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Does Your Handicap Travel?

Last year (when healthy) I actually shot my 3 best rounds away from home. Cool thing was that two of them were at the May outing.
 
My handicap travels OK i play higher on course that i have never played if it is the second round at a perticulare course i play with in a couple strokes except for a few werid blow ups
 
Mine is hit or miss.
Some days I don't play to my handicap no matter the course.
 
I'd say mine travels pretty well. My home course is (I think) a pretty solid test and plays maybe a tad tougher than it's rating (71/133). Nothing is more fun that going on vacation and throwing up low 80's all week when breaking 90 is usually your main goal.
 
I would say my handicap travels pretty well. I'm not saying that I always score as well as I'd like. But, generally, it'll be in the ball park. I played more than 50 different courses last year, and might top that this year, despite belonging to a private course with 27 holes. I belong to two other golf associations in addition to my own, so get to play all around Atlanta, and I take a lot of golf trips. That being said, I do have some trouble adjusting to older type Bermuda greens that are very grainy. The newer ones putt and react more similarly to bent, so those I rather enjoy.
 
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
 
JB said:
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
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Hey I have witnesses lol.
 
JB said:
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
Click to expand...

Dang! I knew I should have put a conditional "except at THP events" in my response!
 
I would say mine travels ok (Lyman orchard not included, that place was just crazy!) I only get into trouble when I really can't see what's layed out ahead and have to play "target golf"
 
JB said:
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
Click to expand...


Yep -- 19.2. Let's do this!
 
JB said:
Each year THP Events are put together and some times the courses are a bit tougher than what you might be used to. Do you think your handicap index travels? The bigger picture here is that many times people do not know their actual handicap and assume its an approximate average of what they shoot.

This of course takes slope, rating and the idea that its not an average, but a potential out of the equation.

We watch this rather closely from time to time at the different events to ensure that the future holds the most fair way to do competitions. So with that being said, do you think your handicap index travels well? Or is it closer to a home course index or select few courses index?
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There are two things that impact me when I travel.

1 - narrow fairways. Where I play, I can generally miss to one side. If the course is tight both ways, it will usually cost me a couple strokes.
2 - green variance. I've found trouble playing on greens if they are notably slower than my home course, or a different type of grass that maybe breaks with the grain and such.

Other than that, I enjoy playing on a course that challenges me, and I think that helps a lot when I travel with my handicap.
 
JB said:
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
Click to expand...

I'd be interested to know how your slope system stands up to when playing in the UK. Do you guys whom have played over here play to your handicap on our courses? In other words, does your slope system match the handicap system we use over here so its compatible to our SSS and CSS or do you struggle?
 
Mizuno Blue said:
I'd be interested to know how your slope system stands up to when playing in the UK. Do you guys whom have played over here play to your handicap on our courses? In other words, does your slope system match the handicap system we use over here so its compatible to our SSS and CSS or do you struggle?
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I played better when I played overseas because I found the courses less penal in terms of hazards. But that is just me.
 
I play a lot of different courses, so I'd like to say yes, but the Invitationals are a different beast!
 
I feel that this question depends on what type of course you play on a regular basis.

If you play something tough that test all clubs in your bag and different shot shapes then you can travel just about anywhere and play respectably. If you play somewhat of an easy course that becomes repetitive or doesn't have a lot of trouble (forced carries, multi tiered greens, holes that move different directions etc.) then you might have trouble on certain courses.

I feel mine travels pretty good and my only issues are different grass types when it comes to short game shots and putting
 
Mine does not travel well to Florida as the courses there are so different from home and most of the country. Abundance of water hazards with some being unseen and Bermuda rough are the things that have hurt my game there. The one club difference because of altitude loss also comes into play on real long courses.

So in short my 13ish will be playing like a 18+ at Hilton Head. You should probably pair me with a scratch golfer. :smirk:
 
JB said:
I played better when I played overseas because I found the courses less penal in terms of hazards. But that is just me.
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Yeah, I suppose there are too many variables, someone who plays at a quirky short course might struggle on a 7500yd jobby and visa-versa.
 
I guess I'll find out this year. I don't have a home course so play a handful of courses locally but don't travel a ton to see how it fares on courses outside of my area. Dallas I
Will be my first real test, but when I've visited in the past it has gone about as expected.
 
JB said:
Based on this thread, its going to be very easy to set teams up for THP Events. Everybody's handicap appears to be in line. :D
Click to expand...
I would say if, everyone puts in all their scores into their index and utilizes the slope of the course/tees being used, it should be fairly close for the majority.

But I know, even at our course, we have a few people's who's indexes are much higher than they should be and then go out and shoot a score maybe double digit strokes better than their index.

Funny thing is they've been told by "the rules committee" and it still seems to happen every event they host, there's always going to be some rules benders/breakers, but if people are playing by the rule and following the procedures of their index, assuming it's established, I hope it would at least be a good starting point.

But I'm sure you guys have had troubles making all the teams as fair as possible, that's the one difference between a THP event and one around here, at THP events everyone respects everyone else and wants to compete as hard as they can while still having fun, around here everyone fights tooth and nail to win and doesn't always follow the rules, it's a very defeating feeling and why I'm so looking forward to THP events in 2014.
 
At the moment I do not think it travels. But I will change that this year. Going to make a concerted effort to play different courses. Also traveling (hopefully) to Indy, TN, and Ocean City will help as well.
 
My handicap travels. When I go to a new course, my handicap goes to hell.
 
Mine travels pretty well. My home course, is what i feel at least, is undersloped. Its Par 71 118/70.6 IIRC. The greens have a lot of very minor and hidden break in them, they are about the size of a salad plate and shot placement is king. The course in my neighborhood is a Par 70 134/71.4 IIRC and I always play better there than my home course and I think it much easier. I've never shot anything close to my handicap during a THP event other than the Outing...not sure why.
 
I often wonder if I would play better down south, on better maintained courses, with consistent greens.

I can go from playing on fairways so bumpy and dry you would think it was a tilled field, to a green that is cut so long that it is almost indistinguishable from the fairway. Not a lot of resources go into maintaining some of the courses here unfortunately. One course only waters greens and tee-boxes, and had been like that for years (if the fairways die, then they die... deal with it).
 
My biggest issue is that I play my home course so much that I have it totally dialed in. Know it like the back of my hand. Know how to stay out of trouble, how to get out of trouble from an accident, how it plays in all different weather conditions, which club to pull from anywhere without a second guess, etc etc... I consistently shoot good enough scores there that it maintains or lowers my index, and when I take that index to any other course, especially the tougher ones, I play like somebody with a handicap 5-9 shots bigger. Other than playing other courses more often or getting a practice round in at a new one beforehand I really have no idea how to minimize the effect this has on my handicap.
 
Good question, my handicap definitely does not travel well. I usually end up shooting higher scores than I typically do at my home courses.
 
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