ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
I don't think you have to get down to any handicap. Lots of people's first handicaps are under 18, they are nothing special compared to someone who started over 18
How quickly should you get to 18 handicap after taking up the game?
Oddsocks
Ryder Cup Winner
I think the biggest thing stopping people is their ego.
200+ yards from the deck to hit GIR off 20+ is a 5/10% chance of success. Play the shot in its percentages and handicaps tumble. I didn't get to 8 by striking the ball like a single figure golfer, Christ there are mid 20's cappers who strike a much better ball.
I know my weakness's, know where is a safe miss and where isn't and play to it, we have 2 par 5's on each loop, and i don't go for any in 2, drive , mid iron, low iron leaves 2 putts for a par every time. The missed on all are either into deep cabbage or at best pot bunkers that are deep sand leaving me fried eggs. By hitting a mid iron 2nd shot I take every hazard out of play. Since not going for in 2 and now plotting my way around my scores have dropped considerably and more birdies have come. Also Considering these are all shot holes, that's 3-4 shots I steel back from the course which can be used elsewhere such as long par 4's or tricky par 3's with multi tier greens where 3 putts are common.
Murph once said that playing dreadful golf he still hit buffer off 9, and when you think about it if you can hit the ball where you want cat2 isn't that hard if you know your misses and where the danger is.
Try the traffic light system, know your red areas to stay the hell away from, know your green areas where you can score from and only bring the amber in if you really need to!
Anyone can hit a ball, but learning to score and play this wonderful game is a completely different skill.
200+ yards from the deck to hit GIR off 20+ is a 5/10% chance of success. Play the shot in its percentages and handicaps tumble. I didn't get to 8 by striking the ball like a single figure golfer, Christ there are mid 20's cappers who strike a much better ball.
I know my weakness's, know where is a safe miss and where isn't and play to it, we have 2 par 5's on each loop, and i don't go for any in 2, drive , mid iron, low iron leaves 2 putts for a par every time. The missed on all are either into deep cabbage or at best pot bunkers that are deep sand leaving me fried eggs. By hitting a mid iron 2nd shot I take every hazard out of play. Since not going for in 2 and now plotting my way around my scores have dropped considerably and more birdies have come. Also Considering these are all shot holes, that's 3-4 shots I steel back from the course which can be used elsewhere such as long par 4's or tricky par 3's with multi tier greens where 3 putts are common.
Murph once said that playing dreadful golf he still hit buffer off 9, and when you think about it if you can hit the ball where you want cat2 isn't that hard if you know your misses and where the danger is.
Try the traffic light system, know your red areas to stay the hell away from, know your green areas where you can score from and only bring the amber in if you really need to!
Anyone can hit a ball, but learning to score and play this wonderful game is a completely different skill.
garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
Great post oddsocks. Could have wrote that myself.
Knowing how to score is massive. I played caddie for 9 holes for my 25 handicap mate. Got him round in bogey golf quite easily. Made him take a club that couldn't even reach a short par 3 but came up 5 yards short of putting surface. It took bunkers that were in line with the green out of play and gave him a chance to two putt for par. He made bogey but that was already an improvement on a lot of other rounds.
Knowing how to score is massive. I played caddie for 9 holes for my 25 handicap mate. Got him round in bogey golf quite easily. Made him take a club that couldn't even reach a short par 3 but came up 5 yards short of putting surface. It took bunkers that were in line with the green out of play and gave him a chance to two putt for par. He made bogey but that was already an improvement on a lot of other rounds.
MashieNiblick
Tour Winner
Agree!
Amazed how many times, from a similar position, a high handicap PP/FC will take on a much riskier shot that I would or than is really necessary. Perhaps because they get a lot of shots, and expect to have blow ups, the risk reward calculation is different. I remember a 1 h/c player telling me that whereas most people assume at that level you are playing aggressive birdie hunting golf, the opposite is usually true - playing carefully and strategically to make par and not waste any shots.
Hacker Khan
Yurt Dwelling, Yoghurt Knitter
I played the Hotckin once at Woodhall Spa and decided that going for the green in 2 on par 4s and 3 on par 5s was asking for trouble at my standard, as there were so many bunkers that I would inevitably land in. So I mostly laid up if bunkers were surrounding the greens. And guess what, I went round in less than I mostly do on very average 'easier' goat tracks where I am always trying to hit GIR. You'd have thought I would have learned for that, bit of course I never do.
Oddsocks
Ryder Cup Winner
Makes a change for me to post something useful lol
lex!
