Jump to content
Subscribe to the Spin Axis Podcast! ×
IGNORED

What is the average player handicap index?


Note: This thread is 5815 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

0  

  1. 1. What is your handicap index?

    • Scratch
      1
    • 1-5
      7
    • 6-10
      36
    • 11-15
      33
    • 16+
      73


Recommended Posts

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

In my bag:

R9
Burner 3w
Burner 5w Burner Plus 4I-SW 60* LW, 52* GW Rossa Spider putter


Posted
  jojoampt said:
^^ 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.


Posted

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.

In my bag:

R9
Burner 3w
Burner 5w Burner Plus 4I-SW 60* LW, 52* GW Rossa Spider putter


Posted
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

What's in the bag
Big sticks Ping Rapture V2 9° Fusion FT-3 3-Wood, 3,4 Hybrid

Irons Ping I10 5-GW
Wedges Cleveland RTX 54° Spin Milled Vokey 60°Putter Redwood Anser Titleist NXT Tour 1500 rangefinder


Posted
  Big Padrigo said:
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.

Slim 11
Driver: Cobra F-Speed 10.5*
3 wood: Cobra F Speed
5 wood: Cobra F Speed
Irons: Cobra 3100H/I 3-PWSW: Pixl 56*Putter: Monza Rossa MalletBall: Slazenger Raw Feel


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

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

Nike SQ 9.5 w/ ProLaunch Red
Titliest 906F2 15
Miura 202 3-5 Irons
Miura Blade 6-PW Irons
Mizuno MP 51 & 56Yes! Tracy IINike One Black


Posted
  Slim 11 said:
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!!!!!!!

Posted

My handicap is that i play golf

Driver-Callaway FT-5 Draw 9.5"

3WD-Callaway Hawkeye 15*

Hybrid-Callaway FT 21*

Irons-Callaway Steelhead X-16 4-P

Wedges-Callaway Big Bertha Tour 52* 56* 60*

Putter-Odyssey White Hot #1


  • Administrator
Posted
  Big Padrigo said:
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).

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
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"?

Posted
  jojoampt said:
^^ 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

Follow me on twitter

Chris, although my friends call me Mr.L

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
  iacas said:
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?

Burner 9°
FW Burner 15°
Burner Rescue 19°
MP67 4-PW
CG10 50° CG12 DSG 54° & 60°


Posted
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?)

In my Ogio Ozone Bag:
TM Superquad 9.5* UST Proforce 77g Stiff
15* Sonartec SS-2.5 (Pershing stiff)
19* TM Burner (stock stiff)
4-U - PING i10 White dot, +1.25 inches, ZZ65 stiff shafts55*/11* Snake Eyes Form Forged (DGS300)60*/12* Snake Eyes Form Forged (DGS300)Ping i10 1/2 MoonTitleist ProV1


  • Administrator
Posted
  kafka01 said:
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."

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • 4 months later...
Posted
  jojoampt said:
^^ 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.

Posted
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.

Driver Ping G10 10.5*
Hybrids Ping G5 (3) 19* Bridgestone J36 (4) 22*
Irons Mizuno MP-57 5-PW
Wedges Srixon WG-504 52.08 Bridgestone WC Copper 56.13
Putter 33" Scotty Cameron Studio Select #2


Note: This thread is 5815 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    PlayBetter
    TourStriker
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FitForGolf
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-20%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack/FitForGolf, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Popular Now

  • Posts

    • This is my second year playing golf, I started last season but have always struggled with a slice. I've tried multiple things to try and fix the slice: Closing the face. Rotating my right hand out or clockwise in the grip. Keeping the club head low in my back swing. Focusing on a straight swing path. Trying the straighter arms like Bryson D. (as seen in the videos above) Trying to not let me hips get too far ahead of my down swing. Trying to keep my shoulders down until after I've made contact with the ball. Etc. I recently changed to the straighter arms which has helped me adjust away from such a drastic slice. So it has helped a bit. Before that, I was trying to keep the club head low in the back swing and this was the most helpful in correcting the slice, however it drastically removed power and distance in the strikes and would even sometimes result in a hook. About a couple months ago I had a single lesson with my driver and learned some helpful things, but have since struggled to perform what I learned well. One of the things in the lesson was to keep my shoulder down more in the the down swing until after making contact with the ball. This would help the slice a bit, sometimes drawing the ball. To even it out, I was instructed to rotate my hips a bit earlier in the down swing. What I have noticed however with the earlier hip rotation is that it's really hurting my lower back a lot. Since backing off on that it's helped not injure my low back as much. I believe my main issue might possibly be the swing path, being a Pull Slice.   See above, was mid typing when you posted. I have never watched Moe Norman's swing to be honest. I have never measure my hip rotation, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on that after you read about my hip rotation / back pain issue.
    • Two questions… Are you trying to swing like Moe Norman? What's your hip turn like? Have you ever measured it?
    • I've been Playing Golf for: 2 years My current handicap index or average score is: 18 Index My typical ball flight is: Slice/Fade with a driver and FW. Generally straight with irons, varies some days left or right. The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Driver slice. Videos:   
    • What are the best drills to practice awareness for club face control? This one came to mind after remembering a bit from the latest release of the podcast. I also think that I have poor club face to path awareness. 
    • What is the best way to practice short game shots if you don’t have a green available to practice on? Should you also film your short game swings and putting practice?    
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...