Playing to Your Handicap

The guys I play golf with always talk about our handicaps and how accurate they are. It’s a topic of interest because handicaps determine how many strokes each player receives when we compete, usually for $2 matches in which we change partners every six holes. I saw a recent article in Golf Digest which suggested that most players should average three shots higher than their handicap. In other words, if you are a 12-handicapper (my current number) your average score should be 87, not 84. The reason is that the USGA’s handicap system is calculated using 96 percent of the differential between your best 10 scores and par out of your last 20 rounds. Statistics show that most golfers beat their handicap only 20 percent of the time and beat it by three strokes only once in 20 rounds. The USGA says that average golfers will play to their handicap less than half the time. The odds of a 16-handicapper breaking 80 are one in 1,138 and to do it twice would take him700-plus years. The point is that golfers should not be discouraged because they didn’t play to their handicap on any given day. The other point is that golfers should record ALL scores, even 9-hole scores, so they will have an accurate handicap.

Hitting range balls while wondering whatever happened to Butch Baird.