How long before you shot 36pts?

tommyombomb

God feel bad about my golf now. Have a 19 handicap since i started last year and mid 20s is best i have gotten. Hopefully 2021 will be my year. Played my best golf just before last lockdown in December so hopefully it comes through this year.

Need a few lessons for my drive. Irons okish but cannot drive to save my life.

gypsy79

tommyombomb wrote: »

God feel bad about my golf now. Have a 19 handicap since i started last year and mid 20s is best i have gotten. Hopefully 2021 will be my year. Played my best golf just before last lockdown in December so hopefully it comes through this year.

Need a few lessons for my drive. Irons okish but cannot drive to save my life.

Did you not get quite a bump under whs??

seamie78

it took me 3 years, last year was the first time and once I did it became a regular thing. started at 25 went out to 28 now back at 25. hopefully it can continue when we get back out there. This will be your year

Frisbee

Got my handicap this summer of 23. Played an Open in Palmerstown the next day and shot 35 points, thought I was the bees knees. After that I had about 10 rounds of mid 20s at best, think there was a 17 in there. Then shot 39 points in Blessington Lakes, got cut to 21 and again after that every round since has been in the 20s. Handicap then moved to 17.2 under the new WHS, only managed three rounds in December, two in Corballis which were not good. Then a 13 hole non-qualifying comp in Blessington where I had 25 points after 13 so maybe I could have done it.

Long story short: Once in about 20 rounds.

blue note

Frisbee wrote: »

Got my handicap this summer of 23. Played an Open in Palmerstown the next day and shot 35 points, thought I was the bees knees. After that I had about 10 rounds of mid 20s at best, think there was a 17 in there.

You caught me off guard and when I was reading that. I was drinking water and reverse snorted it out of my nose!

It's just so typical! I went back playing about a year and a half ago. First round I had a couple of pars, possibly even a birdie. I had a bit of a slice and obviously some wild shots, but easy fixes with a little practice. I wasn't concerned at all that I'd be able to get back to my level quickly. About a dozen rounds later I still had the dirty slice and was still horribly inconsistent!

It's a cruel game. It gives you hope and then tears you back down to reality!

L.O.F.T

tommyombomb wrote: »

God feel bad about my golf now. Have a 19 handicap since i started last year and mid 20s is best i have gotten. Hopefully 2021 will be my year. Played my best golf just before last lockdown in December so hopefully it comes through this year.

Need a few lessons for my drive. Irons okish but cannot drive to save my life.

No need to feel bad about your golf, good golf comes and goes, even for the best players. Enjoy the company during your round, most guys will be welcoming to someone who is struggling and will only encourage you, some wont but you wont play with those too often. That good golf you played before the last lockdown is a good omen for solid golf to come.

gapthunt

Considering you are only meant to get 36 points for 10% of your rounds, 36 points should not be achieved every round which seems to be the perception that seems to be the normal by majority of golfers, that they are playing average rather than playing well without the usual amount of bad shots.

willabur

gapthunt wrote: »

Considering you are only meant to get 36 points for 10% of your rounds.

where does this number come from?

spacecoyote

willabur wrote: »

where does this number come from?

Someone posted some numbers previously. I cant remember the exact details, but it wasnt far off that number. Dont want to post approximations but it was something in the range of

Match/Beat handicap 1/10
Buffer 4/10
Outside Buffer 5/10

I just plucked random numbers there to try jog someones memory so dont quote me on it

OEP

Should it be standard scratch as opposed to 36 points?

Kiith

Broke 36 a few times last year, but it was my first proper year back where i was able to play regular golf, so that would make sense.

Was a few months into playing the year before when i broke it for the time time, but i had played for a year or two as a juvenile, so it was a lot easier to pick back up. As others have said, just enjoy the game and company, and the scores will come.

elgstring

I shot 37 points in my very first competition, it then it took me over a year to play to my handicap again. I remember there were very few thoughts in my head that first competition, an absolute minefield of thoughts after it however (when will I turn pro etc.).

