How quickly should you get to 18 handicap after taking up the game?

[ger147]

Obviously lay up at card wreaker par 3s.

The system is malleable. Even on longer par 4s. You can take a club that will sneak you on the front of the green in reg as long as there is no bunker front protecting it. Try this if they are at the side and take the chance on a long two putt.

On that particular Par 3 there is nowhere to lay up...

But I digress...

At my level, strategy largely isn't the issue any more, it's still inconsistent striking i.e. strip a driver down the middle then half-chunk an iron from the fairway, chunk one off the tee, poor contact on a lag putt leading to a 3 putt etc.

The other issue I'm working on is the wedges when it's less than a full shot. Can get a nice crisp contact on a pitch shot, get the direction spot on but come up 25-30 feet short, same story for chips but still 7-10 feet away, so still lots of bogeys instead of pars.

 

[turkish]

GaryinDerry what you say has been something I've been thinking about as missing short is usually far better than missing pin high or long as that's where the hazards tend to be (on my course anyway)

It's just so hard not to really go for GIR though when you know you can do it; albeit relatively inconsistently

 

[garyinderry]

Even if u come up five yards shy if the green you can still get the putter on it to try and make a two putt nett bird.

Danger taken out and bogey at worst.

 

[garyinderry]

Surely there is some room to miss to the right Ger.

 

[UlyssesSky]

Depending on the Par 3's, you could end up with the same issues with trying to get Par 4's on longer Par 4's.

On 1 of the 2 courses we have at our place, we have 1 Par 3 at nigh on 200 yards off the whites with lots of trouble left of the green, and another that is 175 off the whites with trouble short left, short right, left of the green and long - a real card wrecker.

Or, you could not play the whites until you get better or at least don't have trouble hitting the par 3s in regulation?

I remember a golf club's website (can't remember which one) that suggested playing the yellows until you get down to a handicap off about 10 and only playing the back tees if you play off 4 or better...

 

[turkish]

Or, you could not play the whites until you get better or at least don't have trouble hitting the par 3s in regulation?

I remember a golf club's website (can't remember which one) that suggested playing the yellows until you get down to a handicap off about 10 and only playing the back tees if you play off 4 or better...

Not really an option if you are playing in a medal though is it?

I always practice from the yellows but a recent PP asked me why as he thinks better practicing from the one you will actually be scoring in on medals which seemed a fair point

 

[ger147]

Surely there is some room to miss to the right Ger.

Water hazard hidden from view by the trees then deep rubbish/lost ball territory. Only place to miss is just short of the green straight (no more than 10 yards) or just short to pin high right on the bank which runs down onto the green. If you chunk one off that tee you're dead, if you go left you're dead and if you go right and don't get pin high, you're dead And nowhere to lay up short. Most folk at the club would take a 4 off you and happily walk to the next tee every time, a very tricky Par 3.

 

[ger147]

Or, you could not play the whites until you get better or at least don't have trouble hitting the par 3s in regulation?

I remember a golf club's website (can't remember which one) that suggested playing the yellows until you get down to a handicap off about 10 and only playing the back tees if you play off 4 or better...

The whites are the medal tees so every men's comp is played from the whites.

 

[garyinderry]

Could you take another pic say 50 yards from the green. Not so clear on my phone.

Looks a puzzler. Must be a nightmare when the green is baked.

 

[ger147]

Could you take another pic say 50 yards from the green. Not so clear on my phone.

Looks a puzzler. Must be a nightmare when the green is baked.

Parkland course so greens rarely baked, can usually hold the green or just through the back if you can hit it, even with long irons or hybrids.

Just checked HowDidIDo stats for a previous comp - 6 birdies, 39 Pars, 46 Bogeys and 49 Double or worse, total 140 players. That's about the norm for that hole.

I usually club up to play long but as the green slopes from front to back it makes the lag putt or chip very tricky too, but as I said a bogey feels like a Par on this hole.

 

[Backache]

He said it doesn't matter, we both know we are right. 18 should easily be doable in a year. I agreed.


Any thoughts?

People agree that they are right about being abducted to be impregnated by extraterestials, it doesn't make it true however. You provide no evidence to support your assertion.

