What is the correlation between the number of birdies and your handicap.

[skigolf33]

I play with a group of golfers which range in handicap from single-digit to approximately 25. We had a birdie pool , with the' Lions share 'going to the single-digit and lower handicap golfers on a regular basis..

. Are there any valid statistics which correlates the number of average birdies per round with you handicap ?

. As an example a five handicap golfer may normally post( 2.2 ) birdies per round where a 17 handicap golfer post a( .6 )birdies around.

I'm sure this information is available but to date I have not found it. Would the USGA  be a source for this information.

[RayG]

Oh carp, I JUST read an article somewhere about this kind of thing. along the lines of an 18 hdcp hitting a GIR 4 times, a 12 might hit 8, etc... this would correlate with the OPPORTUNITY to make birdie. Personally, I might AVERAGE 2.5 birds a round with a 12. I certainly have the OPPORTUNITY for more- such as easy chips, makeable putts and the like. Some days I might have 4 or 5 and others I get squat. You can pro rate the birdie pool and limit the number any ONE person can take based on Handicaps, or even limit the holes where a birdie takes a skin. The hardest holes would eliminate most high hdcp'rs, so maybe split the pool. top 9 hardest holes is a contest open to everyone, while the easiest 9 are ONLY open to the higher hdcprs. My Dad played in a group with a Birdie Pool, and he never bothered to enter with his 32, since there were at least 3 former Club Champs and one former PGA Teacher in the group (about 30 guys). After awhile they restricted those guys to win only one per outing and it opened up for the others and made it more competitive for the rest of the guys.

[sacm3bill]

Not sure how reliable this is: http://golfmadesimple.com/howtoimprove10strokes.html, but FWIW it states that a golfer who shoots 85 has an average of 1 birdie a round.

Lots of other criteria on that site as well, for example:

105 golfer: 1 GIR/round

95 golfer: 2 GIRs/round

85 golfer: 6 GIRs/round

Originally Posted by RayG

You can pro rate the birdie pool and limit the number any ONE person can take based on Handicaps, or even limit the holes where a birdie takes a skin. The hardest holes would eliminate most high hdcp'rs, so maybe split the pool. top 9 hardest holes is a contest open to everyone, while the easiest 9 are ONLY open to the higher hdcprs.

If you have handicaps, the easiest thing to do would be to just use whatever stroke adjustments per hole you'd ordinarily make for playing matches or skins, and use net birdies instead of natural birdies.

[bkuehn1952]

Below are some statistics that are somewhay on point.  Although "average score" does not correlate exactly with one's handicap, one can make an educated guess.  A 75 average might be 2.0-5.0, 79 average 4.0-8.0, 81 average 6.0-10.0, etc ...

One change might be to pay off for "net" birdies or pay off both gross and net but pay more for gross birdies.  Clearly a player with a 20 handicap is primarily going to be subsidizing the single digit's golf costs.

Dr. L.J. Riccio, PhD did an analysis of "average golfers" in 1990. Below is a table which summarizes some of the statistics that Riccio investigated.



The last column indicates the strength of the statistical relationship between score and the statistic. A "Strong" relationship is one that predicts quite well one statistic given the other (i.e. the SCORE given the GIR). A "Weak" relationship does not predict as well.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by skigolf33

I play with a group of golfers which range in handicap from single-digit to approximately 25. We had a birdie pool , with the' Lions share 'going to the single-digit and lower handicap golfers on a regular basis..

. Are there any valid statistics which correlates the number of average birdies per round with you handicap ?

. As an example a five handicap golfer may normally post( 2.2 ) birdies per round where a 17 handicap golfer post a( .6 )birdies around.

I'm sure this information is available but to date I have not found it. Would the USGA  be a source for this information.

I don't know the answer, but just from experience, I'm going to guess that your numbers are high.  Using myself as a baseline:  9 handicap who averages 1 birdie a round, I'm going to take a stab here (don't forget, these are guesses):

handicap avg. birdies/round

tour pro                 4.6

scratch                 2.4

5                          1.8

10                        0.9

15                        0.3

20                        0.1

Again, wild guesses based only on myself and what I've observed.  Thought it'd be fun to put it out there and see what others think.

[Kieran123]

Hell, I'm a 9 handicap and average .8 birdies a round.

[hendog]

Originally Posted by bkuehn1952

Below are some statistics that are somewhay on point.  Although "average score" does not correlate exactly with one's handicap, one can make an educated guess.  A 75 average might be 2.0-5.0, 79 average 4.0-8.0, 81 average 6.0-10.0, etc ...

