Hacker or Player

[Riverologist]

At what point does someone graduate from being a hacker to a player?

1. Is it all relative? Being able to beat everyone close to you (friends/family)?

2. State of mind? Your approach to the game?

3. Nuts and bolts.....a certain handicap? Whats the magic number?

[Uber$winG]

Shooting in the 70’s makes one a "player" in my opinion.

[Fourputt]

  Riverologist said:

At what point does someone graduate from being a hacker to a player?

State of mind... definitely!!! We don't all have the the physical skills or attributes to be single digit handicappers, but that doesn't mean that we aren't players. I've been a player for 20 years, I've had quite a few rounds in the 70's, but the lowest my handicap has ever been is 9.6. I have a passion for the game of golf, I've dedicated as much time as my life has allowed to the game without becoming so one dimensional that I turn into a bore. But I've never broken into that elite group of single digit handicappers. I just can't believe that that makes me a hacker (as Uber$winG seems to think)... hackers play a few times a year, never practice, never take a lesson, and never take the game seriously. I know guys who take the game seriously and will be lucky if they ever break 90. Those guys are still players in my book.

[Riverologist]

I guess I should of added a third catagory....Decent. That's where I'd like to think I fall

[Beantown Beancounter]

I'd have to agree with Fourputt, mind you this isn't a result of my high handicap either. Other people I golf with I consider serious players. My father for example shoots in the low to mid 80s, and he definitely is a player. He has played all over the world courses in the Philippines, Australia, Pebble, St. Andrews, and just because he isn't a single digit handicap on the regular does not mean he is not a player. Golf is something that he does and enjoys doing, something he practices and takes seriously when he is out on the course...to me that is the definition of a player. Someone who commits to the sport and is serious about improving within the game and holding up the integrity ingrained within the sport while out on the links.

To each his own though...

[mn723]

A hacker can't break 100.
A golfer always breaks 100.
A player breaks 80 and occasionally goes below par.

[SubPar]

Probably anyone who can regularly shoot under 100 should not be called a hacker.

A hacker is someone who misses or tops the ball, chunks shots and takes +3 to +5 on several holes. In order to shoot under 100 regularly you have to have some ability to advance the ball and have a shot at a few pars during a round.

SubPar

[bogeyhitter25]

I'm just a golfer. Not spectacular by any means, but not horrible.

[mirv]

yeah, i think a third category is in order - i consider a hacker to be someone who runs the gamut of bad shots - a slice one shot, a fat shot the next, then a hook, then a shank, topping the ball after that... someone who just has absolutely no control of their game whatsoever, someone who obviously barely even knows how to swing the club. they probably use a baseball grip, too. that's a hacker.

now someone who has SOME control and is actively TRYING to get better, i'd say they're in-between hacker and player. they can get out there and while they may not ever necessarily approach par for the course, they at least won't seriously embarass themselves (or anyone around them). i'd say this person probably shoots between 80 and 90 regularly.

then the next level would be anyone who's under 80 consistently.

[zeg]

Truthfully, IMO, if you practice and play , then you're a player. If you play around , then you're a hacker. It's less about the results and more about the attitude. My handicap index sucks, but every time I go out, I'm working to make it better. I hit the ball fat, I slice one drive and hook the next, but these are just mishits. I know what I'm trying to do and I'm trying to the best of my ability to do it, I'm just not there yet. But tomorrow I will be closer... I think that makes me a player. Not a great player, but a player.

Philosophical crap aside, I also lighten up some times and face the fact that you can be a player and a hacker at the same time. But if you take the game seriously, you're a player out there hacking it up.

[Fourputt]

I'm definitely seeing a trend here. Anyone with a single digit handicap can't seem to stand the thought that those of us who aren't that good could possibly call ourselves players. We have to be second class or worse, and shouldn't have the effrontery to speak of ourselves in the same breath as a real player.

How about this... if you're a pro, you're a player. Otherwise just hang up the clubs.... you'll never be a player anyway.

[cdriver]

  Fourputt said:

I'm definitely seeing a trend here. Anyone with a single digit handicap can't seem to stand the thought that those of us who aren't that good could possibly call ourselves players. We have to be second class or worse, and shouldn't have the effrontery to speak of ourselves in the same breath as a

I think that is a little harsh. Some people feel elitist if they are mid-single digit handicaps. Of course, they probably need to think they are superior to feed their tiny little egos. However, the majority of golfers I have played with from very low single digits to 30+ are pretty nice people and pretty inclusive. You and I share a barely single digit handicap, but I believe we both qualify as players. We work at getting better and we have a high regard for the game. I think those are the true qualifiers.

[zubady]

Thanks to Zeg for saying what I was thinking extremely well. I play most every Saturday with a group made up of people with handicaps from roughly 5 to 36. I consider all of them players because they come to play golf to the best of their ability. The reality for almost all of us in that group is because of work and family committments, we can only get out once a week and maybe sneak in a practice round or range round every once in a while. So we get incremently better, but by no means in leaps in bounds. Everyone plays by the rules and tries their level best.

[Doctorfro]

Hard question. I can remember being an 11 handicap and playing for the match play club championship. I was playing some good golf back then even though I would blow up on an occasional hole. If I were an 11 today it would feel like being a hacker. So I don't know where the line is.

[OHgolfnut]

Hacker's a bad, bad word...haha. Perhaps...golfer? We're all golfers but in my mind a "player" could be anyone...a single digit handicap or a double digit, that actually respects the game and abides by the rules, has great course management, knows his/her yardages on the dot, controls their temper!!!, and so on.

[RC]

I don't agree with you personally -- but can't speak for others. I think anyone who is trying, playing by the rules, and attempting to play better is a player. Players respect the game, and I don't really care what their handicap might be. Hacker is a bad word, yes... but I might reserve it for someone who has little respect for others on the course, does not fix divots and ball marks, and takes liberties with the rules and, in general, makes a round uncomfortable for others.

[OHgolfnut]

  RC said:

Hacker is a bad word, yes... but I might reserve it for someone who has little respect for others on the course, does not fix divots and ball marks, and takes liberties with the rules and, in general, makes a round uncomfortable for others.

I might have to agree with you on this one.

[Fraser]

It's all relative in my eyes, however, my mother once told me that a handicap under 18 is respectable to her and I tend to agree.