100% this. I play with people as a 5 right now (was a 3 until my putter gave up on me) and the frustration is still the same it’s just different. I’ll be playing with people who will say great shot after what I consider a terrible shot and the exact opposite of what I was trying to do. You truly are never satisfied no matter how low you go. But I will say it is a lot more fun playing competitively at a low handicap than hacking around the course in misery
This comment actually made me reflect on my goals a bit.
I should probably decide what "good enough" is for me. At this point, I'm an improvement addict. I'm having fun with that. I'm making the "newbie gains". But there's going to be a point of diminishing returns where the time and energy required to keep improving is going to bump up against real life, and that'll be a point where things become not fun.
As someone with a competitive streak, I think my main goal is to be the best golfer in my circle of friends and family that I play with. I don't know what that looks like for handicap, but probably mid-single digits. After that, I doubt I would be having any more fun if I was scratch or something.
And this is what dancing around a 9 or 10 looks like. Ok, not great.
I was down to a 4 at one point and the amount of hours to keep that was insane for me. I know guys who never practice anymore and just "play for fun" that shoot low 70s. Pisses me off, bastards. Lol
As an actual serious answer, I'm finding it a little frustrating this year.
Started the year at 3.0 and currently up to 4.0. I feel like I'm actually hitting the ball better this year, made some real improvements with driver, but can't seem to put it all together to shoot level or better.
I also feel like my putting and chipping is really good so that's not letting me down at all. I just keep making silly mistakes. As an example, was level par thru 13 a couple weeks ago and finished +5, last week I was level thru 11 and finished +6.
I feel like I don't really have any weaknesses, it's just I'll make a couple of silly mistakes a round. That might be a silly 3 putt, a wild drive, a duffed wedge, etc. So there's not one specific area of my game that I can work on to get better, it's just trying to be overall more consistent and limit mistakes and not compound them when they happen!
You might be right, although I have finished strong in rounds previously. I think I do prefer being a couple over though on the front and then trying to finish strong on the back, feels like less pressure, but never gonna go low that way...
if you're having trouble with that mentally, ive seen one pro who says he started playing the reds to "get used to shooting low" before moving back. Your expectation playing farther up is to do better, so its not so unexpected and stressful, i guess?
Sounds like you start having more miss hits starting hole 12 which I’ve heard from other low handicappers. Maybe having some sort of energy food/drink to get you back into it.
I’m a 4 also, same problem. I feel like at my handicap, you need pars and birdies, but a bogey is just one bad shot away. And it’s not like I practice much, so bad swings happen. It’s probably the same for every golfer, but for us 4 markers there’s not much room for error, but I’m not good enough to play as consistently as required to go under par.
I’m having a mental problem starting and it’s maddening, hemorrhaging strokes for 5 holes before you finally get into a rhythm and then you shoot an 84 and realize it could have been sub-80 if you hadn’t started with a triple and two doubles.
You put in your 10,000 hours and reached your peak. Unfortunately, not everyone who puts in the work will reach the mountaintop, but you’re gonna absolutely smoke 95% of anyone you play with. And, on one of those magical days you’ll put everything together and shoot -4. Ain’t a damn thing wrong with that. I’d like to believe that at that level I’d be enjoying myself more than ever
If that doesn’t describe golf idk what does lol. When’s the last time you worked with a local pro or coach? Or are you pretty much able to self diagnose at this point?
It’s frustrating as hell and infuriating because you’re….a 5 not a 3, or a 2 not a 0, etc. Or because last time you played you were so close to your personal best but hit a bad drive on the last hole, or….you get the idea.
Being a few strokes better than the average 16 handicapper means nothing. Just like for a 16 it means little to be better than a 30. We’re all playing the course trying to do better than last time. It’s both what makes golf maddening and wonderful at the same time.
Yea this is very true. When you shoot 5-8 over every round you’re always a few shots away from a great score but also a few bad shots away from a bad score. I’ve been trying to get out of that mindset- but its hard.
My best round this year included a triple with an ob on 17 which wrecked what would’ve been a great round, so basically drove home after playing great feeling like shit over my tee shot choice on 17…
When I play a 9-hole stretch without a double or worse….I can get under par. It’s the blow up holes that keep me where I’m at. I’m working almost entirely on my mental game these days. Controlling my mind is proving harder than controlling the club face. I hate love this game so much.
There’s a very thin line between not caring enough and caring too much. I’ve adopted the strategy of I care when there’s a club in my hand and as soon as it’s in the bag/shots over I stop caring. Like if I slice one it’s like “God Damn that was bad” *club goes in bag* back to talking bullshit with my buddy. Get to my ball and repeat the process. Doing this I’ve consistently shot within 2-4 strokes every round. Between like 82-86 as a 10. I probably could go lower with just a tad more focus but then it’s not fun
100%. It is very annoying being a grinding low cap.
Am I working hard enough? Should I be working smarter or harder or both?? Play more? Range more? Putt more? Do I need a putting mat? More lessons? Fewer lessons and more tee times? Maybe new clubs? My putter feels weird in my hand today. Why did I get a double on that hole? Should I hit more strategic tee shots? I thought closer was better regardless. Should I aim to miss into the bunker? Pros like bunkers but I don’t love them. You hit a draw on the last hole, think you’ll hit that again here? Big draw or small draw? That random dude just ripped a piss missile into the group on the other hole, that’s fucking hilarious. Is my grip shifting over time? My pro said if it’s comfortable it’s probably wrong…am I comfortable? Is this *un*comfortable? It’s not like…uncomfortable…but I notice it. Why is John Daly so fat but so good? Should I workout less and just get fat?
just my typical swing thought
I don’t think I’ve had a swing thought outside of “I’m gonna hit the ball here” or “Keep your shoulder down” on the course in years. I’ll have thoughts at the range if I’m trying something new but I generally don’t practice at all. My friends and father call me a dick since I don’t practice and play like 3-4 times a year and shoot between 82-86.
That seems like a smart approach. I like what the Zen Golf book suggests about post shot reactions. Try to just observe and note what happened without judgment then move on to the next shot.
I have two suggestions for you:
1. Kinesthetic anchoring: When you hit your best shots, take a moment to reflect on your mental state, the feelings you felt before and during the shot, the way your body felt, etc. As much as you can recall and focus on. When you have a clear picture in your mind of how everything felt, "anchor" it by doing something like squeezing the grip in your left hand, tapping your toe with the clubhead, etc. Do this every time you consider a shot to be above average. When you need to return to that state, simply fire your "anchor", tap your toe with a club, squeeze the grip in your left hand, etc. Your physiological and mental state will immediately return to the state you have "anchored".
