Definition of a "Good" Player

[TN94z]

Golf is all about how good your misses are. You are going to have more bad ball striking days than good but as you improve you'll start to see your misses are better which allows for more par/bogey saves rather than seeing those big double, triple or worse show up on the score card.

I agree with this 100%. I have bad shots many times but the misses are usually thin(a little too much distance) or fat (a little short), but they usually go the right direction...with my irons at least

my definition of a "good" player is someone that can play to their missed hits...

I "try" to never make swing changes during a round. That will dig my hole even deeper and then a bad day will set in quick. I try to play to whatever shot I am hitting that day.

See, I'd say that person is still a good player. Bubba Watson's not well liked. He's still a good player.

I agree. You can still be a good or even really good player and not be a good "person."

[CarlSpackler]

IMO a good player is one who plays with confidence (not confident that they will top their shot that is). They approach every shot with the firm belief that the can and will execute it, even if that shot is punching back out to the fairway from behind a tree to leave them self with an ideal yardage to play the next shot from. I would also say that a "good" player knows the rules and abides by them to the best of their ability.

But... This could also mean one who has exceptional skills at romancing the ladies such as Sergio.

[David in FL]

Once you get into the realm of a "plus" handicap, you're good .

The rest of us mere mortals are just varying degrees of less bad.

[Kingfisher]

See, I'd say that person is still a good player. Bubba Watson's not well liked. He's still a good player.

Valid point, although I don't really take enough notice of Bubba to pass judgement on him! What's his deal, is he a pain in the ass?

I noticed in other posts that a lot of folks seem to think that Poulter has a chip on his shoulder - again that'd make him a good player, but not necessarily a good person, same as Bubba? I guess I was basing my original comments mainly on amateurs, the kind of guys one typically runs into every weekend - I think I'd much rather play with a high handicapper who knows his way around a golf course, rather than some low handicapper who is has got no respect for anybody other than himself.

[pshizz]

Once you get into the realm of a "plus" handicap, you're

haha, i agree. When your a plus handicap, a bad day might be 3 or 4 over. When your and 8 handicap like me, a bad day could mean a 92, which is what i shot in my tournament 1 week ago, on a 132 slope course. Yesterday a shot a 83 on a course with a slope of 137 and was playing 6,700 yards. Not an amazing round, but still good for what the course rating is. Weird!