Can you play to your handicap away from home?

big_drive

Just wondering how many of you think your handicap is accurate away from home?

I know a 6 handicapper in my club and would say he's about a 9/10 handicap once he leaves the club. Can never seem to score well away from home. This is mainly down to the fact that he knows every inch of our own course (plays 5/6 days a week)

So is he a true 6 handicapper?

Benicetomonty

big_drive wrote: »

Just wondering how many of you think your handicap is accurate away from home?

I know a 6 handicapper in my club and would say he's about a 9/10 handicap once he leaves the club. Can never seem to score well away from home. This is mainly down to the fact that he knows every inch of our own course (plays 5/6 days a week)

So is he a true 6 handicapper?

I think it depends on how much he plays away. Also important to remember that almost every amateur will be based somewhere and that course will usually see their best scores and contribute the most towards their handicap. That makes it a level playing field whichever way you look at it. Having said that, if you play well, you can score well anywhere. One of my best rounds over the last 2 years came at Royal Dublin, which I've only played 5 or 6 times in the last decade, whereas I've been hacking up my own place routinely for the last 18 months!

m r c

I'd say it depends on several things but the first thing coming to my mind would be the perceived difficulty of your home course. If you are based somewhere like royal port rush I'd imagine it would make a lot of courses seem easier than at home.

TGoodall

I'm the opposite. Can't play well at home but playing with the society I almost always play to hc on courses I've never played before.

I think my home course is just so tight that it has put me off playing there. I know what holes are tough so I think I choke a bit on these then.

MP62

big_drive wrote: »

Just wondering how many of you think your handicap is accurate away from home?

I know a 6 handicapper in my club and would say he's about a 9/10 handicap once he leaves the club. Can never seem to score well away from home. This is mainly down to the fact that he knows every inch of our own course (plays 5/6 days a week)

So is he a true 6 handicapper?

Of course he is, if you understand SSS and CSS then you'd that already.

Dr_Colossus

big_drive wrote: »

Just wondering how many of you think your handicap is accurate away from home?

I believe my own handicap to be accurate, I play a number of open competitions and scratch cups and generally play as well relative to css as on my home course. Obviously there are advantages to having played a course at least once before in terms of course management and areas to avoid.

big_drive wrote: »

I know a 6 handicapper in my club and would say he's about a 9/10 handicap once he leaves the club. Can never seem to score well away from home. This is mainly down to the fact that he knows every inch of our own course (plays 5/6 days a week)

So is he a true 6 handicapper?

No, he's a one course specialist. I guess your handicap and it's relative assessment of your ability against a wider golfing field depends on your home course and it's length/difficulty. Some courses are very short/tight and accurate but not necessarilly long players can score well on these but then fail to score well on tougher or longer courses. It's for this reason I think it's important to play at least a handful of competitions in away courses to assess your general ability relative to the CSS on the day.

big_drive

m r c wrote: »

I'd say it depends on several things but the first thing coming to my mind would be the perceived difficulty of your home course. If you are based somewhere like royal port rush I'd imagine it would make a lot of courses seem easier than at home.

Par 70 course

Monthly medal off the blues CSS is generally 71
Weekly comps off the whites CSS is usually 70

So if you beat your handicap you get cut. So I would say its a fair course without being seen as either overly easy/difficult

big_drive

MP62 wrote: »

Of course he is, if you understand SSS and CSS then you'd that already.

I fully understand CSS & SSS
But if in a calendar year you're only cuts to handicap come at one course and you fail to ever get in the buffer at an away course does that mean you pretty much are at a handicap that overall flatters a little?

Mr. Larson

If you bring a GPS away with you there is no reason why you shouldn't score away. My course is short but you need to be super accurate otherwise good luck. Some Par 4's are literally a drive and a pitch. I've played other courses which are waaaay longer than what I am used to which can require a cracker of a drive & 5i/Hybrid to get home (Par 4) and my scores don't suffer. I really enjoy the ability to really open the shoulders away from home and get away with what I would consider wayward drives.

PARlance

Given two courses with CSS & SSS equal in both. One of them your home, the other you've never/rarely played, I'd have thought you'd score more at home due to better course knowledge & the confidence (or lack thereof for reverse) that comes with the familiarity.

Variances will always be in a HC system!

Assuming CSS & SSS constant:
Someone could be a higher HC at 20+ degrees/when they play in morning/when they just had a fight with the missus/when it's Friday the 13th and they feel unlucky............endless list really.