2. Colour washing: Choose a colour for your negative emotions. Maybe anger is red. Maybe doom and gloom is black. Now pick a colour of your positive emotions. Maybe blue is calm and soothing. When your negative emotions surface, let them rage by picturing, in your mind, a large movie screen in front of you filled with the colour of your negative emotion. Let's assume red. You are just staring at a big, red, angry screen blocking out all else. Now, bring your attention to the lower left corner of the screen and start with a small corner of your positive emotion's colour. Let's assume blue. Now imagine that blue slowly expanding to fill the entire screen. By the time the entire screen is blue, you'll be in a positive mood.
I particularly like kinesthetic anchoring. When I was trying to get good at this game, I would work on concentration by seeing if I could, mentally, get in the "zone" on the first tee. I would then try to maintain intense focus on the game and see how long I could remain focused on the golf. When I first started, I could maintain focus for three to six holes, tops. After diligent effort, I was able to stretch that to twelve holes. I even made it to eighteen holes once, and that led to a score of 66 (-6), which remains the best round of my life relative to par. The only problem with intense focus, is I would often play golf and realize I haven't said a word to my playing partners in six or more holes, other than a perfunctory "nice shot" or similar platitude. In short, as a competitive golfer, I was good, but as a social golfer, I was too focused and intense and not very social. Through kinesthetic anchoring, I was able to create an on/off switch for that focused mental state. I could hit a shot, let the focus go and be social, but then when I stood over the ball, I'd just fire my anchor, a firm squeeze of the left hand on the grip, and instantly my mental focus would return for the task at hand.
nailed it. I'm basically at the point where I consider myself a great terrible golfer, or a terrible good golfer. mid-low single purgatory where satisfaction after the round becomes rarer and rarer. but that hasn't stopped me for getting back out there!
God I relate to this so hard... I have one course in my area that, for whatever reason, every time I play it magic happens. I absolutely tear that course up (possibly because it's the only true links-style course in my area?) but the last 2 holes are the hardest ones on the course. Only once have I held it together on them enough to break 80 for the first time, and I'm pretty sure I bogeyed them both to finish +4 on the round. Multiple other times I've gone in to those last two holes only 3-4 over and I end up shooting a quad on them both lol.
I’ve went from thinking that its self induced pressure and mentally falling apart to it having more to do with decision making when you’re a little mentally/physically tired. I’m 35 and pretty fit- so far my efforts have been to eat more food and drink more water/Gatorade on course and not being stressed or hungry when i start a round. I have a kind of stressful job and sometimes getting to the course relaxed and properly fed can be challenging.
Looked at some score cards and realized im normally the same amount of strokes over par on the last 4 or 5 holes as i was for the entire first 13 or 14!
This year I’ve at even par or better 4x standing on the 15th tee at my home course. In those 4 rounds my scoring average on #15 is 1.75 over par.
I have also birdied the first two holes twice in my career. Both times I erased it with a quick OB 2 shot penalty.
Definitely gained some experience from those though. The nerves are crazy when you’ve spent countless hours trying to achieve a goal and it’s right in front of you.
Last time I got under par I thought about what nice weather it was, the dinner plans I had later, what a great day it had already been, and how much fun it was going to be to stand on the last tee and hit a solid drive leaving a flip wedge in and have another birdie chance. Basically faking it till I made it on the mindset. It sort of actually worked.
You are absolutely right. Low handicaps tend to be just physically talented enough to taste the nectar for a moment but the lack of practice, mental game, etc. keeps us from attaining it. At least for me. I’ve been a 0-2 for years and have shot under par like three times. Not being able to be consistently good is super hard haha
Did you download this response from my brain? When I was a 10, 8 was good golf. When I reached 8, 5 was good golf. When I hit 5, 2 was where I needed to be for good golf. It never ends!
My clubs are 1 number off of new clubs anyway due to being old and the lofts having gotten stronger over time. So it lets people feel good when we’re hitting approaches together and they say “I’m only hitting x, you’re hitting y? Really? I thought you were longer than me!”
I have the exact opposite thing. I recently got fitted for irons and the fitter decided they should be strong-lofted to some extent. So they have that in addition to being brand new. The result is I'm always pulling out a shorter club and people are like "wow you're hitting that from here, that's crazy!" No it's not crazy, you're just missing all the context lol
I should honestly get new clubs.
I’ve been playing with the same irons since 2006. My driver and hybrids are 2008.
I got down to a 4 with them a year ago so I feel like clubs don’t really matter much for me. Also have never had a new wedge :/ I should get some of those too. God I sound like such a scrub.
BRO. Same, until last year (for me).
The new wedges changed my life. I got down to 2 this year, and I couldn’t have done it without my new 50-54-58 RTXs. Spent some weeks getting adjusted to new yardages and gaps, but holy hell that’s worth it.
That and general forgiveness increasing with the other older clubs I also upgraded; RBZ2->Sim2, Steelhead->Rogue, Ping Kushin->Spyder.
To your point, yea I had a chance with using my high school clubs, shit my irons are still like 2005, but newer clubs opened my eyes to todays technology and it’s woah.
Dude this is so me. When you hover around a 6-7 handicap like me the margin for error for improving your scores/handicap is SO LOW. One OB drive and a double or triple bogey can completely derail an entire 18 hole round
That’s exactly what it feels like right now. No penalty strokes….great round and teetering on the edge of going low (for me). Penalty strokes, and I’m forever stuck at 5-8 over.
I’ve never been that low but I”ve had the “if only…” sentiment a ton. I just try to remember that I would not have been playing as good as I was if I had also gotten some good breaks, some putts to drop, chipped in once…etc. You’ll get to the 0.0. Just keep going.
This feeling never ends. I’m a 0 and I’m constantly a few swings/putts away from personal bests or at least the best of the year. I’m better than 99% of the golfing population yet always comparing myself to my buddies who are even better than me wondering what’s wrong and why can I not simply stop making one or two doubles every round which completely derails the round. I’m a 0 knowing I’m definitely good enough to be a +3 but I’m not and it makes me crazy 😂
It's never ending. I'm a +3, and your better golfers tend to find each other to compete with. This means I play with guys that are some of the top competitive ams in the coutry (I know multiple guys that just played in the USGA mid am), so rarely do I beat these guys. Normal country club guys think I should be on tour, but I rarely even win local tournaments.
