Is Your Handicap Accurate?

[mcanadiens]

Generally, I let the handicap stuff go as soon as my club championship is over. Actually I'm not even keeping score of most of the rounds I've played in the last month. 

Supposing I stick with my association (which I'm debating), I'll post enough scores in April and May that it will be fair before my HI matters again.

[gbogey]

1 hour ago, Thelonious_Funk said:

Curious for other's thoughts on my adjusted handicap season. - I've declared to myself my handicap posting season is my birthday April 20 to my daughter's birthday September 29.  During that time frame the weather is nice, the courses are in decent shape and I'm in regular season mode - playing golf consistently, practicing in my basement and getting to the range.  My brother invited me to play this weekend.  Haven't played in a couple weeks, haven't been to the range in a month, haven't practiced drills at home a lot recently.  Not sure if I want to make an exception and call this a handicap round and committing to post good or bad or calling it a fun round and committing not to post good or bad.

When I lived in NJ, the official season started April 1 but quite frankly courses were a mess and not very playable until May, so I declared any round in April to be a practice round.  You could also say the same thing during the last two weeks of October.

I've always found handicaps to be mysteriously accurate.  If I play 10 times with someone I am giving 7 strokes to, over time I will be about 7 strokes better than that person.  That said, I played in a tournament last week (my 2nd real tournament) and was paired with people who's indexes were about 3 strokes better than mine, but their game seemed ages better.  Maybe it was just their smoothness, but there seemed to be no comparison.

[Black Sail]

Integrity is key in establishing an accurate handicap. Don't pull punched with yourself. That handicap is what keeps the game fair when playing against others of a different level. Just be honest and the game will take care of itself. Glad you are back to swinging the clubs! Best of luck to you!

 

Dave

[RetiredOldMan]

26 minutes ago, Black Sail said:

Integrity is key in establishing an accurate handicap. Don't pull punched with yourself. That handicap is what keeps the game fair when playing against others of a different level. Just be honest and the game will take care of itself. Glad you are back to swinging the clubs! Best of luck to you!

 

Dave

 

26 minutes ago, Black Sail said:

Integrity is key in establishing an accurate handicap. Don't pull punched with yourself. That handicap is what keeps the game fair when playing against others of a different level. Just be honest and the game will take care of itself. Glad you are back to swinging the clubs! Best of luck to you!

Thank you for the kind words.

I played today and the wind was terrible. 20 to 30 mph, cold, and gusts 35 to 40. 

I played real well and from the whites shot 44 on the front and again a 44 on the back nine. Total was 88. 

We have a Men's Senior Tournament tomorrow at 3 pm. Hoping the wind dies down some. 

My handicap has now dropped to 22.3 so it is coming in line to being more accurate. 

 

Retired Old Man

26 minutes ago, Black Sail said:

 

Dave

 

[NJpatbee]

I have 17 posted rounds this season which is the most I have had in 10 years and I believe that my handicap is fairly accurate.  If the weather cooperates I hope to have at least 20 and have my handicap current.  

[David in FL]

17 hours ago, gbogey said:

.  That said, I played in a tournament last week (my 2nd real tournament) and was paired with people who's indexes were about 3 strokes better than mine, but their game seemed ages better.  Maybe it was just their smoothness, but there seemed to be no comparison.

As handicaps get lower, the separation of each stroke difference absolutely increases.  3-4 strokes better than our 7 handicaps is significantly different than a 3 stroke delta from a 20 handicap.  Even more so from 3ish to scratch...

[Black Sail]

On 10/8/2019 at 6:20 PM, RetiredOldMan said:

 

Thank you for the kind words.

I played today and the wind was terrible. 20 to 30 mph, cold, and gusts 35 to 40. 

I played real well and from the whites shot 44 on the front and again a 44 on the back nine. Total was 88. 

We have a Men's Senior Tournament tomorrow at 3 pm. Hoping the wind dies down some. 

My handicap has now dropped to 22.3 so it is coming in line to being more accurate. 

 

Retired Old Man

 

Definitely trending in the right direction, Sir. Keep up the good work. Mindset is everything. Enjoying the process is infinitely more important than just getting to the destination. Keep us posted on your progress, please!

 

Dave

[RetiredOldMan]

25 minutes ago, Black Sail said:

Definitely trending in the right direction, Sir. Keep up the good work. Mindset is everything. Enjoying the process is infinitely more important than just getting to the destination. Keep us posted on your progress, please!