Embrace it

charlieIRL

I find that I can score well enough playing away courses that I have never played before but its hard beat when you know a course.

Alrite Chief

Mr. Larson wrote: »

If you bring a GPS away with you there is no reason why you shouldn't score away. My course is short but you need to be super accurate otherwise good luck. Some Par 4's are literally a drive and a pitch. I've played other courses which are waaaay longer than what I am used to which can require a cracker of a drive & 5i/Hybrid to get home (Par 4) and my scores don't suffer. I really enjoy the ability to really open the shoulders away from home and get away with what I would consider wayward drives.

Agree to an extent. What about the greens? How many shots do you think you save yourself in your home course by knowing the read on very green from playing it so often. We all know thats where the scoring zone yet immediately think of what we are doing off the tees.

All my best scores are in my home course. Iv had some decent ones away too but mostly other courses iv got used to.

mike12

Think a lot of different courses suit people in different ways, one may have a lot of drives that favor a fade some others a draw. Some courses are more penal if you miss the green and getting up and down is almost impossible. There are so many variances that a course that appears harder on paper will suit your eye and you will score well on it where maybe a shorter and seemingly easier course won't.
Mike

Mr. Larson

Alrite Chief wrote: »

Agree to an extent. What about the greens? How many shots do you think you save yourself in your home course by knowing the read on very green from playing it so often. We all know thats where the scoring zone yet immediately think of what we are doing off the tees.

All my best scores are in my home course. Iv had some decent ones away too but mostly other courses iv got used to.

Greens? Meh... pin positions change so regularly how often do you have the same putt? Personally I never step up to a putt at home and say 'I know this one goes this way'. I'd read every putt as I see it in front of me. In general greens can be either fast or slow and any decent putter should be able to adapt to speed & level of trueness with either 10 minutes on the putting green of after a few early putts. But as Mike says there are lots of variables, I've played some courses that make me feel like a 15 and others where I feel I could be a 5 if I played there every week.

Alrite Chief

Mr. Larson wrote: »

Greens? Meh... pin positions change so regularly how often do you have the same putt? Personally I never step up to a putt at home and say 'I know this one goes this way'. I'd read every putt as I see it in front of me. In general greens can be either fast or slow and any decent putter should be able to adapt to speed & level of trueness with either 10 minutes on the putting green of after a few early putts. But as Mike says there are lots of variables, I've played some courses that make me feel like a 15 and others where I feel I could be a 5 if I played there every week.

We are talking about playing to your handicap though. I reckon playing my home course would easily save me 3 or 4 shots on the green. Other mistakes you could make elsewhere on the course you are unfamiliar with could cost you another 1 or 2.

You could of course end up playing on greens which are far easier than your home course in which case blows my argument :pac:

kiers47

Mr. Larson wrote: »

Greens? Meh... pin positions change so regularly how often do you have the same putt? Personally I never step up to a putt at home and say 'I know this one goes this way'. I'd read every putt as I see it in front of me. In general greens can be either fast or slow and any decent putter should be able to adapt to speed & level of trueness with either 10 minutes on the putting green of after a few early putts. But as Mike says there are lots of variables, I've played some courses that make me feel like a 15 and others where I feel I could be a 5 if I played there every week.

I dont think the poster was saying that he would automatically be able to read every putt but that you would have an advantage on a course that you were familiar with.
For example there is a green on my home course and the break looks away from the river near it. But they all break to the river. I have played with countless visitors who cant figure this out..
Anyway its the little things like that on greens that might enable you to pick up an extra shot or 2 a round on a familiar course as opposed to an away course.

Mr. Larson

Alrite Chief wrote: »

We are talking about playing to your handicap though. I reckon playing my home course would easily save me 3 or 4 shots on the green. Other mistakes you could make elsewhere on the course you are unfamiliar with could cost you another 1 or 2.

You could of course end up playing on greens which are far easier than your home course in which case blows my argument :pac:

Yeah, well the greens in my place piss me off sometimes because they are borderline unfair at times so I guess that probably explains why playing away doesn't bother me on that front!

FixdePitchmark

I play different courses all the time. I think it is harder.

One area that is a major advantage is par 3s, when you stand on the same tee box every week, you know how the ball will travel, what club you used to that flag last week, the wind and drop / rise on the hole, What club you used to the back of the green. You have history with the hole.

It must be worth 3 to 4 shots a round.

On the other hand, somebody who changes course - gets a better feel for pace and distance and imagination of shot.

