What things specifically do lower handicap golfers do that higher ones don't?

[duncan mackie]

Realism about their abilities and expectations.

this is another part of the course/risk management equation I was trying to get over. if you constantly try and achieve thngs that are unrealistic (either conciously or because you aren't being realistic about your abilities) you set yourself up to fail, get negative and straight into a downward spiral!

once I have decided I can't realistically play the club I want from the rough, say a 4 iron, but think a 6 should be OK - I take an 8 or 9iron , unless there's a hazard situation that suggests otherwise.

I know I can hit the 9 cleanly, and will probably put a good swing on it and I'm good to go with the next shot. I could take the 6, get it to the same place with a less than good contact/swing, and whilst on paper I am in the same situation the reality is I'm not (in my head) I'm neither where I hoped to be (with the 6 iron) nor do I have the confidence with my next shot that comes with having hit it well with the last.

All of the above can be applied straight away by any golfer, it's unrelated to capability.

 

[scottbrown]

Well done mate. I applaude your honesty. I too usually take as many putts and am sick of 12+ H/cpers claiming 32 or less putts. What do they think they are. That would mean they must be single putting four times. Crap!

I dont agree. I started last year off 12. Average 31 putts a round over 140 rounds. Now down to 8 and over 40 rounds this year I am averaging 30 putts a round.

 

[pokerjoke]

Lower handicappers will see the shot and execute it better,because they
have seen it so many times previously,and practiced.
Usually a high handicapper will not take all the things into consideration.
Wind,slope,hardness of ground etc.
A higher handicapper i play with sometimes plays so quick he couldnt
have thought the shot out properly.
Also he has not got much of an idea of how far he hits each club,and the reason
he wont go up the range and practice.
Dedication to practice and learn is a major difference between a low and high
handicapper.

 

[garyinderry]

ive yet to see a low handicaper who cant hit the ball a long way with the driver. makes the game a hell of a lot easier. i played a 3 handicaper in match play and i dont think he missed a fairway all day. i was scrambleing like a gooden to keep up with him. he certainly raised my game that day. we didnt take handicaps into effect as it was our home course and the way i looked at it he would need to at least par the hole to win. i would be taking those shots off him on an away day though.lol

 

[muttleee]

Putt.

I played with a guy off 5 last week (I'm off 13). He shot 75 with 33 putts. I shot 83 with 42 putts. Not much between us tee to greenreally but a world of difference with the putter.

Presumably his putts were generally shorter than yours?

 

[mcbroon]

I dont agree. I started last year off 12. Average 31 putts a round over 140 rounds. Now down to 8 and over 40 rounds this year I am averaging 30 putts a round.

I was going to say that for guys in the low teens like me, there are probably two groups - those that putt well but need to sharpen up the rest of their game to get to single figs, and those whose putting is leaving them above 10.

I consider myself a decent ball striker and reckon if I can get my putting sorted I can into single digits. For others who can putt, I'm sure focussing on another part of their game will get them cut.

Either way, though, low handicappers will all putt to at least a reasonable level and that, IMP, is the critical aspect of their game.

 

[mcbroon]

Presumably his putts were generally shorter than yours?

No. That's my point. Tee to green there wasn't much in it but he sank putts from 15 feet whereas I 3 putted.

 

[garyinderry]

i know what hes saying. generally it will be two putts per hole. high handicapers will tend to have say 3 3putts a round which would cancel out any one putts they get so 36 would be if they were putting resonably well.


yes or no?

 

[bobmac]

ive yet to see a low handicaper who cant hit the ball a long way with the driver.

We haven't met have we :fore:

 

[JustOne]

ive yet to see a low handicaper who cant hit the ball a long way with the driver.

The only 2 scratch golfers I regularly play with are waaayy short. One is lucky if he can make 230yds the other could scrape 250 on a Summers day.

 

[garyinderry]

We haven't met have we :fore:

not yet. lol .

 

[DavePhoenix]

They have a better mind set. They can accept that not every shot will be perfect, and then make sure the next one gets the desired result. High handicappers tend to live in the past.

