First handicap shocker

[FuzzyDuck]

I've been playing around 18 months and have steadily been getting better, of late my rounds have approaching the 100 mark and last week I managed a 92 at Ferndown. My regular partner is also without a handicap and so for unofficial rounds with mates etc we assume we are 28'ers.

I've been submitting the occasional card and so was sort of expecting that when I did get a official handicap it would be 28. Imagine my surprise today when the handicap sec told me based on my last card of 103 I was now officially a 23 handicap!

I couldn't understand it until I looked at the round via Game Golf, then I realised it was a very tidy round with a birdie, a some pars and single and double bogies. There were also a few really bad holes (+4 & +5s) which had pushed my score up to 103, but of course these were capped at +2 for handicap calculations, resulting in the 23.

Not sure I will be competitive at 23!

 

[Crow]

I've been playing around 18 months and have steadily been getting better, of late my rounds have approaching the 100 mark and last week I managed a 92 at Ferndown. My regular partner is also without a handicap and so for unofficial rounds with mates etc we assume we are 28'ers.

I've been submitting the occasional card and so was sort of expecting that when I did get a official handicap it would be 28. Imagine my surprise today when the handicap sec told me based on my last card of 103 I was now officially a 23 handicap!

I couldn't understand it until I looked at the round via Game Golf, then I realised it was a very tidy round with a birdie, a some pars and single and double bogies. There were also a few really bad holes (+4 & +5s) which had pushed my score up to 103, but of course these were capped at +2 for handicap calculations, resulting in the 23.

Not sure I will be competitive at 23!

Maybe not straight away but you soon will be, well done! :thup:

 

[rob_golf1]

I had a situation where I had 2 shockers when playing for handicap cards where my handicap came out at 23 also. I then played off this 23 in a golf day at work and shot -8 handicap!!! Wow!

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Playing on Saturday in a golf society at Epsom, seems I'm still allowed to my society handicap of 28 for the rest of the year (unless I win which would cause an automatic cut).

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Playing on Saturday in a golf society at Epsom, seems I'm still allowed to my society handicap of 28 for the rest of the year (unless I win which would cause an automatic cut).

Epsom will play very, very short. There's no need to get the driver out on most holes and it's important to keep it in play off the tee. With the small, very difficult greens it's important to get in play and give yourself the best chance to hit the green. No bunkers until the last. You could be dangerous off that mark

 

[xcore]

Got my first handicap today aswell after putting in afew mid 90s cards which where then corrected, ended up with a 20hc, which I'm happy with as I get two shots on my 2 least favourite holes!

 

[Face breaker]

Recently aquired my first 'HC' and am now officially off 21, I've been playing for about 3yrs and was always quoted as around the 18 mark but I had a knock about with another club member the other evening and played to about 12...

I know where the '21hc' came from as I was struggling to get off the T's with anything but a 18* hybrid which as you can imagine left me lagging behind a fair bit especially on windy days, the remedy was a new (to me) 3 wood, a 'callaway XR' with a project-X reg shaft, now hit it straight off the 'T' probably 95% of the time as opposed to 9 out of every 10 shots being a whopping great slice, now a happy goofer and hope to see my 'HC' drop to about a 14/15...

 

[shivas irons]

There was a fella at my club years ago who was new to golf who gained his first handicap which was 26,in his first medal he shot an 84 for a -13!,obviously nobody caught him and there were suggestions he was a bandit but people who knew him who included the pro who had been giving him lessons verified it was a genuine improvement in his game.In under a year he was down to 4 and just missed out becoming the club champion on a couple of occasions,due to other commitments he quit the game after some 2- 3 years of taking the game up oo:.

 

[jim8flog]

Two errors made by newcomers to golf

1. They think their handicap is assessed against par when it is assessed against the Standard Scratch Score and CSS after a comp.

2. Any score more than the 2 over par for men, 3 over par for ladies, is treated as 2/3 over par for initial handicap assessment purposes.

