what do we (you) consider low, mid, high, caps when discussing things

To me its this.
Low is 6 and below
mid is 7 to 13
high is 14 and above
 
Low 7 and under
Mid8-15
High 15+


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Yeah I feel bad that if I ran into 100 usga golfers 47 would still be better than me. I thought it would be 25-35 at most


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ok, the sarcasm need not continue. I get your point.
But yea, with the amount of years and wrok Ive put in sure it does bother me that more than 50% of cappers are much better then me and many who don't even put into it as much as I do. That imo makes the game seem a lot easier than it is. IMO
 
I find it pretty amazing and honestly almost unbelievable that about 50% of people with caps are a 13 or better. I get that this is only accounting for people with caps but still that imo is something quite surprising. Getting to 13 is simply very hard to do even for most avid players. I find it hard to believe that 50% of cap players are at that mark and better. I wonder how many vanity caps are really out there and in that stat? Id say far more people run a vanity cap vs a sandbagging one just simply for bragging rights and remember not at all do all cap keepers play completive golf.

I don't at all. Most people that aren't great at golf aren't actively looking to find out what their handicap really is. While people that are good at golf are more likely to get and maintain a handicap.

At our men's club the field is usually 60%+ blue flight (10.2 index and lower) and 40% or less in the white flight (10.3+). Not sure what the percentage of the club is overall, I would guess it is pretty similar to those numbers, or close to those national numbers.

Also, many people are just naturally better than others. I have put in a lot of time, money and sweat to get myself down to 12.8 (trending to 12.7) but my brother who has a much better swing and is a bit more athletic than I am is a 12.5 even though he only gets to play for a month or 2 in the spring and then another couple months in the fall before winter settles.

He rarely practices (if ever) while I am practicing 1-2 times a week currently and playing once a week throughout the year.

Life isn't fair and golf is even less so.
 
IMO, <10 is Low, 10-20 Mid and 20+ is High

My thinking is (if my understanding of Handicap's is correct....if it's not, ignore what I say...LOL)

When you consider a boggie golfer on an average course, this to say +18 on the day (65-68 Rating and 115-120 Slope) gets you a Handicap of 20, to say 15+ is "high" to me seems somewhat a little snotty, because being a boggie golfer is nothing to be ashamed of IMO.

Digging deeper, If you took an average course (ie 67-68 rating and 120-122 slope) and you shot 85 every day all day you have a 15-16 handicap. most folks would give their left nut to swing an 85, day in and day out (I know I would). If you broke 80 and snuck in with a 78-79 on a regular basis, you are a 10 handicap...and that is a great score for an amateur. If you are a 10 or less handicap....I would consider you one hall of a golfer! If you shoot 90 all the time, I would consider you pretty decent. Even at 90, you are most likely striking the ball well, just missing a few greens, maybe short on drives leaving longer irons in that causes some misses or taking the odd penalty to blow up a hole or three. Doesn't take much to play boggie golf even if you strike well.
 
I hover around a 12 or 13 and I consider myself a hacker but most would say I am a mid handicap.

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My thoughts are
0 - 8 = low
9 - 16 = mid
17+ = high
 
Low 0-4
Mid 5-15
High 16+
 
I don't at all. Most people that aren't great at golf aren't actively looking to find out what their handicap really is. While people that are good at golf are more likely to get and maintain a handicap.

At our men's club the field is usually 60%+ blue flight (10.2 index and lower) and 40% or less in the white flight (10.3+). Not sure what the percentage of the club is overall, I would guess it is pretty similar to those numbers, or close to those national numbers.

Also, many people are just naturally better than others. I have put in a lot of time, money and sweat to get myself down to 12.8 (trending to 12.7) but my brother who has a much better swing and is a bit more athletic than I am is a 12.5 even though he only gets to play for a month or 2 in the spring and then another couple months in the fall before winter settles.

He rarely practices (if ever) while I am practicing 1-2 times a week currently and playing once a week throughout the year.

