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How Important Is Your Handicap to You?

I don't bother with a handicap anymore. I kept track for awhile but it's a pain. I use my ShotScope to keep track of my game improvement.
 
How can you play a real match without a handicap.....There's one guy I play with occasionally who doesn't keep a cap yet will tell me what it is/should be.....Keep your cap or otherwise don't play any match play except for just gross.....My cap is important and have maintained it for 47 years.
 
I make sure to maintain mine year over year. I only use it for my own reference, since I don't play in any type of official events. My goal year over year is to stay in or as close to single digits as I can; typically I climb a bit after the winter layoff then drop halfway through the season and continue to drop until the fall.

The other thing I really like about it is that I can go back at any time and see what I shot at a course 3/4/5 years ago, since all my rounds are recorded.
 
Important enough that I feel bad at corporate events being the 15 as people think you spray everywhere, play slow, and are not a good golfer.

Goal is single or 10 in next year. Lessons kick off in February
 
i started tracking my handicap to have one for THP events/experiences. i haven't been in one since 2018, but i currently maintain it still for that reason, hoping i get into another one.

on top of that, i do use it to gauge my game... and it mostly annoys me. :ROFLMAO:
 
Handicap to me is only important to get into events. For example being <5.4 to qualify as an A for club championships, or having a low enough index to compete in local tournaments.

But i've learned over the years not to think too much about whether a 2.1 or 0.9 or whatever really matters. I guess it does technically mean you're shooting better scores. But my best tournament years haven't necessarily been my best index years.
 
I play a LOT of competitive golf. Either through my league, club tournaments, or games with friends. So handicap is important to me to maintain.

But I am also at a point where I am really working on my game over the last year to become better, so seeing my cap drop like it has is a sense of accomplishment and pride. I want to continue to push and improve, and the handicap to me is a metric that shows it to/for me.
 
I used to maintain a handicap when I was playing in my after work golf league, but even then it wasn't important to me, other than to square things up for competition.
Nowadays, trying to hit the ball solid is most important to me.
 
Canadan said:
Is your handicap a badge of honor?
Is it something you don't like talking about?
Is it something you celebrate?
Does it annoy you?

What kind of impact does your handicap have on who you are as a golfer?
Click to expand...


Is your handicap a badge of honor? Not really. I play with a lot of good golfers so it doesn't impress anyone.
Is it something you don't like talking about? The only time I talk about it is on the first tee if we are setting up a match.
Is it something you celebrate? Only time I celebrated was when I became a +1. That lasted one revision cycle.
Does it annoy you? Nope.

What kind of impact does your handicap have on who you are as a golfer? None really. Like the stock market it goes up and down and is generally a good reflections of where my game is. Almost all of the tournaments I play in are played gross.
 
I don't think about handicap very much. I play rounds of golf, and turn my score cards in to our league guy, who lists our handicaps for league play. That's about it for me.
 
Mine is more annoying then anything. Will always have one, I always want to improve (as every other area of my life) but just seems like an archaic way to measure “ability”
 
It used to matter to me but now I really don’t care too much. I am going to try to get it really low again next year and then I’ll probably care again but right now not so much.


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My cap is at it's lowest ever and I give zero f***s
 
Very, as I only use it as a barometer toward the state of my game. I've been as low as 1.2 a few years ago, steady near that level. But injury and residual swing flaws has seen it rise to now 7.6 (and climbing, trending 8.0).

Golfcentrically speaking, it absolutely kills me.
 
Muchmore18 said:
This sounds somewhat familiar. I still love golf more than anything and have an absolute blast MOST of the time, but some days where I play as a single, I'm pretty freaking hard on myself about poor play and that self doubt creeps in to my head during other rounds
Click to expand...
Bunch of feels on this. 100% true
 
I’d say it annoys me a little as I’ll play what I consider a poor round and my cap will go down when it doesn’t feel like my game is quite at that spot yet but overall I can consistently shoot close to my handicap.
 
I feel like the HCP is a measure of a good to great round. Beat the cap Great round.
 
I maintain a handicap so that I can play in my clubs "sweeps". They use the handicap to attempt at making the teams fair

The only thing that annoys me about it is, at 8.5 I'm not good enough to make a difference in the gross scoring and not bad enough to make a difference in the net

Also, some guys have to win so bad they wont keep an honest handicap
 
For me - my handi is just a temperature check on how I've been doing collectively over the last year. Nothing really more than that. I don't worry about it overall.
 
Played off a 20 for most of the year, currently sitting with my trackman HCP at 15 (taking that with a big grain of salt). Not ultra concerned about the number and don’t really have a goal number I’ve set for the winter/next year but it’s definitely nice to see my scoring improve and trend in a positive direction. Will I wear it as a badge of honor? No.
Will it affect my day to day life? Probably not.
Will I brag to my wife about it? Absolutely.
Will she care in the slightest? Won’t even look up from her laptop.


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I kept a handicap because I wanted to get into single digits. I worked hard and did it. Now I could care less. My golf belongs to me, not the USGA.
 
I’m glad that I re established a cap this year. I enjoy being able to play in tournaments and events. Plus, it’s a good indication of where my game is.

My season is likely over for the year. I can’t post anything now if I did play. I finished the year at 11.1. I have never been lower than 11 and that was last in 2007.

We’ll see what next year brings.
 
Not important to me. I don't even have one. A good portion of the time, I don't even keep a score.
 
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