Scratch

A scratch player, particularly in golf, denotes one so highly accomplished that he or she plays with no advantage or handicap. This usage dates from the mid-19th century. To start from scratch has now come to mean start from the beginning and this usage dates in English from the late 18th century when a line was scratched in the ground to mark the starting point of a race. Runners ran either from scratch or in the case of handicap races from other starting points. It must be remembered, however, that scratching lines in the ground to signify a starting point for a footrace must be very ancient and is recorded from Homeric times, from at least 750 BC. To scratch meaning to withdraw from a race dates from the mid-19th century but derives from a different source because here the runner’s or horse’s name was literally scratched off the list. Scratch is also slang for money or wages and dates from the early 20th century from the notion of scratching for a living and as such is not related to any of the earlier meanings. See also Up to scratch/up to the mark.