End of season handicap results/ stories/ excuses.

[OnTour]

Think you won the challenge did you ever think before 2017 that maybe you might have been a BANDIT ?

let somebody else win

started 8.3 pretty average season reaching 8.6 wondering why I bothered and then 3 rounds from four late Sept, Early Oct down to 6.0 - confidence is a wonderful thing, grab it with both hands when your firing.

I'll make a full thread about my achievements after next weeks final comp of the year, but very brief.

October 2016 said I wanted this 2017 to be my year - Working all winter at the driving range on everything!

Stood on 1st Tee on April 1st with a 21.2 handicap.

5 trophy wins and the Clock comp (20 comps over the year, scores are given points - Net level par = 5 points every shot under par = 2 points, shot over par =-1 point until you score 0 points. No minus points.) win under my belt I type this as a 7.7 handicap golfer!

I also finished 2nd on count back in the club championship handicap, and numerous other 2nds in weekly medal and stablefords!

So go back to October 2016 and say YES this was my year!

 

[Fish]

Started on 18, went up to 19, dropped down to 17, back up to 18 then dropped to 16 and finished on 16.5 so just at 17 but with plenty in the tank to play with 😉

No excuses, chipped away and got down but expected better to be honest but getting off the tee with any degree of consistency has been my biggest issue.

Hope to work hard over the winter on that but an impending operation on my shoulder will decide that outcome.

 

[Billysboots]

Started at 12.3 now 14.6 23 straight 0.1s not great , handicap is the highest in 15 years , think i suffer from LOFT

As a result of so many consecutive 0.1’s how have you avoided getting additional full shots back as part of the continuous handicap review which CONGU guidelines say clubs should employ?

My understanding is that seven 0.1’s on the spin, without buffering at any stage, should result in a full shot back in addition to the 0.1’s. My maths isn’t great, but you appear to have only gone up in total by the 23 0.1’s.

There are a number of members at our club, myself included, who have been caught up in this so far this year. It should be a continuous report, generated by your club’s handicap software. The only way to reset the clock and avoid it is to buffer or get a cut, at which point the process of accumulating 0.1’s starts again.

If the review was being rigidly enforced you would have gone up by more than 2.3 over the course of the year. To put it in perspective, my total of 13 0.1’s has cost me the same total handicap increase as you, because I got an additional full shot back after getting seven 0.1’s on the bounce early in the season.

The whole process is designed, as far as I’m aware, to make the annual review less onerous. I would be very surprised if you don’t get at least one additional shot back in the annual review, because your club don’t appear to have addressed the difference between your handicap and actual current playing standard.

 

[HughJars]

Started 5.4, hit 6.4, down to 5.2, ended 5.9.

Worst putting year in a long time, tried everything, and yet also had my lowest medal score on my home course ever. Strange season.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I have one qualifier left so will save the report until then but <spoiler alert> I need a good score or my record of finishing every year on a lower handicap than I started will come to an end!

Well it's been a really frustrating year for me on the course. I've been carrying a bit of an injury which has curtailed things a bit. We moved house and had to renovate the new place plus my newish job means I don't have as easy access to a range as before (I used to go at lunchtime). So I've played a bit less than usual and barely practiced at all and it's been obvious in my game. I've no consistency at the moment - can play some nice stuff but far too many loose shots costing me.

Handicap wise, I only managed one cut all year and was fortunate it was a good one with 0.6 coming off. So I did touch 2.1, which is my lowest ever but after starting on 2.3 and finishing 2.5 it's the first year my handicap has ever finished higher than it started.

All the pluses have been in matchplay, where you can get away with the odd bad hole in a way you can't in a medal. I won my club championship, played in the county team that won our divisional championship and then lost out by the narrowest of margins at the Scottish final. My partner and I had a great run all year in the daily mail foursomes and ended up going to the grand finals and winning the blooming thing, unlikely as that seems!

Hopefully things will be better next year, we're settled in the house (which is handy for the range) and I'm hoping to move to a course five minutes from home so won't have many excuses for not practising. I've got a game at Kingsbarns coming up and then will take a few weeks off to see if the injury settles down.

 

[BubbaP]

Last season I signed up for the inter club matches partly as I recalled enjoying them in the past at previous club and as a distraction from "chasing the handicap". Play most of my best golf in these matches but my number of qualifiers suffered (often a 1 game a weekend situation) and hcap went wrong way. Almost did not sign up this year due to this, but glad I did.
Started 12.1, ended 10.7.
Big cut in a board comp which I won by 6 shots with a 3 over CSS score.
Last week we gained promotion in the inter club league with me winning the individual order of merit, winning 6 from 7. Was 3rd last year but only played in 5.
Overall pretty happy and seeing a change to possibly move the hcap in the correct direction next year (with some kit purchases of course!)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Well it's been a really frustrating year for me on the course. I've been carrying a bit of an injury which has curtailed things a bit. We moved house and had to renovate the new place plus my newish job means I don't have as easy access to a range as before (I used to go at lunchtime). So I've played a bit less than usual and barely practiced at all and it's been obvious in my game. I've no consistency at the moment - can play some nice stuff but far too many loose shots costing me.

Handicap wise, I only managed one cut all year and was fortunate it was a good one with 0.6 coming off. So I did touch 2.1, which is my lowest ever but after starting on 2.3 and finishing 2.5 it's the first year my handicap has ever finished higher than it started.

All the pluses have been in matchplay, where you can get away with the odd bad hole in a way you can't in a medal. I won my club championship, played in the county team that won our divisional championship and then lost out by the narrowest of margins at the Scottish final. My partner and I had a great run all year in the daily mail foursomes and ended up going to the grand finals and winning the blooming thing, unlikely as that seems!

