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What is a sensible handicap target for a once a week golfer?

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sickyspider

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I would love to play this great game 2-3 times a week but family commitments, lack of time and finances make it difficult. I also try to make it to the driving range once a week as well.

So my question is what is a realistic handicap target for a golfer playing only once a week? Not this season but maybe by the end of next season.

I am a pretty good ball striker and come from a fairly sporting background. My chipping and pitching goes from reasonable to good but putting is variable and at times extremely frustrating. My iron play can be good but needs a little more work on consistency.

The weakest part of my game is my driving off the tee and sometimes my 3 wood as well. On a bad day I am a slicer/straight left due to playing across from out to in. I also believe I am prone to hitting my woods like irons which result in skying! My swing speed is between 95-100 mph at about normal power (80-85%). I do generally get more consistent results off the tee when I put less into the shot but obviously lose distance as well. It is a constant battle to hold the fairway from the tee and also not feel compelled to 'go for it' from the light rough. I am working on improving my course management skills!

One of my strengths is an ability to watch and learn from some good players I have seen and make adaptations to my own game to achieve improvements. One simple example of this is playing my sand wedge with an open face to vary the trajectory. I watched some good players do this with very good results and have now reached a point where I feel quite confident in playing a 50 yard pitch to within 10 feet of the hole. Unfortunately I rarely make those distance putts and often settle for 2 putts or on a very bad day 3! Twitching and feeling tense whilst putting can be a problem.

A couple of good players I know have said I am good enough to be a low teens handicap player.

I like the idea of that so my target is 13-15! :)
 
I think that with the proper practice and some good professional help, one could set goals at as high as they would like.
 
I can only speak for myself but I only play 2-4 times per month maximum with minimal range time. My range/practice time is usually limited to only before a round, rarely will I only go to a course solely to practice. My handicap is low and I am not entirely sure how exactly I have gotten to this point. I can only attribute it to that I started to learn the game of golf with lessons. So I was taught from the get go how to swing properly. I have not had a lesson in over 10 years but my golf game is currently at the best it has ever been.
 
I would agree with JB. As long as you can hit balls correctly a few times a week, you can go as low as someone who plays more frequently.

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Target: 5.

Get to work :thumb: As said above, as long as you can hit the range a couple times a week and play once, with some dedication and making the most of your golf time, around 5 is reasonable. Probably not by the end of next season, but down the road.
 
Playing once a week with the range once a week? I'd say that 10 is a good goal for now, but I bet that you can go lower. I like to take my goals in smaller increments, and maybe that will work for you too.
 
I go to the range a few times a week but I don't get to play all that often. Probably not even once a week. Put practice into the short game and I don't see why you cant be a single digit handicap

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I agree with a lot of the guys who posted before me. I'm a low single digit and I play once a week and rarely even hit the range. Some weeks I can get in an extra round, it just depends on work. Set high goals for yourself and go for it!
 
Start with consistently breaking 100. When that happens, try to consistently break 90. Then move to 80... then par!
 
Much of the scoring is in the short game, so it really depends on how good you can get in that area. Unfortunately it takes many years to master all the short shots. Putting, I'm convinced, is somewhat god given. Great putters are mostly born, not made.

It is also sort of like skiing, tennis, shooting skeet, or any other individual sport - it depends upon how good you once were. I've had many years where I've played less than 30 rounds with only a dozen range sessions but have always been able to keep my index below a 1.5. That's part of the pay off on working hard on your golf game - it will stay with you for the rest of your life.
 
Thank you everyone, what morale boosting stuff! :)

I have bought a package of three 45 minute lessons with swing video analysis and then 9 holes with a PGA pro for on course management. Not as expensive as you might think!

As a very good golf coach told me last year, golf is a long journey so enjoy the ride!

Let's see what happens! ;)
 
You can get lower than 13-15 playing once a week... 13-15 should be doable even if only playing once a month!
 
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I think it depends a lot on how much natural ability for the game you have. I've been playing 1-2 times a week and getting to the driving range 2-3 times a week for about 8 months now (going back to last June minus 6 months for winter), plus two rounds of lessons and I still cannot shoot better than 120. But I would say I have no real natural ability to play golf at all, and have never thought otherwise. I'm just hooked on the game anyway for some strange reason.

On the other hand, there are plenty of golfers who can shoot better than 100 from day one without any lessons at all. I know guys who can routinely shoot better than 90, but only play 3 or 4 times a year with beat-up 30 year old equipment. I think it just boils down to natural talent.
 
In one year of playing (12 mos thinking, 6 mos playing) I've gone from shooting 160+ on my home course to shooting a 100 last week. On the longer harder courses I'm still in the 120-130 range but even that is an improvement.

Consistency in distance with the different clubs is slow to come, but, in my case, at least there is starting to be some... It takes a lot of time and practice. If I didn't go to the range as much as I do, I wouldn't have come even this far.
 
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I think it depends on how good you are already or once were and how ingrained you muscle memory is on your swing. At one a week I think you can maintain a handycap, however I dont think that is enough time to grown in the sport.
 
I play once a week and practice little to none and play to a 5ish HC. It just depends how natural the golf swing is to you.
 
And there are others like me...who play 6-10 times a month and can't get to single digits.....if you are new at the game I would start with some good lessons so you are learning a proper swing...and you don't have to "unlearn" a bunch of crap later...LOL
 
JB said:
I think that with the proper practice and some good professional help, one could set goals at as high as they would like.
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I agree. I play with one guy in skins on the weekend and that is the only time he play's, once or twice a week and he is scratch.
 
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