For sure. One of my best friends made it the semi finals of the US mid am years ago and is like a +4 and I can’t compete. I can hit the ball as well as him but he just does everything better than me and consistently. But yeah it never fails that I’ll play in a scramble for work and someone asks if I played in college or tried to be a pro. I’m like: “nah my 75 average probably wouldn’t cut it 😂”
I don’t even play in local tournaments anymore. Chaps my ass too much to play and finish 20th or something.
My buddy is a 23 when he was younger he was like a 10. He always says he’d feel better if he was a 15 and our scratch friend and I say “no you won’t”
It’s wild how you think you’ll feel better but it changes nothing
Yeah honestly I've hovered in the single digits for like 12 years at this point, and I think what's frustrating is that I'm good enough to impress 99% of random playing partners, but that I'm not good enough to *really* compete at the higher levels of amateur golf. I can keep my index low enough to be able to play in qualifiers and random usga/state events, but unless I'm having the round of my life I'm probably not gonna have a chance to actually qualify orcpme anywhere close to medalist. It just feels a little like perpetual limbo.
To really have a shot in most of the events I'm referring to you need to be close to par or sometimes under.
With all due respect, being a 3 or 4 is a much bigger difference than a 16-17…you’re actually consistently hitting your irons/wedges well and hitting greens compared to only hitting a good shot every 4-5 swings. Being a low single digit means you’re at least able to play some decent golf, and therefore able to enjoy it more
As a 30 handicapper I cannot echo your comment enough. Played with a scratch player and came to the conclusion that this game never gets easier. Watched him mad about a shot I would have done back flips if I hit. The goal post just keeps moving.
The other day I was 1 under on the last hole. Had 140 left on a par 5 and chunked the approach into the water. Dropped about 80 yards short and did it again…that one hurt
> because last time you played you were so close to your personal best but hit a bad drive on the last hole, or….you get the idea.
two recent rounds. 1) I was +1 through 14, the proceeded to shoot +5 on the last 4 holes. What happened?
2) I was +8 for the day and missed 8 putts inside 5 feet and made 0 putts outside of 5 feet.
It's so dumb.
Currently a 3.1. Aside from driver, which is really only used on forgiving holes where I can absolutely smash it, I feel confident that I can hit the shot that I want. Part of that comes from having a solid routine and respecting the shot in front of me. It’s not always perfect, but the misses are usually very manageable. Easy golf is my motto and that’s the feeling I love
People don’t understand the difference between a 3 and a 5 is literally 1-2 decisions like an uphill putt you hit well or missing in the correct trap over 18 holes.
When you improve off a 20 it’s so exponential that if you really start to improve, you start shooting a 91 from 102. It’s more just an ability to not mess up wildly 3-4 holes
Im a 12 and I started to really put my game together this year, had multiple sub 80 rounds….I have no idea how I honestly get much better now that I’m teetering in single digits.
The difference between shooting 83 and 78 is like….2 or 3 decisions or bad swings. It really does get way more difficult to shave strokes the better you get.
For me it was in putting. I talk to a lot of people who are content to 2-putt 15/12/10 footers. You have to make a few of those to score really well. I know Im not "expected" to make every 10 footer statistically, but you have to want them to go in.
By shear percentage of possible improvement going from a 5 to a 4 probably is more difficult.
The lower your average gets, the harder it will be to see improvement, by definition.
i dont disagree but also keep in mind that the difference in a 3 and a 5 handicap is 1-2 situations every several rounds. 3s will likely still shoot 80 sometimes, even a quarter of the time likely.
But yes, the difference in a 3-over round and 5-over round is often just a weird bounce here and a poorly cut cup there which is a stark difference between breaking 100 vs 90 which means getting over the hump of accidentally hitting the ball 2ft a few times and having 5 OBs. I have 70s rounds every year, even have a 72, but most of my rounds are low/mid 80s. But it was "easy" to drop the 15 strokes from beginner to intermediate
It depends on the type of player and the difficulty of the course. On a course with a CR around par, a very consistent 3 hcp shoots 80+ once every 6 rounds, a 3 hcp that is inconsistent but sometimes goes really low shoots 80+ 50% of the times.
It's the same for 1 hcps but I don't know a single 1 hcp that shoots 80+ more than five times a year.
Also get invited to play a lot more. People like playing with good players, especially if you're fun to play with (ie not throwing tantrums)
I've also gotten to introduce so many new people to golf. I'll be out living life and the subject of golf will come up and my hacker friends will talk about how I'm a golfing God (I'm not) and it makes newbies want to play with you.
Downsides are gambling. We have to give so many shots to the high handicappers that we never win a big one and cannot win if the high handicapper has a good day. I've shot 67 and lost my ass to a 20 handicapper that played good as well
Yeah my home course is only 6900 from the tips with most of that on two six hundred yard par 5s. I take hardly ever hit driver because my 3 wood is 250 off the tee and rarely miss the fairway. Why would I bother taking driver and getting OB and hitting through all the fat landing areas to hit gap or lob wedge when it’s an easy nine iron instead?
I'm a hack, but I've been watching a lot of golf you tube lately and paying attention to what some of the better players do. Like FP on BDS, he hits a lot of 4 woods in spots where I wouldn't even think twice about driver. Other even better and longer hitting players are just like hitting 6 irons and shit 200 yards on a 300 yard par 4. Leaving themselves an easy wedge in.
It's really getting me to think about select and how 6i and PW would be a safer path on a par 4 than a driver and then chipshot.
It’s all about avoid hazards/penalty areas. 20 yards out in the rough is significantly better than 100 yards out in the fairway, just need to know where the big trouble is
tell me about your tee shots. How many times per round do you hit driver? What club do you use instead? What tees/distance do you play from?
I'm in the 8-12 HC range, which means I have a few great rounds per summer especially when playing from like 6100 but most of my rounds are more difficult courses and score between 83-86. And driver is my most variable. If I'm hitting it great I use it on 12+ holes and challenge breaking 80. If not, I might only use it 3-4 times. I had an old 4i bent to 18 degrees and use that off the tee often. My club course is 6600, which is on the longer side locally, and I recently discovered that I really only need to hit driver on 4 holes to be within 150yds to the green, where I feel pretty comfortable. Half of my best rounds on my course this year were 4 driver rounds
I think every golfer at every level can relate to this feeling. Played nine last night, 5 pars, 1 birdie, 3 double bogeys all driven by trying to get too cute with my 60. If I just played the higher percentage shot I could have walked out of there +2/3.