Challenge Tour Pro
Really good post. I am surprised, at my new club, by the number of older blokes who are sub 18, who play off 11,12,13 say, and just cannot get a ball round the course. Cannot get out of bunkers, and slice the driver off the tee time and again. (I wont mentioned dodgy score keeping). I wonder how they got sub 18 in the first place.
woody69
Journeyman Pro
Threads like this just depress me. Golf is up there as one of the hardest things to do. The amount of variables that need to align within a microsecond during the journey taken by club face to ball at point of impact is massive. Then being able to repeat that time and time again to hit a golf ball is incredible. The fact people can get as good as they do is amazing, but as can be expected there are some people that will simply never get particularly good at it. It is like any past time / sport. It's why racing drivers can get around circuits quicker than the average person when all other factors are taken into account, or why some people are better at tennis, or snooker, or darts etc. etc. etc. Golf is hard and it is about the margins that separate a player. Simply saying, if you'd taken an iron off the tee you'd be in a better position now but your ego made you reach for the driver is perhaps a minute contributor but that same person (when we are talking players with handicap of +20) could quite easily top/fat that iron and be in a worse position. If they could consistently hit an iron they'd not be a 19+ handicap.
Setting aside all those variables the way handicap is initially set is quite arbitrary. Go out, play 3 rounds, remove any dbles and bang, that is your handicap. I played my mates course and had my best ever round. If I had submitted that card for my handicap I'd be off 17. Go back to my course and my best ever round at that course and the card I submit means I'm off 21. Much longer course, harder greens etc.
People all have different abilities. There are a few that could make better choices on the course to get close or lower than 18, I would agree, but the vast majority of people don't come close.
Setting aside all those variables the way handicap is initially set is quite arbitrary. Go out, play 3 rounds, remove any dbles and bang, that is your handicap. I played my mates course and had my best ever round. If I had submitted that card for my handicap I'd be off 17. Go back to my course and my best ever round at that course and the card I submit means I'm off 21. Much longer course, harder greens etc.
People all have different abilities. There are a few that could make better choices on the course to get close or lower than 18, I would agree, but the vast majority of people don't come close.
RollinThunder
Assistant Pro
That was the same with my old course. It was longer, with faster, more sloped greens and generally more difficult, so I struggled to break 100 and got a handicap of 24. My new course is shorter, but thinner, and much more suited to my type of play, so I can consistently go around in the 80s. I had my handicap transferred, so I'm hopefully expecting some quick drops in my handicap
No doubt some proper thinking and playing to your strengths would knock a few shots off, such as laying-up rather than going for the glory of a 200 yard over water carry with a 3-wood. Natural sporting ability would certainly come into play. Some people are just natural sportsmen who can play anything to a decent standard. Maybe the right coaching and lessons, and possibly playing with players of a higher standard would force you to up your game, rather than playing with a group of hackers.
A fellow I was talking to was saying that a teenager at his club has got down to scratch within one year of playing, although I don't know how true it is. Another bloke was saying how it took 20 years of playing for him to get his first par!
Like said, the answer is pretty arbitrary. Some may get less than 18 as their first handicap, some may never reach 18. But I'd say with the right attitude, some natural ability and regular playing, possibly with some coaching, going from complete beginner to 18 could be possible in a year, maybe two at a slower pace.
kenny.macdonald85
Newbie
Hi, my first post.
Im not a member at a club at the moment but looking to join for next year and trying different courses in my area.
I keep track of all my scores on the cards and compare them to last rounds etc if its a course ive played before.
Ive been out at least once a week for the past 2 months and am seeing them scores coming down from 117 to 102. Played 14 holes one day on a course with average hole of 5.6( was chuffed to bits and now wish i had finished the round ).
My aim to consitently hit under 95 before the end of the year.
Im not a member at a club at the moment but looking to join for next year and trying different courses in my area.
I keep track of all my scores on the cards and compare them to last rounds etc if its a course ive played before.
Ive been out at least once a week for the past 2 months and am seeing them scores coming down from 117 to 102. Played 14 holes one day on a course with average hole of 5.6( was chuffed to bits and now wish i had finished the round ).
My aim to consitently hit under 95 before the end of the year.
I am an older bloke who plays off 12. Recently actually got cut from 13 after a good round in a qualifier. I do not hit the ball as far as I used to, so have to rely on good course management and a half-reasonable short game to stay at this level. I normally hit a slight draw and am quite good at getting out of bunkers (most of the time anyway). I nearly always break 90 (and have broken 80 a few times), or score more than 30 Stableford points!
