whats a good handicap?

[FINALLY]

YOU KNOW I WAS THAT GUY! FINALLY I STARTED PLAYING BY THE RULES AND IT MADE ME A BETTER GOLFER. FOCUS INTENSIFIES X 2 AND MY SCORE BEGAN TO IMPROVE AND NOW I WOULDN'T PLAY ANY OTHER WAY.

[vo-man]

My personal theory is that, as an amateur, weekend golfer, if I can play bogey golf then I'm playing a good game for my skill level, so that's what I strive for.

I recall hearing Arnold Palmer say something to that affect many years ago and it's always stuck with me.  And with that goal in mind, pars, birdies or better are a nice bonus to the round.  I don't get frustrated with double bogeys but try to learn from my mistakes on the course so I can improve on those with my next round.

It's not so different from pro baseball and amateur league softball.  I'm not a pro so I don't pretend to be able to swing a club or a bat like one and try to enjoy the game I play.  Afterall, it beats the hell out of being in an office for 4 or 5 hours.

[stogiesnbogies]

I agree that a bogey golfer is pretty good....being slightly better than bogey golfer meself I do have a skin in this game, however,     :)

This is perticularly true when considering how long someone has played...and the fact that the majority of golfers actually never break 100 or 90.

to shoot in the 80's regularly and occasionally threaten to break 80 is good stuff.

[dippy3]

a good golfer to me is anyone that has a 15 handicap or less! so on a par 70 full course you would shoot 85 off the stick! so 15 handicap or 85 off the stick thats the starting point of a good golfer when you consistently hit 85 off the stick or less:)the 10 handicapers down to 1 handicap are very good golfers and a scratch player to a +handicap are the best golfers:)now there are amtr scratch and +handicap players out there but?its not as easy to go around a full course in par as people think!,the pros go around in par or under par consistently and make it look easy!its like the first few times i went out to a full course many yrs ago!i thought getting under 100 would be easy!boy ohh boy was i wrong;)you be suprised how many golfers out there cant hit under 100 without re tees or playing proper drop shots ect!so all in all 15 handicap or less is a good golfer!;)

[rkim291968]

Good golfer - the one who fixes divots, ball marks, and be a joy to play together in random four-some set up.   If they can play bogey or better (< 18 handicap), it's a bonus.   There!

[phan52]

If you play within your abilities and don't beat yourself with stupid decisions, it doesn't matter what your handicap is. Everybody executes poor shots but, if your scores are going up because of a lack of course management and trying things you are not capable of, you are not a "good" golfer. I think a 'good" golfer is somebody who understands the game, plays within themself at the moment and continually tries to improve their scores.

[BuckeyeNut]

I definitely consider myself to be a hacker.   I suppose that isn't the case because I'm in the top 1%......but from my perspective.......YES... I'm a hacker.

[Hammer 4]

And all this time, I thought we played golf to have Fun...did I miss the memo...?

When I was playing on a regular basis, which was usually 4 of us, 2 of us were what I would call decent players, the other 2 shot in the 90's most of the time, and 1 cheated like there was no tomorrow, i.e. if we gave him a 1' tape in, he wouldn't count that on his card.

So to me, playing with folks that adhere to the rules, and play to have fun, is more important than what handicap they are. Although I have to say, I have played with a couple of scratch golfers, and ya know what....they made me sick, just cuz they were so good..

[Hardballs]

A good handicap is an accurate handicap! If everyone has accurate handicaps it levels up the playing field so we can all play each other! Doesn't really matter if your 2 or 22! so long as you keep moving!

[David in FL]

A good handicap is an accurate handicap!

If everyone has accurate handicaps it levels up the playing field so we can all play each other! Doesn't really matter if your 2 or 22! so long as you keep moving!

Agree!

[Robster 7]

I'll play with anyone but whenever I get drawn with someone 20 and up in a comp, I always sigh inwardly a little. That said, if they are rubbish at golf and great company, I really dont care. I've played in plenty of decent amateur tournaments where so called 'good' players miss a green by 5 yds and won't talk for the next five minutes because they are seething with themselves. You can keep those 'good' golfers!

[Shorty]

I'll play with anyone but whenever I get drawn with someone 20 and up in a comp, I always sigh inwardly a little. That said, if they are rubbish at golf and great company, I really dont care. I've played in plenty of decent amateur tournaments where so called 'good' players miss a green by 5 yds and won't talk for the next five minutes because they are seething with themselves. You can keep those 'good' golfers

A legitimate 20 marker in England gets it around fine.

You have a similar setup as we do in Australia so that you don't just make up a handicap as they do in some places.

A UK golfer who is off 20 and gets his handicap from competition rounds only would wipe the floor with the average U.S. DIY 10 marker any day of the week.

[Golfingdad]

A legitimate 20 marker in England gets it around fine.

You have a similar setup as we do in Australia so that you don't just make up a handicap as they do in some places.

A UK golfer who is off 20 and gets his handicap from competition rounds only would wipe the floor with the average U.S. DIY 10 marker any day of the week.

Didn't you say that you guys are going to our crappy system soon? ;)

I'd agree, to an extent, that players who have handicaps comprised solely of tournament rounds are likely to be better than your "average" similar handicappers, but I'm not so sure about how large the discrepancy is.  I, for example, have a 100% legitimate "DIY" 7 handicap counting all of my rounds.  If I only count tournament rounds, it's somewhere closer to 11.  But that is tournament pressure (as opposed to taking liberties in casual rounds) that I think is due, in large part, to the fact that I've only played in tournaments for one year.  I'm confident (maybe I'm wrong) that this next year, I'll be able to get my tournament handicap more in line with my regular one.

Of course, if you're talking about the guys you see on tv at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, or some of the NFL players on Big Break, then I'd be inclined to agree with you.

[Lihu]

A legitimate 20 marker in England gets it around fine.

You have a similar setup as we do in Australia so that you don't just make up a handicap as they do in some places.

A UK golfer who is off 20 and gets his handicap from competition rounds only would wipe the floor with the average U.S. DIY 10 marker any day of the week.

Is a legitimate 20HC in UK or Australia scoring 88-94 relatively consistently?

[David in FL]

A legitimate 20 marker in England gets it around fine.

You have a similar setup as we do in Australia so that you don't just make up a handicap as they do in some places.

A UK golfer who is off 20 and gets his handicap from competition rounds only would wipe the floor with the average U.S. DIY 10 marker any day of the week.

Come on over.  I'll take my 4 strokes and we'll play......

[Ernest Jones]

Come on over.  I'll take my 4 strokes and we'll play......

Atta-boy!

[Robster 7]

I think I'd prefer a system where you put a card in everytime you play. The problem in the UK is that there are a lot of false handicaps because people are not submitting cards more than they have to(and sometimes not even then). I played with a guy the other week who was off 18 and shot 5 over! To be fair it was a 36 hole comp and he shot 98 in the afternoon. probably thought he'd better reign it in after all the grief he got at lunchtime :)

[inthehole]

To me, I steadily worked my way down to a 15 & totally stagnated there.    For me to get below where I'm at would take a very serious commitment to the game & a lot of practice.   My only hope is to try and play smarter & get my approach shots closer, so I don't have to deal with a lot of greenside work or long putts.

So I would consider anything in the single digits to be a very accomplished golfer - someone who putts very well, doesn't make mistakes off the tee and gets their approach shots at least on the green someplace more often than not.     Huge difference between a 15/16 and a 8/9