Are you serious? 10 strokes off your game?

[sirshanksalot]

I have a playing partner that played to a 10.7 hdcp 3 weeks ago. Within the past 3 weeks he has posted some unbelievable scores from what I know of his game. Based on what I've read, by rule of thumb a person should post a score to or better than his handicap in one out of every 5 rounds, however, he has posted scores that are about 10 strokes better than he usually scores in the past 8 rounds he has played. He has basically taken nearly 4 strokes off of his hdcp in the past 3 weeks.

The question I have for the members of this forum is, what are the odds of this happening? I know he has not taken any lessons during this time and I also know that he has not played with anyone in our usual playing group in this stretch either to prove these scores. It almost seems improbable if you do a simple calculation of 1/5^8, which is 1/390625.

I guess this is more of a rant for me to call b.s. on my playing partner and take his money the next time we play. Any thoughts?

[MA5Bergey]

10 strokes better 8 rounds in a row? He's fraudin'

[leo3]

Double down on your bets on the next round.

[David in FL]

Take the strokes and press........

......all the way to the bank!

[MI Rob]

I'm sure hes lying.
Start playing some skins with him lol

[Fairway_CY]

I guess it all depends. My scores, save for 2 or 3, for the last few months have been rapidly improving. I've gone from shooting 102-107 to shooting 91-96 in a matter of a few weeks.

Granted, it's a helluva lot easier to drop 10 strokes from a 100+ score than it is from a mid 80's score, but... I suppose it can happen.

In my case, it's due to playing much more frequently than I had been previously... so - I don't really know what could cause your playing partner to drop so many shots so quickly.

CY

[alf174]

Set up a round with him and see if he can back his claim...and NO GIMMEES!

[Wazzu8]

Is the rule of thumb really 1/5???

I always thought your handicap was your 10 best out of the last 20.. So that's 1/2.. Also, what is the course handicap vs his handicap?

Sometimes learning how to do one thing can rapidly improve your scoring. For me, it's keeping the ball so your 2nd shot has a chance at the green.

[microcrayfish]

Is the rule of thumb really 1/5???

Don't forget that your handicap is a measure of

potential , so it's lower than the average of your 10 best scores of your last 20. That's why if you keep shooting to your handicap constantly then it will come down.

[zeg]

I always thought your handicap was your 10 best out of the last 20.. So that's 1/2..

Well, it's the average of your best 10, so right there only ~1/4 of the rounds you've used in the computation will be below the differential. Then you only get 96% of that, so you'd expect a bit less.

[TheJuice]

I guess it all depends. My scores, save for 2 or 3, for the last few months have been rapidly improving. I've gone from shooting 102-107 to shooting 91-96 in a matter of a few weeks.

The only response I would have is - going from 105ish to 95ish is easier than going from say 85 to 75 or 90 to 80.

[mapa94]

I think it is possible but unlikely. In a short time I've gone from a 13 handicap (thrilled to break 90) to breaking 80 about 1/2 the time. I'm getting better but a lot of it is from playing a lot more than I have in the past.

Play a round with him...if his game has improved that much it will soon be evident.

[sirshanksalot]

Just to give you all an update, I still haven't been able to get a round in with my playing partner. I really am curious to see how a guy can improve so much in a matter of 3 weeks with no formal instruction. Plus, I would have to also agree with some of the posters here that going from 100 to 90 compared to going from 85 to 75 is exponentially harder.

Here's another facet to this post, my buddy has gone from 2.1 putts/hole to 1.6/hole, which is 9 strokes per round on just putting alone. The stats don't lie... it seems like his putting is where he's made up the difference. But seriously? 9 putts less per round in 3 weeks?

I'll give you guys any updates once I actually play with him.

[TN94z]

Don't get too quick on taking bets!! My cousin does the same thing. He plays to about a 10-12 I'm guessing. He was shooting high 80s this summer. Then all of the sudden he starts shooting high 70s consistently. We have since moved courses to a shorter easier course. His streak continued as he was shooting 75-78 every round. Now he has fallen back to low 80s at the new course, but it happens. And we play the ball down and straight by the rules. Something clicked with his short game and driver and he started dropping scores quickly.

[kafka01]

I made the expierence, that after playing a lot and then taking off some time, it can have quite a positive impact on your game - but 10 strokes - avg???

1.6 putts per round - thats a good tour avg. but putting is the one part of the game, that takes the longest to improve and a sudden decrease of almost 1/2 stroke / hole is extremly unlikely.

Another thing - nobody is able to all of a sudden score consistently low when he comes off a higher hcp. It doesnt work that way - and if he doesnt show any rounds in his "miracle run" that are ++80 you can almost be certain that something very weired is going on here.

[chriskzoo]

Don't get too quick on taking bets!! My cousin does the same thing. He plays to about a 10-12 I'm guessing. He was shooting high 80s this summer. Then all of the sudden he starts shooting high 70s consistently. We have since moved courses to a shorter easier course. His streak continued as he was shooting 75-78 every round. Now he has fallen back to low 80s at the new course, but it happens. And we play the ball down and straight by the rules. Something clicked with his short game and driver and he started dropping scores quickly.

From experience, it is amazing what you can do with your game with a little course management. I would say that anyone in the mid-teens can pretty easily get into the single digits if you do a better job thinking around the course - I have gone from a 14 to a 9 from last year to this year and shot 78 (+7) in a tourney yesterday.

Unless you're a terrible putter or can't control your driver at all, there is no reason anyone who hits the ball consistently (i.e. you're not prone to the shanks or chili-dip every chip shot) can't control their swing and give themselves a look at par on most holes. Case in point, my 78 yesterday: I shot 78 with 33 putts, including 2 3 putts and got up and down 5 times. The only hole that was even remotely interesting was my double bogey - hit a tree, ball came straight back into the previous hole greenside bunker 50 yards off the tee. Punched a 4-iron up to the 150, flew the green and had a dicey chip - all I wanted was double at that point. Chipped to the front of the green and had to can a 6 footer for double. Aside from that, it was mostly fairways and greens or up and in for par or bogey.

[jamo]

finally, the anti-sandbagger!

[chriskzoo]

finally, the anti-sandbagger!

aka Vanity Handicappers

I was just looking at the scores for the Michigan Mid-Amateur (need to be a 5.4 or less to get in). Some guys were posting in the 90's - seriously, why embarass yourself?