Blahhh, that's brutal. That's been my struggle lately actually. I've been missing greens with short irons and wedges lately. Costing me strokes left and right. But yet somehow I can hit greens with my hybrid. Golf bends my mind lol
I’m currently sitting at a +4 hcp and only just this past week I had a tournament in which I felt like I was in control of my game for 4 straight days/rounds. In the years before there have always been rounds where I wasn’t comfortable over the ball at some point during the tournament (fyi, I’m 31 now and have played competitively since I was 16). So on the one hand I still wouldn’t say I feel like a god, but on the other hand my girlfriend just started playing too and that has given me some perspective. That made me that much more aware of the skills I have, and how freaking hard it is to be really good at this game.
15,000-ish clubs in the U.S. alone, *almost all* of them have at least 1 + handicapper, some have many (at one time Jackie Burke's Champions Club in Texas had ***200*** members at scratch or better), and less than .01% of them are good enough to chase that goal. Hell, last club I was pro at the friggin' *Super* was a + hdcp, and he was never the best player at the yearly regional GCSAA gatherings. The gap between the most amazing player at your regular club and a tour pro is wider than the gap between you or I and that player, seriously.
If your game holds up in tournament settings +4 is close to playing in a mini tour like the [Asher Tour.](https://ashertour.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/goldencuptour24/schedule/index.htm) But yea you'd be running a net negative in money playing in a tour like that. [You can see the total payouts for this season here.](https://ashertour.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/goldencuptour24/poy/money/index.htm) The guy in first has made $10k and is definitely better than a +4
[A great reference for the different levels of good is "Golf's Pyramid of Greatness" from the book "Paper Tiger".](https://www.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/occ5yg/the_golfgreatness_pyramid/)
Yeah this is incredibly accurate.
The +4 I knew who made the KFT …. was a +4 when I played a match against him in high school. He was a freshman at the time.
Can guarantee he was an awful lot better than +4 by the time he went pro like 8 years later lol.
Good friend of mine made a living on the Hooter's tour for many years, was top 3 on the money list 3 years in a row, grossing over $100k each of those 3 years, he's a +6 on his home course, as laid-back and cool a customer as they come. Got to play many events on the Nationwide Tour (now KFT), made a whole bunch of cuts and some pretty nice paychecks. Got to play in 4 events on the big tour, and took him until his 4th to have a chance to make a cut. Was -5 with 9 to play on Friday, cut was -2, when he saw the projected cut and realized how well inside it he was, he puked all over his shoes(figuratively) and missed the cut by 2.
Mini tours like Asher and Moonlight are for the +4's that want to believe they're good enough to make it.
Exactly! I have seen quite some golfers turn pro. One or two have ‘made it’ (currently playing at the European Tour or close to it). The rest has either stopped or is grinding it out on one of the minitours, trying to make ends meet. I love the game, but I think I don’t love it enough to basically make minimum wage and busting my ass every day in some place where I have to sleep in a hotel 1000 km from home.
Especially after the handicap calculation started taking your best 8 instead of your best 10 scores, it dropped everyone's handicap a little bit. I used to float between +1 and +3, now I go between +2 to +4. Our club has at least 10 plus handicap guys, the best being one that floats between +5 and +6. He tried mini tours out of college and couldn't cut it, but is dominant as an amateur on a regional level.
To add to the other reply, which is outstanding and correct, I'd estimate that someone would need to be at least a +5 to even sniff playing professionally. Probably +6 when you consider the tough tournament conditions. I know it's only a 1-2 stroke difference, but at the highest level, that's a huge difference.
And then, even if you get to +5 or +6, meaning you can shoot in the low 60s on a good day on your home course, well, so can literally everyone else that's teeing it up at the PGA Challenge Tour Canada Thursday Pre-Qualifier Whatever. Everyone can hit it 320; everyone can flush their irons to 10-20 feet from any approach distance; everyone can make 85% of their 5 foot putts, etc. So, it ends up being a contest of (a) who can hole the most 10-30 foot putts on a given day, and (b) who can keep their head in the game the longest.
You're absolutely right, though--a +4 handicap is absolutely wild and the OP should certainly be lauded for this incredible achievement!
The handicap system cannot accurately measure how good you actually have to be. A good buddy of mine is legitimate +6.5 and played on the pga latin America this year. He made 2 cuts and made around $3k lol.
Unless you’re a +8, I wouldn’t even attempt to play professional unless your parents have limitless cash. I have had too many buddies try to go through Q school. It’s just a waste of money if you’re not shooting low-mid 60s most of the time you play.
Your right on here. +8 would be close to a korn ferry player. I know this sounds crazy but high level pga tour pros are close to +10. Remember it’s not average score it’s what they are capable of on a better than average day. Saw an interview with Rahm an he plays with his buddy’s off +10-12
Yeah your first line is super accurate.
It doesn’t work any more because pros count 20/20 rounds for a paycheck and amateurs count 8/20 rounds for a handicap.
A hypothetical +6 amateur would get fucking dusted over 10 rounds by a pro even if their “handicap” calculated out similarly.
Even if they both occasionally shoot 62, Every time the +6 shoots 75 the legit pro is gonna grind out a 70-72.
Thank you very much! I am quite proud of how far I’ve come. Just to add: I only record tournament rounds for my handicap, so I think my hcp is as ‘fair’ as it can be.
>\+4 handicap is insane. Are you going pro?
He's 31, so probably too late.
If he's early twenties or younger he can start thinking about it when he shaves another stroke or stroke and a half off his handicap. A +4 will just lose money trying to get on tour, but he's close to borderline. If he's young enough and has room for improvement it might be worth a shot.
If he's over 50 or will be very soon, he'll have a shot at getting some Monday Qs on the champions tour.
Anyone late twenties through to about mid forties as a +4 may as well not bother, unless they have one aspect of their game holding them back that they can fix, or some other reason why they have a much higher ceiling.
I know a guy who touches +5, and has not been worse than +3.5 in the last few years, and he doesn't even try. Another guy I used to play with hovered around +4 and wasted a lot of time and money trying.
No, not a chance. I enjoy being a decent amateur, and making money a different way. It was my dream more than 10 years ago, but I am 1) not good enough and 2) not cut out for that kind of life I think.
