Help needed with new Handicap

[super hans]

Hi Guys, new to the Forum and you all seem quite a friendly bunch so thought I might ask for some advice about my situation.

Let me set the scene first.

I'm 41 years old, have played golf for about the last 30 of them. Never been a member of a private club until my cousin convinced me to join his this year. I've never had an official handicap, but I figured I was about a 18 -21 handicapper.

We are fortunate in that we have two courses at our club. Big course is a par 70, wee one is par 68. Big course is fairly difficult and unforgiving, wee course is flat and spacious. I recently played in the first 3 medals to get my official handicap. My scores were 106 & 91 on the par 70 course, and an 84 on the par 68 course.

Now my 106 was a disaster, it was my first official medal and I was as nervous as hell. Loads of lost balls/out of bounds and duff shots. Followed that up with my 84 on the wee course which was probably one of the rounds of my life, every hole I just felt so confident I even got a birdie on the second hardest hole. I then had a 91 on the big course, which was pretty much an average round for me.

A few days later I was astonished when the club handicapper allocated me a handicap of 15.0 (astonished in the sense that I never had myself pegged in that kind of company). I'm well chuffed with my handicap and had a bit of pride in telling people i'm a 15 handicapper.

Now here's the rub, I just played my first medal with my new handicap and scored 93 (nett 78) on the par 68 course. I had two bad holes and the rest were average. I finished 53rd of 70, and I've gone up to 15.1

I'm not a bounty hunter, but I don't think I'm ever going to have a sniff of winning anything with the handicap I've been given. At 41 years old and off 15.1, I can only see my handicap going up instead of down, which is pretty demoralising.

I realise its only my first medal and anything could happen if I play another wonder round, so maybe I'm being a wee bit negative too soon.

So I'm asking if there's any advice you wisened veterans of club golfers could give me as I'm not sure if its the done thing to tell the handicapper "I should be off 18 instead of 15 etc etc" without sounding like I'm trying to scoop all the awards

cheers in advance

 

[MadAdey]

You could try telling him you should be off 18 but he would not listen anyway as you put in those cards for handicap sp that is what he has just handicapped you off. When working out your handicap they would have adjusted your total score by rounding down every hole to a double bogey at worst, they then compare that score against SSS not the par of the course.

Another thing also is that you will not find much sympathy on here regarding not being bale to win anything as most golfers see their handicap as the greatest prize. So moaning that you want your handicap higher to win competitions would put you into that dreaded 'BANDIT' category of golfer.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Your h'cap is usually based on your lowest score of the 3 cards against the SSS of the course, not the par. I can only assume that the SSS of the shorter course is 69? That aside, you say your average on the par 70 course is 91, what is your best score? Your h'cap is supposed to represent your best golf, not your average golf so if you have shot mid 80s round the long course a few times, then 15 would sound about right.

 

[Foxholer]

Congu Handicap is not what you are expected to shoot every time you play. At that level, it's what you are expected to get within a few shots of about 60% of the time, beat about 5-10% and be 4-loads higher the rest.

So if, as a newbie to handicapping, you think you play to 18, then 15 or 16 is about the level I would expect you to be. I know it seems a bit peculiar, but check out the other guys who are at that level too. Nice incentive to improve too!

It's possible that the H-Sec will re-assess you after a few comps too.

 

[Alex1975]

I feel your pain!

 

[DCB]

It's early in the year yet. Give it a couple of months and the course will play a lot better and you'll play your own golf a lot better. Take your time and remember, you need to learn to walk before you can run

Try to cut out the bad or silly shots and practice your putting and it'll all change very quickly.

 

[super hans]

You could try telling him you should be off 18 but he would not listen anyway as you put in those cards for handicap sp that is what he has just handicapped you off. When working out your handicap they would have adjusted your total score by rounding down every hole to a double bogey at worst, they then compare that score against SSS not the par of the course.

Another thing also is that you will not find much sympathy on here regarding not being bale to win anything as most golfers see their handicap as the greatest prize. So moaning that you want your handicap higher to win competitions would put you into that dreaded 'BANDIT' category of golfer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of being off 15, but if I played you tomorrow i would need the round of my life again to look like a 15 handicapper

Your h'cap is usually based on your lowest score of the 3 cards against the SSS of the course, not the par. I can only assume that the SSS of the shorter course is 69? That aside, you say your average on the par 70 course is 91, what is your best score? Your h'cap is supposed to represent your best golf, not your average golf so if you have shot mid 80s round the long course a few times, then 15 would sound about right.

