Does your handicap matter to you?

[clubchamp98]

I'm not even that impressed by scratch. Once someone is into a proper +HC, that is impressive.

Jeez tough school!

 

[clubchamp98]

I look at other team sports at amateur level and see a parallel. Many hockey and rugby clubs will run 4 teams, some more. Those in the 4ths will be a mixture of kids starting out, those who are poor but love the game, and those on the way down due to injury or age but enjoy the game still. Some 1st teamers can't handle dropping through the teams and just give up, take up golf on the whole . Others take it on the chin, they take the change mentally and accept it. As long as everyone playing enjoys it it doesn't matter but I do understand that those who have been good may struggle to accept a decline.

Yes but in team sport your mates can carry you a bit.
But golf your on your own and all bad shots are YOUR fault.
It’s a mentality thing you can or can’t accept your not as good as you used to be.
I have accepted it but very reluctantly as I have had to stop practicing now ( wrist) .
But my short game has come on so scoring well still.

 

[Ethan]

I'm not even that impressed by scratch. Once someone is into a proper +HC, that is impressive.

I knew a guy when we were at medical school and he was a scratch or +1 player. Beautiful golfer, great iron player and tidy short game.

We lost contact after graduation. About 20 years later, I saw his name in a golf magazine after he did well in the NI Amateur. I contacted him and he told me he was still playing off +1, was now a Consultant Surgeon in a busy teaching hospital, full time with lots of overtime and on-call, so played no more than once a week, sometimes not for several weeks, with maybe one range session in between. Hard to maintain that sort of handicap with that sort of career.

 

[BiMGuy]

Jeez tough school!

Indeed. I used to play with a group where I was the worst player. I was off 5 or 6. Most were between scratch and 2. There wasn't a huge difference in my ability and most of theirs. Mostly my putting was that of an 18 hc. And a couple of them hit the ball miles.

But there was 32lads off a +hc. +4 and +2. There was a marked difference in their ability and the rest of us. Watching them was impressive.

I get that if someone is used to playing with a group who are all teens or higher hc, then seeing someone off scratch could be seen as impressive.

 

[BiMGuy]

I knew a guy when we were at medical school and he was a scratch or +1 player. Beautiful golfer, great iron player and tidy short game.

We lost contact after graduation. About 20 years later, I saw his name in a golf magazine after he did well in the NI Amateur. I contacted him and he told me he was still playing off +1, was now a Consultant Surgeon in a busy teaching hospital, full time with lots of overtime and on-call, so played no more than once a week, sometimes not for several weeks, with maybe one range session in between. Hard to maintain that sort of handicap with that sort of career.

That is impressive.

 

[HampshireHog]

Not bothered by it, I am interested in it and like to track what I need to do to maintain it or go lower.

Finished 2019 on 12.6, dropping into Cat 3 for the first time in years, which I knew was to high.
Currently at my lowest which is better than I think I am.

I just try to play well, and if if the handicap is high I might win.

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

I care about my own handicap but don’t care about anyone else’s, I am also aware that no one else cares about my own handicap.

As long as I feel it vaguely reflects my current ability, then I am happy. I went from 6.2 to 8.5 without a single cut once and it was awful, turning up and playing comps knowing I wouldn’t break 30 points/Nett 80.

 

[badgergm]

Indeed. I used to play with a group where I was the worst player. I was off 5 or 6. Most were between scratch and 2. There wasn't a huge difference in my ability and most of theirs. Mostly my putting was that of an 18 hc. And a couple of them hit the ball miles.

But there was 32lads off a +hc. +4 and +2. There was a marked difference in their ability and the rest of us. Watching them was impressive.

I get that if someone is used to playing with a group who are all teens or higher hc, then seeing someone off scratch could be seen as impressive.

Sorry, but I’m not having it there is a bigger difference between +2 and scratch than between scratch and 6. I,be never seen or played with a scratch golfer that I wouldn’t describe as impressive.

 

[DeanoMK]

I'm trying to think of anyone who's ever been impressed by a golf handicap of over scratch

Amateur sport outside elite level is just a hobby

You need to start playing with some sh** golfers then ?

Not saying they're impressed that I'm lower than them, it's just nice to be in that position.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Yes it's important to me, as it's a barometer of how well I can play. Getting to Cat' 1 was a very proud day for me.

When out on my own I can hit every shot in the book and hole putts for fun. But it's similar to marking your own answers when studying for an exam, you are a little too lenient on yourself.

How you score with a card in your hand, in competition golf, is the true measure of your golf, and that should be reflected in your handicap. Even if the new system is a little weird and inconsistent.

