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What is a Golf Handicap? A Beginner’s Guide
TOPRANKGOLF ^ | 9/22/23 | Joe Morelli

Posted on 07/10/2024 10:17:08 AM PDT by DallasBiff

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To: ifinnegan

A 6 handicap is outstanding not just good. The fact is only 10% of golfers can break 100 if they don’t cheat.


21 posted on 07/10/2024 10:50:12 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: DallasBiff

Technically a minus handicap is for players like Biden who are terrible where strokes are basically taken away from their score.

For example, let’s say I have a -18 handicap on a par 72 course I would logically expect to shoot a 90 actual score or a 72 after the -18 handicap is applied.

A positive or plus handicap works just the opposite, strokes are added to your scores, as you can imagine the only players with a positive or plus handicap low amateur or near professional golfers.

Remember the purpose of the handicap is to allow people with a wide range of golf skills to play against each in as fair of a way as possible.


22 posted on 07/10/2024 10:50:32 AM PDT by srmanuel
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To: subterfuge

I had to chuckle at your post. I shot an 89 once. And I said to myself…”Well, not likely to get any better than that!”

It took a ton of practice to get to an 89.


23 posted on 07/10/2024 10:51:38 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
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To: kiryandil

He self identifies as Arnold Palmer....................


24 posted on 07/10/2024 10:52:39 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: kiryandil

I would think someone that his last 8 rounds are better than par, then he would have a minus handicap, but I can’t really be sure.


25 posted on 07/10/2024 10:55:47 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: srmanuel
Sorry to bother, but I have heard this term also in golf.

What is a "mulligan"

26 posted on 07/10/2024 10:55:56 AM PDT by DallasBiff (Apology not accepted.la is not the sharpest knife in the drawer)
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To: CodeJockey

Regardless of what the article says, the highest a golf handicap can be is 36. Meaning the player averages a double bogey for each hole. And for a true handicap rating you’re only allowed 1 triple bogey per round. After your first triple bogey, any holes you get higher than double bogey are recorded as a double bogey for handicap purposes. This is to keep people from inflating their handicaps so it goes up and gives the player an advantage in subsequent rounds.

Oh, and professional golfers do not have handicaps at all. They’re pros.


27 posted on 07/10/2024 10:58:45 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: DallasBiff

If your handicap index is 12.0 and that golf course is rated at or near the mean/average of ALL golf courses in the system, then pretty much yes.

If you take your 12.0 index to Seminole or Pine Valley or Winged Foot, you’re going to be getting 16+ shots (depending on tee markers - all are rated differently).


28 posted on 07/10/2024 10:59:01 AM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: DallasBiff

Here’s the meat and potatoes for those who play in a league and want to sandbag your handicap so you get the better advantage.

1. Never hit a really low score, if you find yourself having the round of your life, make sure to take a triple bogey on the last hole or two. WHY, because that low score stays in the equation for the next 20 rounds of 18.


29 posted on 07/10/2024 10:59:20 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: fwdude
I always thought it had to do with the teeing off location.

That does pay a part in it. The closer tees are actually meant for female golfers. Male golfers use the tees set back from the front tees.

30 posted on 07/10/2024 11:00:31 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: DallasBiff

It’s a plus handicap actually. I have a mini-tour player friend w/ a usga index 0f +5. He’s shot some 60’s, 61’s, but doesn’t actively enter scores. He thinks Peak Tiger would have been close to +10.

That means if you play him w/ a 10 handicap, you’re now getting 15 shots instead of 10.


31 posted on 07/10/2024 11:03:14 AM PDT by FLNittany (Autotune is jealous of Karen Carpenter)
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To: Vermont Lt

An 89 is definitely respectable. A lot of people don’t realize that the course amateurs typically play on are much much easier than what pros play on. Most 18 handicapers would shoot 110 on professional set up courses.


32 posted on 07/10/2024 11:04:54 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: DallasBiff

A golf mulligan is basically having a do over on a shot, in normal situations all the players in the group agree on the number of mulligans a player gets per round or per side aka per 9 holes.

Usually, the agreement is the person playing a mulligan is not penalized.

Let’s say you shank a shot off the tee, simply drop a new ball and play it rather than chasing down the shank.

A lot of charity and fund-raising tournaments allow players to purchase mulligans as a way to raise money for the charity in question.

You never see mulligans in any official amateur or professional match or tournament.


33 posted on 07/10/2024 11:05:35 AM PDT by srmanuel
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To: DallasBiff

A mulligan is cheating unless your group has decided you can have a do over shot. Bill Clinton was infamous for taking mulligans.


34 posted on 07/10/2024 11:06:44 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: Vermont Lt

Not as much as it takes to break 80!


35 posted on 07/10/2024 11:10:40 AM PDT by shotgun
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To: shotgun

No kidding. I knew I was NEVER going to have that time. I love the game. I love walking in the sun; especially in the autumn. I never wanted it to become work. So, I stayed satisfied with my mid 90s games on most courses.

The few times I played on courses where the pros had played….I enjoyed walking in the sunshine. Ha Ha.


36 posted on 07/10/2024 11:13:38 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (Don’t vote for anyone over 70 years old. Get rid of the geriatric politicians.)
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To: DallasBiff
Speaking of handicaps...


37 posted on 07/10/2024 11:19:19 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“When exposing a crime is treated like a crime, you are being ruled by criminals” – Edward Snowden)
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To: DallasBiff

My wife took golf as a PE requirement. For the final, they were supposed to play 18 holes and turn in their score. After 3 1/2 hours and not completing 9 holes, the golf pro brought them in and fudge their score. I think she was up to over 100 on the front 9. She is NOT a golfer.

Me, I think a golf course is a waste of a good shooting range.


38 posted on 07/10/2024 11:21:14 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Gender dysphoria is now a federally protected mental illness.)
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To: DallasBiff

My golf handicap is my swing. ;-P


39 posted on 07/10/2024 11:24:03 AM PDT by MortMan (Charter member of AAAAA - American Association Against Alliteration Abuse)
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To: DallasBiff
There's a couple other factors like how difficult the course is. So a 8 handicapper may be expected to get 80 on a typical course, but 82 or more on a more difficult course.

The handicap is set up so that if the golfer is on his game, then after adjustment his score which match par for the course.

40 posted on 07/10/2024 11:24:42 AM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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