Life isn't fair and golf is even less so.

well...golf itself is fair as its the same for everyone. Its the luck or being fortunate to be better at it which some posses a great deal more of than others that is what seems unfair. Such as the case with your brother. Nothing anyone can do about it and is what it is but none the less can seem unfair lol especially for one who really likes or loves the game and desires and works hard to be better at it.

And fwiw and a bit off topic I don't feel being athletic is any great separator in golf. Very many athletic people cant play at all good and very many people who wouldn't be athletic at much else at all are very good at golf. Surly we have to have some amount of coordination like just about anything. But hey I was a hockey player, still am a skier and a pretty good one even at my age, can do allsorts of athletic things fairly well. But golf? even with that is still a struggle.
 
I find it pretty amazing and honestly almost unbelievable that about 50% of people with caps are a 13 or better. I get that this is only accounting for people with caps but still that imo is something quite surprising. Getting to 13 is simply very hard to do even for most avid players. I find it hard to believe that 50% of cap players are at that mark and better. I wonder how many vanity caps are really out there and in that stat? Id say far more people run a vanity cap vs a sandbagging one just simply for bragging rights and remember not at all do all cap keepers play completive golf.

I wonder how many of those caps are maintained at only one course hitting from the whites? I could get my cap a decent amount lower if I always hit from the whites instead of the tips since the rating doesn't go up as much as the difficulty does on my home course.
 
I don't at all. Most people that aren't great at golf aren't actively looking to find out what their handicap really is. While people that are good at golf are more likely to get and maintain a handicap.

At our men's club the field is usually 60%+ blue flight (10.2 index and lower) and 40% or less in the white flight (10.3+). Not sure what the percentage of the club is overall, I would guess it is pretty similar to those numbers, or close to those national numbers.

Also, many people are just naturally better than others. I have put in a lot of time, money and sweat to get myself down to 12.8 (trending to 12.7) but my brother who has a much better swing and is a bit more athletic than I am is a 12.5 even though he only gets to play for a month or 2 in the spring and then another couple months in the fall before winter settles.

He rarely practices (if ever) while I am practicing 1-2 times a week currently and playing once a week throughout the year.

Life isn't fair and golf is even less so.

I agree on all points. 60% of the men that played in our last club tournament were also a 10 index lower.

My son is a great athlete and just maybe has discovered golf at age 19 after I tried my best for several years to encourage him to play. I introduced him to the game at age 3 but he never wanted to play more than a handful of times each year, usually when we were on vacation. Now he's home from college for the summer and all of a sudden he's playing golf a couple times each week and hitting the range with me at least once a week. Last month was the first time he's played 18 holes at our club and we've lived 400 yards from the clubhouse since he was 14 and have a golf cart parked in the garage and a putting green in my mancave. He has zero touch inside of 100 yards but managed to shoot 41 on the back nine when we played last weekend. Yesterday he shot 86 with 40 putts on a par 71 course from 6600 yards.

It really pleases me to see him having fun on the golf course but it certainly isn't fair that he might be shooting in the 70's soon with less than 50 rounds played in his life. It really isn't fair that he outdrove me twice on Saturday by 25+ yards when I hit it good. Youth is wasted on the young!
 
well...golf itself is fair as its the same for everyone. Its the luck or being fortunate to be better at it which some posses a great deal more of than others that is what seems unfair. Such as the case with your brother. Nothing anyone can do about it and is what it is but none the less can seem unfair lol especially for one who really likes or loves the game and desires and works hard to be better at it.

And fwiw and a bit off topic I don't feel being athletic is any great separator in golf. Very many athletic people cant play at all good and very many people who wouldn't be athletic at much else at all are very good at golf. Surly we have to have some amount of coordination like just about anything. But hey I was a hockey player, still am a skier and a pretty good one even at my age, can do allsorts of athletic things fairly well. But golf? even with that is still a struggle.

Ok.....
 
