We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Does Your Handicap Travel Well?

BigMac

BigMac

#LLTG!
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Oct 30, 2010
Messages
42,413
Reaction score
56,061
Location
Arizona
Handicap
13.3
I play about 90% of my rounds at my home course, so I'm very familiar with it and mentally comfortable with it. I know where to place my shots (actually doing it is another matter!) and I know how the greens break. It's also a pretty straightforward, easy course (66.7/114 from the tees we usually play). When I play at other courses, at comparable tee boxes, I rarely score as well as I do on my home course. Often I don't even strike the ball as well, probably because of a bit of discomfort /lack of commitment to the shots.

Does your handicap travel well when you play "away" courses, or do you find a similar advantage with the familiarity of your home course?
 
Last edited:
I find it travels better, tbh.
Perhaps it’s because my home course is a Championship course (SSS 73) so other courses may sometimes feel a bit ‘easier’.
Perhaps it’s because I’m more chilled at my home course and more likely to be having an friendly ‘knock’ with mates where score is less important.
When I travel to play I am often more focused on putting in a performance, as I’m lies likely to get another shot at posting a good score there in the news future
 
Not as well as I'd like.
 
I am usually a couple strokes higher when I travel due to knowing my home course very well.
 
The numbers say I find a strong greens advantage at home. Tee game is somewhat better away. Approach is noticeably better away. Or underutilized at home. However you want to look at it. I know I'm much more likely to play to my cap at an away course if it's longer and more open, even though I'm not especially long, than if it's tight/short with unique greens. I think those things take more familiarity to really play well. I also try to do too much at home sometimes.

I don't think any of my top 8 or so differentials are at my home course. So my cap does travel lately, I guess. At least within my region. Put me on grasses I don't really have experience on and all bets are off. Seriously. I will not make bets.
 
Mine actually does OK. Because last year was the first year in forever that I actually took the plunge and joined somewhere, I was used to playing a different course every time, so I got used to adapting and there wasn't the sense of 'intimidation' that a new course can sometimes bring. I tend to do a fair bit of prep and research on a new course before I play it though, so I know roughly what to expect when I get on the first tee.
 
Playing a course for the first or second time, scores are usually higher. Even with some advance research, the lack of local knowledge certainly will cause a few extra shots - when to lay up, where not to short side yourself, changes is green speed from your home course - all add up.
 
With playing league matches for my home club, I am used to travelling to different courses, and because I am focussing on trying to play and score well, I often shoot around my handicap so I would say it can travel pretty well

At a couple of courses I know really well I have shot well below my handicap, but they are also easier courses than my home course so that helps
 
Scores seem to drop when playing other courses - home course is tough.
 
As much as I play at my "home course" it is definitely an advantage and thus my play on other courses does not reflect my handicap. If I were to play other courses at least a few times to learn enough about where not to hit the ball as well as how the greens react to shots and putt then I could probably get closer to my home course handicap and have done so. On a course I am playing for the first or second time my handicap definitely does NOT travel well.
 
strawboater said:
I find it travels better, tbh.
Perhaps it’s because my home course is a Championship course (SSS 73) so other courses may sometimes feel a bit ‘easier’.
Perhaps it’s because I’m more chilled at my home course and more likely to be having an friendly ‘knock’ with mates where score is less important.
When I travel to play I am often more focused on putting in a performance, as I’m lies likely to get another shot at posting a good score there in the news future
Click to expand...

I find a similar experience - I think there is definitely a tendency to get lazy or complacent when you play your home course over and over. A new look brings with it a renewed focus and greater attention to ball striking. Also the fact that the reason for the trip is most likely golf forces me to play smarter which usually results in a better score.
 
It did for one season when things were very repeatable but otherwise it doesn't travel exact. I'd say it goes up a stroke or two regularly. My home course favors a fade to score but a draw is playable and longer yardage. The flip side of that is that a fade/slice miss brings a LOT of OB into play and a draw/hook miss only occasionally brings OB into play. I play a draw so I tend to get away with my misses more on the home course than I do when I'm at a new course.
 
Mine travels fairly well. My 2 best rounds weren't even on my home course.
 
At my current course it does travel well because all other courses I play have greens that make chipping and putting easier. The amount of slope on 13 of the greens combined with the 11ish STIMP is brutally tough for any side hill or down hill putt. It’s common at least a few times each day to see a downhill putt leave the golfer farther from the hole than his first putt. So many times I will see 3 putts from inside of 10 feet with a downhill first putt. The steepness of the greens makes you play approach shots 15 feet short of the hole with some of the pin locations. On some of the false front greens it’s also common to have a ball stop for 10 seconds on an approach and then while you are walking to the green the ball starts moving again. I had one last year that stopped for a good 30 seconds on the front edge of the 6th hole and then roll 35 yards down the hills in front of the green as I approached it. Last fall I calculated my index for my away rounds and it was almost 1.5 strokes lower and most of those rounds were at courses with slope ratings above 140.
 
Last edited:
Historically I’ve played well on the road so to speak. My home course was generally more challenging than the road courses, which I always thought gave me an advantage.
 
It actually travels reasonably well, which I find surprising for me.
 
Since I do not have a home course is my handicap is a traveling handicap?
 
I actually tend to play other courses better than my home course, very consistently.

Home track is tough with very fast greens and a lot of pins that are no-fly zones, while I find most other courses are much less abrasive.
 
No it doesn't. My game is terrible regardless of where I play.
 
I'm pretty consistent no matter the course. I'll shot maybe a couple shots higher on a new course but for the most part it travels well.
 
I play better away. I love my club and it's 4 courses, but they really crammed them in together. The average fairway width is between 20-30 yards, with most holes having 40-60 yards from penalty area to penalty area. Most of my current index comes from tee shots that put me in trouble. I'm using Scott Fawcett's Decade golf system to determine club selection and it seems to be helping a lot. There are only a handful of the 72 holes that run parallel to each other and most of those still have penalty areas (woods) in the right spot to catch errant tee shots.
 
I think mine travels better than playing a home course. Sometimes not knowing specifics about the course actually helps me play more relaxed and make smooth swings. It would be interesting to really dive in to the numbers and see if this is true.
 
I would say normally it does, unless a course just doesn't line up to my eye. One of the last times I can remember that happening was at Innisbrook last year. First 8 holes were rough. Couldn't seem to line my tee balls up right, made a few bogeys.

Finished the last 10 holes at -1 though, so it came back around.
 
Unless it's particularly windy, I tend to score about the same no matter how easy or hard a course is. I'd love to be able to tear up easy courses but I'm oddly consistent no matter the difficulty. haha

 
It used to, I used to say I could shoot 83 just about anywhere. The last 2 years though have told another story.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top