 

[BiMGuy]

Sorry, but I’m not having it there is a bigger difference between +2 and scratch than between scratch and 6. I,be never seen or played with a scratch golfer that I wouldn’t describe as impressive.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Most scratch golfers I've played with got there playing in weekly club comps. The + lads got there playing in regional comps and would shoot 66/67 round my old course without too much effort.

Very rarely, if ever did the scratch or low single figure players go that low. Yes they would shoot par regularly or one under. But had to concentrate hard to do so.

 

[wjemather]

I'm trying to think of anyone who's ever been impressed by a golf handicap of over scratch

Amateur sport outside elite level is just a hobby

I've had enough people comment on my golf & handicap over the years to know this simply isn't true. Most people are very impressed with anything in low single figures.

While it's very nice to be able to play in some top events, even at elite level, golf is still "just a hobby" for the vast majority.

 

[clubchamp98]

I knew a guy when we were at medical school and he was a scratch or +1 player. Beautiful golfer, great iron player and tidy short game.

We lost contact after graduation. About 20 years later, I saw his name in a golf magazine after he did well in the NI Amateur. I contacted him and he told me he was still playing off +1, was now a Consultant Surgeon in a busy teaching hospital, full time with lots of overtime and on-call, so played no more than once a week, sometimes not for several weeks, with maybe one range session in between. Hard to maintain that sort of handicap with that sort of career.

That’s very impressive.
I have met guys like him just a natural talent for the game.

 

[Ethan]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Most scratch golfers I've played with got there playing in weekly club comps. The + lads got there playing in regional comps and would shoot 66/67 round my old course without too much effort.

Very rarely, if ever did the scratch or low single figure players go that low. Yes they would shoot par regularly or one under. But had to concentrate hard to do so.

I agree. The plus handicaps are exponentially more demanding. Getting from mid single figures to one lower is much easier than getting from plus something to one better. Most decent club golfers have obvious areas for potential improvement and can usually cover them with other aspects of their play. The plus 2 or 3 guy has very little scope to do the same. A mate (a different one) was a good scratch player, but complained that he had a 2 way miss. Not by much, though. At the start of a season a few years back, he didn't play for a month, but had lessons and practiced to work a reliable gentle fade into his game. Two months later he was off +2 and stayed there for some years.

This divide between very good and very very good players used to be described as a difference between someone who was great at their local club and somebody who had a game that could travel.

 

[Deleted member 25172]

It does, as I want to be as good a golfer I can be. With that I find it, rightly or not, to be very embarrassing when you play with others and you cannot remotely play to the standard of which your stated handicap says you should be able to, even though I know that when we sit with a pint afterwards no one could care less.

Current handicap index is 5.0, which has gone up from 3.5 this year. I've most definitely reached my natural ability of how good I can be without doing some serious practice regime, so I'm at a cross road really as I know myself, and if I don't see any improvement I'm gonna lose interest in the game eventually - no matter how many people tell me it's just a hobby and that I should just enjoy it.

 

[patricks148]

Used to matter, I was an achievement to get to cat 1, some even lied about it too to be the big I am.

But now I could care less, even though I'm at my lowest of 2.6, but with the new system I could be off 9 in a few weeks

 

[AAC]

I have never really been obsessed with my H/C but always tried to (and still do) get it lower, however I now have arthritis, scoliosis and cataracts in both eyes so my H/C is going in the wrong direction. I have never been more than an 18h/c and have always said I will stop when I am offered more than 1 shot per hole as for me that is not something any man should accept, just my own view of course.

 

[Curls]

It matters to me and no one else. Most people don’t know, care or understand what it is, only golfers and we’re a bunch of lunatics. I always want to be lower but accept that without putting in a lot more effort that probably won’t happen. So for now, happy with whatever it is as long as I’m still picked for the scratch team. If I went up too much for that I’d have been dropped regardless on obviously poor performance week in, week out, the captain wouldn’t need to see my number to know.

 

[Jamesbrown]

Used to be, used to mean everything, sweated at the very thought of a cut, sleepless nights waiting to see how much I’d get cut, counting the rounds down hoping to trigger an ESR, Wouldn’t play in comps if I wasn’t hitting well, practiced all the time.
I reached my goal of single figures and that was that. Back up to 11 and I care not no more, I seldom look for lost balls, I don’t get upset, I don’t get down. If I’m playing badly I’ll just pick up and play hole by hole.
Go for the scenery and banter and couldn’t care if I was off 28.

 

[louise_a]

Yes it does, I still believe I can improve and my handicap is a good indication og that, once I peak and start going up then it will probably matter less.