Bogey Golfers....how many are there really?

[case31]

I calculate my handicap using an Excel template I downloaded off the internet called "Handicap Manager", so I'm not positively sure how accurate my 10.2 handicap really is. My scoring average is ~83, but the courses I play have a slope of approximately 128-130 and a rating of ~70-71. If I played more difficult courses and my scoring average increased to i dunno, 90, would I then be considered a bogey golfer? Does anybody know what the average slope/rating of golf courses are?

Based on the first link below, the average slope is about 113. To me, that seems a little low, but it's probably pretty accurate.

In my opinion, a bogey golfer isn't necessarily a golfer who averages 18 over par. Rather, it's a golfer who is most likely to score a bogey on an average hole, and occasionally shoot better on some holes. Just basing it on total score could be misleading, because a golfer could go out and shoot +6 on 13 holes and totally blow up on the other 5 holes. Unlikely, but it can still skew the results. http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf...q_whyslope.htm http://golf.about.com/cs/rulesofgolf..._sloperate.htm

[Smallville]

In my opinion, a bogey golfer isn't necessarily a golfer who averages 18 over par. Rather, it's a golfer who is most likely to score a bogey on an average hole, and occasionally shoot better on some holes. Just basing it on total score could be misleading, because a golfer could go out and shoot +6 on 13 holes and totally blow up on the other 5 holes. Unlikely, but it can still skew the results.

The way I have been playing lately, I've been +6 on 5 holes and blowing up the other 13!

I would guess that if you want to be accurate about it, you'd have to base being a bogey golfer on your handicap. Someone could average 18 over on a very easy course (say, a 103 slope) but what about someone who averages 20 over on an extremely difficult course (say, a 135 slope)? One's a bogey golfer, but who's the better player? But back to what you said, averaging your scores would definitely be the way to do it. Having a few bad holes would only skew the results if you were basing it on one or two rounds, not 10 or 20 rounds. In your example, they might do that in one round or two but not necessarily every round they played. However, if they did that in every round, then it wouldn't be skewing the average at all, since that's what they do every time.

[Guest]

im a legit 80s golfer but there are those days that my game is out of wack after reading a stupid article in a golf magazine about changing my swing. at the corse that i play at in Miami, its rare to be paired up with another 80s golfer. people take lots of muligans and magically have a high 80s score. its so frustrating

[thr33]

I still don't know why people feel the need to take mulligans...you can't impress anybody with a score when they know you're taking mulligans. Besides, you're only cheating yourself!

[dave s]

I'm DEFINITELY a bogey golfer ... double-bogey ... triple-bogey ....

You get the idea.

dave

[zeg]

I'm DEFINITELY a bogey golfer ... double-bogey ... triple-bogey ....

Yeah, I'm a bogey golfer too -- I got a bogey on a hole once! The rest of the time, my scores don't have names...

[mev]

I am under the impression that I would be happy playing bogey golf. Something tells me that if I get there, I won't be happy with it anymore. I'll want to be a single handicap... It's my goal to be a 16-18 cap next year. This year it was to break 100, which I've done about 6 times. Most other scores fall in the 103 to 107 range. I'd say a lot of people are bogey golfers when they improve their lie, don't count penalty strokes, and don't count the duffed chip shots that only go two feet.

[Fourputt]

I feel like anyone over a 10 handicap is a bogey golfer as the majority of the holes you play are bogeys and bogeys make up the majority of your round.

A bogey golfer is one who averages 1 over par per hole played. Anything less is better than bogey golf, anything more is closer to the average golfer. To say that anything over 10 is a bogey golfer is denying simple mathematics.

Maybe I par 13 holes and make 5 double bogies.... do I qualify as a par golfer?

[ScottRempel]

I would definitely agree with the majority and say that most are not bogey golfers. I consider myself a relatively good golfer and I've only recently gotten below bogey golf. Maybe, just maybe, I can be a single digit for the first time next year.

[ctmurrray]

A bogey golfer is one who averages 1 over par per hole played. Anything less is better than bogey golf, anything more is closer to the average golfer. To say that anything over 10 is a bogey golfer is denying simple mathematics.

I found this on Wikipedia. Basically the score a "bogey" golfer would expect to shoot can be calculated from the slope of the course. In this example the bogey golfer would shoot more than +1 on each hole.

------ The bogey rating is the USGA evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for the bogey golfer. It is based on yardage, effective playing length and other obstacles to the extent that affect the scoring ability of the bogey golfer. To figure out this number, one should take the slope rating, divide it by the set factor (5.381 for men, and 4.24 for women) and add that to the course rating. The result is a target score for the bogey golfer, and is a truer yardstick of the challenge that lies ahead for the particular set of tees. Example: A male golfer plays a course with Slope Rating 126, and Course Rating 72.5. Per the formula, compute 126 / 5.381 + 72.5 = 95.9 - which predicts the bogey golfer's average of his ten best (out of twenty) scores would be approximately 95.9 from this particular set of tees.