and Ladies are Forbidden. It's uncomfortable and quite frankly shocking how casually some are able to poke fun at women in golf. I do my best to pay it little mind, but it can be challenging even now, as I find my footing on the LPGA. Golf in general has had a bit of a sexist air to it, especially from people the who don't really understand what golf is, or how many women play golf in general, or understand what the LPGA is and how long it has been around.

It's not entirely on them, you don't know what you don't know. For so many of us, we understand golf through a male-centered framework—myself included. In middle school, I was the only girl on an otherwise all boys golf team, playing from the same tees, and it wasn't until I got to high school when I began to see just how many girls participated in golf. And not just for the sake of having fun, it was mind-blowing to see how many of them had aspirations of playing in college and on the levels beyond.

Until you witness it ("it" being women's golf) up close, there's no way to understand it.

There's no blame to be placed, and there shouldn't be, but given that less eyes are on women's pro golf, that has allowed the notion that we're not as good as our male counterparts to take up space. Yes, women play shorter golf courses. PGA pros tend to play around 7,000 yards comfortably and we're playing 6,300-6,400 any given week (majors tend to play longer).

To me, that difference in yardage is why those who think scratch golfers can potentially beat an LPGA pro in tournament conditions exists. But what those who think that way must come to understand is that even though we're playing shorter courses, it doesn't necessarily mean that our courses are easier.

I've spoken to a handful of amateurs who are curious about pro life and want to pick my brain. And what I always want them to walk away with is the understanding of the amount of dedication, practice, knowledge and application it takes in order to succeed at such an elite level.

Many fail to realize the amount of practice that us professionals have to put in. The amount of effort, like the things that we do that are non-golf related, the amount of knowledge and brain power that it takes to play an 18 hole round and play your best is unmatched.

And there's no rulebook on how to excel at really anything, especially golf. Not only is this sport physically demanding, but it's mentally taxing and the progressions you go through working your way through each level is unlike anything else.

The jumps from high school and junior golf, to collegiate golf, to the development tours, to the LPGA are all learning curves that you're expected to execute, and at the highest level. Success in this game is fleeting, every moment, every shot counts—there's no wasting time.

What separates scratch golfers from the pros is not rooted in physical or technical skill, but rather exceptional mental strength and an elite level of golf IQ.

Sure, a scratch golfer can do their best replicate the training conditions of a pro, utilizing the same equipment and training aids, but myself and my peers on tour just understand the game differently. It's a skill that can absolutely be learned, but that ultimately lies in experience.

For instance, I've played rounds with amateurs in the past and they hit a putt that blows by the hole. Often times they'll think out loud and give a reason for why they believed it didn't go in. And more times than not, the comment that they make after the miss has no correlation to why they actually missed the putt. I know exactly why they missed it, and unless they explicitly ask for my advice I won't offer up critique—we're here for a good time, no need for a playing lesson.

But the point remains, as a pro, my understanding of the game, the mechanics, is just elevated. Our technique is just different. We work each and every day to optimize the smallest details of our swings, and it's not for the faint of heart.

Mechanics and technique aside, perhaps the most challenging part of golf and the true differentiator of scratch golfers vs. the pros is the mental toughness you must have to compete.

It's like that meme, "___ would shock a small Victorian child", well hey, in this instance amateurs are the Victorian children, and pro golf will certainly shock you. Because it shocked me, and each day I'm finding ways to pivot.

And I'm not talking about swing yips and what goes on inside the ropes, but it's battling the internal demons that plague your mind in the quiet moments.

In the past, golfers have talked about how professional golf is very lonely, to which I agree but I think that loneliness looks different for everyone.

For some people, they need big groups of friends or they need their team around them at all times. Some players are more social, and need that debrief to pull themselves out of their own heads. I definitely need that social time even though I'm a bit more introverted, but for me, that loneliness never really subsides. Like I said, it's different for everyone, but for me that loneliness looks like a player sitting in their hotel room at night, probably around 8 or 9:00 p.m. You have an 8:30 a.m. tee time the next morning and you're sitting in your bed right before falling asleep and you're thinking, "I don't know how I'm going to play tomorrow and I feel very nervous."

And when I struggled mentally, those were the moments that were the most difficult.

The reality is, is that unless you play at the highest level, you can't begin to understand how tough it is mentally to go to sleep the night before, wake up in the morning of competition having to convince yourself and talk to yourself in a way that's so positive, despite the self-doubt that wants to creep in, the negativity that wants to creep in, and how being able to combat that negativity is a learned skill, a skill that you have to develop over time.

People are well aware that there's pressure involved in sport. But I don't think the general public or people who play golf recreationally or a majority of amateurs understand the level of pressure that's involved with elite sport and how much work that it takes to maintain an internal environment that is suited for high performance.

Golf is so uniquely nuanced and in order to understand one aspect of our game, you need to figure out two or three other components. It's frustrating beyond belief, and yet, we still love it. It is the best sport out there. Beautiful, mind numbingly difficult, and incredibly human—there's nothing else like it.

—with Addie Parker