What is the average player handicap index?

[MackJL06]

I'm interested in knowing what the average index is for players on this site!

Scratch

1-5

6-10

10-15

Other

[jmontgo3]

16+, I don't think my quest to break 100 deserves a handicap haha....

[jojoampt]

^^ your on a quest to break 100 but you have a 26.4 handicap?

[jmontgo3]

^^ your on a quest to break 100 but you have a 26.4 handicap?

I put in 5 rounds at my course in some handicap tool I found online and it came out as 26.4. They were 100, 101,102,101, and 97. Too small of a sample size? Just getting to learn the handicap system.

[jojoampt]

Oh, well depending on slope and rating and what not thats pretty close. I just imagined you shooting like 105's and 107's i guess.

[Big Padrigo]

I remember reading somewhere that the average handicap in the US is 16.2, hasn't changed in 20 years despite all the technical advances in equipment

[Slim 11]

I remember reading somewhere that the average handicap in the US is 16.2, hasn't changed in 20 years despite all the technical advances in equipment

I read something similar. That number is actually misleading though. That accounts for people who actually care enough to keep and report their handicaps. Much like on a site like this, you will tend to find a lot of lower handicaps.

Higher handicaps that report tend to be (again, like on this site) people who love the game but may be just starting to really try to improve. Likely, they will drop quickly into the teens or better (hardest is getting into that single digit area). I think the actual average of golfers, including the casual players, is to score over 100, which would mean most people you run into on your local muni course are probably 20+ handicappers.

[Lemay427]

I would say the average is around 15 or so on this site.

The entire golfing nation, I would say upper 20's.

[TommyD69]

I read something similar. That number is actually misleading though. That accounts for people who actually care enough to keep and report their handicaps. Much like on a site like this, you will tend to find a lot of lower handicaps.

I also remember reading something that said "90 something" percent of golfers can't break 100! I guess that means if they had or would admit to having a handicap index, it would be well over 30!!!!

Not that there is anything wrong with that.... Keep playin!!!!!!!

[rmccabe6]

My handicap is that i play golf

[iacas]

I remember reading somewhere that the average handicap in the US is 16.2, hasn't changed in 20 years despite all the technical advances in equipment

It has changed. Saw it in a recent Golf Digest or something - it's dropped a half a shot or a shot and a half or something (1.4 sticks out in my mind for some reason).

[Trav]

Sammy Davis Jr. was reportedly once golfing with President Nixon. Nixon asked him what his handicap was.

Davis said: "You're kidding, right? I've got one eye, I'm Jewish, and I'm black. What other handicap do I need"?

[meenman]

^^ your on a quest to break 100 but you have a 26.4 handicap?

very possible - i havent broken 100 in about 25 rounds - it's all about the difficulty of the course

[kafka01]

It has changed. Saw it in a recent Golf Digest or something - it's dropped a half a shot or a shot and a half or something (1.4 sticks out in my mind for some reason).

The intresting question would be - is it due to technology innovations (hasnt there been advances in technology over the whole time span the hcp average stayed the same) or simply due to the fact, that there arent that many new people introduced to the game of golf and so the existing base of golf players naturally progresses and brings the hcp average down?

[denver_nuggs_15]

Crap. I wish I read the poll before I voted. I'm actually in the 11-15 range, not 16+. My mistake.

I would guess that the average handicap is about 20. Maybe a little better (17-18). I figure that very few non-serious bad (30+) golfers keep legit (no cheating involved) handicaps. Those who are serious should improve and lower their handicaps. There are obviously very few super-good golfers around, so they may even out with super-bad golfers who keep handicaps. Then, I'd say that there are more high-middle than low-middle handicappers, so I'm guessing around 17-20 for an average. (The stats are just from my experience, not from any research...who knows how true any of it is?)

[iacas]

The intresting question would be - is it due to technology innovations (hasnt there been advances in technology over the whole time span the hcp average stayed the same) or simply due to the fact, that there arent that many new people introduced to the game of golf and so the existing base of golf players naturally progresses and brings the hcp average down?

Two strokes better - I was wrong. Source:

http://www.golfdigest.com/equipment/...evolution_0902 .

"Golfers have gotten better because new equipment helped make it easier to produce adequate launch conditions," says Benoit Vincent, chief technical officer at TaylorMade. "New equipment also has allowed golfers to maintain adequate launch conditions for bad shots and to maximize launch conditions with their best swings when custom-fit."

[Tradewind4]

^^ your on a quest to break 100 but you have a 26.4 handicap?

One of the biggest misconception is that your handicap is your "average score." That's patently false. Your handicap is calculated by taking the average of best 10 scores in your last 20 rounds and multiplying it by 0.96. (if fewer than 20 scores available then the average of the lowest half of the scores available x 0.96).

So that means you shoot to your handicap less than 25% of the time. So if your handicap is 26.4, you should be struggling to break 100.

[CG031]

I think the average male handicap in the U.S. is an 18. I read that in Johnny Miller's book, but the data may have changed now.