Question on handicaps

[Effington]

Hey guys,

For those of you who keep an official handicap, do you play on the same course on a regular basis?  I would think that would have an enormous impact on your score.

As you play a course more, you become more familiar with the intricacies, especially the green.  Knowing how a green will break from experience compared to putting on it the first time can account for several strokes per round.

Additionally, is it OK to register your handicap by playing on an executive course?  There is a course in my area that is very short, almost all par-3's, and the par-4's are all reachable from the tee, but it still has a slope rating.

The point is, once you leave these courses your score will be significantly effected, so shouldn't this be reflected in your handicap?

[robrey85]

It is affected by the rating/slope. If I play consistently at a slope rated course of 110 while you play at a course rated of 137 and we have the same handicap, there is a good chance if not it is almost certain you are better than.

I play at an Executive course every so often and I think that slope is like 92 while every other course I play is like 112+.

[Stretch]

There's an old convention in golf called the "traveling" handicap, which describes pretty much what you've noted. Some players can take their game to different courses and score well, but plenty can't.

Worth noting that the slope/rating thing can work both ways. There's one course in my area that I believe is seriously under-rated at par 72/stroke 68 (we don't use slope, just an adjusted stroke rating) and I hate playing guys based out of there, because their handicaps are rock hard. It's short but really tight, lots of water and the wind always blows -- but you're effectively four over already when standing on the first tee. Not a bargain!