Shooting Your Age - What Are Your Standards for Claiming That Feat?

[bkuehn1952]

Note, the poll likely will require two choices (par and yardage).

As far as I know, there are no "rules" for what someone must do before they claim that they shot their age.  It is somewhat like making a hole-in-one; there are no guidelines and there is room for debate. I think "shooting your age" is a similarly vague achievement.

I have several golf buddies who have shot their age.  Yes, I am a bit jealous. I am finally getting old enough (70 in a couple months) to at least think about the feat.  Recently we had a special event we called "Tee It Forward." We played a par 72 course from significantly shorter yardages than we use in our tournaments.  We played from: 5,700 yards for "A" players, 5,400 yards for "B" and 4,900 yards for "C".  As a "B" player, I played the course at 5,400 yards and shot a gross score of 71.  At age 69 and 10 months that is the closest to matching my age that I have ever come.  It got me thinking about what standards I might require of myself before I could comfortably say, "I shot my age."

• My first personal rule is that one needs to actually have reached the age, no rounding.  At age 69 and 10 months I can't claim I shot my age with a "70" by rounding my age up to 70.
• I think the course needs to have a par of at least 70.  If I played a Par-3 course, I would not brag about shooting my age with a score of 58 or 60 when the course par was 54.
• The USGA requires an 18 hole course to measure at least 3,000 yards before the course is eligible for a USGA rating.  I might take that a bit further and require the tees played be rated for male golfers and be no shorter than about 5.000 yards. Maybe instead of yardage, the course rating should be no less than 65.0.  I think for my standard, I will stay with 5,000 yards.

Anyone have an opinion?

[Shindig]

I think you need to go back and play those tees again in three months.   

I haven't given this a ton of thought.   The closest to shooting my age was, less than two months after turning 38, I shot a 39 for the first nine holes of my club championship.   The tees that day were just short of 3000 yards for the first nine.  And there's a double bogey in there, too, so how close I came to shooting my age (asterisk/footnote, for nine holes).  But there were two accidental birdies, so I guess it balances out.

Okay, I think I have an answer.  Rather than specifying a rating or yardage, let's say it's a regulation course (no executive or par-3 courses) and you're playing from a set of tees where your reason in choosing those tees is not just to be able to shoot your age.  

Tee it Forward initiative / shorter tees tournament?  Sure, no problem.  Moving forward a set of tees to demonstrate to oneself and one's group the importance of distance?  Cool.  Moving up a set of tees to get more comfortable with a lower score so you don't keep finishing "double double for an 81, so nervous about my chance to break 80 finally?"  Great. 

"Hey I want to shoot my age, let's go play the junior tees on Wednesday" is not.

[dennyjones]

I've not given it much thought.    I hope to live that long and be in good enough condition to play.

[mcanadiens]

Nine holes.

[Golfingdad]

1 hour ago, Shindig said:

Rather than specifying a rating or yardage, let's say it's a regulation course (no executive or par-3 courses) and you're playing from a set of tees where your reason in choosing those tees is not just to be able to shoot your age.  

That's basically my answer too.  I feel like the spirit of the feat applies to "full size" courses, meaning just not par 3 and/or exec where it's mostly par 3 and a few 4's.  Par 68-ish, I guess?

And, we're talking about people in their 70's and above (otherwise they're elite level golfers) so tee length should be on the short side - probably shortest that any "full" course even offers.

If I'm capable of playing AT ALL in my 70s and above, I'll call that a win.

[NM Golf]

I think shooting your age is a personal feat and should be gauged based on your own goals and skill level. To me I won't consider it shooting my age until I do it at a par 72 standard difficulty golf course. My father has shot his age 125+ times (he stopped counting at 125). He first did it at age 68. He is 81 now and routinely does it these days. 

 

[phillyk]

I shot my age last year, for 9 holes, 31 on a regulation course. 18 holes, hard to say. Up to the individual, I think. 

