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I will keep this brief (for me) rather than write a novel here. I have been speaking with someone about indexes and he brought up a very interesting point about how well they tell the story about a golfer. Case in point, this gentleman travelled the country and played to a 2 index. Could go quite low and some days would go the other way. Normally, according to him, he kept the ball in front of him and played to his competition.
We started discussing indexes and how they worked to tell the story. Speaking of golfers that travel, "course handicaps" and so much more. I like to think my index tells the story about my game. I play to a 5 right now, but have been as low as a .9 and as high as an 8.6 in the last 3 years. Nothing really changes that for the most part. It does not seem to matter the course, the location or anything else, it all seems to stay about the same.
I asked the gentleman why he felt as though for some it told the story and for others it was a big question mark. He then proceeded to explain why (in his opinion) its different for every golfer and he said it almost always comes down to short game and keeping the ball in play off the tee.
"JB, its simple, if a golfer keeps the ball in play off the tee and has a decent wedge game and putter, the index will tell the story no matter where they are. Those that struggle with those areas, will find their game travels not as well. Now I would be fooling if I did not mention managing the golf course and eliminating big mistakes, but both of those things [CAN] lead back to the two areas I am discussing."
It got me thinking about whether it was all that simple. Could these two things really show the index? So I started a little email survey to three golf clubs and spoke to about 85 golfers. I am working on gathering data, but so far, the gentleman I spoke with is dead on as far as what I am seeing. Those that keep it in play off the tee and putt well are traveling with their game more than those that struggle in those areas.
So that leads to this thread. Do you think your handicap index tells the story of your golf game? Or do you think it is in some ways "artificial" because of these factors.
Toughness of courses you are playing (ratings)
Some very good rounds mixed in that keep you low
Playing better golf at harder courses
It also tends to lean back to what an index really is. Many seem to still believe your handicap is your scoring average when in actuality it is your scoring potential. So does it tell your story? You tell us.
We started discussing indexes and how they worked to tell the story. Speaking of golfers that travel, "course handicaps" and so much more. I like to think my index tells the story about my game. I play to a 5 right now, but have been as low as a .9 and as high as an 8.6 in the last 3 years. Nothing really changes that for the most part. It does not seem to matter the course, the location or anything else, it all seems to stay about the same.
I asked the gentleman why he felt as though for some it told the story and for others it was a big question mark. He then proceeded to explain why (in his opinion) its different for every golfer and he said it almost always comes down to short game and keeping the ball in play off the tee.
"JB, its simple, if a golfer keeps the ball in play off the tee and has a decent wedge game and putter, the index will tell the story no matter where they are. Those that struggle with those areas, will find their game travels not as well. Now I would be fooling if I did not mention managing the golf course and eliminating big mistakes, but both of those things [CAN] lead back to the two areas I am discussing."
It got me thinking about whether it was all that simple. Could these two things really show the index? So I started a little email survey to three golf clubs and spoke to about 85 golfers. I am working on gathering data, but so far, the gentleman I spoke with is dead on as far as what I am seeing. Those that keep it in play off the tee and putt well are traveling with their game more than those that struggle in those areas.
So that leads to this thread. Do you think your handicap index tells the story of your golf game? Or do you think it is in some ways "artificial" because of these factors.
Toughness of courses you are playing (ratings)
Some very good rounds mixed in that keep you low
Playing better golf at harder courses
It also tends to lean back to what an index really is. Many seem to still believe your handicap is your scoring average when in actuality it is your scoring potential. So does it tell your story? You tell us.