How many Golfers worldwide play hcp 16 or better?

[Littleoven]

Have a running bet with a mate of mine.....How many Golfers do you folks out there think play off a hcp 16 or better?....My number came in a state of too much red wine, so recon it s a bit too high....8.500.000 it was .....

[k-troop]

I'm not even sure how many people in the world play golf, so it's tough to guess.  I'd venture that maybe 10-15% of "golfers" (people who tee it up 5 or more times a year) are capable of consistently breaking 90.  Maybe less than that.  So, by your number, that means there are 80 million golfers out there?

[Littleoven]

first number i saw for total golfers worldwide was around 60 mio.....i would have thought that something like 15 % play off that sort of hcp....so my guess at 8.5 mio wasn t that bad after all :-)

[Double Bogey]

I looked at my club, which most if not all of the guys there play at least 3 times a month.  I would guess most of the guys play at least once a week almost year around.  25% of them play to a 16 or better.  I was a bit shocked by that number but it at least can give you a reference.

[LBlack14]

I looked at my club, which most if not all of the guys there play at least 3 times a month.  I would guess most of the guys play at least once a week almost year around.  25% of them play to a 16 or better.  I was a bit shocked by that number but it at least can give you a reference.

Vanity caps?

[ghalfaire]

I don't even know where you would look to find such information.  I have read that less than 50% of the golfer in the USA can consistently score better than 100 on a regulation course.

[slabm7]

I read on a sign in a course bathroom once that only %1 of golfers will ever break 80.

[luu5]

Originally Posted by Littleoven

Have a running bet with a mate of mine.....How many Golfers do you folks out there think play off a hcp 16 or better?....My number came in a state of too much red wine, so recon it s a bit too high....8.500.000 it was .....

So the bet was for $8.500.000?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by luu5

So the bet was for $8.500.000?

Isn't it clear he's saying his number is 8.5 million golfers have a handicap of 16 or better?

[Double Bogey]

Originally Posted by LBlack14

Vanity caps?

Possibly, but the ones that I have played with over the last year play close to that HCP.  Only a hand full did not seem to live up to posted HCP

[Littleoven]

Cool guys! Thanks for your contributions.... Didnt get me anwhere closer to the answer if i can t that number for all Golfers worldwide but following this thread the percentage of Golfers playing off that HPC Ranges from 5-15 percentage.... Think my mate will be the One coming up for that bottle

[nevets88]

Oy vey, what is this, some tech position interview? :-)

[Stretch]

Or consulting. "How many manhole covers are there in (insert city here)." Oh God, I'm getting cold shivers ...

Anyway, in America the USGA says there are about 5 million golfers with an official handicap (out of an estimated 20 million people who play the game).

Of those, 57.69% are better than a 16, so that's 2,884,500.

Add Europe, roughly adjusting by the number of golf courses in each location* (5,896/16,944): 1,003,719

Add rest of world, roughly adjusting by ratio of European golf courses to all other golf courses not in America (47/53): 1,131,853

Rough total: 5,020,072.

Add golfers in all locations without official indexes who would be 16 or under if they were officially handicapped: And we can't do that because we don't have a ****ing clue.

Whatever the stakes were, you and your mate should probably just split them and put it into more red wine.

(* And ignoring inconvenient details like CONGU etc. generally only accepting competitive rounds for handicap purposes.)

[Littleoven]

Stretch, phantastic research there! Guess i'll have to settle for that... ....wine's on me... If you are a connaiseur it will be a 1990 Vega siciilia....

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Stretch

Anyway, in America the USGA says there are about 5 million golfers with an official handicap (out of an estimated 20 million people who play the game).

Of those, 57.69% are better than a 16, so that's 2,884,500.

Makes you wonder what the definition of an "official" handicap is, doesn't it?

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Makes you wonder what the definition of an "official" handicap is, doesn't it?

Thought we'd already established that was "every wanker who doesn't play Aussie rules"?

[Littleoven]

Yeah and so for the guy, who's just started playing...... Aussie rules r made after a good round with mates signing the card or what?

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Littleoven

Yeah and so for the guy, who's just started playing...... Aussie rules r made after a good round with mates signing the card or what?

Handicaps in OZ are based on competition rounds only.

I could go away for a week and play 5 rounds under par and it would do nothing for my handicap unless the rounds were played in competition.

Most clubs only have one mid week competition plus Sat and Sun.