Handicaps that don't travel well

[SubPar]

Wrong. The handicap system should provide you:

Alright, so I am wrong about whether the handicap adjusts to par. So it adjusts relative to a scratch golfer. That still does not account for the fact that a really easy course I have an 8 and on a MUCH harder course I have a 9. Using the tees with the virtually the same total yardage the course rating at Woodley Lakes is 70.5 and Tierra Rejada is 70.6.

It does not make sense that two courses so vastly different in terms of difficulty could have the same course rating. The relative difficulty of the courses does not seem to be estimated fairly, for myself or the scratch golfer. I may be mistaken, but I'm not making anything up... --------------------- "A handicap is calculated with a specific arithmetic formula that approximates how many strokes more than par a player should be able to play. ... A player's handicap is intended to show a player's potential, not his average score, as is the common belief. A player will play to his handicap less than 25% of the time. The USGA refers to this as the "average best" method." --------------------- "*The average golfer is expected to play to his handicap or below only about 25% of the time." --------------------- A player's handicap is intended to show a player's potential, not his average score, as is the common belief. A player will play to his handicap less than 25% of the time. The USGA refers to this as the "average best" method. So in a large, handicapped competition, the golfer who shoots the best with respect to his abilities and the normal variations of the score should win. SubPar

[Leftygolfer]

I am not getting involved in the debate over what is shooting your handicap. I know if I go to a big course with a course rating of 75 and and a big slope, I shoot anything in the 80s, I had a really good day for my skill level.

But in regards to the thread, I definitely don't shoot good scores at courses I don't know. The biggest adjustment for me is green speeds. One of my buddies belongs to a club with what I consider the nicest greens in the city. I haven't played all the clubs here but they are perfect and fast. I am just not used to it and putt badly.

But when I have played in Hilton Head and Florida, golf there is so much easier than it here. I play the tightest public courses here with alot of uneven lies, goofy greens, and they are hard to position yourself well. Out of position, bogey. Down south golf seems to be much easier. I always play well when I travel.

[DavidFehertysBike]

I know my trip through flordia last year was my first tangle with bermuda grass, and that crap ate me up. I only broke 90 once the entire week i was down there. Am I better player than that? Sure. But I think the course conditions that youre not used to can make things much more difficult, as others have said.

[iacas]

Alright, so I am wrong about whether the handicap adjusts to par.

Which was the basis of your whole argument.

As to two specific courses I've never seen and their ratings, I'm not capable of commenting nor would I want to anyway. I will say that, in general, some courses set up better for players of different skill sets, even if their handicap is the same. The USGA and the local golf associations follow a very specific set of instructions and rules for determining and measuring ratings. A long, wide open course and a tight but short course could both be 71.1 and 122, but it's not hard to imagine someone who plays well at one having a hard time at the other. In general, if your game is well-rounded, your handicap will travel better than someone else's who, to make something up, is really long but a bit wilder off the tee and who can't putt well on greens with lots of tiers. The handicapping system isn't perfect. But I've yet to hear of a better way to so simply get close to matching everyone. If you wanted more accuracy, people would have 87 different handicap indeces for things like "carry distance with driver" and "putting ability on slow greens" and "sand play from deep bunkers," and it'd take longer to figure out your course handicap than it does for Jim Furyk to line up and make 100 six-footers.

It does not make sense that two courses so vastly different in terms of difficulty could have the same course rating.

It's quite possible they could. Just because it does not make sense to you does not mean the numbers weren't determined properly. I highly doubt you're the prototypical golfer who has an exactly balanced game.

"A handicap is calculated with a specific arithmetic formula that approximates how many strokes more than par a player should be able to play.

I'm unsure why you bothered to quote these things. I never disagreed with you about the 25% thing - I disagreed with you that "net par" was the determining factor in "shooting your handicap," then proved it to you.

------------------ Now, to get back to the original topic at hand... I find that my handicap travels "okay." What doesn't always travel well is my confidence, and that's an important factor at every level of play. For example, on your home course, there's a green with no trees behind it. The yardage is 150, but it looks like it's 180 because of the optical tricks. You play it enough that you're confident it's 150. But travel to another course, face a similar shot, and you're going to lack that confidence. Or a carry over a hazard. Or knowing where to miss the ball around the greens or off the tee. Or where to leave your approach shots for the easiest putts... confidence is a big part of why you might not shoot a "good" score at a new course, even if your game does travel and is fairly well-rounded. The few times I've played new courses with confidence, I've done quite well. Yeah, you kind of have to fake it, but it works pretty well if you CAN fake it.

[flopdarock]

man aint that the truth...

i always try to be around the 150yrd marker at some courses i go to often... pull 6i and fire at pins all day... except at this one course... 150 seems like its 200 out and lots of trouble... that optical illusion thing makes you second guess yourself and it wasnt pretty