Do you enter a score every single time you play?

[SoundandFury]

Specifically those who keep an official handicap, do you enter a score every time you play, regardless of circumstances?  For example, this morning my buddy over slept so I ended up playing with a couple other dudes from my club who were going out.  They're older guys so they were playing forward tees whereas I usually play blue or the tips.  I'm played from their tee box just for the sake of being social.  Didn't take the round seriously and pretty much tried a bunch of shots I never usually would (hit driver on super narrow holes, really aggressive flops, etc.).  Didn't really keep score and didn't enter anything.

[rkim291968]

Yes.

[Jim Ludden]

If your a golfer who considers himself a real golfer then you should post every round played. Doesn't matter that you played from another set of tees. You still have to swing the club

[Lihu]

  SoundandFury said:

Specifically those who keep an official handicap, do you enter a score every time you play, regardless of circumstances?  For example, this morning my buddy over slept so I ended up playing with a couple other dudes from my club who were going out.  They're older guys so they were playing forward tees whereas I usually play blue or the tips.  I'm played from their tee box just for the sake of being social.  Didn't take the round seriously and pretty much tried a bunch of shots I never usually would (hit driver on super narrow holes, really aggressive flops, etc.).  Didn't really keep score and didn't enter anything.

The circumstances do not change if you are playing a practice round or not. You need to declare it before the round starts.

To enter the round you just need to enter the score at the appropriate tees.

[rkim291968]

IMO, unless one enters every score, it's too tempting to enter "select" scores only, whether it is for vanity handicap or sandbagging purpose.

[slightlymad]

I always KEEP score, but not always ENTER score Here in Netherlands you declare before you start your round if this round will be a qualifying round. I usually play a qualifying round except when I mix things up like playing from front tees or other formats or whatever

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

I enter my score every time I play a round of golf. That is how the rules are stated. A basic premise of the USGA Handicap System is that a player will post every acceptable round.... 5-1c/1.

[Lihu]

  MyrtleBeachGolf said:

I enter my score every time I play a round of golf. That is how the rules are stated. A basic premise of the USGA Handicap System is that a player will post every acceptable round.... 5-1c/1.

Except practice rounds as declared by the rules.

[David in FL]

Yes

[GolfLug]

  Lihu said:

The circumstances do not change if you are playing a practice round or not. You need to declare it before the round starts.

To enter the round you just need to enter the score at the appropriate tees.

+1. I decide pre-round if I am going to post or not.

I do not post rounds for which I am specifically practicing a piece and know will skew my HCP. Also, I make sure I post the ESC number.

[SoundandFury]

So the general consensus is yes.  I get the idea, but to me that means you take every single round super serious.  I consider myself a serious golfer: I play a lot, I actively work at improving, and I play competitively a handful of times per year . . . but there is no way I take every single time I tee up a ball that seriously.  Sometimes I play with my wife (she would certainly not have as much fun if I treated it as a serious round), at least once a month I play a round with three clubs (even if I'm trying to score, how could that be reflective of the state of my game?); sometimes I play with dudes who play maybe 2x a year and those rounds involve a cooler of beer, music, and general shenanigans, etc.

In my opinion your handicap is meant to reflect your ability as a golfer, and in any of those situations above, I don't see how that would serve any purpose.

[pecos24]

  Lihu said:

The circumstances do not change if you are playing a practice round or not. You need to declare it before the round starts.

To enter the round you just need to enter the score at the appropriate tees.

  MyrtleBeachGolf said:

I enter my score every time I play a round of golf. That is how the rules are stated.

A basic premise of the USGA Handicap System is that a player will post every acceptable round.... 5-1c/1.

Thanks for posting...  I couldn't remember if you entered practice rounds our not.  Last week I played 9 for the express purpose of practicing my driver after a lesson. It went poorly and I was not going to enter my round.  But then I thought to myself if it had went well I would have wanted to enter it... so I entered the crappy round.  And will enter every round going forward.

[GolfLug]

  SoundandFury said:

So the general consensus is yes.  I get the idea, but to me that means you take every single round super serious.  I consider myself a serious golfer: I play a lot, I actively work at improving, and I play competitively a handful of times per year . . . but there is no way I take every single time I tee up a ball that seriously.  Sometimes I play with my wife (she would certainly not have as much fun if I treated it as a serious round), at least once a month I play a round with three clubs (even if I'm trying to score, how could that be reflective of the state of my game?); sometimes I play with dudes who play maybe 2x a year and those rounds involve a cooler of beer, music, and general shenanigans, etc.

In my opinion your handicap is meant to reflect your ability as a golfer, and in any of those situations above, I don't see how that would serve any purpose.

Just read this after my previous post. As I mentioned, you have to 'declare' a round for posting or not before you start. That's it. Reason/s not required. But you can't change your mind afterwards.

[Big C]

  Jim Ludden said:

If your a golfer who considers himself a real golfer then you should post every round played. Doesn't matter that you played from another set of tees. You still have to swing the club

I disagree. I play a bit of "client golf" for work and as a general rule, I do not post those rounds. During these rounds, most of my focus in on personal and business discussions. I still try my hardest to hit good shots, but my focus is not really on my score. If a client wants to swat a 4 footer for bogey back tome and say "that's good," I'm certainly not going to correct him.

[SoundandFury]

  GolfLug said:

Just read this after my previous post. As I mentioned, you have to 'declare' a round for posting or not before you start. That's it. Reason/s not required. But you can't change your mind afterwards.

That makes perfect sense to me.  I might not post every round, but I definitely don't decide based on the result after the fact.

[SoundandFury]

  Big C said:

I disagree. I play a bit of "client golf" for work and as a general rule, I do not post those rounds. During these rounds, most of my focus in on personal and business discussions. I still try my hardest to hit good shots, but my focus is not really on my score. If a client wants to swat a 4 footer for bogey back tome and say "that's good," I'm certainly not going to correct him.

Agreed, another good example.

[newtogolf]

I post every round that qualifies to be posted, i.e. I don't post rounds from scrambles, best balls or other formats where I do not solely play my ball from tee to green.  Our club has an excellent range and short game area so if I want to practice I use those, if I play on the course, I post the round.

[mvmac]

Yes.

My "practice" golf on the course tends to be 3-5 holes, hitting multiple balls.