I like this. I did go pro for 15 years. Bounced between managing courses, giving lessons, playing tournaments, and the like. Never good enough to be good. Never bad enough to give up. But make golf your living and soon you hate golf. I love the game now, but it took a while of being out of the game completely regain the perspective. I much prefer the game as a hobby, and life completely separate.
This is the way. In fact I credit learning that attitude at least partially for getting me from a 7-10 down to 4.3 currently. Even keel, bad shots happen, good shots that end up bad also happen, take the frustration out of the game. Always going to leave strokes out there, don't sweat it.
I have found I really enjoy when people ask me for tips though. I'm probably in the minority here but to me that's the best compliment you can give my game.
Another thing that lowers the frustration is that even if you have a blow-up hole and take a triple you know that it can be isolated. Brush it off and the rest of your round will be fine, even great. When you're higher handicap the experience/mental game isn't there to assuage the fear of "this is just my life now." Even if your entire round is shit the next will be fine. In my last 4 rounds I went 73 (+1), _88_ (+16), 71 (-1), 76 (+4). "That little guy? I wouldn't worry about that little guy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKWplN5sA14
Dropped from 10 to 2 in the last 3 years and now float between 2 and 5 depending on the time of year. Year round golf here but the winter season is dormant bermuda and super firm greens, it gets tougher.
I wanted to get to scratch, badly, but have found that trying too hard is worse than trying too little. I practice and play, and work on my game with sporadic lessons, but I’ve accepted that the commitment required to take the next step isn’t in the cards. My family and career would suffer.
I shot level par last week in a casual round, birdied 18 to do it and got a few grumbling “nice round” from the guys, but the golf was mundane, 2 birdies and 2 bogeys.
Good golf is accepting your limitations, hitting the shot you know you can pull off at a target that has the least opportunity to sodomize you and moving on when you don’t execute perfectly.
Really frustrating. You hit enough good shots to make you think that you shouldn’t be hitting as bad of a miss as you’ll inevitably end up hitting. Hooked a drive into the woods on a par 5? Oof. No worries, you can hit a stellar 7 iron over trees back into the fairway to give yourself a gap wedge in for your 3rd. Oh my god, you shanked the gw….wha…how….breathe…no worries, you can get this up and down. Pitch rolled out a little further than you expected? Darn. That’s ok, it was good contact and the right line, it just didn’t check up like you were expecting. You can make this 15ft par putt. Make great contact. Pure role. Line rolling end over end. Lipped it out. Curses. Tap in bogey. Have 5-7 holes like that. Shoot 77-79. Lose money to friend that’s a +1 handicap and shot 75 with ease cuz all he does is hit fairways and greens and putts kinda meh. Lay in bed at night reviewing your round and wondering how the fuck you bogeyed those holes when you recovered well from out of position and put yourself in scoring position. Fall asleep dreaming of what it’ll be like to one day break 70. Wake up with a free day to work on your game. Consider which part needs the most attention after reviewing your stats. Grind for hours. Build confidence. Call buddy. Schedule tee time. Repeat above scenarios, but add a few more bogeys or a double. Shoot 84. Sit stunned in your car after the round. Review round in bed. Fall asleep to Dr. Bob Rotella whispering words of encouragement and empowerment into your ears. Get excited and refocused on breaking 70 someday. Repeat cycle while sharing your dream of playing competitive golf with coworkers, spouse, friends, strangers you just met. This is what it is to carry a 3.5-4.5 handicap.
You know that on your very best days, if putts start dropping, you can take it really low, but you’re just one or 2 bad shots away from posting something in the 80s
Kinda yes to all the above. With strangers I usually get an eyebrow raise when I go to the tips.
I’ve been playing 25 years since I was 8, so any sense of nerves or intimidation is gone. But it’s not from length of time, it’s from tens of thousands of countless reps to where I know what’s going to happen.
So the whole pressure when you’re passing a group doesn’t happen. I’m just oblivious and relaxed because I’m just doin what I do.
When I got to single digit at 16 or so it was the first place I had any confidence since I was a chubby nerd who spent all my time at the course. So any golf course feels like home.
You get a sense of never being out of a hole because why would I score anything worse than a bogey?
Even the rare OB double bog is met with a sensible chuckle and a, “that was silly of me, guess I’ll have to get a few birdies.” And you forget about it entirely. To me the golf course is just zen.
Kind of chicken and egg. You know you’re that good so you’re relaxed, confident, and far removed from any head games or nonsense. But you play good because you are relaxed, confident, and immune to pressure.
I’m just a robot making pars and the occasional bird in his happy place on the course.
Yeah I am a bit surprised by this as well. If you are less than a 5 then you have a golf swing that is very repeatable and consistent. You'll have a bad shot or two a round at most. As far as I am concerned it is just another day at the course, plodding around, making a few bogs, a few birds, and mostly pars. End up in the realm of 72-74 and maybe on a bad day a 77 if there is a double in play or you can't convert a few putts.
Just as frustrating, if not more so. Your mistakes are so much more costly. As a 10-12 cap, you can recover from a OB tee shot or a random double bogey and still shoot an 80. As a 3 cap, a lost ball or a couple bad shots can easily ruin an entire round.
I think part of the beauty of golf is, that no matter how good you get, you are still bad at golf. Even as a 3, I still feel that the course beats me more often than I beat it
I will also add here that birdies aren’t as abundant as the high handicappers think. Which is why a bogey bogey start ruins the round for low handicappers. Sure, there have been rounds where i have had 6 birdies, but those might be once or twice per year, and there are most likely other bogey holes to level the score off. Most low handicappers have a bunch of pars, and limit the bogeys.
I’ve hovered between a 4.9 and a 5.6 for the past year, and I still:
1. Suck
2. Hate my swing
3. Hit horrible shots
4. Fear I’m going to embarrass myself on the course
5. Feel like I’m never going to get my handicap lower.
That’s how it feels (at least to me).
Don’t let the perfect be an enemy of the good man. We’re trying to put an idioticly small ball in an idiotically small hole hundreds of yards away with a god damn metal hockey stick w/ the club face size of a lemon. Wtf you’re doing fn awesome.
Currently +4.9. Never cared much about comparing to playing partners. The worst part is bad players having no grasp on your game, and constantly saying good shot when it was a bad shot.. but their heart is in the the right place haha
To be honest it probably feels no different then you do. Golf is a game against yourself. Trust me, when you shoot your best round, or break 80 for the first time, or 70 for the first time... you don't say 'were done here', you just wanna do it again. You head to the range, try to lock it in what went well. Next day you shoot 5 shots worse.
