We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Nebulous Question Alert: At what handicap is one considered a "good" golfer?

?

  • 20

  • 15

  • 12

  • 10

  • 8

  • 6

  • 4

  • 2

  • 0

Results are only viewable after voting.
DNice26 said:
I consider a “good” golfer to be one that keeps pace, isn’t a Richard, respects themselves and takes care of the course.
Alternatively, a “bad” golfer is any handicap that doesn’t do those things.
Click to expand...

 
MattyD-MPLS said:
The travel stipulation is something I can get down with! Anyone can figure out 1 course to play 3-5 shots better than others.
Click to expand...
Honestly, my handicap went artificially low early last year because I was playing the same course from the same tees 99.9% of the time, and had been doing it for several years. I knew every inch of the course, had my club selections and all the risk/reward options worked out, knew the greens well (and they were mostly flat and pretty easy), and was mentally very comfortable with the course. I didn’t score near as well playing anywhere else, and after the club shut down and we started playing other courses, my handicap started trending upward pretty quickly.

I would’ve felt pretty good about playing anybody around my handicap on my home course, but nowhere near as confident if we were both on a neutral course.
 
I think it is all relative to where you are with your own golf game, I think I am a decent golfer but consider others to be better and therefore good in that frame of reference.
Without considering my own personal benchmark I think that anyone who can play bogey golf or better consistently is a good golfer, they know how to play and can get it round most courses and should have a general sense of the etiquette of the game.
 
I would consider a handicap from 1-6 is a good golfer. The guys that arent play higher level college golf but are definitely the better players in your golf league.
 
15 is better than bogey golf. So I went with that.
 
A single metric is a a difficult discussion as it not considered context etc .

1% of golfers are in single digit hcp range…..

If your below 16 half way is 36.4 ,
That would be considered good ,
Better would be below 10
Very good 5 below
Exceptional - scratch

We / you can’t base it on ,
Tours of any nature , that is unrealistic as it considers the world population
 
As long as one is as good or better than those he plays with, he is then a "good golfer" in those circles.
 
I think if you need to get strokes to compete, you're not a "good golfer". What I'd consider "good golfers" play straight up and can shoot somewhere around par or better in tournaments or money games.

A 2-handicapper or a 20-handicapper are just different levels of golfers who aren't highly skilled at the game, in my book.
 
Just "good"? I would say 15. Single digit would be "very good".
 
IMO, bogey golf is good golf, I am a bogey golf player and > 50% of the guys I play are worse, some much worse than I am. Both my sons are single handicappers and I generally can play pretty close to them, win some holes, be somewhat competitive. It is usually one or two holes during a round that shoot my scores into the high 80s or low 90s. Otherwise, I par quite a few, birdie a couple and rest bogeys.
 
Single digit cap has always been the threshold.
 
I voted 10 because in my mind a 10 and under should hardly ever see a score above 82. So in that thinking a person who shoots consistently in the 70's to low 80's is a good golfer
 
jnordwell said:
I voted 10 because in my mind a 10 and under should hardly ever see a score above 82. So in that thinking a person who shoots consistently in the 70's to low 80's is a good golfer
Click to expand...
Logic error there. The way handicaps are calculated, a 10 handicap WILL post a score greater than 82 most of the time when playing courses with an index of around 72 par.
 
I’d say around a 12. If someone is shooting 85 or less on average then I would consider them “good”
 
Depends on your perspective. I’m a 19 and play with a few guys who are single digits regularly. I consider them good but if you asked them they would say they’re not. I would guess they’d say you have to be a plus to be considered good.
 
Sub 15 is decent, 10 and below is good and below 5 is a stick!
 
At my level, all of the above. :p

I’ve read that low to mid teens is average for all golfers who track their HC index. IMO, anyone who can maintain a single digit index is “good”.
 
Love seeing old threads brought back to life. Enjoyed reading back through this one. In my mind good is sub 10. I’m in the mid 13 range and consider myself a golfer. Working and taking lessons to get to that good range.
 
I’ll say 10 handicap because that’s pretty much single digits
 
The “average” golfer statistically shoots 100. So anything better than that is good.
 
Average of people with a handicap is 14IMG_5640.jpeg
 
The fact that the "average" golfer is really, really bad does not make the guy shooting in the 80's whose 'cap is 9 or 10 a good golfer. He's just not as bad as most people. C'mon guys, look around you next time you play golf! Nine of ten golfers on a typical course on a typical day are truly awful at the game. Here's a few hints...

The guys losing multiple balls in a round more than once in a blue moon are NOT GOOD.

The guys who average hitting more than one tee shot into the woods per round, are NOT GOOD.

The guy taking two tries to get out of a bunker, unless his ball is plugged under the lip, is NOT GOOD.

If you make more doubles-or-worse than birdies-or-better, you are NOT GOOD.

The guy who has never shot par or better twice in the same month, is NOT GOOD.

There are thousands and thousands of good golfers in the world. But there are millions upon millions who are not good. Fortunately, golf is fun whether you're good at it or not. We can all be good at having fun on the course, just not many of us can be highly skilled at the game itself.
 
This also makes me think of that George Carlin joke about how people view speeding in relationship to their driving. And anybody driving slower than them is an idiot and anybody driving faster is a maniac.

I think a lot of times it's easy to see golfers who are a few strokes lower than you (and where you aspire) as good golfers.
 
*Range Rat said:
Not sure you can put a definitive number on it but whatever it is it's low; might be scratch. In my mind an example of a "good" golfer is the college players you see playing for the US Amateur, Amateur Public Links, NCAA Championship, etc. Most of those guys are scratch or right near it i'd guess. They are "good" golfers -- dam good. It's definitely not anyone like or near me with a handicap around 8/9 (high single digits) - they're chops. It's laughable to think i'm a good golfer :D
Click to expand...
2+ years later my answer is the same
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top