Which course is better for reducing handicap?

[slicer79]

As the title ask which type of course is easier to reduce your handicap on? Or because of shots, ratings, slope etc is every course equal?

For example we'll take 2 different courses

Course A : Par 72 course rating 73.2 slope 143

Course B: par 72 course rating 71.0 slope 129

Players will obviously receive different playing handicaps on the courses.
But which member would you think has a better chance to shoot scores to lower their index?

Would one course suit low handicap players better while the other course allows higher handicap players a better chance?

 

[D-S]

As the title ask which type of course is easier to reduce your handicap on? Or because of shots, ratings, slope etc is every course equal?

For example we'll take 2 different courses

Course A : Par 72 course rating 73.2 slope 143

Course B: par 72 course rating 71.0 slope 129

Players will obviously receive different playing handicaps on the courses.
But which member would you think has a better chance to shoot scores to lower their index?

Would one course suit low handicap players better while the other course allows higher handicap players a better chance?

There is no correct answer. It depends on too many factors, the players strengths/ weaknesses/ability are they long or short? wild or inaccurate? Is the course wet and laggy or dry and fiery?

At my club we have 5 sets of tees rated for men ranging from 5300 yards to 6500 yards, course rating varies from 66.5 to 72.0, slope from 112 to 131. You can ask any group of golfers which course is easiest to play to their handicap and you would get varying answers. The 65 (6500 yard course) is the least used for GP cards and the 57 (5700 yard) course is the most used but this of course depends which sort of golfers are those who put GP cards in. The most used tees for normal play are 57, 60 and 63 in summer but 53 and 57 in winter. We aim to have most of the tees available all year.

 

[ManinBlack]

The answer is that, if the system worked correctly, it wouldn't matter. However the WHS doesn't allow enough latitude between easy & hard courses. Nor does it add enough to the standard scratch score for bad weather conditions or take enough off for playing off yellows instead of whites. At my club, anyone wanting to maintain an artificially low handicap will only play in calm, dry conditions off the yellow tees.

 

[Voyager EMH]

My current HI is 5.0

Course A
A score of 81 would give me a 6.2

Course B
A score of 78 would give me a 6.1

Either of these would give me cut.
I would be inclined to go for Course A to give me the best chance.

Without further info or experience of these two notional courses, I fall back on my experience of my own course which is
Par 70 either tee
White 70.8/132
Yellow 69.1/127

I believe white tees at my club give me the better chance of desirable score differentials.
Yellow tees are "harder" for me.
It niggles me a bit at my club when we have a seniors comp, they put us on the yellow tees, which I find harder. But very few, if any, think like me it seems.

In a real world case, each player will vary from the "standard" by which courses are rated. A personal choice has to be made with regard to one's own strengths and weaknesses.

 

[doublebogey7]

The answer is that, if the system worked correctly, it wouldn't matter. However the WHS doesn't allow enough latitude between easy & hard courses. Nor does it add enough to the standard scratch score for bad weather conditions or take enough off for playing off yellows instead of whites. At my club, anyone wanting to maintain an artificially low handicap will only play in calm, dry conditions off the yellow tees.

Of course you have evidence for this, beyond your own experience?? I tend to agree with ypu on the PCC calculation, but in reality given that WHS uses averages it will have little effect on players handicaps in the long term.

 

[Orikoru]

My course is short, narrow and with hellish greens but because it's short it has very low course ratings. Consequently it's very difficult to get your handicap down there, since even a very good score for me will have a higher score differential. If you really want to get your handicap down you need to join a club with very high course and slope ratings.

 

[Steve Wilkes]

My course is short, narrow and with hellish greens but because it's short it has very low course ratings. Consequently it's very difficult to get your handicap down there, since even a very good score for me will have a higher score differential. If you really want to get your handicap down you need to join a club with very high course and slope ratings.