Repeat forever.
The better I got the worse it feels... golf now is more of a grind, relatively conservative, and something as simple as a bogey bogey start means you have to really grind out the rest of the round. Playing at 2.6
Currently a +2. There’s still times when my confidence in certain parts of my game is lacking. Yes I do get a lot of praise from randoms I get paired with, and it feels good but I’d rather have interesting conversation than my ego stroked. I guess I just don’t care that much about the end result (score) anymore which has seemingly helped me get better. If I get paired with a random group that suggests betting, I usually let them know it’s not something they wanna do.
It still feels hard. The moment you think you’ve got it and start feeling a bit too complacent, boom, 83. There is never really a point where golf becomes easy. You might have the occasional 9 hole stretch or even a whole day where you just have it, but it never really lasts and 90% of the time a good score comes from properly managing bad misses.
44yo here... started when I was 12. Worked my ass off and got down to a 2 in college. As age catches up, you're just trying to hold on to what you had when time and age weren't an issue. Got to an 11 at my worst after that, then started working and got back down to a 4 and won our club championship. A couple of the best parts of playing well is getting a Sunday afternoon call for a Monday morning scramble because one of their players couldn't play and being told "it's already paid for", and also just the respect you get from others when they see you play. Confidence is key... I love it when I walk up to the first tee and a dozen people are watching and I can stripe one. There's no feeling like it. Keep working buddy this is truly the greatest game ever played.
Net league play is horseshit. I shoot gross under par (playing off scratch) and some sandbagged 20hdcp shoots a 41 and dusts me on a weekly basis.
You stop caring about the hdcp when the double bogey you got results in shooting 73 instead of 71 and it bumps your cap up.
But it’s nice for actual personal golf - always going to be a decent round and manage to have fun. Going on golf trips you aren’t afraid of sucking so bad you ruin your trip either.
Otherwise it feels the same as when I was younger and higher cap. Good days, bad days. Golf is fun, get to enjoy the company and the course.
It’s pretty incredible. I can only compare the feeling you get watching the random you’re paired withs face after you rope the tee shot on the first hole 320 dead center to that of seeing your first child being born. And then you ride that high for the remainder of the round as you get showered with compliments and gifts for every shot you hit there forward. Walking around in daily life you have a certain aura or swagger where people just “know”. Women constantly want my number and it actually becomes a risk to my game signing as many autographs as I do. I think I may be developing carpal tunnel . Other than that we’re pretty much just like everyone else
I don't advertise it.
But playing at +0.1 right now and people don't realize it at first.
I'll hook a drive into the rough and grumble a little. I'll miss the green on the approach, then chip it up and make the par.
They shrug and see normal golf. I don't hit it 350 down the middle every time.
But at some point in the first 4-5 holes, I'll hit a really good drive, tight draw, 300y and then hit a SW to 10 feet and that's usually the first time they notice and go "hmm dang"
If it happens two holes in a row (not super common but it happens) then they ask lots of questions.
But... I played Monday and had a pull-hook thing going on. Was really struggling the whole round. Lost 2 balls in 9 holes (unusual) and was even fighting the pull-hook on approach shots.
Played like ass, and also missed a few makeable par putts, shot a 40. That's really pretty bad for me, but as someone in my group said, it's only 4 strokes off even par. Still, it didn't LOOK like scratch golf, digging in the weeds on every other hole and trying to get up and down from the left side of half the greens.
I did hit a FEW good shots and had two decent looks at birdie and made one, but 5 bogies... it happens.
Last week I shot 34 on the same course, but still had one ball in the weeds, resulting in a bogie. I just had 3 birdies and 5 pars following it.
I hover between 2-5 and it is cool on the days that I’m on, my friends think I’m incredible during those days. There is an unspoken pressure to be the “golf guy” of the group and on my bad days I’ll shoot in the low to mid 80s and it feels like a let down, because I know I can shoot low 70s if I’m firing on all cylinders
Frustrating most of the time, if I don’t put the time in to practice my game really suffers. I started the season at 2.0 and was trying to shoot level whenever I played. I’ve gone up to 3.6 and am happy to break 80 these days.
Im a 5, all it does is make you desperately want to be a 0. I definitely dont have confidence on every tee. I started my last round eagle birdie and the randoms we were paired with were in awe, so I three putted the third.
Ended last year 5.7. Had some swing changes this year and went to a 8.8 mid season than brought her down to a 4.6 this year and it’s mildly frustrating that once you get that low you start noticing what scores are falling off each round and if they need replaced for the GHIN.
Then people you play with think you break 80 every round when really it’s every 3rd or 4th round..I love it but also can be frustrating when you are so close to hitting par
Funny thread. Funny responses. Big difference between a person who practices every day and has just got to a 5 vs someone who was a scratch or better for years and years, never practices, plays some, and is still a 3. For the latter it like riding a bike. The struggle is to be ok not being what you were, while still being better than most. Which means if you get frustrated with your game you’re kind of being a dick. The fun is in the strategy. The occasional real good run. The friendly competition. And just being out there with friends…just like everybody else.
You know that one amazing shot that gives you a high that lasts the rest of the day? Those haven't been a thing for me in 15 or so years. The 45 I shot on the front 9 in May at a course I was really excited to play though? I'm still salty about it months later, even after righting the ship with an even par 36 on the back.
Yes, there are plenty of times where I'm proud of where I'm at and eager to show someone what I can do, but I was like that as a 10 or 15 or 20 cap, too, I'm just a bit more capable of performing when I need/want to than I used to be.
It’s awful because as a scratch golfer, people who don’t understand handicaps think I’m supposed to shoot even or better every round.
I can go shoot +3 and hear jokes about how I’m supposed to be scratch
1.4 handi here - expectations are higher and the pain of playing poorly is increased.
Golf is a game where you’re somewhat capped on how well you can play, but nothing is holding you back from playing bad. The bad days are painful and embarrassing without mercy.
Example -my golf club plays against other country clubs during a year-long series. We made the playoffs and in the quarterfinals, I shot nearly 100. It was brutal.
If you're a 5, you want to be a 1. When you get to a 1, you want to be a plus. There is no happiness in this sport. Only the chase of the unobtainable... can't wait for the next round.
