What Does the Average Weekend Golfer Shoot?

[kw purp]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

That would put me below average, which I guess could be true, but I'm also one of the better players in my league and most people I end up playing with randomly.

Yeah I would say a 22 HCP is slightly below average for players who play consistently on every weekend or every other weekend.

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by kw purp

Yeah I would say a 22 HCP is slightly below average for players who play consistently on every weekend or every other weekend.

To be fair, I deserve the blow up holes I get every round because they are due to either bad decisions or just getting frustrated. Typically I only have 2 or 3 blow up holes that are triple or higher. If I could eliminate those I'd be down a lot. I tend to go for shots that may be a bit out of my talent/skill level because I'm trying to learn them. If I played purely to get the best possible score I could I'd play a lot differently, however it's hard for me to do that.

[Meltdwhiskey]

I see where tuffluck is coming from.  Since so many folks I see want to treat a lost ball like a lateral - I can bargain to his 2-stroke hitting from the rough not wanting to ride back shouldve hit a provisional stance.  It isn't 100% right - but it is right-er than what I see every weekend. It feels like a step in the right direction.  It really gets under my skin when they just want to take a stroke and drop where they thought it went out.

To flintcreek - that is interesting.  Since getting handicaps, my golfing buddies and I now talk in differentials mostly.  It is just so much more specific than a total score.

I see a lot of weekend golfers because I play with a random group almost every weekend - and I totally pay attention to their skill level and game. I find it fascinating.  A form of people-watching I guess.  Very few carry a handicap - but some will tell you what theirs is anyway.  Most are not breaking 100 - even though they play from the blues.  But if you look at the card at the end of the round - high 80's / low 90's.  There is something about golf that doesn't let humans be honest about scores.  Take the mulligan for instance.  Many will consider it a basic tenant of the game and steeped in tradition - and it isn't even in the rules!

I've often thought that the idea of "par" might be responsible.  If par is what is expected - and par is 72, how in the world can I accept 114?  It isn't even close. I must suck uncontrollably.  Therefore I must use all of the tools at my disposal (foot wedge, fluffed lie, OB as lateral, mulligans, gimmies, etc) in order to break 95.

And once one guy breaks 95, another is less accepting of his 105 - and a domino effect ensues.  We should all be much more understanding of a 105.  For weekend warriors, it just isn't that bad.  We just think of it as such.

[MSchott]

It's impossible to define "average weekend golfer" despite the word average. I would say a group that plays 18 hole once a week is more serious than the average hacker. Making the time and spending the money to play this often is a commitment.

Before my son was born I played in a Saturday morning foursome for over 20 years. We were all pretty serious about our games but did not compete or bet. I'd say we probably averaged in the low 90's with one member consistently in the 80's with a 14 hdcp. The rest of us played off of 17-19. In my world, we were the average weekly foursome.

[kw purp]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

I see where tuffluck is coming from.  Since so many folks I see want to treat a lost ball like a lateral - I can bargain to his 2-stroke hitting from the rough not wanting to ride back shouldve hit a provisional stance.  It isn't 100% right - but it is right-er than what I see every weekend. It feels like a step in the right direction.  It really gets under my skin when they just want to take a stroke and drop where they thought it went out.

I do this from time to time if its crowded. If I hit a drive out of bounds and dont hit a provisional because I really thought it was inbounds then I can't find it and there is a group behind us on the tee I just do the 2 stroke play it from the rough thing. I am not trying to set the course record or anything so I am not gonna go back when they are waiting.

[kw purp]

Originally Posted by MSchott

It's impossible to define "average weekend golfer" despite the word average. I would say a group that plays 18 hole once a week is more serious than the average hacker. Making the time and spending the money to play this often is a commitment.

Before my son was born I played in a Saturday morning foursome for over 20 years. We were all pretty serious about our games but did not compete or bet. I'd say we probably averaged in the low 90's with one member consistently in the 80's with a 14 hdcp. The rest of us played off of 17-19. In my world, we were the average weekly foursome.