 

Dave

I was all set to play against myself but at the last minute, the Club Pro changed over to a 3 man scramble. There was 1 team that had 4 players, and we were matched against them on actual play. (This was my Men's Senior Final Tournament for the year.) 

Anyway, 18 teams and our team finished 3rd. Very happy. Wind conditions was south at 30 mph to gusts of 35 to 40. It was miserable trying to hit into the wind. However on 1 par 4, I had the wind to my back and I drove it within 30 yards of the green. 😄 Chipped on and 2 putted for a par. 

My partners were a 65 year old and he drove past the green (because of strong winds behind him, and went in the rough. My other partner is 75, and he drove and stayed in the fairway but didnt have very good distance. Fortunately, I was able to have an excellent drive and stayed i the fairway. I am 72 years old)

Again we were elated to finish 3rd. 

Retired Old Man 

[RetiredOldMan]

A lot of golf buddies tell me to keep my handicap high. 

I would rather keep it accurate. 

I am heading out this morning and hope to shoot in the low 80's. 

Will let you know. My handicap is slowly coming down. 

I started out htis year with a 27.3 as of July 1st. 

I am currently at 23.5 but trending to 22.4. 

Hopefully the app will update today or tomorrow. 

Retired Old Man

[Double Mocha Man]

16 minutes ago, RetiredOldMan said:

A lot of golf buddies tell me to keep my handicap high. 

I would rather keep it accurate. 

I am heading out this morning and hope to shoot in the low 80's. 

Will let you know. My handicap is slowly coming down. 

I started out htis year with a 27.3 as of July 1st. 

I am currently at 23.5 but trending to 22.4. 

Hopefully the app will update today or tomorrow. 

Retired Old Man

If it is a GHIN index it will update on the 1st and 15th of each month.

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

If it is a GHIN index it will update on the 1st and 15th of each month.

If it is a USGA index it will update on the 1st and 15th.  Not every USGA state or regional association has chosen to use GHIN as its calculation service, but every one DOES follow the USGA requirements.

[NM Golf]

Unfortunately I went through a period in July and September where I had 9 straight rounds in the 60s (a combined 40 under par) and it has had a devastating impact on my handicap with my group. They are making me play as a +2. I shot 71 on Thursday and got my ass handed to me. 

Good thing is I am playing with house money for a while because that stretch was very lucrative.  

But no my handicap is not accurate, I am a 0 handicap at best.

[Nail]

21 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

Unfortunately I went through a period in July and September where I had 9 straight rounds in the 60s (a combined 40 under par) and it has had a devastating impact on my handicap with my group. They are making me play as a +2. I shot 71 on Thursday and got my ass handed to me. 

Good thing is I am playing with house money for a while because that stretch was very lucrative.  

But no my handicap is not accurate, I am a 0 handicap at best.

If you had 9 straight rounds in the 60’s then how can you say you are a 0 handicap at best. You are clearly better than a 0

[NM Golf]

8 minutes ago, Nail said:

If you had 9 straight rounds in the 60’s then how can you say you are a 0 handicap at best. You are clearly better than a 0

Well probably half those were on a course rated 69.5. I had a good streak, yes, but in the long run I am not a +2. 

[RetiredOldMan]

I shot an 88 today. 

My GHIN is currently 23.5 but trending to 21.2 when it updates tomorrow. 

WooHoo, I am on my way to get under a 20 handicap. 

Can I vent a little? 

I played with 2 other players today and they improved their lie the whole game. When marking the ball on the green, they would advance it toward the cup if they could get away with it. 

I played my ball as it lie. 

Then they had the audacity to tease me because I got beat by 1 stroke. 😞 I played well and I have known these 2 guys for some time. They always adjust their ball lie. 

It really never bothered me until I started playing better this year. I just need to play against myself and let them do what they think they need to do.

Okay, 

I am finished.

Retired Old Man

 

[David in FL]

1 hour ago, RetiredOldMan said:

I shot an 88 today. 

My GHIN is currently 23.5 but trending to 21.2 when it updates tomorrow. 

WooHoo, I am on my way to get under a 20 handicap. 

Can I vent a little? 

I played with 2 other players today and they improved their lie the whole game. When marking the ball on the green, they would advance it toward the cup if they could get away with it. 

I played my ball as it lie. 

