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Do you feel your handicap accurately reflects your ability?

kensisland said:
I think it does for the courses I play regularly ... I seem to struggle more on course that is a bit harder and/or unfamiliar to me ...
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Interesting, it's the absolute opposite for me somehow.
 
fupresti said:
My pea brain makes me do stupid things. It's a constant struggle.
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^This... I couldn't tell you how many times a round can get away from me because I'm too aggressive. It's like my brain constantly thinks i'm playing best-shot and needs to go for everything off the tee, and attempt pinseekers on every green. I lose a lot of strokes to OB or very poor position off of the tee. I also tend to go for 'sucker pins' when I know i should just be aiming mid-green 80% of the time.
 
Howzat said:
Curious as to everyone's thoughts on this. I hear a lot of people say things on the internet like "I am a mid/higher handicapper but have players irons because my iron game isn't the issue". Do you feel you handicap is a decent indicator of your ability. What holds you back from a lower index? Can you really be a high handicap golfer but have the iron play of a scratch golfer?
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IMO no you can't, and the game would be more fun if you played the correct equipment for your skill level. That is just one mans opinion though. If your not hitting the center of the face 95% of the time why would you punish your self with a set of MB irons, to me that just doesn't make sense.
 
Hox30 said:
IMO no you can't, and the game would be more fun if you played the correct equipment for your skill level. That is just one mans opinion though. If your not hitting the center of the face 95% of the time why would you punish your self with a set of MB irons, to me that just doesn't make sense.
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I would agree generally. One imo cant be a scratch iron player and be a mid/high capper. He/she would simply be too good not have a lower cap. Even if the tee game and putting are less than good, having irons ability of a scratch player would make up for so very much it just wouldn't imo allow for a mid and especially high cap. I mean if real poor tee game one would simply recover fairly easily and if poor putting game one would still be on the greens in general in less strokes. Either scenario when combined with iron play of a scratch player wouldn't make one scratch but certainly would keep them "fairly" low imo. Actually all one would have to do is play irons from tee to green and barely ever post high scores.
 
rollin said:
I would agree generally. One imo cant be a scratch iron player and be a mid/high capper. He/she would simply be too good not have a lower cap. Even if the tee game and putting are less than good, having irons ability of a scratch player would make up for so very much it just wouldn't imo allow for a mid and especially high cap. I mean if real poor tee game one would simply recover fairly easily and if poor putting game one would still be on the greens in general in less strokes. Either scenario when combined with iron play of a scratch player wouldn't make one scratch but certainly would keep them "fairly" low imo. Actually all one would have to do is play irons from tee to green and barely ever post high scores.
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Yes this is how I feel as well. If playing a MB iron for a mid-high handicapper makes the game more fun for them then go for it. It just doesn't make sense in this guys brain.
 
I think it does and it doesn't for me. Most times I play like the 30 handicap that I am and post a score in the three digits and sometimes I play to my "potential and ability" and catch fire and have the ability to shoot a round in the 90's.
 
Right now I believe so, I'm just one or two less blow up holes from being in the 70's
 
My handicap is pretty accurate today with my age, health issues, zero practice and playing less than I use to. For me, it still comes down to short game and putting well.
 
I do I think at times I hit the ball better sometimes I hit it worse. I feel my chipping is a bit better than my cap but my putting is worse so all in all it balances out and I feel is a good representation of my ability.

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On my home course where I play the vast majority of my rounds, yes. In my last 20 rounds, 15 of them are within 3 strokes of each other. On new courses or ones I haven't played in awhile I'll usually add 4-5 strokes from not playing smart or not handling the green speed change well.

Driving and putting in the 8-12 foot range are keeping me from scratch. I usually have 3-4 drives a round that get me in trouble. And I get at least a half dozen putts in the 8-12 foot range and am lucky to make 1.
 
lightningbolt44 said:
I do I think at times I hit the ball better sometimes I hit it worse. I feel my chipping is a bit better than my cap but my putting is worse so all in all it balances out and I feel is a good representation of my ability.

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But this is sort of what I have a problem with. Of course not a real problem but just for sake of discussion.

If we make a free throw in basketball that means we have the ability to do it. But even the best in the NBA are only 80% (I think) as an average. Therefore their ability is actually 80%. So they are actually as good as the stat says they are because the stat is giving us their average and not their best. Same for a baseball hitter. if he bats 300 that's his average and the stat (like B-Ball) represents what he actually is.

