HC - You have a choice but what would you take..

[Oddsocks]

Given the current form and results a pro asked me last week what i wanted from my lessons, im not sure if my response was the correct one.

my answer..... My aim for the year was to get to 10, but now just to shoot buffer regular would be a bonus,

but it got me thinking along with some of the posts that are on here (take JO and hes 26 pointers)... how many of us have a HC we cant play to.

 

[garyinderry]

11 is perfect for me atm. im one comp away from going to 12 but i know myself i am a good round with a card is my hand from another cut. just need to hole some putts and make a few less mistakes. its coming!

so far this season its been 1 cut, a couple of 0.1's and a few buffers. i think that makes me about right atm!

....

i voted for
the lowest i could play to on a regular basis - as it would frustrate me not to play anywhere near handicap. over 30 and im reasonably happy.

 

[KeefG]

I also voted 'the lowest i could play to on a regular basis', i'm currently waiting for my new handicap from my new club (cards i put in were 17 over, 17 over & 14 over). I'd love to get a lower handicap than my brother who is off 11.7 purely for bragging rights, but i'd hate to be off something I couldnt play too.....that would be demoralising!

 

[Birchy]

I picked the lowest possible even if i cant play to it regular. I would strive to reach that level and meet somewhere in the middle i imagine.

 

[ADB]

Lowest possible for me, isn't that what we all strive for?

 

[Region3]

I think the answer should be...

As low as it needs to be so that I have to play very well to play to it.

It shouldn't be impossible, but it also shouldn't be easy to play to on a regular basis or just by having an average game.

I voted for low as possible, as I think it's the lesser of 2 evils.

 

[Oddsocks]

some interesting views here, my past thoughts were as low as possible because as stated thats what we all aim at, but its apparent that have a HC you cannot play to is demoralising.

Ok i know this is due to faults that im trying to work through, but the facts are shooting 28/29/30 weekly doesnt bost for any smiles at all. id rather be back to 14 and playing well, than be off my current and be hacking with 30 points...

IMHO having a hc you cant play too is like claiming your man tackle is bigger than it is.... or your car is faster than it is... if your game doesnt support that HC then its by the by....

 

[Alex1975]

I put "the lowest possible even if i cant play to it." but that is not really want I want, I want the lowest possible and to play to it and that is what I will get!!!

 

[swanny32]

Last year when I was given my handicap of 19 when I first joined my club, I would have told you that it was a bit OTT and the likelihood of me competing in a Sunday morning comp would never happen. I have now been cut 2 shots and had my first competition win a few weeks ago. I feel confident that I can play to my handicap some of the time but always look to score in the 30's. I'd love to have a single figure handicap but it would hurt me to not be able to play to it just like it did when I was struggling to play to 19 a year ago.

 

[Rooter]

Lowest you can play to, while I don't have an official one, I track all my rounds online, recently been cut over by over 5 and the last 3 rounds I have played have been utter dog do.... A lot of it is obviously psychological, but my purple patch is over, and I need to probably ignore the overinflated figures you get from an online tracker.

 

[louise_a]

I would like the lowest my play deserves.

 

[garyinderry]

the way you get cut i would say it should never be impossible to play to your new HC. it might be difficult but never impossible. you were good enough to get the cut so in theory so should only just be below your new HC.

 

[Imurg]

There's no such thing as a handicap you can't play to.

If you play off 28 and you shoot 26 over CSS then you'll drop to 27.2
Your handicap is now 27 but you played to a 26 last time so you can play better than your handicap.

To have a handicap, you must have played better than that number - so you're able to play to it.
If there's a reason you can't - swing, clubs, body, mind etc etc then sort it and you'll be scoring again.

I want to be as low as possible - even if I only play to it once a year.

 

[pbrown7582]

its got to be the lowest possible for me even if it is only 1 good round you know you can do it rather than having a higher handicap playing poorly and still scoring level.

 

[garyinderry]

i just cant see someone at least not be in the ballpark of the handcap they have. a few shots off it. there should be noone that has a handicap they cant even get near to playing. if they have then they have the wrong handicap imo.

i was given 18 at the start. took me about a year to be able to get 36 points off that. since then i have dropped throught the shots and its taken me a little time to play to the new handicap and then beat it but im never constantly nowhere near the new handicap. consistancy is a big part of my game aswell. i never have god awful days.driving can be off but worst ill do is double bogey usually.

 

[duncan mackie]

I would hate to choose - I always choose wrong.

I will stick with the one the system gives me which, at my level, should mean I get to play close to it or better about half the time.

Normally

except on Wed, or medals, or big comps, or matches ... whoops, better practice again

 

[Deleted member 1147]

As low as I can go.
That's why I play golf, and it's my aim to keep trying to go lower.
As Imurg says - whatever handicap you get you must have scored (under stableford scoring) better than that at some time.

 

[DaveM]

I've put, I don't care/play for fun. As thats what I do. The handicap will look after its self. Possibly the best way to get it down, as your not beating yourself up every two minutes. Putting undue pressure on yourself. Which will only make your game worse. If your not enjoying it why play. Go fishing or something.

 

[JustOne]

(take JO and hes 26 pointers)... how many of us have a HC we cant play to.

Oi! :angry:


................ Name?

My standard of play literally fell apart when I damaged my wrist tendon and now a round of golf feels more like a guessing game... I've never really cared about my h/cap, just played to hit the ball in the hole the best I could on the day and take it from there. So I'm going to vote for C..... but without the fun part :angry:

 

[JustOne]

there should be noone that has a handicap they cant even get near to playing. if they have then they have the wrong handicap imo....

But how often? I could play off 12 and still not win a stableford comp.... but then I could shoot under par and come in with something ridiculous like 50pts! which I don't think would be well received.... it just is what it is..... provided you put in your cards and don't try to dodge/manipulate it then there's no need to even discuss it really (wouldn't that be something!)

If you have a purple patch and get 3 decent cuts it might take you a year or so to go back up even if you play like a numpty for the rest of the year.