Here's what I've thought:

Low - anything single digits
Middle - 10.0 to about 17
High - 18 or higher

Having said that I think that's wrong. If the average index is 17 then Middle has to go higher.


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Here's what I've thought:

Low - anything single digits
Middle - 10.0 to about 17
High - 18 or higher

Having said that I think that's wrong. If the average index is 17 then Middle has to go higher.


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I feel the same. I'd even add that around 5 and under is "low single digit" to me.
 
Low for me is 7 or under. 8-12 is mid and 13/up is high.


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I think this is too tight. I have been everything in my life. Low to high. I have always classified low as single digits (you bogey half the holes). Mid to me is bogey golf. So up to 18-20. High would be mid 90's on up. Back in the day when i hit every day i was a 4. Once i had kids and maybe hit 1-2x a week i was a mid. Now, after several not too pleasant surgeries i am high. I just dont get out enough and my distance is down. Thats my take. It is usually what we base the talk on. I am high, but my goal is bogey golf with a few pars and maybe a bird or 2. I also know i might have the "occasional" snowman. If i sit at 90 or below im thrilled. I think the bigger question would be tee boxes. Who should use what? Phillyv should always be at the tips!


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Here's what I've thought:

Low - anything single digits
Middle - 10.0 to about 17
High - 18 or higher

Having said that I think that's wrong. If the average index is 17 then Middle has to go higher.


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yea, I can see the point as well. But I think the difference may come from the fact of how far apart (or how much more difficult it is to get lower) as we move down the scale. In other words while a 24 and a 16 are far apart in overall ability I think a 16 to an 8 (even though the same amount stroke wise) is further apart ability wise. The journey from 24 to 16 can certainly be long and hard one but the journey from a 16 to an 8 (although the same 8 points difference) is much harder and quite possibly never reached nor possible for everyone. So I do think there is something to be said there and maybe why true middle (numbers wise) is not what many consider middle.
 
I doubt I could even tell the difference between a 24 and a 16.
 
I wonder how many of those caps are maintained at only one course hitting from the whites? I could get my cap a decent amount lower if I always hit from the whites instead of the tips since the rating doesn't go up as much as the difficulty does on my home course.

I do. My home course. I used to play 4-6 rounds a week. I play from the white and the blue, but mostly white just because. Actually it's only a couple of hundred yards difference and mostly same angle. If/when they move the blues on different tee box I'd go there.

I know what you are saying. When my GHIN was 4, I would shoot par or under from time to time. Now it's at 2, I'm shooting par and under about 50/50. My outside rounds are about par to 3 over. My gamegolf live gives me -0.3.

I think the usga chart is not accurate representation of golfers handicap. For one, from my experience if ones play poorly why do they want to keep official hc they can get that from many golf apps, so you'd find more of better player signing up.

For another, I know too many sandbaggers that I'm surprised there are not more "officials high handicappers"


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I doubt I could even tell the difference between a 24 and a 16.

that is sort of what the point in my post was about. By avid and also better players the journey from 24 to 16 is not viewed as nor is it quite the same as a journey from 16 to 8. And so what is indeed a middle number doesn't then seem as though its a middle ability.

But that said. Unless you were never a 24 or got past that place very fast there is a big difference between a 24 and 16. You may not see it nor notice it but the player who worked hard to get there sure did and does.. In fact Id say he (probably most) feels very different about his play at 16 vs his past play at 24. There is a ton more (relatively speaking) consistency and ball striking ability between them.
 
I think the usga chart is not accurate representation of golfers handicap. For one, from my experience if ones play poorly why do they want to keep official hc they can get that from many golf apps, so you'd find more of better player signing up.

