Consistency index - such a thing?

[Fat Slice]

I was going over my scorecards and was trying to figure out if my consistency during a round was changing. Not sure how to measure this, I made up my own system:

Take the best 3 holes, figure your relationship to par.
Do the same for the worst 3 holes.
Calculate the difference between the two.

That number would be you 'consistency index' for that round.

It would make sense to adjust for your course handicap or score as well, I think, but I am not sure how I would do that.

Here is my example from yesterday:

Best 3 holes: +0
Worst 3 holes: +12
Unadjusted Consistency Index (UCI): 12


Here are another 2 rounds:

Best 3 holes: -2
Worst 3 holes: +10
UCI: 12


Best 3 holes: +0
Worst 3 holes: +11
UCI: 11


I am going to do a few more scorecards.

I am not sure what this number measures:

Potential for improvement?
Risk taking during a round?
Mental issues?
Nothing at all!?!?

Still, there might be something to it.

What do you think?

[kregan]

Anti handicap maybe??? but I don't know how it works.

[Bourbon and Coke]

Taking the best 3 and the worst 3 doesn't really speak for the rest of the round. If your best 3 holes are 3 birdies, and your worst 3 are triple bogies, you end up with -3/+9. What if the rest of your card is straight pars? What if the rest of your card is alternating pars and doubles?

I would judge it looking at your scoring based on a sliding 3 or 4 holes. Judge consistency from 1-4, then 2-5, then 3-6, etc. And for those 3 or 4 holes, I would judge it based on average distance from the mean.

Holes 1 through 4, you go bogey, bogey, bogey, birdie. Your average is .5 strokes over, so your distance from mean for is .5, .5, .5, and 1.5, respectively. The average distance from the mean would be .75. Perfect consistency will yield a 0 for those 4 holes. When you average these for every 4-hole window, you get the round's average.

It's much more number intensive, but it gives you a good feeling for the entire round. The number doesn't tell you much on its own (a round of straight triple bogeys looks the same as a round of straight birdies: 0), but neither does your system.

[ApocG10]

Your score IS what measures your consistency in a round, and your handicap is what measures it overall. I dont see what more information you could want.

[iacas]

Anti handicap maybe??? but I don't know how it works.

I second that suggestion - get Scorecard and check out your anti-handicap. Or figure it out yourself if you want.

[HSip]

I was going over my scorecards and was trying to figure out if my consistency during a round was changing. Not sure how to measure this, I made up my own system:

I think score and HCP is the best measure. I suppose you could compare scores on the same holes from different rounds but that would not take into account weather and course conditions.

[kregan]

I did a search and found this info on the anti handicap.

http://www.popeofslope.com/guidelines/anti.html

Scorecard says I am about 25 vs a 20.6 so I guess I am pretty consistent.

[Bourbon and Coke]

Anti-Handicap compares your performance between rounds. It looks like he's looking for an evaluation of his consistency within the round, comparable to other rounds. Even if your anti-handicap and your handicap are identical (say, you always shoot even par) there's a difference between shooting straight pars and shooting birdie, birdie, double, triple, eagle, birdie through six holes.

[iacas]

Anti-Handicap compares your performance between rounds. It looks like he's looking for an evaluation of his consistency within the round, comparable to other rounds. Even if your anti-handicap and your handicap are identical (say, you always shoot even par) there's a difference between shooting straight pars and shooting birdie, birdie, double, triple, eagle, birdie through six holes.

And I think there's very little point in comparing your consistency within a round. You can get 18 pars by missing every green and putting or chipping close, or hitting every green and having a horrible day putting (missing lots of makeable putts).

You can make a double bogey because you drive a ball OB or because you blade a chip shot or something. I'm not sure this is something you really need to track or investigate. If you're inconsistent, you tend to know it - and you probably tend to know why. Consistency within a round? I dunno. Why? I'm just not sure there's much to be gained there.

[Bourbon and Coke]

There's not much to be gained from any single stat on its own. And the more ways you can statistically measure a round, the more perfect view you have of it.

Regardless of what you think is worth calculating, the OP suggested a measure of consistency within the round; his is calculated based on holes, while anti-handicap is based on rounds as a whole. Since he wanted to look at consistency from hole-to-hole, I gave him a superior method of measuring consistency from hole-to-hole.

[Petden]

GIR, Fairways hit, putts per round, score etc. break your scorecard down into those categories and see how you do, if its always the same then your consistent if not, then your not consistent (not being consistent can mean your improving though).