How well does your handicap travel?

road2ruin said:
My home track is short, a massive 5300 off the blocks which means that you don't really have to worry too much about having to blast it off the tee and during the summer the course shortens even more due to the additional run on the ball. This means I've found that whilst my official handicap is 13 and I can play round my course a lot lower on a going day I do find it tougher when I play away courses especially in comps.

I stick with my present course out of convenience and cost at the moment. Due to a young family I don't get to play as much as I used to (would like) and therefore cannot justify paying an increased membership for not much golf. It's also 5 mins down the road and a round should be sub 3.5hrs so I don't get too much grief from domestic management.

Does anyone else find that their handicap doesn't travel very well? Conversely do people from more demanding tracks find life easier when they head out to other courses?
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Short courses are not necessarily easier from a handicapping point of view due to their much lower SSS. I used to be a member at such a course and to get down to scratch you would have to be regularly breaking the course record! Many of the better players moved on to longer tracks for that reason. When I left and joined a club with a much longer course, I quite quickly got my handicap down from 19 to 14, and my handicap seems to travel quite well. I should add that I changed clubs when I retired, so now have more time to play and practice.
 
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My former home course is short but tight and SSS is under par. I guess most people would think it relatively easy but I play a lot of away comps and my handicap has performed better away than at home for the last few years.
 
Mine is tree lined and tight too with pretty small greens, so I find that the handicap travels well too. Is about 6300 sss71 off whites
 
Should travel ridiculously well, seeing as we're almost 6900 off the backs, can be tight and greens are very subtle. Why doesn't it travel so well? The person swinging the bats isn't quite as consistent as he should be
 
Wabinez said:
Should travel ridiculously well, seeing as we're almost 6900 off the backs, can be tight and greens are very subtle. Why doesn't it travel so well? The person swinging the bats isn't quite as consistent as he should be
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Would agree with this, Thetford a tough course. Though your greens are very fast so maybe tough when you travel
 
NorfolkShaun said:
Would agree with this, Thetford a tough course. Though your greens are very fast so maybe tough when you travel
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I also find I become very defensive when playing other courses. Play waaaaay too safe and hot shorter clubs off the tee. So used to hitting drivers off the tee, when faced with a short course and hitting positional play, I do find it a bit tougher
 
6613yds Par 72 SSS 72. My handicap travels well as you have to plot you way round the course; we have a rather difficult set of par threes; and small well-bunkered greens
 
Par 71. 6693 yards. Can be a bit of a slog at times when soft and the cold west wind is blowing. Quite forgiving which is just as well. Greens are relatively big but can lead to 3 putts quite easily.


Handicap travels quite well. I usually have to scramble well no matter where I am playing to make my score. A chip and putt solves many woes.
 
Distance is not everything, green size and watering are important factors as well.

My handicap for current course is about right for all the away courses I have played this year (long or short ones) though it is only circa 6300 yds par 71 we have smallish greens that are exceptionally firm.

Played several courses with receptive greens this summer and with distance control your ball pitches, holds and even spins back which is almost impossible on our track. Would say Burhill New was the easiest away course I played all year due to this with the Army not far behind.

The previous course I had membership at was only 6065 yds par 70 and was so much harder due to some dumb unfair holes which penalised many good shots, matches home and away were massively in our favour as we were 2 ahead on handicap either way as they were falsely high.

Everyone I know who left there reduced their handicap quickly at their new courses.

Multiple factors can come into play on this.
 
Not strictly true to say if it travels well as its determined from my scores at half a dozen courses anyway
Its more like a golf handicap rather than a golf course handicap that many have in the uk

Despite the different way of managing it I still know which courses i usually play better at and which i'll struggle on
 
My handicap travels ok. I'm not talking about 34 points off of the yellow tees with my mates in a friendly knock on an away jolly either.

In over 30 competition rounds this last year, I've increased in handicap by just 0.3.
 
Quite well, although not the longest course at a little over 6200 yards it has several long carries on the drive or second shot. The greens are also undulating and quick and water plays a part on a number of holes.
 
Mine travels quite well our course being tough and me being a high handicapper, I tend to find that I do not know the danger areas on unknown courses whereas I do on mine so more relaxed I guess
 
I tend to score better on longer courses. My club has some very difficult greens that are very narrow and long with bunkers along the sides, I find it easier playing courses with big flattish greens.
 
I moved from a course that doesn't need long hitting and most par 5s are in range in 2 to brocket halls evil greens ( on the Melbourne). I brought over an 9 handicap and really struggled if I was above the hole. The game golf stats were very helpful and showed I was often losing 4/5 shots per round purely on putting. This was also down to not being accurate enough inside 100 yds. Now I'm playing to my 8 handicap at brocket and when I travel to a course that rewards my strength, the other parts of my game are in better shape.
 
Chisteve said:
Mine travels quite well our course being tough and me being a high handicapper, I tend to find that I do not know the danger areas on unknown courses whereas I do on mine so more relaxed I guess
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I could probably have written this for me, particularly the last aspect. As a high handicapper fear of a car crash restricts your golf. Going to a new course you have none of that as you don't know the danger areas.
 
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