Starting handicap

[bkuehn1952]

16 minutes ago, PabloMoorzio said:

... 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?

So 114 for 18 holes.  Assume 4 strokes deducted for ESC. 110.  Assume course rating of 70.0 and a slope of 125.  That is a 36.1 differential.  Let's assume your scores fall within 5 shots either way.  So you would have 20 differentials running from 41.1 to 31.1  Dropping that into the formula results in around 32.2

As @RandallT said, don't get too hung up on the handicap.  I recommend signing up if/when you join a club and see what happens.

[PabloMoorzio]

30 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

So 114 for 18 holes.  Assume 4 strokes deducted for ESC. 110.  Assume course rating of 70.0 and a slope of 125.  That is a 36.1 differential.  Let's assume your scores fall within 5 shots either way.  So you would have 20 differentials running from 41.1 to 31.1  Dropping that into the formula results in around 32.2

As @RandallT said, don't get too hung up on the handicap.  I recommend signing up if/when you join a club and see what happens.

Cheers dude for more smart help & advice.

I am deffo going to take this on board and play a few rounds on the "tight" 18 holer par 3 course I have nearby, concentrating on what RandallT suggested, i.e. focus on just getting to the green in 1 - 2 shots tops then trying to get the little sphere in that massive hole in no more than 2-3 tries with the putter. Once I'm achieving this regularly, then I'll look at seeing about getting a more formal target :D

Thanks chaps/chapesses, very much appreciated.

[shanksalot]

I needed a handicap to play in my first tournament so I posted enough to get it and at the time it was 16 something that was about 50 years ago so I don't remember all of it. After the tournament was over the director advised me my handicap was not legal since most of the cards I turned in were not signed by my playing partners. At the time I did not know I needed a signature on the card. So I guess that handicap is not my first when I started. 

[Golfingdad]

10 hours 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?

Yeah, I think a lot of people, myself included, played a lot of golf before actually deciding it was necessary to acquire an official handicap.  My first handicap (late 90's I think) was a 12 or so.  Then I stopped keeping one and only started back up in about 2012, where I was a 10.

But, if I started keeping one when I first started playing the game, where breaking 50 for 9 holes was a feat, it would have probably been close to the max. (36 or something) :/

[jbishop15]

The first time I remember having a handicap was around around 2008-2010, so that I could play in my club's big tournament, the Red & White. I think I was a fifteen, then. 

[Wanzo]

40 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

Yeah, I think a lot of people, myself included, played a lot of golf before actually deciding it was necessary to acquire an official handicap.  My first handicap (late 90's I think) was a 12 or so.  Then I stopped keeping one and only started back up in about 2012, where I was a 10.

But, if I started keeping one when I first started playing the game, where breaking 50 for 9 holes was a feat, it would have probably been close to the max. (36 or something) :/

I have a similar story. Never had a handicap when I was a kid learning, then never bothered to get one and wasn't a member anywhere for a while. Played golf sparingly the last 15 years now am back and hope to play enough rounds this spring to establish a real handicap. My first official handicap was about 3 yrs ago and was about a 10. Haven't played much since then and didn't have a membership so am starting again now. 

[Hazsa]

18.

I played as a junior at a club for probably 5-6 years without even really knowing what a handicap was. I would just go out and have a laugh with my mates. I gradually became interested in playing in comps, representing the club in fixtures etc.

I'd echo a few of the others on here and basically forget about a handicap for now. Just go out on the course and enjoy it, hit more than one ball (if it's quiet), start hitting a few fairways and GIR's before monitoring your score that closely.

 

[BuckeyeNut]

I had already played for a few years before I registered my first official GHIN HC...............  With that said, my first HC was 12.  

[No Mulligans]

First Handicap, 27

[saevel25]

First time I registered for GHIN I started with a handicap around 8-ish.

[graham57]

I play in Germany, where the only rounds which count towards an official handicap are competition rounds (there are some exceptions, where you can go round with a marker outside of a competition, but only on days designated as such by the handicap committee). Before you can even go on the course, you need to pass a practical test and an exam on rules and etiquette. The practical test has done be done with the club pro, and (based on three shots over par on every hole, you have to score at least twelve points in nine holes (i.e. get three over par on at least six holes - or other equivalent combinations). When you have passed both tests, you receive your first official handicap, which is 54 for everyone. By playing in competitions, you then bring that down by the normal Stableford system (my son went from 54 to 33 in his first competition).

Just this year the European Golf Union changed the rules on handicaps. The most significant change is that, once you get below 26.5, you never go back up beyond that (up to last year that ceiling was 36).

I believe that the maximum official/starting handicap in the UK is 28 for men and perhaps 36 for women. A lot of courses in Europe demand a maximum handicap in order to play there (I think the Old Course in St- Andrews currently demands 21.5 or better).

[MacDutch]

I believe most people here started register their handicap after playing a lot of golf. I started after my first weekend playing golf,  7 years ago.

First three months, it was an excel hcp made by myself. Went from somewhere in the 50 range to 36. That was the moment I got my official EGA hcp of 36.0.

At the end of the first year I was at 22.9. 

Edited January 8, 2017 by MacDutch

[Marty2019]

This is something I've been wondering about since I registered here.  The index I entered in my profile is not official.  I used an online handicap calculator, I entered the course rating of the course I almost always play, I entered my last few rounds, and came up with a handicap.  I just wanted to express, here is how I play.   At the time, every round I played was in the mid to low 80s. 

I don't keep up with it at all, and it is definitely unofficial. 

So, now that I've thought about it, I'm going to delete my "index" from my profile. 

Edited January 8, 2017 by Marty2019

[paininthenuts]

On 1/2/2017 at 10:49 PM, PabloMoorzio said:

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)?

Aaahhh, handicaps, the most controversial subject in the country, other than immigration of course, LOL. My first handicap was given to me after handing in cards, which was 28. At the time this was the highest handicap a man in the UK could have. However, there are members of my club who simply told the pro/handicap secretary what their average round was and were given handicaps. The problem here is that human beings conveniently dismiss the bad experiences on the course, and the best rounds become the average. I now play off of 21 and I am a better golfer than most golfers in my club who play off of 18. On the flip side of the coin I have often played against players who play off of a higher handicap than me and are much better players.