[sjduffers]

I went with par 70 and 5500 yards, also the course/tees must be rated. I don't have a whiff of getting to my age for another 8-10 years at least, since I am 63 and haven't broken par yet (I was 1 over several times).

[WillieT]

I’ll be 63 next month and I do not anticipate shooting my age for at a number of years.  I have friends who regularly shoot their age (late 70’s / early 80’s and they play from the more forward tees (around 5,000 yds)).  For that reason I went with par 70 at 5,000yds.  

[Double Mocha Man]

41 minutes ago, WillieT said:

I’ll be 63 next month and I do not anticipate shooting my age for at a number of years.  I have friends who regularly shoot their age (late 70’s / early 80’s and they play from the more forward tees (around 5,000 yds)).  For that reason I went with par 70 at 5,000yds.  

I read somewhere online that to legit shoot your age you need to play the course at 6000+ yards.  And I think it also said par needed to be 70 or higher.  I'll try to find it and report back.

[StuM]

I said Par 72 and any distance and “something else”.  
 

To me Par 72 is necessary for consistency and to me Par 72 is the most common championship course.  Any distance As long as it is your normal tee box.  No playing it forward just to get that advantage.  Also, must follow the rules, no mulligans!

[jshots]

2 hours ago, phillyk said:

I shot my age last year, for 9 holes, 31 on a regulation course. 18 holes, hard to say. Up to the individual, I think. 

While I don't think there are really any requirements, you aren't gonna get any pats on the back for that (other than like that is actually really good golf lol)

Shooting your age is about being an older person that can still play well. To me if you are in your 80s and can shoot your age on a non mickey mouse par 70/72 course that is a pretty good feat.

 

I play with my grandpa (86 y/o) frequently and the other day he shot his age. Even from the most forward tees, every par 5 is a true 3 shot hole (some of them are even 4 shot holes). Par 3s are frequently a long iron/wood. On the flip side he never misses a fairway and can still putt and chip pretty well.

Edited July 28, 2022 by jshots

[Double Mocha Man]

I could no longer find the article online but I did find this at one site: "The percentage of golfers who shoot their age on golf courses that are at least 6,000 yards is .0000089%, or less than 9 per million."

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Double Mocha Man

[WillieT]

8 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I read somewhere online that to legit shoot your age you need to play the course at 6000+ yards.  And I think it also said par needed to be 70 or higher.  I'll try to find it and report back.

That would be an interesting read as that makes sense.  

[TourSpoon]

I have seen 2 guys in my group shoot their age (the group ranges from 41-86), but the guys were all 72+.  On our most senior guys birthday, we had a giant check made for a $1000 if he shot his age. I think he was on 16 and doubled it to limp in with 88. He did it two weeks later. 

No mulligans, played by the rules, par 72 from the super senior tees. The 72 year old did it from the white tees at 6,200. I have no problem with either claim. 

[Club Rat]

The thought of shooting my age has been on the back of my mind for a couple of years now.
IMO, it should be on the Tees that you play on a regular basis and a full round of 18 holes.
For those younger and only playing nine holes, congrats its a start of a life long journey.
Best of luck when and if you accomplish it again later in life.

I recently had my 70th last week and my B-Day wish was to shoot my age 🙂
It's still on my bucket list...

[Carl3]

I voted min par 70 AND 5,000 yards. Anything less that that is not really golf even for a super senior (65+), which is basically who we are talking about.

[bkuehn1952]

Our club's founder, age 95, shot 73 during our Tee It Forward event.  He played from 5,400 yards like me.  He says the day he can't shoot his age will be the day he quits playing.

13 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I read somewhere online that to legit shoot your age you need to play the course at 6000+ yards.  And I think it also said par needed to be 70 or higher.  I'll try to find it and report back.

I have heard something similar.  I think it is in relation to the record for shooting under one's age by the most strokes.  In order for a score to count for the record, it must be 6,000 yards.  Maybe Guinness set that standard.

Edited July 28, 2022 by bkuehn1952