Then they had the audacity to tease me because I got beat by 1 stroke. 😞 I played well and I have known these 2 guys for some time. They always adjust their ball lie. 

It really never bothered me until I started playing better this year. I just need to play against myself and let them do what they think they need to do.

Okay, 

I am finished.

Retired Old Man

 

There is nothing wrong with saying “Yep, you beat me by a stroke, but at least I didn’t roll my ball in the fairway”!  “I hope you feel good about that win…“   

[Thelonious_Funk]

On 10/8/2019 at 3:16 PM, DaveP043 said:

If you say your handicap is 100% accurate per the rules, I expect you would also follow the rules as to the posting season in your state.  If you don't, if you're choosing NOT to follow those particular rules, then you're not doing the right thing.  You don't say where you live, but you're not supposed to choose which rules to follow, and which rules to break.

Just to be clear I never said/would say my handicap is 100% accurate.  I stand by my handicap and know I am an honest golfer.  

I get your point - but what about practice rounds?  I'm saying this is a practice round.  What are the rules around "practice rounds" and posting to handicap?  For me the key is declaring before I tee off whether this is a practice round or not.  If I say no matter what happens this is a practice round then I'm within my rights to not post it and doing nothing wrong.    I would be doing something wrong if I declared that I was posting, had a bad start and then told myself it was a practice round.

On 10/8/2019 at 3:35 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

Hey Thelonious... I have found that when I play the ball down I focus more and hit crisper shots with more backspin.  And score lower.  Still, when winter rules are in effect, I find myself fluffing the ball up.

Your state golf association determines your posting golf season.  Neither mud, nor rain, nor sleet, nor snow of night can stay you from your appointed need to play by the rules when you are in season.  On the other hand, if you play by yourself or declare your round a practice round (before you tee off) then my understanding is you don't need to nor should you post that score.  I once declared, in season, a round to be practice and nevertheless played by all the rules and shot a 69.  Guess what?  I didn't post that score.

Makes sense to me.

Awesome 69!

[DaveP043]

On 10/8/2019 at 2:31 PM, Thelonious_Funk said:

After 10/1 revision my handicap is 6.1 and stand by the integrity of my scores and thus my handicap.  I play by the rules, play by the ball down at all times, putt everything out, and record all scores under ESC guidelines unless I specifically designate a round practice before the first tee.

.....

Curious for other's thoughts on my adjusted handicap season. - I've declared to myself my handicap posting season is my birthday April 20 to my daughter's birthday September 29.  During that time frame the weather is nice, the courses are in decent shape and I'm in regular season mode - playing golf consistently, practicing in my basement and getting to the range.  My brother invited me to play this weekend.  Haven't played in a couple weeks, haven't been to the range in a month, haven't practiced drills at home a lot recently.  Not sure if I want to make an exception and call this a handicap round and committing to post good or bad or calling it a fun round and committing not to post good or bad.

One one hand, you stand by your integrity, and say you play by all the rules, except that you choose not to post in accordance with the handicap rules.  There's a bit of contradiction there.

5 minutes ago, Thelonious_Funk said:

Just to be clear I never said/would say my handicap is 100% accurate.  I stand by my handicap and know I am an honest golfer.  

I get your point - but what about practice rounds?  I'm saying this is a practice round.  What are the rules around "practice rounds" and posting to handicap?  For me the key is declaring before I tee off whether this is a practice round or not.  If I say no matter what happens this is a practice round then I'm within my rights to not post it and doing nothing wrong.    I would be doing something wrong if I declared that I was posting, had a bad start and then told myself it was a practice round.

I'd be happy to treat your scores as practice rounds as soon as you can find something in the Handicap Manual that discusses practice rounds.  Here's the link:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/handicap-manual.html#!rule-14367

Please do the research yourself before you read the spoiler.

Spoiler

You WILL find discussions of scores from a playing lesson, and scores made while playing two balls for most of the round, but scores that you somehow designate as "practice" aren't mentioned.  From a Handicap Committee viewpoint, how is the committee supposed to evaluate why your scores weren't posted?  Its difficult enough to enforce proper posting of scores without having to read minds as to whether you played a practice round or a real one.  

I'll admit, there are a number of rules, both in the Rules of Golf and in the Handicap Manual, that I don't really agree with.  But I abide by those rules, I just don't think each of us should pick and choose which rules we ignore.  So you ask about my opinion on your "personal posting season", I think you know my feelings.