Is my handicap a lie?

[hipcheck4u]

My current handicap index is 15.5. When I hear about players with a similar handicap on the Golf Channel or at the course, they seem to not have trouble breaking 100 and even 90 on occasion. I have never shot better than 111 (net 106) on a par 72 course. I have shot as low as 79 on a par 57.

Does the fact that I have only posted 18 rounds mean that I should expect the handicap to go up in the near future (assuming I keep playing the same)? Does it make a difference that half of my posted rounds were played at the aforementioned par 57 course, or that the same course is labelled as my home course? When people talk about what they shot, are they typically giving their raw score or their net score? Should I shut up now??

[Fourputt]

My current handicap index is 15.5. When I hear about players with a similar handicap on the Golf Channel or at the course, they seem to not have trouble breaking 100 and even 90 on occasion. I have never shot better than 111 (net 106) on a par 72 course. I have shot as low as 79 on a par 57.

Ok... I'm confused. There are several inconsistencies in your post. First, if you have never broken 100, there is no possible way that your handicap index is 15.5. Something is very wrong there. My index is 12.2 and I shoot consistently in the mid 80's. Most players with an 18 handicap will shoot in the mid 90's regularly (on a par 72 course). Your index should be closer to 36. I don't know where you are tracking it at, but something isn't right there. Also, if you shot 111, and your real handicap was 15, then your net would be 96, not 106. I don't know the rating of the course you played, so the actual course handicap for your index might be a couple of strokes higher or than that, but the net still won't be 106. And since with your scoring average at somewhere above 111, and assuming that your real index is going to be closer to 36, then your real net for that round would be more like 75. Lastly, I'm certain that when the members post about their rounds they are talking gross scores unless they actually say that it's net. Yesterday I shot 82, and that was the real score on the card... that nets out to 69 with my course handicap of 13.

[iacas]

Does it make a difference that half of my posted rounds were played at the aforementioned par 57 course, or that the same course is labelled as my home course?

If you post an 87 on a par 57 course, that's usually about a 36 handicap. You don't take your 87 and subtract 72 from it - you subtract the course rating and do a little other adjustment.

I'm not sure many executive courses (the par 57... which would be 15 par 3s and three par 4s) have a true course rating or slope or even if they count for your handicap. It sounds to me as if you're posting something incorrectly. Read http://thesandtrap.com/rules/whats_your_handicap

[Jeepthrills]

Is that a 9 hole handicap? When I post my 9 hole rounds it does show the index for those rounds based on 9 until they are combined. However it still shows my actual handicap overall. Where does the 15.5 show up? Is comming from your handicapping comitee or sevice?

[Dent]

i have this problem too. Im an 8.1 handicap, and i enter all my scores, but ive only broken 80 4 times this year, i constantly shoot 80-82. Is my handicap wrong too? Front 9 i can easily shoot anywhere from 38-40 on a Par 36. So when i think of it i can easily break 80. But i see guys on this froum that have near an 8 posting constand 70's.

[lamebums]

i have this problem too. Im an 8.1 handicap, and i enter all my scores, but ive only broken 80 4 times this year, i constantly shoot 80-82. Is my handicap wrong too? Front 9 i can easily shoot anywhere from 38-40 on a Par 36. So when i think of it i can easily break 80. But i see guys on this froum that have near an 8 posting constand 70's.

Depends on what the slope rating is. For example, the courses I usually play are 134 and 138 - if I shoot an 85, 13 over par, it's really closer to a 10 handicap. Could be either way - if a course rated 100 and I shot an 85, it would be more like 17 handicap.

And if you figure your nine hole rounds in (like I do), then I think the handicap will be a bit lower. Just in general, it seems you'll do better with nine hole rounds than with 18 as a hole (because it's easier to hold it together). My lowest 18 hole round is 82, but I figured my handicap to be 10.9 just last night. Tons of 9 holers, and a lot of low scores there (37's, 39's, that sort of thing).

[CG031]

I honestly have no idea what my handicap is, I really gotta just get an official one. I've always wondered. I asked my dad and he said I am about a 12 or 13, but I think that may be too generous. I consistently shoot in the low to mid 80's, a bad day for me now is 87-90. I just consider myself a 16, so whatever. On a course that was 72.5 rating (idk the slope lol dont remember) I shot a 84..so, I think that's playing to like a 10 or something, not positive?)

