Best score seems not good enough for my handicap

[ajwk1967]

I play off 10 on a complex of  4 nine hole loop where the average par is 71. Yet I have only broken 80 twice and neither time was recently. I got to 10 last month with an 81 against a CSS of 74 (which is a rare event). I keep an eye on results and there are golfers playing off 15/16/17 breaking 80 on a one off basis. If anyone has a similar experience but got over the hump as it were I would love to hear about it.

[Piz]

As I understand it; a golfer should not expect to match, or best, their "handicap" more than once every 4 to 5 rounds.  If someone were to routinely shoot lower than their index suggests; the index is not an accurate reflection of their ability.

[lastings]

I'm a 10.3 and I have never broken 80.   I've shot 80 5 times, but never 79. 

[GolfLug]

44 minutes ago, ajwk1967 said:

I play off 10 on a complex of  4 nine hole loop where the average par is 71. Yet I have only broken 80 twice and neither time was recently. I got to 10 last month with an 81 against a CSS of 74 (which is a rare event). I keep an eye on results and there are golfers playing off 15/16/17 breaking 80 on a one off basis. If anyone has a similar experience but got over the hump as it were I would love to hear about it.

Differential should not be confused with gross score. Your differential is what goes towards your handicap calculation which could be much better than the gross score on higher rated courses. 

e.g. you could shoot 80 on a par 72  = +8, but if the rating is higher than 72 for the tees you play on the course than your differential will be lower than 8 for that round. 

So yeah, if you only play a super tough par 72 course but if it rated high like 74 or 75 then you could technically never break 80 but be a lower than 8 handicap. Rare but happens. Being a 10 HCP even though breaking 80 only couple of times on a par 71 is not that far fetched (what is the course rating?).

It does say that you are pretty damn consistent though.   

Edited February 21, 2018 by GolfLug

[upndown21]

2 hours ago, lastings said:

I'm a 10.3 and I have never broken 80.   I've shot 80 5 times, but never 79. 

10.1 broke 80 one time (78).

[ajwk1967]

On ‎21‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 10:41 PM, GolfLug said:

Differential should not be confused with gross score. Your differential is what goes towards your handicap calculation which could be much better than the gross score on higher rated courses. 

e.g. you could shoot 80 on a par 72  = +8, but if the rating is higher than 72 for the tees you play on the course than your differential will be lower than 8 for that round. 

So yeah, if you only play a super tough par 72 course but if it rated high like 74 or 75 then you could technically never break 80 but be a lower than 8 handicap. Rare but happens. Being a 10 HCP even though breaking 80 only couple of times on a par 71 is not that far fetched (what is the course rating?).

It does say that you are pretty damn consistent though.   

We don't do the course rating thing here in the UK

 

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, ajwk1967 said:

We don't do the course rating thing here in the UK

You will be very soon.

 

[UlyssesSky]

12 hours ago, ajwk1967 said:

We don't do the course rating thing here in the UK

 

Course rating is the equivalant to your SSS.

Edited March 1, 2018 by UlyssesSky

[Fourputt]

I'm one of those outliers who used to break 80 3 or 4 times each season, but my index only dropped below 10 one time, for one month, and that was only 9.6.  Most of the time my index hovered in the 10-12 range with lots of scores of 82-84, yet I had those occasional rounds where everything was working, or the ball bounced just right.  My personal best is a one over par 73, it only happened once (in 1989), and it was also the first time I broke 80.  I shot 74-79 many times in the next 22 years, but was never consistent enough that my handicap fully reflected it. 

Typical of my game was a round where I was 3 under through 11 holes, then finished from there at bogey for the last 7 for a 76 total.  Still good play for a 12 cap, but I just never kept my game going on a consistent basis.  It's now been 7 years since I last broke 80, and to be honest, I don't even threaten any more.

[MiuraMan]

My answer to your post would be to look at what is holding you back from breaking 80. How many greens in regulation are you hitting? How many putts are you taking? If you miss the green how often do you get up and down for par? How many penalty strokes per round do you get?

When I was at a similar point in my golfing, I would tee off with the following goal for each nine - Hit three GIR; get up and down 3 out of 6 missed GIR; no penalty strokes; no three putts. Determine your weaknesses and play to your strengths.