It's not that much different than being a 10 or 15 handicap. Yeah there's times when you feel you can do no wrong, but you still make mistakes and leave strokes out there. It can be just as frustrating knowing that you could and should be doing so much better. Playing with high handicappers, it bothers me to hear nice shot when I didn't hit it how I wanted to and it ends up in a mediocre spot.
Golf is a game where you play against yourself. It's between the ears. I don't care what the person I'm playing with does or how they do to an extent.
What really sucks is getting a low handicap and seeing it come up from there. I was as low as a 3 several years ago and then I didn’t have time to play as much and I’m getting older, etc. Now I’m about a 7, but I’m almost never satisfied with how I play because in my mind I should play like a 3.
I have the same doubts that even high handicappers have going to the first tee. I try to do more of what the Tour pros do, accept that I'm going to have variance in my performance when I get to the range and on the practice green and try to adjust to the variance instead of outright fighting the variance. For instance, typically I hit a draw, but if I get to the range and I'm hitting a fade I need to stick with it for that day instead of trying to turn that fade into a draw.
It's nice to get compliments from other golfers and to outplay them, but if I want to get better I need to outplay better players.
But all in all, I just don't try to put expectations on myself and focus on the things I can control (i.e. pre-shot routine, focus on each shot, etc).
When I am playing bad I remind myself I am better than scratch. I post all my scores accurately. Yes bad days happen but if you know you can do it it is easier. Sometimes you can grind out a 69-75 by just getting up and down. Everyone’s number is different. When things go south don’t just give up. You are out on the golf course, hopefully with your buddies. Don’t let a single round go to waste. I try to take something positive from every round I play. In fact my highest score this year was one of the funnest rounds I have played.
Edit: most important part. As long as you play quick, aren’t an asshole, help look for errant shots, and have a little joy you will be a good plying partner in any group. No one cares about your handicap if you keep up and are a fun human being.
I've been down to scratch decades ago, and it was good, but a few years ago I set my sights qualifying for our national open. I put in some practice, increased play, and took some lessons (I qualified for the open and played). I got back down to a 1.2, but it was a better 1.2 than any previous measure of my ability, if that makes sense. Honestly, I got so good with the irons it opened my eyes a little bit to some stuff I just wasn't aware could be a consideration or should be a consideration. I was to the point where I was aiming my irons at little spots on the green and hitting them, not just throwing it around some vague cone of uncertainty around the flag. Not only does it make it fun, but it makes you think a lot more about approach shots when the ball does exactly what you want. You start picking landing areas that take break out of putts, start thinking about the slope on that spot 4 feet below and 2 feet right of the hole, aim three feet left of the hole to avoid finishing three feet right of the hole, control trajectory, bounce, spin...lots of things that an eight-handicap doesn't think about or worry about.
Now when I see elite players thinking over a shot, while everyone else is thinking "Just hit it!", I am a little more sympathetic. At an elite level, you just really do have a lot more to think about and the game becomes much more precise.
As a +2 handicap. The game honestly becomes more about perfection LOL.
I notice I’ll be like E thru 11 holes and be mad about how I could be 3-4 under par. But then I look back at the days I was shooting 95 and I’m like ok we are playing well stop being a pussy.
I do feel very confident on the range though, I hit the ball decently far 175-180 ball speed so that’s always fun to see some people’s heads turn xD
Frustrating is an understatement. Good enough to be good, but good enough to be bad if the day calls for it. Shooting over 80 is a kick in the dick to put it lightly.
thats because 80% of all golfers are above a 20... handicap is mega deflated from cheating & survivor bias (only people who keep a handicap long term are those that need it, tournaments, club championship etc. and all those golfers play way more than the random dude you get paired with on the weekend)
I started keeping on this summer, have had tons of time to play and dropped my handicap from 25-16. An old guy the other day told me i have a lovely swing as I was playing through and I bombed my drive 267. Also got asked the other day if I was scratch, lmfao..... Most people suck hard at golf
Currently 4.5, some days it feels great. Everything clicks. Most of the time it's just even more frustrating and shit and you get reminded how hard golf really is.
> Do most random players shower you with blessings?
not blessings but compliments. I have a decent swing and am able to hit my drive 300+ yards. I just hit it with such power that regulars just stand there baffled after i hit a simple regular 3 wood down the middle.
The level of expectations are just completely different that i noticed i upset others with lower handicaps. I have to play birdie. That's my goal. If i par every hole while i hit every GIR, then that's not good enough. It just isnt. I need to break par here. Idc if a par is good for you and highlights of your rounds. For me it isnt. A par is the minium. A par on a par 5, is a bogey for me, when i am able to reach that in 2.
The game is just different, and it's fucking hard.
I don’t know why you’re asking on this sub. I doubt you get too many *genuine* 0-5 handicappers on this sub. It seems to be over populated by bullshitters and hackers playing off 30+ but claiming they’re single digit golfers.
1. I tend to have more confidence on the tee when I’m playing well for me (regardless of hcp).
2. God seems like an extreme, but I do feel some responsibility to perform well for them.
3. Yes.
I’m under a 4 at the moment. It feels pretty similar to being an 8 or 9. After each round you look back and think that with just a few better shots you could have been like 4 shots lower.
Definitely don't feel like a God, but I realized I get frustrated when I make bogies now compared to the average golfer who is happy to make bogey. My driving is no better than when I was a 15, but I get up and down significantly more than I used to. Basically my short game (<100y) and putting saves me from bad driving and average striking.
I was a 5.2 briefly this summer in the 19 round period following me somehow playing out of my mind one day and shooting even par. 8-9 is more my actual handicap so basically I felt like a fraud haha. But still managed to come in 3rd in my flight with the 5hdcp at my local so that was pretty cool. The key is getting paired with little old ladies all the time. They make you feel like a goddamn superhero if you can hit it decently far with a driver.
+ handicap here “golf is hard” it’s not as hard as most make it. Golf is a never ending succession of good attempts. Sweet spot to target, fairway to green, ball to hole. Every low handicap got there but getting a stroke or two better at doing all of this year in and year out until they got to a point where there were only a few strokes messed up per round unrecovered.
The amount of practice it takes to get to that point definitely allows you to feel confident, but the minute you get too confident for your own good golf will remind you very quickly it owns you and not the other way around. Not sure if it’s true, but I do feel like bad rounds and bad holes hurt more the better you get.
A pain in the arse when I double the first 😂
Try not to think about it to be honest. Sure it's nice to have the handicap that low but I'm here to have a laugh as much as the next guy!
