For Your Cap, What is "Shooting Well"?

[Doctorfro]

Your handicap is based on your POTENTIAL and not your average. So if you beat your handicap (course rating plus handicap) you should consider that a very good round. I shot a 74 recently and I consider that exceptional. Right now my driver is holding me back. Drive the ball well and I shoot in the 70s most every time. Been struggling with the driver for a while!

[Dent]

i really dont understand the Slope and Course rating. The higher the number The harder?

I think i said mine was 69.3/122 Is that an easier course or harder? Thats where I post high 70's Low 80's.

[Doctorfro]

i really dont understand the Slope and Course rating. The higher the number The harder?

Course rating, the best I can tell, is what a scratch golfer would generally shoot on that course. In other words, if your course is a par 72 and the course rating is 69 then it would seem that the average scratch golfer would shoot three under. If the course rating is 74 then it would seem that the course is harder. The slope is a bit harder to explain but then somehow the two numbers relate to one another...................I don't know, I'm confused now........WHO CARES!! It's a crazy game, isn't it?

[Big_M]

i really dont understand the Slope and Course rating. The higher the number The harder?

higher numbers = harder course

slope (the 122 number) is an indication of how hard a particular course is for a bogey golfer. The average slope is supposed to be 113 or something... but I rarely play courses much under 120 and 130+ is common. rating (the 69.3 number) refers to how a scratch golfer should score on the course. The thing to remember is rating kind of correlates to a score whereas slope does not. Either way higher numbers = harder courses. on a 69.3 / 122 I would expect to score pretty well if I have my game and I know the course, but there are certainly a few easier courses out there. Just curious, but what yardage do you usually play... I try to aim for something in the 6500 ballpark.

[tm22721]

My scoring range is 41-48 for nine holes played daily. Carry own bag on a mountainous course with lots of side sloping fairway lies which contribute to my inconsistency.

[Dent]

just curious, but what yardage do you usually play... I try to aim for something in the 6500 ballpark.

My course is 6,400 yards

[Fourputt]

My home course is 69.4/120 (6500 yards) from the white tees, and 71.5/127 (6930 yards)from the blues, at a par of 72. I play both about the same if I'm getting off the tee well. For me a good round is 80 or 81.... a great round is anything under 80... I've broken 80 once this year so far with a 76. Since it's been about 10 years since my last sub 80 round, I was pretty pumped over that one. I've also shot 80 once, and yesterday and today I shot back to back 83's, which is still better than my handicap (13.2 index and 14 course handicap from the middle tees). My game is showing promise this year... hope it keeps up.

[nykfan4life]

Good for me is breaking 100. needless to say, I need some work

[Jeepthrills]

The courses I regularly play one is a par 70 and 67.3/108 at 5704 yards and the other is not rated. On the rated course we usually play the back 9 which is a hair tougher than the front. Normal rounds for me ar 42-46. Low in 2007 was 40 and high was 51. I am happy when it's sub 45. That way I am at least in the 80's. On the other course it's a 31 par, but has two par three's that are 220+. It is not brutal but can be tough. I am happy there if I am in the 30's. 9 of my 14 rounds last year were sub 40. Low was 32 high was 46 (last round of the year and 1st place was out of reach so I did not care) Generally I am OK with shooting bogey golf, but I expect to make par or better on every hole I play.

[Dent]

Thats really odd then, My handicap should be higher Because I usually just shoot 80's and most of the time high 70's. I see everyone with a higher cap shooting better than I am.

[ERC7.5]

My home course is pretty easy. 66.5/108
Handicap - 16(ish)
My best round last year came in the league championship match. I shot 79 (41/38). That was lights out for me.
Shooting well would be around 85-88. I like to keep it under bogey golf.....hoping to improve that this year. Looking for single digit handicap.

[Jeepthrills]

Thats really odd then, My handicap should be higher Because I usually just shoot 80's and most of the time high 70's. I see everyone with a higher cap shooting better than I am.

Handicap is a product of your best 10 out of your last 20. It is not your average. If you are consistent you may shoot near your number a lot. However, if like me much of the time, you are not consistent than you may not hit that number all that often.

Not to get overly stat geeky but lets say your last 20 rounds are: 78, 81, 85, 79, 80, 86, 82, 77, 88, 91, 79, 83, 82, 84, 86, 81, 80, 76, 82 & 80. Your average round would be 82. However, your average of your best 10 is 79. These are the ones used for your handicap and it's a full 3 shots lower than what you normally shoot. Of your 20 rounds only 3 were actually below the average used for your index and there were only 2 more where you equaled it. So basically 15 of your last 20 rounds were over your cap number. These numbers were not all that wide spread. Imagine if you were not even this consistent.

[Shindig]

Thats really odd then, My handicap should be higher Because I usually just shoot 80's and most of the time high 70's. I see everyone with a higher cap shooting better than I am.

It depends on the course difficulty. Assuming you're reporting your scores, along with CR and SR with them accurately, your handicap is accurate.