Hopefully things will be better next year, we're settled in the house (which is handy for the range) and I'm hoping to move to a course five minutes from home so won't have many excuses for not practising. I've got a game at Kingsbarns coming up and then will take a few weeks off to see if the injury settles down.

I would class your season as a success. Handicap down. A NATIONAL CHAMPION (and well deserved) and all with distractions of injury and a house move. Perhaps less practice has helped (and maybe a salutary lesson for many). Hope the injury heals, you get a solid winter or work behind you and you can have a big 2018 and head towards that 1 handicap mark

 

[IanG]

Looking back after our last qualifier for the year it has been a very enjoyable season. I've played a lot, on a lot of good and varied courses and with a many different people. I did relatively well in a few matchplay competitions without actually winning one. Handicap started at 11.0, peaked at 11.5 on two occasions for one competition each time and a few cuts at the tail end of the season sees me on 10.5 - so still playing off 11! I haven't practiced as much this year as in previous years due to playing so much so maybe that has impacted on any real improvements.

There have been some really good signs of what is possible on a good day ( e.g. playing the front 9 in 1 under par and shooting 11 pars in a row) in a medal. I just haven't strung that together with a benign rest of the round to make a real impact. Playing with better players drives home again and again that their bad shots are not as bad as mine and their powers of recovery are much more dependable.

A pleasing finale in the last medal round on Saturday was to roll in a long birdie putt on 17 to complete my set of birdies on every hole. I'd been waiting for that one for a while.

Overall an A for fun and a B- for handicap - which is the correct way round.

 

[Garush34]

A few weeks ago I would have said it was a disappointing year golf wise. Played very badly in comps all year and could not get near the buffer zone. Only good thing was I played well in the match play comps, getting the number 1 seed and coming running up in division 4 of the club championships and getting to the last 8 in the knockout comp in my first year of playing both.

A new putter and the 36 hole final sees me hit buffer in the first round, and just miss by a couple shots the second round. But had played much better overall and happy with where my game is. Then my home open comes around, just looking to enjoy the day. End up shooting 87 gross, net 67 for a 1.2 cut and 9th place over all, 7th in the handicap and a prize. Very happy with how I played and have seemed to turn a corner at the end of the season.

Started the season at 18.9 and finished at 18.7. Not the biggest drop and not what I wanted but to be lower at the end of a frustrating year is a positive and one I am happy with. The good form has seemed to carry over into the winter, playing a bounce game and a different course on Saturday I managed to shoot 84 for a new personal best. Hopefully it will continue.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Best season for 25+ years.

> Handicap down from 10.0 to 8.1 (via 10.3 early on)
> Semi-final of Scratch K/O
> Overall 9th Gross and 4th Nett in Club Championship (over two rounds)
> Winner August Medal
> Seven Top Ten finishes out of 13 qualifying rounds since start June
> And I have pretty much stopped s***king the ball (Major Achievement)

Let's see how the Winter Comps go as I try and keep the progress going.

 

[OnTour]

another 0.2 off Tuesday in the winter series and then point one back Thirsday (tight hamstring didn't help) 5.9 with a few more WS to go before the December cut off. I'd like to be 5 again before 2018

 

[BubbaP]

Best season for 25+ years.

> Handicap down from 10.0 to 8.1 (via 10.3 early on)
> .

Well done SILH. Pleased the high volume forum posting hasn't affected the golf. Great season and a few on here would like those cuts.

 

[williamalex1]

Best season for 25+ years.

> Handicap down from 10.0 to 8.1 (via 10.3 early on)
> Semi-final of Scratch K/O
> Overall 9th Gross and 4th Nett in Club Championship (over two rounds)
> Winner August Medal
> Seven Top Ten finishes out of 13 qualifying rounds since start June
> And I have pretty much stopped s***king the ball (Major Achievement)

Let's see how the Winter Comps go as I try and keep the progress going.

Well done Hugh, I'm looking forward to getting my extra strokes .:thup:

 

[Jimaroid]

Frustrating year for me as I haven't been able to play with regularity. Started 2017 at 11.2, I've managed only 6 qualifying rounds and I end the year on 10.0 exactly via a season peak of 9.7. So yet another year goes by when I'm still not at single figures. It's hugely frustrating because I know I can play so much better (and so much worse!) than my handicap that it's become embarrassing.

Oh well, 2018 here I come...

 

[bladeplayer]

Possibly 1 or 2 qualifiers left this weekend , standing .1 lower than start of year
not as planned but approx half the golf has been scratch cup & stroke play events ,
made some changes to swing etc after big dip mid season..

Jury is out on season still

 

[clubchamp98]

Just won playoff for Captains prize shot 69/72 and 74 in playoff.
First major for seven years .
Turned 60 last month but finished on 6.0 down .1 over season
Any season you win a major is a good one but played some frustrating golf this year .
Good game bad game all year but very happy now.
Just got to sort my speech out now.

 

[virtuocity]

A completely average year for me again.

Finishing my degree and getting a FT job is definitely going to impact on my expectations! Despite going from 13 to 14, I have managed a wee cut today to get back to 13.

It is clear looking at my handicap history that I have now plateaued. I get scab the ball from tee to close to the green without too much trouble (although occasionally throw in a disaster), but it's obvious that I need to chip better to lower my handicap.

Trouble is, I have very little time now, and I have no inclination to spend it in the practice area. So, I need to become comfortable shooting in the mid to high 80s, or even early 90s, with the odd 78-82 score thrown in there once or twice a season to keep me around 13.