I'm a bit of an odd ball, who would never be happy playing the one course

PARlance

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I play different courses all the time. I think it is harder.

One area that is a major advantage is par 3s, when you stand on the same tee box every week, you know how the ball will travel, what club you used to that flag last week, the wind and drop / rise on the hole, What club you used to the back of the green. You have history with the hole.

It must be worth 3 to 4 shots a round.

On the other hand, somebody who changes course - gets a better feel for pace and distance and imagination of shot.

I'm a bit of an odd ball, who would never be happy playing the one course

I'd be the same re playing one course...but I cant attest that it gives you a better feel for pace, distance and imagination of shots

I definitely think home course should be worth 3 to 4 shots a round.

I've played a lot of courses and there's nothing like getting back to one for the Second time, even that one previous round makes a few shots of a difference to me.

Webbs

I think it depends on lots of factors. I have reached what I think is a limit on my handicap (think I can only bring it down if I play a lot more golf). I therefore beat my handicap a couple of times a year have majority in the buffer and a good few .1s means handicap has been roughly at this level for a couple years.
I would say my stats would be roughly similar at away courses but this means that I wouldnt hit or beat my handicap away from home very often. Does this mean I cant play to my handicap away from home? possibly, what it does mean is its a good excuse to find out by playing away from home more.

The Aul Switcharoo

I think there are definitely more variables when playing an away course. For 3 years I was a member of a club and every-time I strayed from that I was having hopeless 30 pointers even if I was playing consistent in my club

I'm a ten handicapper and my thinking on the differences are

1. From the tee - I can aim for different sides of the fairway. From previous experiences I know in my course where to "miss" it or where the best line to the green is e.g Trouble on left but rough on right, aim for right fairway. If I slice it its in the rough, little hook its still in fairway. Very little chance of going into trouble.

2. Some people are saying that putting isn't a variable..of course it is! In your home course if you practice enough you get to know the subtleties or the weird bumps. No chance on an away course really

3. confidence in "seeing" the shot as a lot of the time you have hit it from a very similar position.

4. Funky lines - In my old home course Carrick the 9th is technically a 500 yard par 5 with trees, shrubs and other nasty **** down the left but the hole doglegs left at a 90 degree angle at 230 yards so if you can hook one around the tree in front of you you can fly everything and easily reach in two. Pick the wrong line and you mightn't make it though! No way could an away player pick a line - They have to play safe. It could be the only golf hole in the world that I am actually under par on - With the wind I have taken the all or nothing route and had sand wedge to the green for two

All in all for a low to medium low handicapper there is a probably a 3-4 shot difference/advantage while it might be actually less for a higher handicapper because at the end of the day i they are battling with themselves going around and not the course

That said since I quit my club and started playing more casual/society golf I feel like I am playing better golf and holding my own better. Its' probably a change in my mentality

Mr. Larson

I can only speak from my own personal experience but I played away 7 times this year (over four different courses) and my nett differentials (relative to the days' CSS) were 0, 1, 1, -7, 6 (The European!), 4, 1. So that's 4 buffers and a cut out of 7 rounds. Those stats would suggest that I can play to my handicap away from home.

GreeBo

I think it really depends on the courses you play and your style of play.

Someone who is short and straight should be able to play and score anywhere, someone who is long but wayward will have a huge variance depending on how punishing the away course is.

Zardoz

I'd rarely play to my handicap the first time I play an away course.
I encounter difficulties with yardages and clubbing myself.Blind holes are especially troublesome as you may not know the correct line or the layout of the green/pin position.
I'd expect to play to my handicap the second time round though,I would have a better idea of yardage,line and the greens.

Pacly

I find I think more about each shot and concentrate better away from home. Sometimes at home I just go through the motions.

Also I like not knowing the index of every hole so I can't keep my score in my head as I play.

Myksyk

The question reflects a misunderstanding of how the handicap system works. Your handicap is a reflection of your general play over many rounds and does not necessarily indicate to your ability to play exactly to it in any one specific round, home or away. The handicap records of most players will show that they do not play to their handicap probably around 45-50% of the time. If we take the buffer zone as also not playing to your handicap (which is in fact the case) that rises to nearer 75-80%. Being off 8 does not mean you should be able to go out on your home course or away course and shoot +8, it means (typically) that half the time you'll shoot anything from +11 to +24, other times (maybe 30-40% of the time) you'll shoot around the +8 or 10 mark and a few times you'll shoot under +8.