TheCrest4
#UrbanLumberJack
Watching the European Tour this morning and got to thinking about this and definitely do not know the answer.
Do pros keep handicaps?
Nope. Some of them might record a few scores but i doubt any of them record anywhere near all their scores. The high school and college players I know only record maybe 15% of their scores and I was the same way when I was their age. There is really no need for a handicap when you are playing competitive golf in high school, college, or at the tour levels. Mentally when I was playing my best golf in my 20's I didn't want to be held back by assigning a number to my game. I wanted to think I could always go out and go low and it was easier mentally if I didn't have an index.
Currently I have no need for an accurate handicap either since I don't play in club tournaments and if I play in a club championship this year handicaps are not used for championship flight. I keep one to track the state of my game and mostly just to record how many rounds I have played.
Currently I have no need for an accurate handicap either since I don't play in club tournaments and if I play in a club championship this year handicaps are not used for championship flight. I keep one to track the state of my game and mostly just to record how many rounds I have played.
Six4three5
Tour Star...Layin' Up!
I haven't heard of them keeping a handicap although I kinda wish they would just to see what it would be lol. I'd imagine it'd be in the neighborhood of +6?
They all do. You can not play in the US Open without a registered handicap.
You can search GHIN and find them. You just need to know what state the player is registered in (typically Florida, California, or Arizona).
If you plan on playing in any USGA event you kind of need one.
Six4three5
Tour Star...Layin' Up!
Struggling to find Rickie in Florida or California.
The easiest ones to find I have seen are the guys who play at Whisper Rock in Phoenix. Mickelson, Kaymer, Steele, Streelman are all there to see.
Not if your in the top 60 in the world rankings. Typically this means about 80 players are exempt from qualifying every year for the US Open.
Key to Player Exemptions
1) Winners of the U.S. Open Championship the last 10 years.
2) Winner and runner-up of the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship (must still be an amateur).
3) Winner of the 2015 Amateur Championship conducted by The R&A (must still be an amateur).
4) Winner of the 2015 Mark H. McCormack Medal (must still be an amateur).
5) Winners of the Masters Tournament the last five years.
6) Winners of The Open Championship conducted by The R&A the last five years.
7) Winners of the PGA of America Championship the last five years.
8) Winners of the Players Championship the last three years.
9) Winner of the 2016 European Tour BMW PGA Championship.
10) Winner of the 2015 U.S. Senior Open Championship.
11) From the 2015 U.S. Open Championship, the 10 lowest scores and anyone tying for 10th place.
12) Those players qualifying for the season-ending 2015 Tour Championship.
13) From the Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 point leaders and ties as of May 23, 2016. Players must select a qualifying site at the time of entry.
14) From the Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 point leaders and ties as of June 13, 2016. Players must select a qualifying site at the time of entry.
15) Special exemptions as selected by the USGA.
My point about handicaps is pros may have one but many of them don't record all their scores. I'm sure there are some that do record all their scores but that is rare. At the highest level they track themselves by world ranking, their index is meaningless. The same goes for most college players or even good high school players -they care about winning tournaments and their national(AJGA) or state rankings, not about their index. When I played in college and some amateur golf after college the topic of handicaps never came up. I'm sure all the guys I was playing against had handicaps but I certainly didn't know or ask what they were since they didn't matter. Most good players competing at the high school or higher level look at recording scores for handicap purposes as a meaningless chore.
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ntanygd760
Well-known member
There abouts but you have to keep in mind the courses they play tend to be harder than the course would normally play. I think they did Tiger's once when he was winning everything and it was like a +11. For the most part if you are a +6 at your home course you probably a few shots away from the big tour.
I think I remember reading that Bubba keeps me and he's a +7
ntanygd760
Well-known member
I imagine there anti caps (average of 10 worse) are even more impressive.