2 months and im a 9.6 handicap?

[Williamevanl]

Just being a good athlete won't make you good at golf, It might make it easier but come on.

I know you guys have had to give at least one person the *golf talk* Someone says hey I'd like to go out and try to golf with you and you have to explain that it doesn't work that way.

I've had a number of "athletic types friends" just walk off the course to never try again. Yea I believe atheleticism will allow you to hit a baseball or dunk a basketball but golf isn't the same. It's like 5 different things rolled into one. And the full swing is so complicated apparently nobody really understands it, not even physics and mathmatics!. It probably takes years just to get to scratch putting. Let alone scratch everything.

[Motley01]

Swing videos, or it never happened.

[bogeyhitter25]

A kid my friend knows shot a 37 his first time ever playing, so I guess I can believe it.

[1par2win]

Hmmm.. it's on heck of a claim. I don't know how quickly someone could develop a consistant enough swing to shoot a score like that considering how counter-intuitive a proper swing is to what "feels" right that all beginners go through. But I am not a swing expert by any means!

The issue for me that casts doubt is the experience factor that is so essential to the quality of a low handicappers game. Understand playing yardages vs. actual yardage. Understanding ball behavior and course management. These skills are aquired can only be gained by experience. Not sure how someone coming out of the box in two months can have these skills to shoot such a score.

[TN94z]

Just being a good athlete won't make you good at golf, It might make it easier but come on.

Agreed. I have been an athlete my whole life (baseball, basketball, football, boxing, and then martial arts) and was pretty descent. It took me quite a bit longer to get there. So just because someone was an athlete doesn't mean they are going to shoot par after 2 months.

Now that the story is starting to come out, it sounds more believable.

[shades9323]

A kid my friend knows shot a 37 his first time ever playing, so I guess I can believe it.

A friend of a friend of a kid I know was there and said it didn't go down like that.

[Motley01]

I still want to see a swing video. I've been playing for 15 years and I'm very athletic, and I work hard for my 9.5 handi.

Now, what about chipping, putting, touch/feel around the greens, you know that's where all of our strokes go!! That's more than 65% of the game. How in the world do you learn that in 2 months?

I'm sorry, but he probably doesn't even know all the rules yet, it took me a year to figure out all the rules, etiquette, etc.

[topspin4hand]

If it's true, I'd like to see the kid, play a different course with different greens with new breaks to read, etc. Playing the same 2-3 courses alone would take a decent number of strokes off.

But in general, this qualifies as an amazing accomplishment.

[ugottabjoshinme]

There is a lot of un-necessary bowling hate going on in this thread.

[alf174]

There is a lot of un-necessary bowling hate going on in this thread.

lol, amen.

[Chas]

There is a lot of un-necessary bowling hate going on in this thread.

You and I must be reading a different thread then. All I see is some deep but respectful skepticism. The changing story has justified it IMO. The OP apparently doesn't know what constitutes an official handicap index, for one thing.

But that's OK, he's learning and maybe we'll see him on the tour one day. Then he can say, "I told those guys on the forum and they didn't believe me ... LOL".

[enduro]

I don't know, even if you have a brilliant, natural swing there's much more to the game. Putting is a game in and of itself. Shot shaping is a game in itself. Using different types of shots from close range depending on conditions and pin placement. Course management is something you could write an entire book on.

I could see if someone is playing a pitch and putt and got good really fast. I used to play one pretty often when I first started playing and got pretty good on it. 18 holes and I'd par many of them after a couple months. But it was the same hole over and over essentially and the greens were flat.

I really didn't start playing golf seriously until this year and I'll admit that when you practice a lot, play a lot and think about things a lot, strokes begin to fall. But I've also had a few years of casual play experience so w/e.

[$2 Nassau]

Regardless of the difficulty of the course (or lack of) it is still a great accomplishment. However, you're not a 9.6, no way. But still, I'd guess that you are probably around a 15 or so, which is pretty damn good for only 2 months.

I think I see what he may have done. Probably just took his best score, the 74, and subtracted the course rating of 64.4 which would give him a 9.6. When you factor in the slope it comes out to 10.0.
He said he's using the Dick's handicap tracker which may do something funky like only use your best 1 score until you have at least 5 scores in there or something. But even then he'd be a 10.0.

[Orenishi]

Did you play any other sports before picking up golf? Hockey? Baseball?

[wrx_junki]

64 is the lowest course rating I have ever seen.

The muni I play regularly is a 65.5 (par 67) so its not too far off from the course he played. Quite an easy course with bare minimum of bunkers, no doglegs, few water hazards, few OB's, and slow putting surfaces that are not hard.

A kid my friend knows shot a 37 his first time ever playing, so I guess I can believe it.

Your friend's friend did not shoot 37 in 9-holes on his first attempt, that is more unbelievable than what we thought this guy shot (even par on a par 72). I think you misunderstood, maybe he shot 37 over in 9/18 holes.

There is a lot of un-necessary bowling hate going on in this thread.

Not hating on bowling, bowling is just much easier to pick up and play than golf. I can have bad mechanics in bowling and still be a 200 bowler. I bowl in a league during fall/winter/spring, once a week and I still manage to keep a 200 average.

[deronsizemore]

It's not likely, but not impossible. If you're keeping track of your scores and following all of the rules of golf, i.e., taking penalties correctly, etc. and you're a 9.6 then congratulations!

[wrx_junki]

^I agree. I use a house ball and shoes, have bad form, and only use two fingers and I can average 200+. Simple sport, just spin it down the right side the same way everytime.

I didn't say it was easy. Just that golf is much harder. You averaging 200+ with your givens is like how most golfers on here average 300 yards off the tee. You might bowl 200+ once in awhile but you definitely do not average that.

[Leftygolfer]

If you played by the rules of golf and shot a 72 in 2 months, you are something and should consider trying to make golf more than a hobby.