Which is a bigger deal? Breaking 80 or being a single digit handicap?

[HJJ003]

So I was doing some mindless googling of golf articles and came across this old one (Last Year) from GD:

Heated golf debate: Is it a bigger deal to break 80 or get down to a single-digit handicap? - Golf Digest

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One's a more memorable moment, the other a more significant accomplishment.

So what say you? Which is a bigger deal? Breaking that scoring barrier of 80 or finally becoming a single digit player? Why? 

[Piz]

Single digit...hands down.  Breaking 80 is a mile stone.  It's great but it's an anomaly for me.  I'd rather be irritated that I shot over 80 than thrilled I shot under.

[Vinsk]

2 minutes ago, Piz said:

I'd rather be irritated that I shot over 80 than thrilled I shot under.

This.

[NZ Golfer]

well for me breaking 80 was huge as it has been a goal for several years and finally did it twice recently..after getting so close next goal is to do it during competition... then single HC which should really be close behind ... and be an even bigger deal

Edited April 27, 2019 by NZ Golfer

[MacDutch]

Sometimes the golfgods concentrate all the luck in one round. Hit the tree, ball bounces back on the fairway. And you score a lucky 79.

Becoming a single digit player, there is no luck involved.

[Patch]

When I was a single digit hndcp, breaking 80 was not a big deal. I expected to break 80 everytime I played

Now that I am low, double digit hndcp, breaking 80 in a much more, satisfying accomplishment.

These days, 80 is my target score when playing.

. 

[David in FL]

I’m not sure what “bigger deal” means, but assuming that it means “more difficult to attain”, single digit handicap...

...I don’t know of any single digit handicaps who don’t break 80 with some regularity, but  I know plenty of double digit handicaps who will break 80 on occasion.

[Lihu]

I suppose the feeling of breaking 80 the first time gives you a sense of euphoria for sure...but single digits is definitely a bigger deal.

Edited April 27, 2019 by Lihu

[mellison24]

To my mind, you only ‘Break 80’ once; the first time. After that you score below 80.

I think that will mean more to me (biased because I’m chasing it, perhaps?) than a single digit handicap.

[HJJ003]

4 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I suppose the feeling of breaking 80 the first time gives you a sense of euphoria for sure...but single digits is definitely a bigger deal.

What is interesting is this poll is headed hard towards the vote I would have guessed it would. However, Of the people I actually talked to about it today (small sample size...my playing partners) all of them chose breaking 80 for the reason you mentioned. One guy is about a 5 handicap and stated simply he doesn’t remember the first time his handicap dropped below 10, but will never forget the first time he broke 80. 

[NJpatbee]

I will never be a single digit handicap but it is possible (but improbable) that I could break 80, so that is my big deal.  

[Zeph]

Obviously single digit, but I guess it depends what people define as a "bigger deal" and if the OP and poll want individual opinions or objevtive. Single digit is tougher than breaking 80 and I would think most that get to single digit get at least one round below 80 before getting past 10. If this is about what each of us would consider a bigger deal, the answer may not be as obvious, but judging by the results so far, single digital is winning. 

[sjduffers]

Chances are that you'll break 80 quite a while before becoming single digits (even if for only one revision). Either achievement can be perceived as a "big deal", but the lasting one (i.e. staying in single digits) is obviously the better one, or in my case the "bigger deal".

[billchao]

Single digit is a bigger deal to me. I knew someone who was a mid-teens player that shot 76 once, the next day he shot 95. He was convinced that just because he broke 80 once that he was that good of a player.

"I don't understand, yesterday I played great," he told me. I do, it's called an anomaly.

[NZ Golfer]

2 hours ago, billchao said:

Single digit is a bigger deal to me. I knew someone who was a mid-teens player that shot 76 once, the next day he shot 95. He was convinced that just because he broke 80 once that he was that good of a player.

"I don't understand, yesterday I played great," he told me. I do, it's called an anomaly.

what about if after 95 he again scored in the '70s . but then back to 95 only asking as I've done that recently after the string of the mid-'80s .... very Bi-polar golf play I put down to my issues with Driver

.. I remember a well-known coaching pro locally once made the comment that no honest mid-HC player should be able to score 10 or more under HC ... recently I scored 9 under HC.. and don't agree with him

[shanksalot]

Pretty much what everyone has stated. Breaking 80 the first time is great and had been a goal for me once I started playing more than a dozen times a year. However playing to a single digit handicap is more satisfying. It may take longer to break 80, but once you do you know you have the ability to do it and that can lead to becoming a single digit player.

[bkuehn1952]

I remember my first score in the 70's and have the scorecard.  I have no idea when my handicap index became low enough to play courses with a 9 course handicap.  Certainly achieving a low index is more difficult and a longer lasting standard than breaking 80 once. For me, breaking 80 was the target I focused on during my golf journey.  The next stop is shooting my age, which is several years away.