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

[Jungle]

Started playing at the end of March 2013 and from 26 got down to 18 at the start of August 2014 (currently still there but I think thats a whole differant thread )

Started playing the game after losing interest in football and played on average between 1 and 2 times a week and taking three lessons at the start of 2013.

That journey from 26 to 18 seems to have been a lot easier than my attempt this year to get down to 14.

Golf is hard.

 

[gregers]

been a member at my club for 3 years now but only been playing in our comps for 2 years,but been playing there for more then a decade.

started at 23,1st medal got cut to 21,3rd medal came in with a bandit score and got cut to 17,yep 4 shot loss.then won another 1 and went down to 15,then won a walkin and got down to 12.2,
but alas the last 5 comps ive entered ive gone back up,so now im on 12.9.

 

[alexbrownmp]

when you first start and/or get your first handicap it should be whatever you are given based on 3 cards.

I would then say that regardless of what you do the max handicap you will play off for year 2 onwards will be 18. That gives a year to practice, get lessons and do your best, or just cruise at 18+ for a year knowing you will be 18 max from season 2.

Anyone fit and reasonably healthy should get no more than a shot a hole in comps. Have a higher h/cap for friendlies or mates but club comps you are 18 after year 1.

 

[woody69]

Anyone fit and reasonably healthy should get no more than a shot a hole in comps. Have a higher h/cap for friendlies or mates but club comps you are 18 after year 1.

I don't think you really understand what a handicap is.

 

[Fish]

when you first start and/or get your first handicap it should be whatever you are given based on 3 cards.

I would then say that regardless of what you do the max handicap you will play off for year 2 onwards will be 18. That gives a year to practice, get lessons and do your best, or just cruise at 18+ for a year knowing you will be 18 max from season 2.

Anyone fit and reasonably healthy should get no more than a shot a hole in comps. Have a higher h/cap for friendlies or mates but club comps you are 18 after year 1.

:rofl:

 

[Smiffy]

I've lost count of the number of higher handicappers (18 plus) that I have played with who hit the ball really well and have the ability to get to every single hole in regulation yet then mess up on the greens blaming their bad putting.
It's as if they think the hard work has been done by getting there and now they can relax.
They either leave the first one woefully short or tank it a mile past, step up without really thinking, and hit the next, safe in the knowledge that even if they four putt they are going to score some points.

 

[Hacker Khan]

when you first start and/or get your first handicap it should be whatever you are given based on 3 cards.

I would then say that regardless of what you do the max handicap you will play off for year 2 onwards will be 18. That gives a year to practice, get lessons and do your best, or just cruise at 18+ for a year knowing you will be 18 max from season 2.

Anyone fit and reasonably healthy should get no more than a shot a hole in comps. Have a higher h/cap for friendlies or mates but club comps you are 18 after year 1.

I'd go further and put up pictures of all the new members that have not got to 18 after a year on the noticeboard. So all the smug low handicappers can point and laugh at them.

Also maybe get them to wear a bright orange pair of trousers to ensure they stick out and feel really welcome. Although I do take on board that certain golfers think bright lurid clothes are the height of fashion as it turns them from a boring middle aged man that wears beige slacks and shops at M&S into Rickie Fowler.

 

[Smiffy]

I'd go further and put up pictures of all the new members that have not got to 18 after a year on the noticeboard. So all the smug low handicappers can point and laugh at them.

Don't know whether this was a tongue in cheek post but I'd agree with it. And also put a couple of sets of darts nearby......

 

[Snelly]

I played in an Am-Am last Friday and the maximum shot allowance was 18.

This rule has been brought in because this annual event has been won by frankly ridiculous team scores over the past 4 years. In other words, cheats with artificially high official handicaps or magic pencils have cleaned up the expensive first prizes. E.g. with a par points score of 76 (3 to count on two holes and two on the rest FYI), teams were winning with scores over 100.

I 100% support this new rule and with 132 players in the event, clearly this did not put anyone off playing.

Additionally, when I started to play golf as a kid, the maximum handicap allowance for men was 18 and the game was far more popular then than now with big waiting lists for all clubs in the region.

Stating that the maximum handicap should be 18 for men is not as stupid as it sounds to those who have played the game for a reasonably long time.

I still, admittedly somewhat controversially, feel that being 24 over or similar is a very poor standard of play and absolutely should not make you eligible to win a competition.

 

[alexbrownmp]

I don't think you really understand what a handicap is.

why dont you enlighten us?

 

[alexbrownmp]

I'd go further and put up pictures of all the new members that have not got to 18 after a year on the noticeboard. So all the smug low handicappers can point and laugh at them.

Also maybe get them to wear a bright orange pair of trousers to ensure they stick out and feel really welcome. Although I do take on board that certain golfers think bright lurid clothes are the height of fashion as it turns them from a boring middle aged man that wears beige slacks and shops at M&S into Rickie Fowler.

now thats just silly and a waste of time as all players will be off 18 after 1 year. I like your thinking about Orange trousers though, like green 'L' driver plates as you are new to that handicap

 

[KhalJimbo]

Well, I've just been given my first handicap, 26 playing, 25.5 exact. Thought I would be off of 28 since my lowest card I handed in was 100 with one disastrous hole. Hoping to now be off of 18 in a year now.

 

[daverollo]

Well, I've just been given my first handicap, 26 playing, 25.5 exact. Thought I would be off of 28 since my lowest card I handed in was 100 with one disastrous hole. Hoping to now be off of 18 in a year now.

Sounds about right Jimbo, I remember back in around 1991 being faced with a similar situation when I ended up with 22 when I thought I'd get 26. Basically, the club, when calculating the handicap with disregard any score of more than 2 over on a hole. Extract below from CONGU guidelines:

"The Club will then adjust the returned scores, so that a lady never records more than 3 over par and a man never more than 2 over par on any individual hole. The cards are then assessed and the club allocates a CONGU® handicap based on the amount the lowest score returned exceeds the Standard Scratch Score of the course played (after taking into account other factors it considers relevant)."

 

[KhalJimbo]

Sounds about right Jimbo, I remember back in around 1991 being faced with a similar situation when I ended up with 22 when I thought I'd get 26. Basically, the club, when calculating the handicap with disregard any score of more than 2 over on a hole. Extract below from CONGU guidelines:

"The Club will then adjust the returned scores, so that a lady never records more than 3 over par and a man never more than 2 over par on any individual hole. The cards are then assessed and the club allocates a CONGU® handicap based on the amount the lowest score returned exceeds the Standard Scratch Score of the course played (after taking into account other factors it considers relevant)."

Yeah I was quite please when I saw it was 26. Although I played our Saturday Swindle off 28 since HDID didn't have my profile set correctly, made the cut then to have my club handicap cut by 1 shot to 27. Need to go back and explain I got it wrong