A rather different but good way to measure your handicap

[jfrain2004]

Asked our local pro what way he would gauge a persons handicap without looking at their official handicap. Easy he says, seeing as how you play from 100 yrds in is by far the most important aspect of the game. Just hit 10 balls onto a relatively flat/average green from a distance of between 50 -> 100 yrds , measure the average distance for all 10 balls to the pin in yards, add 5 to the result, and that's pretty much your handicap.
Not rocket science but it really drove home how important your wedge play is.
Tried it and came in at 6 yrds average pointing to a handicap of 11, Actual is 9.

This would imply that a scratch golfer should average 5 or less yrds from the pin which would be a reasonable expectation :)

[RemyM]

Well no one could be scratch under that formula. The lowest handicap you could have is 5. If you holed them all your average would be 0, add 5 to that and your a 5 handicap. Don't think so.

[iacas]

Well no one could be scratch under that formula. The lowest handicap you could have is 5. If you holed them all your average would be 0, add 5 to that and your a 5 handicap. Don't think so.

Agreed. The formula might work for a range of 10 to 20 handicappers, but it's bound to fail outside of about that range.