Concerned2

Took me about 3 years and a hell of a lot of practice to break 36 points playing off 18 and although I used to pull in 33 to 35 points regularly I only broke 36 points a couple of times.

Its such a frustrating game, I can remember many times I'd score 20+ points in the first 9 holes, one of my partners would pass a comment like "you'll be in the prizes" and suddenly my game would fall to pieces !

I started back playing last year after a 15 year hiatus with it being one of the few things open in lockdown last summer and played absolutely rubbish for most of the year (think I got a record low of 18 points with about 12 lots balls in 1 competition) , but I did manage to break 36 points out of the blue once. My handicap under the new system is 21 and I need every one of those shots !

GreeBo

https://golfingfocus.com/how-often-should-you-hit-your-golf-handicap-its-good-news/

Statistics show that the odds of the average golfer posting a net score lower than their handicap by only one stroke is 10:1 but what do they tell us about how often you should actually be playing to your golf handicap?

Golfers should hit their handicap or better 25% of the time and will on average score 3 strokes higher than their handicap according to research by the USGA handicap research team. This percentage increases as players improve and in stableford (31%) and par/bogey (44%) events compared to strokeplay.

Not sure what the underlying source is though!

GreeBo

Meanwhile I didn't play to my initial handicap (18) for 3-4 years.

gapthunt

willabur wrote: »

where does this number come from?

I have been quoted this number from different teaching professional's.

gypsy79

Mathematically 4 of your 20 scores are likely to be at or above your course handicap under WHS

So that is 1 in 5 or 20%. Given that most people didnt move that much under WHS then you could extrapolate that it was the case previously too

gypsy79

GreeBo wrote: »

Meanwhile I didn't play to my initial handicap (18) for 3-4 years.

I doubt you shot 19 under par in one of your 3 rounds. So your handicap given was incorrect

Thankfully that shouldn't happen under the new system. They could put an adjustment in but at least that is explicit

Edit: Actually scratch that I ignored slope.....so the percentage will differ depending on your course slope of mix there of in your 20 scores

GreeBo

gypsy79 wrote: »

I doubt you shot 19 under par in one of your 3 rounds. So your handicap given was incorrect

Huh?

gypsy79

GreeBo wrote: »

Huh?

To legitimately be given a handicap of 18 under the old system (on calculation only) then one of your 3 rounds would have needed to be 19 over par

Did I say under!! Doh

i am saying in is very unlikely you shot 19 over then didnt do 18 over for 3-4 years

OEP

gapthunt wrote: »

I have been quoted this number from different teaching professional's.

It must be SS and not 36 points though, and must also depend on the category of golfer. Like a category 1 golfer is going to be getting 36 points a lot more than 10% of the time.

In my course CSS is generally 37 points, and last year I shot 36 points or better 50% of the time. I did get cut but only by 1.2.

GreeBo

gypsy79 wrote: »

To legitimately be given a handicap of 18 under the old system (on calculation only) then one of your 3 rounds would have needed to be 19 over par

Did I say under!! Doh

i am saying in is very unlikely you shot 19 over then didnt do 18 over for 3-4 years

The 19 over was with clause 19 though and would have been my best out of the 3. I was a total beginner so scores were..."varied"!

The vast majority of our comps are strokes, so I didn't shoot 18 over for years. (and then stayed on 17 for a good while too!)
I may have had 36 points due to CSS etc, but it wasnt due to me playing to my handicap. (SSS is also +1 on our course)

I'm sure there was an aspect of "everyone starts on 18" too, it was a good while ago!

GreeBo

OEP wrote: »

Like a category 1 golfer is going to be getting 36 points a lot more than 10% of the time.

I wouldnt agree with that at all!
They are obviously less likely to shoot 28 points, but playing to their handicap...nah!

In my course CSS is generally 37 points, and last year I shot 36 points or better 50% of the time. I did get cut but only by 1.2.

