@club members - how did you adjust to a big handicap cut?

[Bamberdele2.0]

Had a day in the sun during a comp and have been cut 3 shots. It’s by far the lowest I’ve been and although it’s a very nice feeling to have hit such a milestone (breaking 80 in comp on slope 134) I am now worrying about how it will effect me and how I will enjoy my golf moving forward.

I was fairly competitive before this weekend - playing at the same handicap for around a year - and now feel I will struggle to compete for however long that green round takes to drop off (probably 6 months due to only putting in comp cards)

My question is aimed at those who have been in similar shoes in the past.

How did it affect your game psychologically? And if there was a big change how did you get past it.

How long was it until you played to your new handicap?

It almost feels as though I will be quite miserable on the course for a while so any help appreciated

 

[GG26]

I’ve been cut 1.4 in the past ten days and that’s 2 shots at my home course.

It won’t affect the way I play or my enjoyment, I will continue to try and get the best score I can and if I get in the prizes that’s a bonus.

 

[Orikoru]

Just accept that you won't win a comp for a long while and enjoy the game. I think most of us have an idea of what sort of gross score we consider to be good or bad, irrespective of how many Stableford points that earns you. I do get too hung up on handicap myself, I'm trying really hard to just forget about it and let it be whatever it is.

 

[Bamberdele2.0]

I’ve been cut 1.4 in the past ten days and that’s 2 shots at my home course.

It won’t affect the way I play or my enjoyment, I will continue to try and get the best score I can and if I get in the prizes that’s a bonus.

2.5 for me this weekend. Huge loss on my track as I lose a shot on massive scoring holes. Having to now birdie them to get the same seems outrageous lol

Just accept that you won't win a comp for a long while and enjoy the game. I think most of us have an idea of what sort of gross score we consider to be good or bad, irrespective of how many Stableford points that earns you. I do get too hung up on handicap myself, I'm trying really hard to just forget about it and let it be whatever it is.

It’s not the comps I’m bothered about, it’s more the ‘social’ golf with my friends that will hurt me the most.

Almost feels as if I will be dead wood for the remainder of this year

 

[HPIMG]

When I first got to single figures last year I struggled for about maybe 10 games. I was wondering if I was good enough to stay there but soon enough I felt comfortable playing to that handicap and by winter I felt a bit of a bandit. Same thing happened start of this season got cut down to 5 pretty fast and started to think am I good enough for this handicap but just recently I’m starting to feel comfortable at this number it’s just less room for error as you get lower.

 

[Orikoru]

2.5 for me this weekend. Huge loss on my track as I lose a shot on massive scoring holes. Having to now birdie them to get the same seems outrageous lol



It’s not the comps I’m bothered about, it’s more the ‘social’ golf with my friends that will hurt me the most.

Almost feels as if I will be dead wood for the remainder of this year

It's only a couple of shots difference. Surely your mates are not all scoring 34+ points every week? If they are then they're the bandits and it's not your problem!

Golf is the only game that seems to continue to get harder the better you get, it's just something you have to get used to really.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If you can reasonably consistently play to your new handicap then no probs, but if you can’t and it’s exceptional then your handicap record 8 best will start to reflect that and your HI will drift back up to closer to where you are comfortable.

Meanwhile just play your game as the lower handicap golfer you now are…

 

[Springveldt]

Had a day in the sun during a comp and have been cut 3 shots. It’s by far the lowest I’ve been and although it’s a very nice feeling to have hit such a milestone (breaking 80 in comp on slope 134) I am now worrying about how it will effect me and how I will enjoy my golf moving forward.

I was fairly competitive before this weekend - playing at the same handicap for around a year - and now feel I will struggle to compete for however long that green round takes to drop off (probably 6 months due to only putting in comp cards)

My question is aimed at those who have been in similar shoes in the past.

How did it affect your game psychologically? And if there was a big change how did you get past it.

How long was it until you played to your new handicap?

It almost feels as though I will be quite miserable on the course for a while so any help appreciated

I was thrilled when I finally got my handicap to single figures and I even took a screenshot of the HowDidiDo handicap screen in case I never made it down to single figures again. A few years later and I'm now down to lowish single figures and each time I went lower it took me a couple of weeks to get rid of the thought that I wasn't good enough to play to the new handicap. Even now, I've got a bit of Imposter Syndrome with my handicap as I've never shot level par when I think I should have by now with my handicap.

I've also accepted that fact that I'll probably never win a big board comp on a Saturday but there is the odd time I could sneak a win in a Sunday or Wednesday sweep. To be honest, I don't really care about winning a comp anymore, as long as I can play to my handicap and continue to nudge it as low as possible I'm happy. For me, this game is about the challenge of getting your handicap as low as possible while getting a good walk with decent company.

 

[jim8flog]

When I stopped working I dropped from 16 to 8 over the course of 3 months (partly from personally requested cuts).

I was happy with the drop because it reflected my ability at the time and went on to go even lower.

One of the big things for me was it meant I was now in Division 1 which gave me a better chance of winning comps because most of the guys had handicaps to suit their ability.