For another, I know too many sandbaggers that I'm surprised there are not more "officials high handicappers"


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I think also that it is simply a matter of many more better players and/or more serious ones who bother to sign up. Plus probably most who don't, also don't bother with playing within many the rules anyway. But it would be interesting to see how the chart changed if most all players of the game ran a cap and did so honestly meaning not only without baggers but also without the tones of vanity caps too. Id imagine the average would go up a lot (meaning higher cap). Given that most people do not break 90 and many more still not 100.
 
that is sort of what the point in my post was about. By avid and also better players the journey from 24 to 16 is not viewed as nor is it quite the same as a journey from 16 to 8. And so what is indeed a middle number doesn't then seem as though its a middle ability.

But that said. Unless you were never a 24 or got past that place very fast there is a big difference between a 24 and 16. You may not see it nor notice it but the player who worked hard to get there sure did and does.. In fact Id say he (probably most) feels very different about his play at 16 vs his past play at 24. There is a ton more (relatively speaking) consistency and ball striking ability between them.

I shot high 80's low 90's from age 18-22. Then I played golf about once a year, came back in 2013, like 22 once I got a handicap, took 2014 off and then in 2015 I had an unlimited golf membership for cheap and was down around a 4 by the end o that season. Probably played 150 rounds that season for score and would spend another hour a day using the course as a driving range basically.
 
I shot high 80's low 90's from age 18-22. Then I played golf about once a year, came back in 2013, like 22 once I got a handicap, took 2014 off and then in 2015 I had an unlimited golf membership for cheap and was down around a 4 by the end o that season. Probably played 150 rounds that season for score and would spend another hour a day using the course as a driving range basically.

And so at high 80's low 90's you were already in the teens HC wise when you were 20ish years old. Then...even though was a lot of golf and practice you went from 22 down to a 4 in one season. And so this game relative to many other people came much easier for you. Imo you were more fortunate ability wise that others and havnt quite experienced quite the time and struggles others go through to go from 24 to 16 and that was sort of my point. To you there isn't much of a difference between those two caps. That's not imo the same view many people will have pertaining to their improvement from 24 to 16. To them (me included) its was a huge difference.
 
that is sort of what the point in my post was about. By avid and also better players the journey from 24 to 16 is not viewed as nor is it quite the same as a journey from 16 to 8. And so what is indeed a middle number doesn't then seem as though its a middle ability.

But that said. Unless you were never a 24 or got past that place very fast there is a big difference between a 24 and 16. You may not see it nor notice it but the player who worked hard to get there sure did and does.. In fact Id say he (probably most) feels very different about his play at 16 vs his past play at 24. There is a ton more (relatively speaking) consistency and ball striking ability between them.

This is true. Journey from 24 to 16 is huge. It's the biggest milestone for most golfers playing from mid 90s to almost mid 80s. It's also the most exciting time as well.

Biggest improvement would be more consistent tee shots and definitely hitting more greens. You can be an 80s shooter without at least getting these 2 things in a more predictable range.

That's the problem with grouping the range. The people who would proudly announce their group are usually at the top end and the lower end people would always gripe about the association.

If you are an 89 shooter and call yourself an 80s shooter, which is the right thing, would be a big difference to the 80 or 81 shooters who also call themselves 80s or mid handicap.


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was thinking about this as I lately had some poor played rounds. And truth is we are not actually what our caps say we are anyway if you think about it. Reason being is because it only represents our best play. Only counts our best 10 of last 20 and so throws out what could be many poor rounds. Also throws out anything over esc on those given holes we might blow-up. I think many mid cappers (say teens) would be in for an awakening if we actually counted true average scores including blown esc holes and blow up rounds vs only our best play. My cap is down to 13.3 as of current and honestly with too many bad rounds and a whole bunch of esc holes in many rounds (even some of the better ones) I don't feel like a 13.3 at all. I almost feel as though I cheated due to my feast/famine style of performance. Perhaps one who plays to my same 13.3ish cap who is not as feast/famine but a bit more steady Freddie may feel a bit more disserving IDK, but knowing my feast is counted while my famine isn't given much consideration in my cap makes me feel like Im not worthy of this 13.3 right now. I mean sure Im proud of myself I am not a 17 anymore but still a 13ish doesn't feel so right.
 
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