 

[Orikoru]

I got given 24 handicap off a card of 93 at our place. But now that I look back at the card (I have a photo of it), I was fairly consistent that day - I only got one triple bogey (on the first hole as well) and everything else was double or better, so unlike yours, I didn't have many big blobbed holes to be discounted. It still seems a tad harsh though to be 23 handicap if you usually go round in 100. I got four +0.1s and two buffers before finally getting a cut at the last comp I played a couple of weeks ago (which was nigh-on six months since I got given the handicap).

 

[Orikoru]

There was a fella at my club years ago who was new to golf who gained his first handicap which was 26,in his first medal he shot an 84 for a -13!,obviously nobody caught him and there were suggestions he was a bandit but people who knew him who included the pro who had been giving him lessons verified it was a genuine improvement in his game.In under a year he was down to 4 and just missed out becoming the club champion on a couple of occasions,due to other commitments he quit the game after some 2- 3 years of taking the game up oo:.

That's mental, it's like he compacted 40 years of golfing timeline into just 3 years. :rofl:

 

[Kaizer_Soze]

When I started playing a few years ago after a 15 year break I put in my 3 cards - 90, 92 and an 80 which included a triple, was completely gobsmacked when I was given a handicap of 7 !!!!!!

Was never competitive off that mark, due to injury I had to take another 3 year break, I re-joined at a different club and informed them of my previous (which was now 9.8 playing 10) they asked me to submit 3 cards due to handicap becoming elapsed, can't remember what they were but not too great, they took the view that 14.4 would be a good start point and it took me a year or so to be competitive at that level, been back for 3 and a bit years now and on the push for single figure again.

To the OP it won't take long but you'll soon be looking to get that to sub 20

 

[Face breaker]

A little tip I was given by the 'club secretary' when I was completing cards for my handicap was 'don't set your sights to low' it's better to go in high and work yer way down which gives you a more true handicap reading whereas going in low can mean lots and lots of hard and soul destroying work to maintain it and can lead to all sorts of frustration when/should you start to go up...

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Two errors made by newcomers to golf
1. They think their handicap is assessed against par when it is assessed against the Standard Scratch Score and CSS after a comp.

I've never actually played in any of the competitions, I was just putting in "For handicap" cards after doing a round with my regular playing partner.

 

[IanM]

I've never actually played in any of the competitions, I was just putting in "For handicap" cards after doing a round with my regular playing partner.

So did you have several "big numbers" that would be adjusted a mentioned earlier... and did the handicap sec hear about the 92 at Ferndown?

 

[FuzzyDuck]

A few "big numbers" on most rounds as a rule, interspersed with decent holes. The Ferndown round was completely off the radar!

 

[shivas irons]

That's mental, it's like he compacted 40 years of golfing timeline into just 3 years. :rofl:

Absolutely,it was some years back now but its still brought up now and again at the club,to think of the money ive spent on lessons and clubs in the last 26 years and still hover around 12 HCP...

 

[jim8flog]

I've never actually played in any of the competitions, I was just putting in "For handicap" cards after doing a round with my regular playing partner.

You would not have been able to play in competitions because you did not have a handicap. The comment about CSS is in there for future reference.

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Epsom will play very, very short. There's no need to get the driver out on most holes and it's important to keep it in play off the tee. With the small, very difficult greens it's important to get in play and give yourself the best chance to hit the green. No bunkers until the last. You could be dangerous off that mark

You were correct in every respect...apart from me being dangerous that is! Toughest greens I've ever played. The 16th is a lovely hole, I was pleased to get a par on it. The two short par 3's next to each other did for me, got a total of 1 point off them.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You were correct in every respect...apart from me being dangerous that is! Toughest greens I've ever played. The 16th is a lovely hole, I was pleased to get a par on it. The two short par 3's next to each other did for me, got a total of 1 point off them.

Tricky holes. Those greens are real elephant graveyards. I've actually putted on the first and the ball has come back almost to my feet!