Can you get cut too quickly?

Hacker111

Hey All,

This might be a stupid question but I am keen to hear responses. I have played golf for a while but only seriously since early last year. As I said in previous posts my handicap has dropped fast. 18 in May 2009, 11.4 today. I practice a lot, both swing and short game, with a concerted effort to improve my mental game/routine. Still get angry and annoyed too easily on course.

My handicap has tumbled which is great and my number one objective, however, it has came down soo fast I was wondering if it is too quick. A couple of negative old timers in my club have passed comments about this and told me to "mind my handicap" or "I won't be seen in two years in a competition". Is this pure sour grapes and/or jealousy?

My sole objective is to get as low as I can and keep going to see how good I can get. I only won two prizes to lose the 7 shots and never won a competition! All top 10s etc. At the moment though I'm struggling and have had 3 x .1s in my past 3 games. Have I leveled out now? Do I need to practice more and play less competitions to catch up with my handicap?

Snakey

Hacker111 wrote: »

Is this pure sour grapes and/or jealousy?

Nail >>>>>> Head

I don't believe you can get cut "too quickly". Your goal, as you have said, is to get as good as you can be and go as low as you possibly can. Handicap really has little to do with this, apart from being an indicator of where your current standard is. If your goal was to win competitions, rather than to get as good as you can, then it might be different. But I say go for it mate, keep playing your best and practicing and enjoy the challenge of you versus the game of golf, don't worry about the old codgers who value another bit of crystal or voucher more than the glory and sense of achievement of playing to your potential.

GreeBo

Hacker111 wrote: »

At the moment though I'm struggling and have had 3 x .1s in my past 3 games. Have I leveled out now? Do I need to practice more and play less competitions to catch up with my handicap?

This is exactly how the CONGU system was designed to be, you are not supposed to play to your handicap everytime, thats what the buffer is there for. Sure you will go through phases were you miss it by 1 and other where you miss it by 10, but if you got to that handicap and havent aged 10 years in the meantime your handicap is fine.

I've been lucky enough to win a good few comps on my way down, but often times they were days when -1 wins, Ive been -3 and come nowhere too!

Dont stop playing competitions to keep your handicap where it is, you play to lower your handicap and you never know when this will happen.

Best of luck and enjoy.

RGS

I like your attitude trying to get as low as possible, thats also my goal.

Your next target should be 9.4. We all need to set targets and goals to ensure we play to our max.

Good luck and dont mind the old codgers.

LittleLiam

I don't think you ever can get cut too quickly. In my experience, you take good golf whenever you can get it. Don't stop to question or doubt whether you ''deserve' to shoot a low score as a bad one will bit you on the backside quick enough.

ShriekingSheet

Hacker111 wrote: »

Hey All,

This might be a stupid question but I am keen to hear responses. I have played golf for a while but only seriously since early last year. As I said in previous posts my handicap has dropped fast. 18 in May 2009, 11.4 today. I practice a lot, both swing and short game, with a concerted effort to improve my mental game/routine. Still get angry and annoyed too easily on course.

My handicap has tumbled which is great and my number one objective, however, it has came down soo fast I was wondering if it is too quick. A couple of negative old timers in my club have passed comments about this and told me to "mind my handicap" or "I won't be seen in two years in a competition". Is this pure sour grapes and/or jealousy?

My sole objective is to get as low as I can and keep going to see how good I can get. I only won two prizes to lose the 7 shots and never won a competition! All top 10s etc. At the moment though I'm struggling and have had 3 x .1s in my past 3 games. Have I leveled out now? Do I need to practice more and play less competitions to catch up with my handicap?

I got some really wise advice when I was new enough to golf. Like you, I have always wanted to play to as high a standard and as low a handicap as possible.

But back when I was off 20, I was cut to 18 and then to 16 in the space of 7 days. A middle aged chap off 5 was talking to me, much along the lines of your post above. But he said to me never to worry about "stepping up a gear" or "getting too low". He explained that when you get cut a shot or too, you automatically adjust, as if you're becoming a better player overnight. The very act of standing on the first tee saying "I'm 16" and being first away, versus "I'm 20" and teeing it up last in the group, puts your mind in a different, more confident place.

Your perception of yourself is a powerful thing. Whether it's "I'm a 4.5 h'cap and I'm gonna destroy everyone in Junior Cup" or it could be "I'm a 1.5 h'cap and I'm the worst player at the South of Ireland", it can play a big part in confidence/performance, so you gotta manage it.

So basically, go for it!

Daithio9

ShriekingSheet wrote: »

I got some really wise advice when I was new enough to golf. Like you, I have always wanted to play to as high a standard and as low a handicap as possible.

But back when I was off 20, I was cut to 18 and then to 16 in the space of 7 days. A middle aged chap off 5 was talking to me, much along the lines of your post above. But he said to me never to worry about "stepping up a gear" or "getting too low". He explained that when you get cut a shot or too, you automatically adjust, as if you're becoming a better player overnight. The very act of standing on the first tee saying "I'm 16" and being first away, versus "I'm 20" and teeing it up last in the group, puts your mind in a different, more confident place.

Your perception of yourself is a powerful thing. Whether it's "I'm a 4.5 h'cap and I'm gonna destroy everyone in Junior Cup" or it could be "I'm a 1.5 h'cap and I'm the worst player at the South of Ireland", it can play a big part in confidence/performance, so you gotta manage it.

So basically, go for it!

+1
Great advice.

Hacker111

Some solid advice guys, thanks a lot. Really like the thought that you improve with your lower handicap, makes a lot of sense to me. I feel I have to keep raising my game to make a score on the holes where I don't have shots on anymore.....I'll keep working and playing and see how I can get on!

Mr. Larson

Forget that bull. That's old timer nonsense. If your goal is to get as low as possible which it is, then you're flying it - so well done and keep getting stuck into that handicap.

Alternatively if your goal is to compete and win prizes or win golfer of the year then you need to be sneaky about it but as is well documented in other threads that is tantamount to cheating. Trust me, you will win far more respect and admiration from 'proper' golfers by going from 18 to single figures than you ever will by having loads of crystal.

Having said all that - it might take some time to get used to your new handicap and plateau's or regressions are to be expected. I went from 19 to 12 in about 2 years and rarely feature in comps nowadays but I don't give a monkeys about that. Now I'm only looking at the gross scores people get as someone off 21 getting 44 points doesn't impress me one bit. I think back to when I was doing really well and winning off 18 and 19 and when I thought I was a hero and cringe a bit. You kind of get spoiled a bit coming down so quickly because you win the odd time and only on your really bad days are you not in the top half of the field.

Personally I find that my cuts/drops come like the 46A. I'll have a period where I might drop 2 shots over a few weeks then either through complaceny or change of focus I start to climb again. Then I'll have another good run and drop again. I find it hard playing to 12 and whenever I get there I rarely stay there. Until I can eliminate major blowouts and scratching 3 to 4 per round I won't get any lower because it's just asking too much to score 34pts + for 14 holes. So as I've been dropping I've had to adjust my style of play, now my priority is to play each hole as a mini-round and forget about where I have a shot, don't have a shot. Only if I put myself into a bad spot where it's a choice of lay up or go hell for leather, do I allow myself to think about the whole having a shot or not having a shot.

Worst thing to do is have a score in mind or a target of x points by y holes. If you scratch 1 & 2 then you're gone and switch off - then it's 0.1 central. Whereas if you wipe the slate clean after you hole out for each hole and treat the next hole as the only hole you are going to play, it's easier to not let rage over the last one get to you or excitement over the previous bird or eagle allow you to get ahead of yourself.