One change might be to pay off for "net" birdies or pay off both gross and net but pay more for gross birdies.  Clearly a player with a 20 handicap is primarily going to be subsidizing the single digit's golf costs.

Dr. L.J. Riccio, PhD did an analysis of "average golfers" in 1990. Below is a table which summarizes some of the statistics that Riccio investigated.

The last column indicates the strength of the statistical relationship between score and the statistic. A "Strong" relationship is one that predicts quite well one statistic given the other (i.e. the SCORE given the GIR). A "Weak" relationship does not predict as well.

This is almost dead on for me. I am around a 10 right now and my average score across all rounds is about 85 and my golf stats say I average exactly .8 birdies per round.

[Wisguy]

I had 5 birdies last year and played maybe 12-14 full rounds and a half-dozen 9-hole par-3 rounds with my daughter.

But I've also gone 3 year stretches playing twice as often and had one or no birdies and I don't think I've had more than 2 or 3 birdies in a season previously.  Last year was partially just dumb luck and partially the result of a dozen or so hours of short game practice while waiting for my kid's golf lessons.  Strangely, the extra practice, the extra birdies, the new Nike irons, the hot new Ping G20 3W, the Srixon balls that give me both length and feel -  they didn't seem to get me any closer to my goal of breaking 90 again that I was sure was going to happen again.  I guess the next step is lessons.

[David in FL]

Ooh, ooh, ooh.......I've got this one.  The correlation is, the lower your handicap, the more birdies you average per round!

[meenman]

Way too many variables, some play easier courses, others harder. At my home course, I just started to average more than one par a round, where if I play a shorter course, 2 birdies and 6 pars is not out of reach.

[cipher]

2012 for me.  Only .9 Birdies per round.

	All Holes	Front	Back	Par 3's	Par 4's	Par 5's
Score	79.4	39.8	39.6	3.4	4.5	5.3
+/-	+7.5	+3.8	+3.6	+0.4	+0.5	+0.3
Birdies or better	0.9	0.4	0.6	0.1	0.2	0.3
Pars	9.5	4.8	4.7	1.2	3.0	1.2
Bogey or worse	7.6	3.8	3.8	1.0	2.6	0.7
Fairways hit	70% (369/525)	68% (195/287)	73% (174/238)		70% (266/378)	70% (103/147)
GIR	44% (294/674)	41% (152/368)	46% (142/306)	42% (63/149)	42% (157/378)	50% (74/147)
Putts	31.1	15.1	16.1	1.8	1.7	1.7
Ups & Downs	44% (68/153)	42% (41/98)	49% (27/55)	34% (13/38)	47% (42/89)	50% (13/26)

[RetroJFrancisco]

Here are my stats, just out of interest (1 hc)

Birdies : 11.56%

Pars: 55.41%

Bogies: 25.08%

Doubles+ : 7.21%

[RetroJFrancisco]

Forgot

Eagles : 0.75%

[kevin.chan]

Here is my Stats

Eagles 1%

Birdies 10%

Pars     58%

Bogies  25%

Double + 6%

There are rounds that you can get 2 or more birdies but there are also rounds that no birdies and just pars ..

[tmf9]

Originally Posted by bkuehn1952

Below are some statistics that are somewhay on point.  Although "average score" does not correlate exactly with one's handicap, one can make an educated guess.  A 75 average might be 2.0-5.0, 79 average 4.0-8.0, 81 average 6.0-10.0, etc ...

One change might be to pay off for "net" birdies or pay off both gross and net but pay more for gross birdies.  Clearly a player with a 20 handicap is primarily going to be subsidizing the single digit's golf costs.

Dr. L.J. Riccio, PhD did an analysis of "average golfers" in 1990. Below is a table which summarizes some of the statistics that Riccio investigated.

The last column indicates the strength of the statistical relationship between score and the statistic. A "Strong" relationship is one that predicts quite well one statistic given the other (i.e. the SCORE given the GIR). A "Weak" relationship does not predict as well.

I'd say this is pretty accurate for me.  Except I average about 4 birdies and not as many pars, and there's no way in hell I hit 81% of my fairways, in the two rounds i've played this year ive hit 11/24 fairways and shot 68 and 74 respectively. (guess that suggests the weak correlation lol)

[mchepp]

I am a 5 handicap but my average score is probably closer to 9 over. So I am slightly over 1 per round.

First is eagles, birdies, pars, bogies, doubles, and others

[bplewis24]

What is "iron accuracy"?  How is that defined/tracked?

[MS256]

I actually made a few more birdies and quite a few more eagles when my scores were much higher than they are now.

I also made MANY more double bogeys and worse and went for everything (no matter how ridiculous the shot was). Laying up wasn't even in my vocabulary