If you are shooting 36 points 50% of the time then your handicap is too high, prepare to get chopped if you repeat that when/if we ever get back!

gypsy79

GreeBo wrote: »

I wouldnt agree with that at all!
They are obviously less likely to shoot 28 points, but playing to their handicap...nah!



If you are shooting 36 points 50% of the time then your handicap is too high, prepare to get chopped if you repeat that when/if we ever get back!

I shot 36 points 7 times in a row a couple of summers ago

No handicap move obviously. Under the new system I would expect very small downward movement

OEP

GreeBo wrote: »

I wouldnt agree with that at all!
They are obviously less likely to shoot 28 points, but playing to their handicap...nah!



If you are shooting 36 points 50% of the time then your handicap is too high, prepare to get chopped if you repeat that when/if we ever get back!

They were all competitions, and as I mentioned - CSS is generally 37 points so how does that make my handicap too high? I'm also a cat 2 golfer so my buffer is 35 points.

Edit: Also, my new Handicap Index is exactly the same as my CONGU handicap

GreeBo

gypsy79 wrote: »

I shot 36 points 7 times in a row a couple of summers ago

No handicap move obviously. Under the new system I would expect very small downward movement

Well it depends on the sample size obviously, I often shoot 36 point 100% of the time

If you are consistently playing to your handicap then your good days will be even better and so that would result in the cut, just playing to it obviously won't cut it.

i.e. it would be very rare to keep just playing to it but not better than it.

GreeBo

OEP wrote: »

They were all competitions, and as I mentioned - CSS is generally 37 points so how does that make my handicap too high? I'm also a cat 2 golfer so my buffer is 35 points.

Well the buffer only comes into it for getting shots back, but if you are shooting 36 points 50% of the time, I would expect you to be shooting > 36 points frequently also and hence be getting cut.

It would be very strange to just be playing to your handicap consistently (note this is different than *staying at the same handicap!) and not also be shooting better than it.

OEP

GreeBo wrote: »

Well the buffer only comes into it for getting shots back, but if you are shooting 36 points 50% of the time, I would expect you to be shooting > 36 points frequently also and hence be getting cut.

It would be very strange to just be playing to your handicap consistently (note this is different than *staying at the same handicap!) and not also be shooting better than it.

Well I need to shoot > 37 points to get cut, so that's why I said originally that I'd imagine it's shooting to SS as opposed to shooting to your handicap.

And I did get cut just over a shot so that probably differentiates me from someone staying at their handicap but I do disagree with the 10% figure.

GreeBo

OEP wrote: »

Well I need to shoot > 37 points to get cut, so that's why I said originally that I'd imagine it's shooting to SS as opposed to shooting to your handicap.

Yeah, but if half the time you are shooting 36 points then I would expect that you are frequently shooting > 36 points?

And I did get cut just over a shot so that probably differentiates me from someone staying at their handicap but I do disagree with the 10% figure.

When your handicap is correct/stable it should be ~10%, so now that you have been cut, we can see if you still shoot 36 points 50% of the time or not.

If you are more than 10% then you will probably end up being cut, if you are less then you should probably get shots back.

OEP

GreeBo wrote: »

Yeah, but if half the time you are shooting 36 points then I would expect that you are frequently shooting > 36 points?


When your handicap is correct/stable it should be ~10%, so now that you have been cut, we can see if you still shoot 36 points 50% of the time or not.

If you are more than 10% then you will be cut, if you are less then you should get shots back.

Frequently shooting => 36 points (I know you said > 36 but this thread, and the 10% figure, is about => to 36 points) is not the same as frequently shooting > 37 points. Occasionally yes, but when you're only getting cut 0.2 that can be quickly balanced out by 0.1s.

Again, the 10% figure doesn't make sense to me unless someone has some study that works it out. If you play 20 competitions and only shoot >= your handicap twice, then you're almost certainly going up the way. Back to the first point I made, this also depends on SS.