Definitely agree

[kw purp]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

To be fair, I deserve the blow up holes I get every round because they are due to either bad decisions or just getting frustrated. Typically I only have 2 or 3 blow up holes that are triple or higher. If I could eliminate those I'd be down a lot. I tend to go for shots that may be a bit out of my talent/skill level because I'm trying to learn them. If I played purely to get the best possible score I could I'd play a lot differently, however it's hard for me to do that.

No offense, but thats a really weak excuse. Not buying it at all. If you had a way of playing that you knew you could execute and it would lead to lower scores you would do it. Period.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by MSchott

It's impossible to define "average weekend golfer" despite the word average. I would say a group that plays 18 hole once a week is more serious than the average hacker. Making the time and spending the money to play this often is a commitment.

I agree. My step-dad is pretty much a weekends only guy and usually just 9 holes each week. Once in a while he gets out during the week but not often. He's a legit 14-16. At my former home course most of the ranger there live on the course and play daily, I see them every time I am there. Not one of them is sub 25 and all of them have horrendous swings. There's more to it than frequency of play. Honestly with summer I've probably neglected practice in favor of playing to my detriment.

[GangGreen]

I would consider myself an average weekend golfer (with 3 young kids it's tough to be anything but). I used to get out a little more regularly when I had a lot less grey hair (also before the kids arrived) and a good day for me back then would be getting into the mid 90's. Got back into the game recently and played my first round earlier this summer after 15 years of not touching a club. Shot a 114 at a course I was fairly familiar with from my younger days (6,300 yds, 69.8/126). Caught the golf bug again and, since then, have tried to get out once a weekend with 2 trips to the range during the week. Have slowly worked my scores down to the high 90's to low 100's range (depending on which short game I show up with that day) with my best score being a 93 at my local, albeit very short, home course (5,800 yds. 67.1/124). I don't deliberately cheat but I also have no doubt either that I've missed counting a penalty stroke or two on occassion due to my lack of knowledge...I know, I know...get a rules book!!! Last point, in my opinion, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being an average weekend golfer either (not that folks are implying that, hopefully)...sure I would love to be able to spend more time on my game but I can't for now and that probably means the highlight of my golfing career will be to be able to one day consistently score in the low 90's with maybe an occassional peak at the high 80's...but that's cool too since the way I look at it at least I'm back out there again playing the greatest game ever and loving every minute of it!!!

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by kw purp

No offense, but thats a really weak excuse. Not buying it at all. If you had a way of playing that you knew you could execute and it would lead to lower scores you would do it. Period.

You can say what you like, but there are times when I know I should lay up/play a low punch from the trees/chip out but instead I try for the lower percentage shot just to see if I can do it or because I'm overly aggressive. When I play I'll even say out loud to who I'm playing with "I should play x shot, but I'm going to go for it just to see if I can do it." I did this twice last night. Both times I knew the smart play, one was a punch shot low and the other was a wedge shot. Instead both times I went for the green trying to shape the shot and both times I screwed it up. It's not like I'm out there competing for money. I'm very prone to those "Tin Cup" moments where I just know I can do something and it bites me in the butt.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

You can say what you like, but there are times when I know I should lay up/play a low punch from the trees/chip out but instead I try for the lower percentage shot just to see if I can do it or because I'm overly aggressive. When I play I'll even say out loud to who I'm playing with "I should play x shot, but I'm going to go for it just to see if I can do it." I did this twice last night. Both times I knew the smart play, one was a punch shot low and the other was a wedge shot. Instead both times I went for the green trying to shape the shot and both times I screwed it up. It's not like I'm out there competing for money. I'm very prone to those "Tin Cup" moments where I just know I can do something and it bites me in the butt.

It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do to get a few strokes off the cap.  And none of it even requires practice, time, money or getting better at the swing!  This is an awesome spot to be in.

IMO, bogey golfers getting better is not about hitting great shots - but rather eliminating bad ones.  You start on tee box #1 at even and things get worse almost every hole to the end.  He who gets 'less worse" wins.

[Lihu]

I think the number is more than 40 over on a par 72 course. Scores like 112 to 140 are not unreasonable.

This is based upon my experience playing every weekend. Most of us think that we do better than we actually do, because we don't count every penalty and typically re-hit a playable drive (mulligan or not) that was duffed or worse yet take 3 or 4 mulligans per round.

