Sooo, I just broke 80.

[SoundandFury]

Previous low score was 88 (just once, consistently low-mid 90's. Decided to walk 18 and holy shit I shot 78. Was +1 on the front 9. I'm going to enjoy this while I can, because I'm pretty sure I'll be back at 90+ soon enough.

[bkuehn1952]

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

Previous low score was 88 (just once, consistently low-mid 90's.

Decided to walk 18 and holy shit I shot 78. Was +1 on the front 9.

I'm going to enjoy this while I can, because I'm pretty sure I'll be back at 90+ soon enough.

Congratulations. It took me 6 months to break 80 a second time but once the dam is broken, good things can happen.

[Swooshgolf]

Congrats! It feels good. Keep it up.

[David in FL]

Congratulations!  That's a big milestone.....one that a lot of people never reach!

[Crusher47]

Congrats!

[boogielicious]

Excellent!

[dak4n6]

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

Previous low score was 88 (just once, consistently low-mid 90's.

Decided to walk 18 and holy shit I shot 78. Was +1 on the front 9.

I'm going to enjoy this while I can, because I'm pretty sure I'll be back at 90+ soon enough.

Wait, your previous low was 88 and your index is 10?

Anyhoo, delete the bolded from your brain and replace it with, "I'm pretty sure I can do it again!"

[SoundandFury]

Good question.  I put my last 5 scores into three different calculators online (93, 88, 88, 89, 78) and each one spat out a 7 hc.  I adjusted to 10 bc I do not play like a single digit.  Anyone have any idea how those things work?

[dak4n6]

A real HC calculator takes the best 10 out of your last 20 scores and plugs them into a formula that takes into account the slope and rating of the courses on which you got those scores. The exact formula that is used is a deep secret that is protected by the Free Masons. Don't ask or you will draw attention to yourself..

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

A real HC calculator takes the best 10 out of your last 20 scores and plugs them into a formula that takes into account the slope and rating of the courses on which you got those scores. The exact formula that is used is a deep secret that is protected by the Free Masons. Don't ask or you will draw attention to yourself..

That's backwards.  All 20 scores get plugged into said top secret formula separately, then the best 10 "differentials" out of those are collected and run through another top secret formula to give you your index.

Top secret in the sense that you can only find and use them if you have heard of the internet and understand pre-algebra. ;)

However, when you do your google search, you will be tracked.

EDIT:  Oh, and soundandfury, the reason why you are a 7 is because since you only gave it 5 scores, its only counting 1.  As you add more scores it will keep choosing more (1 of 5, 2 of 8, etc, etc) until you get to 10 of 20.

[SoundandFury]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

That's backwards.  All 20 scores get plugged into said top secret formula separately, then the best 10 "differentials" out of those are collected and run through another top secret formula to give you your index.

Top secret in the sense that you can only find and use them if you have heard of the internet and understand pre-algebra. ;)

However, when you do your google search, you will be tracked.

EDIT:  Oh, and soundandfury, the reason why you are a 7 is because since you only gave it 5 scores, its only counting 1.  As you add more scores it will keep choosing more (1 of 5, 2 of 8, etc, etc) until you get to 10 of 20.

Gotcha. So does that mean the calculation is based more on potential than average scores?

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

Gotcha. So does that mean the calculation is based more on potential than average scores?

Exactly.  Unless your game is on a severe uptick you will only shoot your handicap a little less than 1/4 of the time.

[Parker0065]

Congrats on breaking 80, I call it the first giant hurdle in golf!

[bjwestner]

Congrats on breaking 80!  That's a big deal.  I have not done it yet myself but I hope to do it this year (and hopefully many times).

I'm realizing that breaking 80 really depends a lot on the course.  For example, my best score ever is an 84 that I shot on an easy municipal course (less than 6k yards and slope of just 118 with rating of 66.9).  When I shot that 84, I had 77 going into the final par 4 18th hole but I triple bogeyed it and ended up with an 84.....I've been able to shoot 86 several times at my country club which is much tougher and also a par 72 compared to a par 70 at the muni.  The club also plays 6333 yards, 70.6 rating, 128 slope.  Thus the 86 came out to a 13.8 rating while that 84 that I shot was a 15.6 rating.

Regardless, breaking 80 is still breaking 80, even if it's done on a par 70 municipal course.  The more I think about it though the more I would rather shoot 81 at my country club than shoot a 79 a that muni because the 81 would be much better in helping lower my hc.

Congrats again!

BTW - you can keep track of your hc for free at many sites online.  Before I had an official handicap I used www.fairwayfiles.com to track my stats and my unofficial handicap.

[bjwestner]

correction:  the 84 that I shot was a 16.4 differential.  I've shot 89 a number of times at my country club and it's a 16.5 differential.  A five shot difference between what I consider to be an "average" difficulty municipal course (compared to most other courses) and my club which is challenging but by no means killer (70.6 rating, 128 slope).

[sebsmash]

I use myscorecard.com , it's only a small yearly fee and you can keep track of all your scores, handicap and get an official handicap from them.