One of the things I find harder now is the going up, gone from 11 to 14 this summer alone and it is learning to live with the jibes I get from some players, one thing that has not changed is that I am still a very good putter and will still single putt greens which is where I get some of the snidey comments.

 

[simsini]

I don't even think about a handicap when playing. Just keep hitting good shots and the score will take care of itself.

 

[IanMcC]

In the bad old days of UHS I was silly enough to win 2 comps in a row. I usually lived around the 9 or 10 handicap mark, but I was cut to 5.5. It would have been more, I'm told, but they could not cut someone into Category 1 in those days.
I worked away a bit then, and it took me 2 years to get back to where I belonged. It was a difficult time, as I knew I was turning out just to collect 0.1 on my handicap.

Nowadays this would not be an issue. 20 rounds and your handicap record is completely refreshed, so you have nothing to worry about.

 

[azazel]

Hit it, find it, hit it again. Add your shots up at the end of the round. If you're good enough to shoot in the 70s once then you're good enough to keep on doing it.

 

[Voyager EMH]

When WHS came in I was allocated 4.1
Since then I've been as low as 2.3 and as high as 5.3.
Currently 3.9 about halfway between lowest and highest.

In the previous system you had to play better-than-handicap to get a cut. Nowadays, most of the time you merely have to beat that 8th best score. Easier to do than before and bigger cuts can occur.
Similarly, the old +0.1 were small increases, but now some massive jump-ups can occur.
Such big ups-and-downs that I've experienced since WHS did not seem as common in the previous system. Then I was focussed on "playing to handicap" pretty much all of the time.
I'm moving away from that thinking these days and I just play as best I can.

If you are concerned about being competitive in social golf, just remember that those you are playing with could be currently in a position like you or the opposite.
Things will turn one way or the other over time. You will just have to make the best of it and enjoy some bragging rights, maybe, about being a big improver.

Maybe think about getting even lower.

 

[IanM]

Take absolutely no notice.

I bet there are very few holes (if any) where you think "I'll lay up here I get, a shot" .... and as said above, the "new" system is an average of your last 20. Under the old system, 3 shots was a lot of 0.1s

 

[The Fader]

You're overthinking the situation.

Just play as normal.

Nothing to say you can't shoot low again now the sub 80 barrier has been broken.

Enjoy your games. You and your golf are defined by so many other things rather than a single number.

 

[Bdill93]

When I dropped down from 14/15 to 11 last year it got tough for me.

In stroke play I can deal with it, it’s your total score minus handicap and that is what it is - but in stableford it led me to losing a shot on every par 3 at our course. My scores tumbled and I struggled to break 30 points.

I think the key is to not overthinking it. Keep putting scores in and your handicap will reflect your ability.

Out of interest - was this a committee cut or simply such a low score that your HI has dropped dramatically? If the committee are cutting you for 1 win it’s not very fair!

 

[Orikoru]

When I dropped down from 14/15 to 11 last year it got tough for me.

In stroke play I can deal with it, it’s your total score minus handicap and that is what it is - but in stableford it led me to losing a shot on every par 3 at our course. My scores tumbled and I struggled to break 30 points.

I think the key is to not overthinking it. Keep putting scores in and your handicap will reflect your ability.

Out of interest - was this a committee cut or simply such a low score that your HI has dropped dramatically? If the committee are cutting you for 1 win it’s not very fair!

This is one thing that bugged me. I started to dislike par 3s as they tended to be the holes where I don't get shots in Stableford. But I've had to change my mindset. I now try and ignore which shots I get where and just think of it as needing to get 4 pars plus another par for every double - and which holes you get them on doesn't particularly matter because it all adds up the same in the end. 1 point on a par 3 and 3 points somewhere else is no worse than getting 2 and 2.

 

[Bdill93]

This is one thing that bugged me. I started to dislike par 3s as they tended to be the holes where I don't get shots in Stableford. But I've had to change my mindset. I now try and ignore which shots I get where and just think of it as needing to get 4 pars plus another par for every double - and which holes you get them on doesn't particularly matter because it all adds up the same in the end. 1 point on a par 3 and 3 points somewhere else is no worse than getting 2 and 2.

And I agree… till I make a 5 and it hurts the soul.

 

[CountLippe]

When I dropped down from 14/15 to 11 last year it got tough for me.

In stroke play I can deal with it, it’s your total score minus handicap and that is what it is - but in stableford it led me to losing a shot on every par 3 at our course. My scores tumbled and I struggled to break 30 points.

I think the key is to not overthinking it. Keep putting scores in and your handicap will reflect your ability.

Out of interest - was this a committee cut or simply such a low score that your HI has dropped dramatically? If the committee are cutting you for 1 win it’s not very fair!

Interesting you talk about stableford points. What I found was that as I dropped from mid to low teens and into single figures, I stopped thinking about which holes I got shots on - your bound to have 1 pointers - and more onto targets like averaging 2.5 from within 10 yards of the green and being 50/50 hitting the green from within wedge distance.

 

[Billysboots]

Far too many people focus far too much on their handicap. Go out, play golf and enjoy it. Your handicap will be what your handicap will be.