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What Should A Typical "Bad" Score Be For A Given Handicap?


GonnaBreak70
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I'm a 5.9 handicap and the last 5-6 rounds have been great. (Excluding the last 2) I shot 79-78-76-79-79 and I almost thought I was immune to bad rounds.

THEN! Two days in a row I shoot 88-88. Thats 9 shots over what I consider a reasonably good score.

I'm just wondering what is the worst score you guys can shoot for a given handicap without including illness, injury, etc.

Michael

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It can depend how tough the course is. I often shoot better the first time i play a course than I do at my home course.

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Chris, although my friends call me Mr.L

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I'm around a 10-12 handicap, and my really bad days are around 90-95, i think i had one round around 98 last year. So for me, thats double my handicap is a really bad round for me.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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There is no "typical" bad score.  I've shot 104 in the club championship when carrying a 10 handicap.  Back in 1991 I opened the 4 round event with 104-88 on the first weekend, then shot 74-78 the next week.  I was out of the running for the tournament in the first round, but still cleaned up "day money" the second week.

Golf is a funny game, and I don't see any way to say that there is any sort of typical bad score.  A bad day can be truly horrendous.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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I'm a 9.4 and I recently played 4 days in a row on the same course and shot 83, 91, 91, 93

The last 3 days are bad rounds for me.

Anything above 90 I think is a bad round where I am, in fact, anything over 87

All it takes is one or two blow up holes.

I subsequently had one on each of the last 3 days ( 10 on a par 4, 11 on a par 5, and another 10 on a par 4 )

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As a 21-handicap, I think of anything over 105 as a bad score.  Mid-90's is a "good score".  If I were to have a good day (for me) with my driver, irons, wedges, and putter, all in the same round (never happens), I think I'd shoot in the low 80's.  But I've never broken 90, and still end up on the wrong side of 100 when I have a bad day.

-Andrew

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I use Scorecard to keep track of all my rounds and it has an anti-handicap calculation.  Its the inverse of the handicap formula and calculates your index using the worst 10 of your last 20 scores instead of your best 10.

My handicap index is 6.6 and my anti-handicap is around 11.  This puts my bad rounds around the 79 - 83 range on a par 70 course.

Presumably, you'd want the two indexes somewhat close indicating consistent play.

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This is a tricky question in that a "bad score" doesn't necessarily mean you shot a high number. Think of it this way, if I shoot an 82, but miss four birdie putts inside 9 feet, and three putt two more greens...that could be considered a "bad round". However, to answer your question, on the days when you just don't have it, imho, a round that is over double your normal HC is probably a bad round. Having said that though, obviously a golfer that normally shoots mid-high 90's, well anything that is ten-fifteen shots over that could be considered a bad round. There is nothing that defines a "bad round" really, it's all about your own perspective on how you scored the golf ball.

The War Sticks:

 

Driver: Adams Speedline F11 9.5* w/ Aldila Voodoo stiff flex shaft

3Wood: Adams Speedline Fast 10 15*

Hybrid: Ping G10 22* 

Irons:Mizuno MP32's 3-PW (bought used for $189)

Wedges: Cleveland CG14 52*, 56*

Putter: An old Ram Laser...lol...but it works

Ball: Srixon Q-star

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Keep in mind that handicap is not an average score. If you're a 6 handicap, then you will typically shoot about three shots worse than your handicap or in your case, 9 over par. According to the USGA, you will shoot your handicap less than 25% of the time, or about one our of every 6 rounds or so.

You also have the course rating and slope to factor in as well. If I'm playing a difficult course with a rating of 75, I can shoot 75 and it won't have an affect on my handicap.

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Agreed.  The numbers I posted a bit misleading since my home course slope/rating is 113/66.0 which will result scores close to an average.

This would be different depending on the difficulty of the tracks you are playing.

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I am currently an 11 and shot 96 yesterday, with a 51 on the front that included 4 triples.  My lifetime low round is 66.  I used to have a really hard time dealing with rounds like yesterday, now they just happen and I keep drinking my beer and smiling.  I rarely have time to work on the range before I play and find myself trying to correct whatever ails me on the course while I am playing.  Also, my short game is complete caca.

I think mid-handicap players 8-15 are the players that have the wildest swings in scores, such as myself.  I can still go about 75 low, though it hasn't happened in some time, and then I can have days like yesterday.  In my case though, I could go out with nothing longer than a 5-iron and probably shoot 85 all day on a reasonable 6800-7000 yard course.  I just choose to spray my driver all over hell and shoot 95+ from time to time because it is more fun.

To answer your question I expect to shoot 85 or better on ANY course.  90+ feels like a terrible round.

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Score wise if I get close to 100, I'm wanting to ghost ride my cart into the parking lot when done.

Other than that, I can shoot a miserable round score wise, but if there are certain things that were working like intended, I don't see it as bad.  Just certain parts of my game were bad that day.  I also don't think I'll ever be satisfied with my round.  I still remember my goal when I got started to break 100 and walked away with the first 97 and though how it should have easily been lower.

All handicaps do for me is make me focus too hard on shooting a number, rather than having fun.

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12.1 handicap. If I have a really bad day I'm in the 90's. Usually I shoot pretty much anywhere from 80-88. If I'm 90+ it was a really bad day.

Career Bests:

9 Holes--37 @ The Fairways at Arrowhead-Front(+2)

18 Holes--80 @ Carroll Meadows Golf Course(+9)

 

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1) The Fairways at Arrowhead

2) Mayfair Country Club

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I consider anything above the mid-80's as a bad score for me.  It usually means I take too many penalties (poor shot making days) or too many putts.

Like yesterday, I shot 92 (had 7 penalty strokes due to inability to get off the tee-box on seven holes!)  Just could not hit anything off the tee box properly!  Ugh!

Don

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I am a 9 now and had an 89 last week and I thought I played absolutely terrible. I hadn't played in a few weeks though.

:whistle:

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Ghost ride the whip! lmao...

Originally Posted by robinoso

Score wise if I get close to 100, I'm wanting to ghost ride my cart into the parking lot when done.


The War Sticks:

 

Driver: Adams Speedline F11 9.5* w/ Aldila Voodoo stiff flex shaft

3Wood: Adams Speedline Fast 10 15*

Hybrid: Ping G10 22* 

Irons:Mizuno MP32's 3-PW (bought used for $189)

Wedges: Cleveland CG14 52*, 56*

Putter: An old Ram Laser...lol...but it works

Ball: Srixon Q-star

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All good replies so far. I like the reverse/anti handicap idea to use in conjunction with my real handicap to determine consistency. So far it appears that everyone would consider it a really bad day if you were to shoot 7-10 above your handicap. On the other hand no one seems to shoot much worse than that on a bad day. Which means that the worst score for a given handicap, is about 10-12 over the handicap.

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Note: This thread is 4560 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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