Once I started counting all these penalties and did not re-hit in play shots (never took mulligans), my over par stroke count went up from about 27 strokes up to 35 to 40. After a year of lots of hard work and determination, I am something like a 20 to 22 HC on courses with slope ratings in the 108 to 141 range.

The weekend golfers who have played more seriously for over a couple years (lots of hard work and determination), might be something like 12 to 25 strokes over par on a 72 par course depending upon their skill level. If they have the opportunity to play a round daily or at least 4 times a week, I would venture to guess they are the low handicappers on this forum.

[Jeremie Boop]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do to get a few strokes off the cap.  And none of it even requires practice, time, money or getting better at the swing!  This is an awesome spot to be in.

IMO, bogey golfers getting better is not about hitting great shots - but rather eliminating bad ones.  You start on tee box #1 at even and things get worse almost every hole to the end.  He who gets 'less worse" wins.

I know I could get my HC down quite a few strokes if I just stopped going for "stupid shots" and just worked on my chipping/putting. For me it's always been more fun to go for a low percentage shot and pull it off than chip out and hit on. Maybe this weekend I'll play a round or 2 just playing smart and see what I shoot. I may actually end up having a better time by keeping myself out of bad situations, who knows.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

I know I could get my HC down quite a few strokes if I just stopped going for "stupid shots" and just worked on my chipping/putting. For me it's always been more fun to go for a low percentage shot and pull it off than chip out and hit on. Maybe this weekend I'll play a round or 2 just playing smart and see what I shoot. I may actually end up having a better time by keeping myself out of bad situations, who knows.

Take my word for it, as a former risk taker, lower scores are where the fun is.

[Brakkus]

Quite interesting my friend who has shot sub 80 in the past has just gone through a period of shanking for the past 18 months. I haven't got close to beating him until now. I had read Rotella's book and really thought about strategy seriously and why I would even keep score. For 4 years I could not break 100, my scores would torture me 101,102,103 never over 105. Quit because I just couldn't see that I could put the time in to get better. Stopped for 2 years. Decided to give it another try and my improvements have been rapid because I thought differently and approached the course differently. I could already hit the ball well but I was taking on shots that I didn't need too and that I couldn't pull off consistently. Now with advice from Golf is not a game perfect I realise that pro golfers mostly play risk averse shots. How many golfers have won majors being outright reckless? I can think of 3 Ballesteros, Mickelson, and Daly. Point is my friend can hit it further than me and he thought he could tame the course with power. It didn't take him long to see what I was doing. Thing is he still thought he could beat me with birdies. He got more and more talkative about his swing trying to fix what was wrong etc... He lost it mentally but also didn't plan the holes well. I got par on a 499 yard hole by taking 6 iron off the tee. One of Rotella's statements has stuck with me Conservative approach but cocky swing. It works because you just get more and more confident. There were 4 holes where I thought going for the green in 2 was worth it and I hit driver twice. Its all about respecting the course and seeing it as a chess game manoeuvring your ball around and I think its the first time every club got used.

[Jeremie Boop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Take my word for it, as a former risk taker, lower scores are where the fun is.

Yeah, I know I'm bad about the high risk shots, my dad is constantly saying "just hit the ball, don't try anything fancy" rofl.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Jeremie Boop

I know I could get my HC down quite a few strokes if I just stopped going for "stupid shots" and just worked on my chipping/putting. For me it's always been more fun to go for a low percentage shot and pull it off than chip out and hit on. Maybe this weekend I'll play a round or 2 just playing smart and see what I shoot. I may actually end up having a better time by keeping myself out of bad situations, who knows.

I see plenty of players who would rather hit an awesome shot once per round than score well.  There is a particular hole at my home course that has a creek crossing the fairway.  Right across the creek, it turns hard right.  The shot from just shy of the creek is about the same shot as the one from just over the creek. Basically, trying to carry the creek off the tee is high risk with nearly zero reward.  But even knowing this, many people take it on.  They would much rather hit it in the creek than lay up.  Just some folks preference.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

I see plenty of players who would rather hit an awesome shot once per round than score well.

Sometimes, it only takes one good shot to make most peoples' round worth their money. It's all in the thrill factor.