So, mine is probably wrong but who knows.

[Dent]

Ya i barely have any 9 hole rounds in my handicap tracker and my course slope rating is 122. So what can this tell me when i shoot constant 79-82?

[lamebums]

Ya i barely have any 9 hole rounds in my handicap tracker and my course slope rating is 122. So what can this tell me when i shoot constant 79-82?

122/113 is 1.08 so divide that by the difference between your score and par, and then multiply it by .96.

If you shot an 82 then it would be 10/1.08 = 9.26 x .96 = 8.89. If you shot a 79 then it would be 7/1.08 = 6.48 x .96 = 6.22. I think I got that correct... just remember to average in the best 10 of your last 20 rounds.

[hipcheck4u]

Thanks to all for the input. I had a feeling that 15.5 was way better than me. I think that I may need to dump my current handicap service (ushandicap.com) and start over somewhere else. Does anyone out there use the golfsmith.com handicap service?

[Dent]

Thanks to all for the input. I had a feeling that 15.5 was way better than me. I think that I may need to dump my current handicap service (ushandicap.com) and start over somewhere else. Does anyone out there use the golfsmith.com handicap service?

try www.greenskeeper.org its great! it tracks other stats too.

[iacas]

122/113 is 1.08 so divide that by the difference between your score and par, and then multiply it by .96.

That's only true if the course rating is 72.0 on the dot. Make sure you factor the course rating in (not just the slope).

[Dent]

That's only true if the course rating is 72.0 on the dot. Make sure you factor the course rating in (not just the slope).

but... if i have a correct handicap tracker it should be doing that for me correctly right? So what i have is correct?

[cbe_golfer]

I use Fairwayfiles.com and enter my scores from the right tees. I let it do the math for me and hope it is right. I have three scores below 90 and it tells me my handicap is 14.4 right now. I read my handicap as my current best potential score in a competition in order to be fair to the better player who plays with me.

[tji]

but... if i have a correct handicap tracker it should be doing that for me correctly right? So what i have is correct?

Depends on your handicap tracker, and if it as your course rating and slope rating built-in. Par is not used in handicap calculations. Only course ratings and slope ratings. There is a course near where I live that is par 71, and has a slope rating around 66. Most courses won't have such an extreme range between the two, but obviously it can make a big difference. Also, if you want to get an exact handicap calculation, you'll need to follow the USGA rules for rounding/truncating numbers, and you'll want to do the 96% adjustment after rounding. (If you're just doing it for informational purposes, these things are unimportant, and should only cause errors in the 1/10 to 1/5 of a point range. If you want to double-check your official rating, you'll want to strictly follow the formula). It's probably not worth messing with the details, with so many good options for calculating it for you. Just pick one of the programs or www sites that do it for you. I just went through the exercise of figuring it out in making my own Mac OS X handicap calculator program: http://divottracker.googlepages.com

[$2 Nassau]

If you are using a free handicap service, never just enter a 9 hole score and have it counted...those services do some funky things with 9 hole scores. When I used Yahoo, you could check off a box so that your 9 hole score isn't used, basically it just sits there "idle" until you can combine it. When I would forget to check that box I would immediately know because my handicap would suddenly drop like 3 strokes....even after entering a crappy 9 hole score. They don't recognize the 9 hole scores correctly....that could be screwing up your cap.

[$2 Nassau]

My current handicap index is 15.5. When I hear about players with a similar handicap on the Golf Channel or at the course, they seem to not have trouble breaking 100 and even 90 on occasion. I have never shot better than 111 (net 106) on a par 72 course. I have shot as low as 79 on a par 57.

I'm 99% sure your handicap is wrong, unless you are playing US Open type of courses with extremely high ratings and slopes.

My handicap is higher than yours and I don't have a problem breaking 100....the course I usually play is par 72, 72.1 rating and 129 slope.

[stevestrike]

Yeah, I've had problems with the 9-hole scores too. For example, I can shoot a 42 on 9 holes-occasionally. But I will ALWAYS follow that up with a 59 on the back 9! :(

In any case, I can't shot an 84, but the 9-hole tracking would take those low 9's and put them together like I was a much better player than I am. My index is currently a 24, and I still have trouble breaking 100... but with the 9-hole scores, it put me much lower than that.