I wasn't aware of that - i thought it was your average from your 3 rounds with your score adjusted to double bogey at worst

 

[chrisd]

I'm not a bounty hunter, but I don't think I'm ever going to have a sniff of winning anything with the handicap I've been given. At 41 years old and off 15.1, I can only see my handicap going up instead of down, which is pretty demoralising.

Hi and welcome to the forum!

There are loads of golfers on here who, like myself, hadn't ever hit a golf ball at 41 and got down to a single figure handicap. I'm in no way a natural golfer, started at 46, had several big doses of surgery and still trying to get to belw 10 handicap. It's about accepting the handicap and getting on with improving from there. You have 20 + years of time to improve!

 

[super hans]

Congu Handicap is not what you are expected to shoot every time you play. At that level, it's what you are expected to get within a few shots of about 60% of the time, beat about 5-10% and be 4-loads higher the rest.

So if, as a newbie to handicapping, you think you play to 18, then 15 or 16 is about the level I would expect you to be. I know it seems a bit peculiar, but check out the other guys who are at that level too. Nice incentive to improve too!

It's possible that the H-Sec will re-assess you after a few comps too.

Cheers foxholer, I'm sure my handicap will find its correct level eventually after enough medals

 

[Hobbit]

If you've played for 30 yrs I'd expect you to be able to knock it round quite reasonably. The handicap you've been given is pretty much based on a proven formula so if I was you I wouldn't worry too much about it. Once you've got used to the course and playing in comps you'll find you're fairly competitive with other golfers.

As for the age thing... I've been playing for 46yrs now and I don't expect my handicap will change much in the next few years.

 

[MadAdey]

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of being off 15, but if I played you tomorrow i would need the round of my life again to look like a 15 handicapper

I understand where you are coming from and I was not having a go at you. I can imagine after all those years playing not being a member of a club has not given you chance to win anything. Most players when they start are at a club so they get plenty of chance to win things as there golf improves over the years, where as you are at a good level already so maybe never going to have the luxury of the improving golfer rounds. Give it time to get use to your handicap and I am sure you will be fine. Remember there is a buffer of 3 shots when it comes to competitions, so as long as you are knocking it round inside that then you are a solid 15 handicapper and with time you may even start to play below it.

 

[Imurg]

My first handicap was 15.
It took me a couple of comps before I made a buffer and then started coming down.
You've played to 15 so you can do it again
It won't happen every week though!

And you only get accepted on here if you bring biscuits!!:thup:

 

[Shiny]

As I have read recently, mid handicappers should only be playing to their handicap about 4 times in 10 if my memory serves me correctly. There was a very good thread on this a couple of weeks ago if you can find it.

 

[Alex1975]

As I have read recently, mid handicappers should only be playing to their handicap about 4 times in 10 if my memory serves me correctly. There was a very good thread on this a couple of weeks ago if you can find it.

Any idea of the post title?

 

[Keyser Soze]

Any idea of the post title?

Thats the only trouble with the forum, the threads from a few days/weeks ago drop off really quickly, never to be seen again.

 

[woody69]

Thats the only trouble with the forum, the threads from a few days/weeks ago drop off really quickly, never to be seen again.

Just update the search filter at the bottom to show the threads.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Just update the search filter at the bottom to show the threads.

Oh, ok, thanks for that

 

[Shiny]

It was something to do with handicaps. I seem to remember a post on it split players down by cat 1, 2, 3, 4 etc and how often they should play to their handicaps. I will do some digging.

Found it:

http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk/sh...expect-to-know-it-round-in&highlight=handicap

 

[duncan mackie]

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of being off 15, but if I played you tomorrow i would need the round of my life again to look like a 15 handicapper...

possibly one of the biggest issues here is your perception of what a 15 handicapper looks like!

generally, people who don't have CONGU handicaps but play a bit of golf end up handicapping themselves to the par of the course they play most often, and base the handicap on their normal scoring ie their perception of their handicap is the figure that most often results in 36 points from the tees they use. Your use of the PAR of the two courses you have available is associated with that - the actual relevant figure is the SSS of the tees you played from.

if you played me tomorrow you might not need the round of your life to win because there's the small matter of me having to play the round of my life too (well a good one anyway).

from your wider comments on your play you clearly have the potential to play even better than 15, but the best thing will be to get on with your golf and enjoy the playing; meet new people, get involved in club matches, and if you feel it appropriate have a few lessons.

 

[pbrown7582]

believe you are a 15 handicappetr as your cards have shown you can play to that level and you will, think you are a 24 and in your case you will.
Try to forget its a medal when you play next relax play your game and see what you score. you will learn to play comps after a while.

good luck.