I'm not a big hitter, but very straight and have a great short game, so I need to play your course, I reckon I could knock a couple off my handicap

 

[Viewer]

If you want to reduce your handicap then play the hardest course you can

 

[rulie]

Our blue (longer) and white tees have similar differences to those in the original post. Several of us used to say that if we wanted to lower our handicaps, then we would play the blue tees. Those were the days when we could hit it much farther! It’s not the same these days.

 

[KenL]

For me, wind is the biggest factor.
An exposed links or moorland course is going to be more difficult compared with the course rating etc.
I doubt course raters take this fully into consideration.

Edit the PCC does not work effectively. Quite often there are poor scores at my club in comps when the wind is strong. PCC hardly ever moves.

 

[jim8flog]

our back tees are 70.8 slope 128
our middle tees are 69.4 slope 124

I get 1 or 2 extra shots depending on my H.I. on the back tee but I definitely find the the middle tees to be so much easier that I would keep a lower H.I. if I always played off them compared to playing off the back tee.

However that is about length for me rather than difficulty as both courses have the same sort of difficulty

The main away club I can think to compare it against is Burnham and Berrow

Purple tee course rating 72.3 slope 124. I have played their often enough to know I would definitely increase my H.I. there but again it is about length rather than difficulty.

Before the new system came in I could tell you which courses in Dorset I would be likely to play to, better or worse than my handicap and what I have seen of some of the course ratings etc I do not think that has changed much.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

There is no correct answer. It depends on too many factors, the players strengths/ weaknesses/ability are they long or short? wild or inaccurate? Is the course wet and laggy or dry and fiery?

At my club we have 5 sets of tees rated for men ranging from 5300 yards to 6500 yards, course rating varies from 66.5 to 72.0, slope from 112 to 131. You can ask any group of golfers which course is easiest to play to their handicap and you would get varying answers. The 65 (6500 yard course) is the least used for GP cards and the 57 (5700 yard) course is the most used but this of course depends which sort of golfers are those who put GP cards in. The most used tees for normal play are 57, 60 and 63 in summer but 53 and 57 in winter. We aim to have most of the tees available all year.

Just this.

We are par 72 off both our Back (Silver) and our 'Next' (Purple) tees - but Silver CR is nearly 2 shots higher than Purple. Many higher HIs (mid teens and above) prefer to play off Purple as for them it's easier - the length off Silver and accuracy required causes issue. For me the opposite is the case. Off Silver the additional length of the hole and better accuracy required off the tee on quite a few holes makes little difference to how I score. My problem is that I can randomly chuck one or two double bogeys into my score - these being nothing at all to do with the tee I'm playing off. The 2 shots off the Silver are a great help to me to maintaining and reducing my handicap. Playing off the Purple tees I can struggle.

And it's odd...Off the Purple tees my CH is 5; off the Silver it is 7. But I feel that I can more easily play to 5 off the Silver than off the Purple. I know why...for instance it's not hard to double the 2nd. Off Purple my head can easily go down as my thinking has it that I've already used all my front 9 shots and only have 3 left for the round (I know it needn't work that way but hey). Off Silver I can cope with a double on the 2nd as my head tells me I've still got 5 to play with - and that's a lot for my head.

 

[Mel Smooth]

I reduced mine by 1.8 in successive rounds on The Hothckin and Huddersfield which has a slope rating of 135 on the winter course.

However, I don’t think our slope rating is representative of the course so I’m probably one of those golfers who’s handicap travels well.

 

[IanM]

I think there are too many variables to say!

I'm also not sure about the "handicap travelling" conversation. Less significant these days as you get different shots at different courses

 

[Magcargo]

If you're interested in driving your handicap down as quickly as possible, rather than learning to be a good all-round golfer - find a WHS low-rated 9-hole course that allows 18-hole submissions for two laps of it. There are a few out there and they're often without Par 5s. Blitz the course repeatedly, and learn what to hit on every hole.

If you generally want to improve quickly and be a better all-round player, find a challenging course and force yourself to play it over and over. My index has dropped 25 points in 5 months, albeit from near-maximum level. I have blitzed a couple of 9-hole courses but most of my scores have been full 18-hole courses with slopes of 130-145.