Starting handicap

[PabloMoorzio]

What was your handicap when you first registered it?

I have just made my resolution on 2017 goals thread and it's to get a handicap then start work on shaving it so was wondering what is a starters handicap?

Spoke to a chap at driving range today who started on 19 handicap 3 years ago, and still there, but 19 sounded a great handicap to start with to me(in fact I don't mind admitting I was a bit in awe of that number)?

Edited January 2, 2017 by PabloMoorzio

[JonMA1]

I started to track mine in 2016 and ended with 23.3. Mine is not legitimate because most of the rounds I entered were solo.

This is what I liked about it...

1. Playing strictly by the rules required clarification on some I was a little unsure of.

2. A bad round was easier to accept.

3. It provided a baseline to track progress (hopefully) of subsequent seasons.

 

Good luck @PabloMoorzio and welcome to the site.

[iacas]

I think I was about a 7-8 when I first registered.

[Hardspoon]

27.0. 

I registered when I started a MySwing thread here on TST. 

 

[Denny Bang Bang]

My first official revision was NH, haha.  I remember being confused, until I read how it worked.  I think my first actual numeric revision (two weeks later) was a 22 or 23.  That was probably 8 or 9 years ago.

[alleztom]

After my first 3 rounds (how it is measured in Australia) I was a 27.

[woodzie264]

I started with a 16 three or so years ago keeping it unofficially on my own spreadsheets down to a 14. Officially, I only started last year at a 13.x 

[David in FL]

I don't know exactly, but likely within a point or 2 of where I am now.  Somewhere in the 5-8 range.

[Pretzel]

My first handicap was about a 27.

[SirDustinLongJohnson]

This season was my third (season in Michigan:~April-October), and I started tracking handicap at the beginning, including a couple rounds I happened to remember from the year before. I think my handicap was around 26 when I first got the required number of rounds in. By the end of the season it was down to 20.8. Keep in mind it isn't official, but I'm very strict with myself about following the rules, holing out, etc., so I think it's pretty accurate.

Edited January 3, 2017 by SirDustinLongJohnson
Grammar corrections and additions

[boogielicious]

When I first started calculating it I think it was around 20. When I got my first official HC, it was in the 12-13 range.

[uitar9]

I started tracking it informally two years ago and its 22.?.

I track every shot, play by the rules etc.

In 2009 I shot a +160. I stopped counting.

Last year I managed to break 80 once.

I don't play in tournaments so for me its only another method to track progress or lack of. 

This year I'm hoping to not exceed 100 (gotta play smarter) . If everything else stays the same I'd be ecstatic with that. 

[jsgolfer]

My first was a 22.

[GolfLug]

I think 19 back in early 2014 when I started recording on USHandicap.

[PabloMoorzio]

Flipping 'eck. Some small numbers knocking around, I was assuming everyone must start out with full handicap, or near full, but many look like already could knock their way around a course to a fairly decent level before acquiring their handicap. Out of curiosity, :), going around a nine hole course in 57 strokes(think that's fairly honest but unsure what penalty is incurred for flying a couple of balls OOB with tee shot on one particurlarly nasty hole :D), If this was a true level of a started over a few rounds, what sort of handicap would that result in, I understand this wouldn't be scientific but must surely be a way to estimate initial handicap for someone starting?

[bkuehn1952]

When I started playing regularly, handicaps were almost exclusively a feature of private clubs. So I played many years without a handicap.  Then public courses started offering handicaps and I signed up.  The first one was around 16 (no decimal points back then).

[RandallT]

1 minute ago, PabloMoorzio said:

Flipping 'eck. Some small numbers knocking around, I was assuming everyone must start out with full handicap, or near full, but many look like already could knock their way around a course to a fairly decent level before acquiring their handicap. Out of curiosity, :), going around a nine hole course in 57 strokes(think that's fairly honest but unsure what penalty is incurred for flying a couple of balls OOB with tee shot on one particurlarly nasty hole :D), If this was a true level of a started over a few rounds, what sort of handicap would that result in, I understand this wouldn't be scientific but must surely be a way to estimate initial handicap for someone starting?

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the actual handicap number for now. 

I'd start playing golf by simply trying to get to the green in 1 more stroke than regulation (on that par 3 course, that is 2 shots. For par 4/5 holes, that would be 3/4 shots). Then once putting, try to hole out in 2 or 3 putts. 

And start learning the rules. How OB works is critical. Learn how red and yellow hazards work for penalty strokes and drops. Plus unplayable lies. Then your scores start to get more "honest" (and I'm not implying dishonesty at all).

Until then, I think you can keep track of progress on your own with a simple score average or something. Or an average number over par. That's good enough, and until you know the rules and can advance the ball reliably, you won't really want to compete I would think.  

But I don't think many of us would've started tracking a handicap while we were in the beginner phase that you are describing. Well, I know I wouldn't have. I'd just focus on the basic measures like scoring average, and get to work on my swing.

Back of envelope. 57 on par 36 course/9 hole course. +21. That's +42 over 18. Probably a handicap in 30's, after "ESC" is factored in. There's a maximum you can take on any hole called "ESC," so it's hard to know without seeing a scorecard.

[PabloMoorzio]

1 minute ago, RandallT said:

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the actual handicap number for now. 

I'd start playing golf by simply trying to get to the green in 1 more stroke than regulation (on that par 3 course, that is 2 shots. For par 4/5 holes, that would be 3/4 shots). Then once putting, try to hole out in 2 or 3 putts. 

And start learning the rules. How OB works is critical. Learn how red and yellow hazards work for penalty strokes and drops. Plus unplayable lies. Then your scores start to get more "honest" (and I'm not implying dishonesty at all).

Until then, I think you can keep track of progress on your own with a simple score average or something. Or an average number over par. That's good enough, and until you know the rules and can advance the ball reliably, you won't really want to compete I would think.  

But I don't think many of us would've started tracking a handicap while we were in the beginner phase that you are describing. Well, I know I wouldn't have. I'd just focus on the basic measures like scoring average, and get to work on my swing.

Back of envelope. 57 on par 36 course/9 hole course. +21. That's +42 over 18. Probably a handicap in 30's, after "ESC" is factored in. There's a maximum you can take on any hole called "ESC," so it's hard to know without seeing a scorecard.

Perfect answer, cheers for the steer pal.