Can Home Courses/Memberships Impact You Negatively?

[Golds]

I've thought about becoming a member of a local golf course because usually you can end up getting a great deal if you play a lot, maybe even end up playing for free by the end of the year. But I personally believe being tied down to one course could potentially hurt you in the long run. Being comfortable with the course, knowing each hole inside and out I think would give you a false sense of where you are in your golf game. Am I the only one?

 

[PirateJim]

You're probably right. Almost certainly, if you maintain a handicap it will go down as you become more and more familiar with the course you play on a lot. Some say the handicap doesn't "travel" well.

The question is, do you care? If that is where you like to play and you have a financial incentive to play there as well, what's the big deal? Your "sense of where you are in your golf game" may be somewhat slanted because of playing the same course a lot, as may your handicap, but is it really that much. That is sort of an added and very related question for those who post after me. I would think that, because you are already worried about this, your sense of your game progress wouldn't be too slanted. Of course, that is coming from a person what has a home course where I mostly play, so take it with a grain of salt perhaps.

 

[tahoebum]

I've thought about becoming a member of a local golf course because usually you can end up getting a great deal if you play a lot, maybe even end up playing for free by the end of the year. But I personally believe being tied down to one course could potentially hurt you in the long run. Being comfortable with the course, knowing each hole inside and out I think would give you a false sense of where you are in your golf game. Am I the only one?

I only know a few golfers at my home club that struggle playing to their index when at an away course. Usually these are guys that have played 95% of their rounds at the same course for more than a decade. They often miss 3-5 more putt's per round when at an away course because they can't adjust to greens that are different speeds and they don't know all the breaks. I typically play about 35 rounds a year at my club and another 12-15 away rounds. Last year 3 of my 4 lowest rounds were not at my home course. My worst round last year by a whopping 6 shots, was at a course that I played more than 1000 times before I was 26 years old.

 

[bbuonic81]

You're probably right. Almost certainly, if you maintain a handicap it will go down as you become more and more familiar with the course you play on a lot. Some say the handicap doesn't "travel" well.

I think this probably depends a little bit on the difficulty of the course you're thinking about joining. I have a membership at a local course and play almost exclusively there now (since I am paying dues, it's tough to justify going other places) the two sets of tees that are used mostly have 133 and 134 slope ratings. The back tees have 136. The USGA says that a course of average difficulty would have a slope rating of 113 (http://www.usga.org/handicapping/publications/the-truth-about-slope/), so in my case, I think even with the built up familiarity with the course, my handicap is still pretty accurate and I might even be at a little bit of an advantage going other places due to the difficulty of my home track.

 

[ChristopherKee]

It could be a positive and not hurt your game. You can look at it from a comfort level as well. When I travel to courses I have not played I associate shots I'm making with shots I've played a thousand times at one of my home courses. 110 wedge into a sloped green? I played that at my home course so just let it rip the same way I do there. If you have 110 shot into the green at home then you have a 110 shot anywhere in my mind.

Now, greens, traps, and best place to hit the tee shot will give you more difficulty but that's because it's new to you and you have no local knowledge.

 

[Hawk]

I think it depends on what type of player you are. If you're a decent scrambler and can learn to manage a course you can score better than your skill level after a season at a course imo. Just based off personal experience

 

[SaskeyInWash]

I've thought about becoming a member of a local golf course because usually you can end up getting a great deal if you play a lot, maybe even end up playing for free by the end of the year. But I personally believe being tied down to one course could potentially hurt you in the long run. Being comfortable with the course, knowing each hole inside and out I think would give you a false sense of where you are in your golf game. Am I the only one?

Agree with you 100%. I think you can be over confident in your handicap if you play the same place all the time. It is really the question (that I think was asked last week), does your handicap travel?

 

[SHIFTY]

I don't think it will hurt you. Although this is the difference between an amateur and a pro. Lots of people can shoot par or better on their home course, the difference is a pro can shoot that on any course.
Only thing it will affect is your handicap perhaps due to not having the familiarity.

 

[Golds]

I think maybe one's skill level will impact this, as some have said above. I agree, someone who is a 5 handicap can most likely play outside their membership course and be just as good, but someone with more avg handicap could potentially play like a 15 handicap at their membership course and score mid 90's outside their course. Which brings me to my point, you are comfortable with the greens, ball locations etc. that it may actually hinder your play when you don't have that security blanket of knowing everything. As opposed to playing various courses (not being tied down to one course) and being used to playing all different types of layouts and becoming good at adapting/scrambling.

 

[dietDrThunder]

I think about this as well, as a new member at a local club. Since last August, I've probably played 60 rounds of golf, and maybe 6 of them were not at 'my' course. The one thing I have going for me is that my course is pretty difficult, with its defining feature being postage-stamp undulating greens. I think if I were a member at a more forgiving course it might really be a problem. Also, I'm pretty bad, so it is probably more of a factor for me.

 

[mpeterson]

I guess I'm the opposite case - I've actually had better luck beating my handicap when I've gone and played other courses rather than my home course. I'm guessing this is due to conditions - I'm often playing one of the "nice" courses in the area if I'm paying per round, so you're looking at a lot nicer lies in the fairway than the local muni that I play often. I also tend to play a bit more conservatively if I'm playing a new course, where I'll make more aggressive (read: stupid) more often at courses I'm familiar with.

 

[O'Carroll]

I understand the question, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Golf is hard, regardless of the course. You still have to hit fairways and greens and make putts regardless. That's easier to do at some courses than it is at others, so I guess it would come down to course difficulty. Playing the same course over and over will give you a heads-up for the tricks of the course, but how many strokes is that worth? 2 or 3 maybe?

 

[yoopergolfer]

I've thought about becoming a member of a local golf course because usually you can end up getting a great deal if you play a lot, maybe even end up playing for free by the end of the year. But I personally believe being tied down to one course could potentially hurt you in the long run. Being comfortable with the course, knowing each hole inside and out I think would give you a false sense of where you are in your golf game. Am I the only one?

I know I don't feel this way. My course cost 500 dollars for the season, includes range balls. Last year I had played $500 worth of golf after 3 weeks, meaning I played for free the rest of the summer. Plus all the time on the range. I don't think it can hurt practicing as much as you can. Plus most people play enough other courses where the variety isn't too bad.

 

[Philly Golf Guy]

Yeah it's the opposite for me. My home course is more difficult than a lot of other courses, so I typically score better. In fact, all of my best scoring rounds were at other courses. Besides, you still have to swing the clubs and make the shots at either course, so I don't know if I can even get on board with this premise. Playing one course frequently helps you get distances down and you figure out what places you want to be a lot more, including the greens, but I don't think a home course could hurt your game.

 

[Golds]

It seems like there's equal people agreeing and disagreeing.

 

[Golf 'N Gator]

I've thought about becoming a member of a local golf course because usually you can end up getting a great deal if you play a lot, maybe even end up playing for free by the end of the year. But I personally believe being tied down to one course could potentially hurt you in the long run. Being comfortable with the course, knowing each hole inside and out I think would give you a false sense of where you are in your golf game. Am I the only one?

I agree to a point. No doubt I play better at home having now been a member at my course for over 35 years, but at the same time, if you a decent player, your handicap travels with a course handicap wherever you play. I never expect to play as well somewhere for the first time as I do at home, but todays GPS units help as you can get a view of the hole, but still, it takes me a time or two playing a course to learn where not to be, so scores are bound to be a bit higher, but in no way do I view membership as being detrimental to my game. Membership means more to me than just playing the game itself.