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I have seen some statistics from the U.S. that show that about 67% of male golfers with active handicaps have handicaps of 18 or less, which also means that 33% are worse than that. The need for having an active handicap excludes the casual hackers who are not members of golf clubs. Also the average handicap is about 16 and only 1% of golfers are scratch or better. Of course the U.S. have a slightly different handicapping system to GB & I, but this sort of puts things into perspective.
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Oddsocks
Ryder Cup Winner
I am an older bloke who plays off 12. Recently actually got cut from 13 after a good round in a qualifier. I do not hit the ball as far as I used to, so have to rely on good course management and a half-reasonable short game to stay at this level. I normally hit a slight draw and am quite good at getting out of bunkers (most of the time anyway). I nearly always break 90 (and have broken 80 a few times), or score more than 30 Stableford points!
I used to caddie for an ex footballer, he was 67, carried the driver 190-200 but the old goat hardly every missed a fairway. He knew his limits and stil knocked it round the hardest course in our area to 10hc, this was prior to the course changing ownership where it now plays at its easiest.
one of the best golfers i know is almost 70 and still plays off 3, hits the driver about 200 yards and his handicap is at a course thats 6800 yards
Oddsocks
Ryder Cup Winner
Didn't know you were knocking 70 Patrick...... More importantly it's a bit weird blowing your own trumpet....
GeneralStore
Challenge Tour Pro
Interesting thread and always one that is going to get some people wound up. Its a sensitive topic for most people that have been trying to reduce their handicap and cannot seem to.
Some great responses though, awesome post from Oddsocks!
From personal experience I think if your sole purpose was to get a handicap of 18 then I think its achievable within one year, but here are what I think the reasons are that many do not:
1) Playing often enough, range doesnt really count unfortunately
2) Playing conservatively enough. Most want to play good golf, which usually means reaching par 4's in 2 etc...and sometimes the desire to play good golf and the skill set do not match up
3) Joining an easy enough course for handicap purposes. I have joined a course that I think is brutal and after a year of being a member there I think its even tougher
4) Practise short game and putting more
So to summarise, if all you wanted was an 18 handicap I think most could get it...just knock hybrid/mid-irons off the tee, avoid penalty shots/hazards/3 putts and you are pretty much there.
But most of us dont want to play that kind of golf. Boring! Might as well take up chess for an adrenaline fix.
The other issue to consider is that the point of knowing how to score versus hitting a ball on a range are completely and utterly different things. You cannot learn how to score on the range nor within 1 year, that takes a while I believe. To the people getting upset by this post, keep working, dont give up and if what you are doing isnt improving your handicap then do something different.
Some great responses though, awesome post from Oddsocks!
From personal experience I think if your sole purpose was to get a handicap of 18 then I think its achievable within one year, but here are what I think the reasons are that many do not:
1) Playing often enough, range doesnt really count unfortunately
2) Playing conservatively enough. Most want to play good golf, which usually means reaching par 4's in 2 etc...and sometimes the desire to play good golf and the skill set do not match up
3) Joining an easy enough course for handicap purposes. I have joined a course that I think is brutal and after a year of being a member there I think its even tougher
4) Practise short game and putting more
So to summarise, if all you wanted was an 18 handicap I think most could get it...just knock hybrid/mid-irons off the tee, avoid penalty shots/hazards/3 putts and you are pretty much there.
But most of us dont want to play that kind of golf. Boring! Might as well take up chess for an adrenaline fix.
The other issue to consider is that the point of knowing how to score versus hitting a ball on a range are completely and utterly different things. You cannot learn how to score on the range nor within 1 year, that takes a while I believe. To the people getting upset by this post, keep working, dont give up and if what you are doing isnt improving your handicap then do something different.
Putting it another way, if you can get down to 18 or less, you are an above average golfer, and some folk will never get that good, however much they practice and play. If you get down to single figures that puts you in the top 25% and scratch or better in the top 1%.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
It depends surely on what a person wants. Are they happy to rock up once a week, never seeing a range, play with their mates and not worry if they don't make 25 points. If so, they're very unlikely to get to 18 and have no interest in doing so. Is their membership at a club or their green fee any less valid?
Oddsocks
Ryder Cup Winner
Top 25% my arse! If I threw a stone at the floor at the moment I'd miss! :rofl:
virtuocity
Tour Winner
Lazy reply, but who suggested this?