But in golf our cap doesn't represent what we actually are. What we are imo is what we average just like that 300 hiter or that 80% free thrower. This would be like the NBA 80% freethrower who hypothetically makes 100% every other game and than makes 60% every other game. If it worked like golf HC we would say he is a 100% free thrower based on 10 best of last 20. But that wouldn't be what he is, that would only be what his potential is. And so our cap is only showing us at our best, not our norm. What we are imo can only be an average of our best and our worst and everything in between all combined just like the ball players.
 
rollin said:
But this is sort of what I have a problem with. Of course not a real problem but just for sake of discussion.

If we make a free throw in basketball that means we have the ability to do it. But even the best in the NBA are only 80% (I think) as an average. Therefore their ability is actually 80%. So they are actually as good as the stat says they are because the stat is giving us their average and not their best. Same for a baseball hitter. if he bats 300 that's his average and the stat (like B-Ball) represents what he actually is.

But in golf our cap doesn't represent what we actually are. What we are imo is what we average just like that 300 hiter or that 80% free thrower. This would be like the NBA 80% freethrower who hypothetically makes 100% every other game and than makes 60% every other game. If it worked like golf HC we would say he is a 100% free thrower based on 10 best of last 20. But that wouldn't be what he is, that would only be what his potential is. And so our cap is only showing us at our best, not our norm. What we are imo can only be an average of our best and our worst and everything in between all combined just like the ball players.
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I'm willing to bet my cap wouldn't change much averaging 20 rounds. I went through a rough patch in June so currently it probably would go way up but other than that over the last few years I shoot VERY close to the same scores everytime I go out.

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I feel like I could easily be a high 80's golfer but 4 or 5 blow up holes keep me in 90's and frequent low hundreds
 
I think with the amount of work I have put in and with the lessons I took that it reflects my ability. My last 6 rounds have bee in the low-mid 80s and my cap is trending to 12.2. My bad rounds now seem to be mid 80s
 
I honestly don't know right now. This weekend pretty much has me rattled hard with my abilities.... Next coup,e days I will get it sorted out and plan another course of action to somewhere.
 
Simple answer is yes and no.

Oddly enough I score very well on the hardest rated holes on my home course and often drop shots on the easiest which is what I need to work on. Cannot explain why.

Often the weekend group I play with are astounded that I'm 18, until they see some wasted chips etc. Need to work on how to approach different holes.
 
I've posted in here before, but here's my response to the question: "no." and that goes both ways. I feel for stretches I play a few strokes better than my cap. and for stretches I play significantly worse. so "no."


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T2GRN18 said:
I honestly don't know right now. This weekend pretty much has me rattled hard with my abilities.... Next coup,e days I will get it sorted out and plan another course of action to somewhere.
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Your handicap isn't pronounced "G-H-I-N" it's pronounced "M-E-N-T-A-L" my brother. You'll get it sorted out, and at that time, your handicap will absolutely be a reflection of that.
 
At the moment no...and it's not even close
 
I have no idea if I play to my handicap. The guys I have played with recently might have a better idea about that than I do - I think I should be a 17, but my GHIN states otherwise.
I have put a few good rounds together this year, all around the same time.

I am trying to get better, but I don't seem to be able to KEEP things going well, once they go well.
 
My game is bi-polar right now...I can go out and put up a low to mid 80 one day and struggle to break 100 the next (I played with Jank and Mikeg this weekend and was well over triple digits!)
 
TripleBogieTim said:
My game is bi-polar right now...I can go out and put up a low to mid 80 one day and struggle to break 100 the next (I played with Jank and Mikeg this weekend and was well over triple digits!)
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Last weekend, I shot 84, 84 then 95, 96 this past weekend.
Same course, clubs & balls but 2 completely different golfers. It got so bad that an old instructor was lining me up during the round & trying to help.




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Canadan said:
Your handicap isn't pronounced "G-H-I-N" it's pronounced "M-E-N-T-A-L" my brother. You'll get it sorted out, and at that time, your handicap will absolutely be a reflection of that.
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Absolutely, and I felt as though I made great strides mentally, yeah I was wrong. However I can't change the past and if I want it to be different in the future, then I must do work.
 
My cap is an accurate measure of my potential, like it should be. Bermuda grass adds a layer of difficulty for me, however.
 
Perhaps the best number to look at is your average score. If you have the GHIN mobile app in STATS at the bottom of the screen are your number of rounds, high score, low score and average. There are also a number of ways to look at your score. I find the actual GHIN (last 20 scores) and the 2015 catagories the most interesting. GHIN has my most current index at 13.6, but my average score is 88.2.
Over 2015 (50 rounds) the average is 89.3. If I am scoring within a few strokes of those numbers I feel I am being consistent (hopefully at the lower range).
I've never understood why GHIN doesn't take scores 6 through 15 of the last 20 rather than the lowest 10. That would eliminate outliers on both ends, not just the top.

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