Furthermore your claims are non specific and unclear. You talk about both the average golfer and virtually any golfer. As sporting ability probably follows a roughly Gaussian distribution around 45% of golfers will be worse than the average golfer if we take the middle 10% as being the average. What the average golfer can achieve a considerable number of other golfers cannot given the same effort.
Still further your starting point is unclear not many golfers start off as belonging to a club and playing a game a week. Is your starting point someone who has never swung a club or someone who has played peripatetically for a few years and now joined a club because they are enjoying the game and starting to take it more seriously? Golf for many people is a fairly slow learning curve and these two groups will have considerably different outcomes at one year given a game a week and some practice.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Some won't ever get there. Some will do it quickly but I'd argue does it really make a difference. As long as a player is enjoying his game, playing regularly in comps and supporting the club, what difference does it make?

 

[chellie]

Some won't ever get there. Some will do it quickly but I'd argue does it really make a difference. As long as a player is enjoying his game, playing regularly in comps and supporting the club, what difference does it make?

Well, some would say you shouldn't be allowed on a course unless you've got an 18 handicap

 

[Backache]

Well, some would say you shouldn't be allowed on a course unless you've got an 18 handicap

I would agree all these low handicap brigade should get off the course and leave it to us 18 handicappers who need the pratice.

 

[Hobbit]

I would agree all these low handicap brigade should get off the course and leave it to us 18 handicappers who need the pratice.

You 18 h'cappers are never on the course anyway - too busy looking for your balls in the woods...:ears:

 

[stevelev]

How fast, given regular weekly games?

1. From picking up a club, playing less than 40 rounds because going away with family, very bad weather sometimes frozen, non qualifiers for several months.

18 handicap should be a very easy goal to achieve after a year of effort and application.

2. Effort and application is completely different from just playing regularly. I would say Effort and application would be a few hours quality practise per week throughout the year,and several lessons to improve technique over the course of the year in question.

Both completely different levels of commitment and likely to give 2 different results.

1. Probably get down to around 22, 23 and stagnate without proper practise and direction. This is where a lot of us hackers fail. We do not commit to the practise or are willing to adopt what is taught and instead revert to what is comfortable.

2. By hanging on to submit 3 cards, take a few lessons to get the fundamentals right. Practise a few hours sticking only to what has been instructed and not getting into bad habits. Really focusing on each shot. Play each weekend no matter what the weather. 18 is achievable.

Also a lot would be down to the time of the year people start. At many places with punishing rough if you start in April without regular practise meaning you miss many fairways your scoring will be hampered so handicap wont move as quick as you want. Then into winter poor weather.

If every golfer who took up the game started with a pack of lessons, with a pro who they could relate to, that gave instruction in a way that the pupil could absorb the training. Add to that regular practise and playing handicaps would probably be sub 20 for nearly everyone. But being stubborn and all knowing better very few are sensibly enough (me included) to do it the right way

 

[Backache]

You 18 h'cappers are never on the course anyway - too busy looking for your balls in the woods...:ears:

On the course but taking the scenic route rather than taking chunks out of the mowed stuff.

 

[Guvnor2013]

There is a basic flaw with the original question as there is an assumption that 18 is achievable by everyone/anyone. The number 18 seems to have been selected at random (I appreciate it's bogey golf) but an equally valid question would be 'how long should it take an 18 handicapper to get to scratch?' It seems obvious that the vast majority will never achieve this.

18 does, on the face of it, seem achievable unless you are struggling around 19/20 and going up by 0.1 each week. Variables appear to be frequency of play/practice, natural ability, mental approach/application, willingness to forget the occasional rules breach and how open the handicap secretary is to bribery/blackmail.

My path to handicap reduction has been (a) take early retirement, (b) spend a chunk of cash on gear to ensure I don't give up too easy (c) join a golf club, (d) play 4-7 times per week. This is not available to everyone (although I can't over-emphasise how over-rated work is!) I love this game and that helps enormously.

 

[stevek1969]

Why does it matter what handicap anyone is as long as they enjoy the game, the OP doesn't even have a handicap and has done what he's good at load the gun and let every one else fire it, no replies back from him, poor show

 

[Slab]

Might the same logic for this generalisation be applied to any level of golfer though, i.e

How quickly should you get to scratch handicap after reaching Cat 1 ?

I mean how long have some of them been stuck there, a year, 5 years, 10!

We're only talking about picking up a single shot every 4-5 holes for goodness sake and its not like they're starting from novice level. These are already accomplished golfers with a proven ability to perform with card in hand

What was the advice earlier for the high handicappers, something like, on that tough par4 why not go 7I, 7I and two putts, easy peasy apparently!

Maybe its just needs them to show a bit of application and effort