As JustOne says, they lag putt better.

They have way fewer penalties. I get a penalty drop, or OOB, or water hazard about once a month. From what I read on here, 3 a round is not unusual. I don't normally lose many balls either. It is impossible to score well if you can't finish 18 holes with the same ball.

THIS - keep the ball in play is a must.
Course management is also a big factor - last week i played with a bloke off 22 and he tried to hit lots of silly shots, like a 200 yard carry over water, 3 wood from a poor lie in the rough etc... shots that a) he didnt need to play and b) had very little percentage of coming off

 

[garyinderry]

The only 2 scratch golfers I regularly play with are waaayy short. One is lucky if he can make 230yds the other could scrape 250 on a Summers day.

they must dial in their irons.are these guys not making par 5's in two then? they must be unbelieveable golfers to be able to hold a scratch handicap playing in high winds whilst not being the longest of hitters. being a short hitter myself i know that i wont reach some of our par 4's into the wind and defs wont off the back sticks.

 

[JustOne]

they must dial in their irons.are these guys not making par 5's in two then? they must be unbelieveable golfers to be able to hold a scratch handicap playing in high winds whilst not being the longest of hitters. being a short hitter myself i know that i wont reach some of our par 4's into the wind and defs wont off the back sticks.

Every green they make in regulation is a par or birdie. It helps. Never seen either get near a par5 in 2.

 

[garyinderry]

ive only been on 1 of our three par5's in two. never in competition. i dont take the risk at the second hole.lol.

fair play to those two. would be great to play with guys like that sometimes just to see what they do different.being short hitters id say they are accurate off the tee. if they are hitting in from longer distances then they would want to be on the short stuff. im sure their short game is a thing to behold!

 

[Robobum]

Logic dictates that as we get lower we can hit the majority of required shots and just do everything more consistently. That doesn't mean we hit it better or longer it just means that we do it good enough nearly every time.

That then means we are in play, able to hit approaches to greens and looking at zero fuss pars and a number of birdie chances each round.

 

[MadAdey]

3 things that I have always cat 1 players do:

1: They plot there way around the course using good course management.
2: They always play the correct shot around the green and play it well.
3: They do not try to play a shot that they are not capable of playing.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Lower handicappers concentrate better.

Just about everyone on here has the ability to par pretty much any hole but the difference is that lower handicappers are more likely to do so because they execute their shots better.

Think of it this way...... Most of you will have parred (or birdied) every hole on your home course at some point or other so what is stopping you from doing it all the time?

Sure, all the other things come into it like better short game, hitting more fairways etc but every one of you has the POTENTIAL to shoot much lower scores just by concentrating on EVERY shot.

 

[matts1984]

I would say it's a combination of all that has been said, putter + short game is a must. Concentration
Not trying to go for the killer shots everytime.

 

[barrybridges]

Interesting replies chaps. Funny that a lot of people have mentioned that a major difference is the mental game - focussing, knowing what shot to play and thinking about their position better.

Going back to what I said earlier and what a few others have said, I asked the question because I was interested in how - I believe - distance isn't an issue between low and high handicappers. I sometimes read the GM articles about getting fitted for a driver and often you might see a 28 handicapper hitting the ball shorter than a scratch golfer, but in general if you put me in a group of 4 mixed-ability golfers you can't really predict who will be longer off the tee.

What you can predict I guess is that out of every 10 tee-shots, the lower handicap will find the fairway 8 out of 10 times, whereas the higher handicapper will find the fairway only 5 out of 10 times.

...and then because the lower handicapper has a more difficult lie for their second shot, they're reducing the probability of a successful second stroke also.

I suppose why I asked the question was because I was wondering if there gets a point where you reach a level of consistency/practice where you start making faster progress. For example, if you're straighter off the tee, your approach shots will also be better because you'll be playing from a better surface. And if your approach shots are better, you'll have an easier ride if you miss the green. And if you don't miss the green, you're in with a better shout of a one-putt - and so on.