Handicap Question Help/Experts?

[ERC7.5]

Right on, it really does come down to not thinking about what you are doing while you are doing it, you cant think about breaking 90, 80 while in action, you just have to worry about hitting the golf ball

For sure. I agree with you there.

[Mr Eagle]

Getting back to the origional post,

Serenity, how does a new member play in comps before you as handicap sec gives him his handicap.Does he not have to put in 5 cards? Does your club not cut players handicaps when they post better scores? All seems very odd


Rusty .There are a few websites about that will track the handicap of the nomadic golfer. Search "golf scoretracker" should do the job

[iacas]

Slightly off topic...but how can I get a handicap without joining a club.

Technically, if you join your local golf association they should be able to do handicaps for you, particularly if they're a member of the GHIN system. You can post online at ghin.com then.

Some stores like some Golf Galaxies offer "virtual" clubs. Basically, they're you're home golf club (though they have no course). They give you a year's membership so you can post on GHIN. That's an option. If you don't need or want an "official" handicap, you can just calculate your own. Use the free online calculators or perhaps even consider buying Scorecard .

Getting nervous about shooting good happens to everyone, this is something that stems from the concept of handicaps.

No, it doesn't. It stems from shooting a good score. A 15 breaking 80 isn't thinking "I'm four below my handicap!" he's thinking "I'm on pace to break 80!"

That pressure would be the same whether he's got a handicap or not. As ERC said, if you don't want a handicap, don't create one for yourself - but don't go preaching your ways with bad examples to others, too.

[Serenity Now]

Thanks for all the great feedback. Lots of insight.
To answer your question as to how he got his original handicap, we took his first5 5 scores and assigned him a temporary number based on those scores. I don't think this guy is intentionally sandbagging. He is just way ahead of his curve when it comes to his scoring. The problem was that his dad being the Sunday tournament chairman was being the over protective parent instead of the tournament director. He thought there was some conspiracy against his kid instead of just looking at it as if some stranger showed up and won 5 low nets in a row.

I personally like the handicap system. In my pursuits of breaking 90, then 80 and even when I shot my personal best 72, never once dod thoughts of my handicap or what these rounds would mean from a handicap point of view. It was totally about breaking the barrier. The first time I broke 90 was monumental, the first time I broke 80 was even better and the day I shot 72 was like the day my kids were born (dont show this to my wife). If I ever sniff the 60's, I will be so nervous I may need Depends by the end of the round! The only time I ever think about my index is the following week of an event to see if I got in the money.

[Borf]

No, it doesn't. It stems from shooting a good score. A 15 breaking 80 isn't thinking "I'm four below my handicap!" he's thinking "I'm on pace to break 80!"

Weather you want to call it trying to break 90,80 (or your handicap for that matter) it is still just a number in your head. It has nothing to do with what you are trying to achieve, thats the point I was trying to make.

[Big_M]

Weather you want to call it trying to break 90,80 (or your handicap for that matter) it is still just a number in your head. It has nothing to do with what you are trying to achieve, thats the point I was trying to make.

actually, from reading your posts one would think that the point you were trying to make is that handicaps were what people were thinking about when playing.

Dont rate yourself, just play the game, whatever you shoot, thats your score that day, dont label yourself, cornering yourself with a handicap, feeling you need to shoot that to stay within your comfort zone

see... this post would lead one to believe that w/o handicaps people could "just play the game"

I actually did remove my handicap thanks for the advice!

so in effect... you are against handicaps because they might make you nervous... and since seeing your score might make some nervous, as iacas pointed out for many it is breaking 90, 80, etc... then maybe we should NOT keep score?

Also... you seem to have missed the original point of this discussion... "what to do about sandbaggers." Your answer was to do away with handicaps, which many of us have pointed out is impractical... so now we find ourselves discussing the completely unrelated issue of how handicaps effect YOUR (a person's) play, not how they effect scoring in a flighted or handicapped tournament.

[Borf]

maybe I should stop making posts then?
or maybe just stop playing golf altogether?

[Big_M]

maybe I should stop making posts then?

why would you do that? I would hope that not everyone would agree on every issue... I just feel that your solution... to do away with handicaps... was kind of impractical, then when you told us some of the reasons for this response, they were a little off topic. I would encourage you to share your opinions, who knows we may agree on another thread.

And if you are posting on a DB about golf... chances are you are addicted to it and can't quite playing.

[Borf]

I was only kidding, and yes I may be addicted to golf....

handicaps are a very tricky thing though, I guess thats why the PGA tour is gross prizes only

[ERC7.5]

and yes I may be addicted to golf....

I'm sure all of us here are.

handicaps are a very tricky thing though, I guess thats why the PGA tour is gross prizes only

Actually I think it's because they are all "Scratch" golfers and should be playing head to head (those are some pretty big prizes). Keep in mind that not all of us are "Scratch" or, as your profile stated prior to you changing it, 1 handicaps and probably would not play at all (competatively anyway) if it weren't for handicaps.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Im thinking about getting an acutal handicap this year so I can attempt to make the USGA mid ametuer tournament. I think you need a 4.5 to qualify. I shoot in the mid 70's usually now, what would I need to do to attain a 4.5 or better?

[wachesawgolfer]

For people who play in tournaments, why not just use their tournament HCP for tournament purposes. If people play in a league of some type, just use their scores from that league for a "league" hcp. Problem with handicaps is some folks play better under pressure than they do just messing it up with the pals for a buck. If the Handicap index is determined by the type of play involved only, a truer reflection occurs. To me it is a falsehood and shallow attempt to justify the present system to assume mathematically, that people cannot score below their handicaps in competitive play unless something is going on.

[Serenity Now]

I just came from my board meeting where the President of our club put onthe agenda that "So & So- our Handicap Chairman would like the boards approval to lower the handicap of player So & So"

I stated for the record that I was not asking permission. I was informing them that I had done this as HDCP Chairman. He (Pres) replied that I had no righ t based on club bi-laws that had nothing in there about this. I responded that right hasd nothing to do with it. I was doing it because I had a responsibility to our membership and for that matter so did he.

When the rest of the board agreed with me, he shut up and the whole thing went away.

By the way. Had I not changed the guys handicap and let him play at the new months SCGA index, he wouold have won the low net for the 5th consecutive week. Even with me adjusting it so he played at 75% of that number, he finished 3 shots out of the money.

[Big_M]

I just came from my board meeting where the President of our club put onthe agenda that "So & So- our Handicap Chairman would like the boards approval to lower the handicap of player So & So"

I would like to thank you on behalf of all people who play these types of events for doing the right thing. It sounds like the other board members had your back, and that is good to hear as well.

[Shindig]

When the rest of the board agreed with me, he shut up and the whole thing went away.

Bravo! I hope you got it established that you, as handicap chairman, have the right

and the responsibility to do this sort of thing. Harvey P. tells a story about a handicap chairman who did something like this and got called on it, but didn't stick to his guns. Ran to Florida instead. I'm glad you did the right thing. Since I'm within a few hundred miles of your club, I'd like to sing your praises to my random foursomes in the next few months.