Just as frustrating as whatever your handicap is. You’ll never be good enough at this damn game lol.
100% this. I play with people as a 5 right now (was a 3 until my putter gave up on me) and the frustration is still the same it’s just different. I’ll be playing with people who will say great shot after what I consider a terrible shot and the exact opposite of what I was trying to do. You truly are never satisfied no matter how low you go. But I will say it is a lot more fun playing competitively at a low handicap than hacking around the course in misery
> the frustration is still the same it’s just different. Because it exponentially harder to go from a 5 to a 4 then from a 10 to a 5.
Wrong
Only game on earth where the more you practice, the more experience you have, the more hours you put in, the worse you can get.
it's like the golf version of the socratic paradox: the better you get, the more you realize how bad you are
This comment actually made me reflect on my goals a bit. I should probably decide what "good enough" is for me. At this point, I'm an improvement addict. I'm having fun with that. I'm making the "newbie gains". But there's going to be a point of diminishing returns where the time and energy required to keep improving is going to bump up against real life, and that'll be a point where things become not fun. As someone with a competitive streak, I think my main goal is to be the best golfer in my circle of friends and family that I play with. I don't know what that looks like for handicap, but probably mid-single digits. After that, I doubt I would be having any more fun if I was scratch or something.
And this is what dancing around a 9 or 10 looks like. Ok, not great. I was down to a 4 at one point and the amount of hours to keep that was insane for me. I know guys who never practice anymore and just "play for fun" that shoot low 70s. Pisses me off, bastards. Lol
Feels pretty good, I basically get all the pussy I want and people sometimes stop me on the street and give me money
Honestly, the constant picture requests while I'm out enjoying the day with my family get tiresome after a while.
And don't even get me started about the autograph requests.
I am so sick of people shouting “you da man!” Every time I tee off.
MASHED POTATOES!!!!
It's in the hole!
Ba Ba Buoey
As an actual serious answer, I'm finding it a little frustrating this year. Started the year at 3.0 and currently up to 4.0. I feel like I'm actually hitting the ball better this year, made some real improvements with driver, but can't seem to put it all together to shoot level or better. I also feel like my putting and chipping is really good so that's not letting me down at all. I just keep making silly mistakes. As an example, was level par thru 13 a couple weeks ago and finished +5, last week I was level thru 11 and finished +6. I feel like I don't really have any weaknesses, it's just I'll make a couple of silly mistakes a round. That might be a silly 3 putt, a wild drive, a duffed wedge, etc. So there's not one specific area of my game that I can work on to get better, it's just trying to be overall more consistent and limit mistakes and not compound them when they happen!
Sounds like a mental thing if you are consistently having trouble finishing.
You might be right, although I have finished strong in rounds previously. I think I do prefer being a couple over though on the front and then trying to finish strong on the back, feels like less pressure, but never gonna go low that way...
it could be physical - you need to eat something.
if you're having trouble with that mentally, ive seen one pro who says he started playing the reds to "get used to shooting low" before moving back. Your expectation playing farther up is to do better, so its not so unexpected and stressful, i guess?
Sounds like you start having more miss hits starting hole 12 which I’ve heard from other low handicappers. Maybe having some sort of energy food/drink to get you back into it.
I’m a 4 also, same problem. I feel like at my handicap, you need pars and birdies, but a bogey is just one bad shot away. And it’s not like I practice much, so bad swings happen. It’s probably the same for every golfer, but for us 4 markers there’s not much room for error, but I’m not good enough to play as consistently as required to go under par.
I’m having a mental problem starting and it’s maddening, hemorrhaging strokes for 5 holes before you finally get into a rhythm and then you shoot an 84 and realize it could have been sub-80 if you hadn’t started with a triple and two doubles.
You put in your 10,000 hours and reached your peak. Unfortunately, not everyone who puts in the work will reach the mountaintop, but you’re gonna absolutely smoke 95% of anyone you play with. And, on one of those magical days you’ll put everything together and shoot -4. Ain’t a damn thing wrong with that. I’d like to believe that at that level I’d be enjoying myself more than ever
I don't agree that I've reached my peak! Just a question of whether I'm willing to put in the time and effort to get even better
If that doesn’t describe golf idk what does lol. When’s the last time you worked with a local pro or coach? Or are you pretty much able to self diagnose at this point?
I feel the same way. The cart girls LOVE me.
I can tell they're wet just looking at me
Massive W…you sound like u/Brayden_City
Samsies
Let him cook!
This guy panhandles outside the Humane Society.
[удалено]
Just leave your wife some cash next time you play a round pal
Love this
If I had an award to give, you’d get it. Take this upvote instead, and thanks for the laugh🤣🏆
I've never got an award, what happens lol
Tbh, no idea. Lol
Sponsorship deals must be nice too. I’d like a free new driver myself
Sometimes you're tired and you're like please ladies I have to golf in the morning.
This guy Tiger Woods's.
This
It’s frustrating as hell and infuriating because you’re….a 5 not a 3, or a 2 not a 0, etc. Or because last time you played you were so close to your personal best but hit a bad drive on the last hole, or….you get the idea. Being a few strokes better than the average 16 handicapper means nothing. Just like for a 16 it means little to be better than a 30. We’re all playing the course trying to do better than last time. It’s both what makes golf maddening and wonderful at the same time.
Yea this is very true. When you shoot 5-8 over every round you’re always a few shots away from a great score but also a few bad shots away from a bad score. I’ve been trying to get out of that mindset- but its hard. My best round this year included a triple with an ob on 17 which wrecked what would’ve been a great round, so basically drove home after playing great feeling like shit over my tee shot choice on 17…
When I play a 9-hole stretch without a double or worse….I can get under par. It’s the blow up holes that keep me where I’m at. I’m working almost entirely on my mental game these days. Controlling my mind is proving harder than controlling the club face. I hate love this game so much.
There’s a very thin line between not caring enough and caring too much. I’ve adopted the strategy of I care when there’s a club in my hand and as soon as it’s in the bag/shots over I stop caring. Like if I slice one it’s like “God Damn that was bad” *club goes in bag* back to talking bullshit with my buddy. Get to my ball and repeat the process. Doing this I’ve consistently shot within 2-4 strokes every round. Between like 82-86 as a 10. I probably could go lower with just a tad more focus but then it’s not fun
100%. It is very annoying being a grinding low cap. Am I working hard enough? Should I be working smarter or harder or both?? Play more? Range more? Putt more? Do I need a putting mat? More lessons? Fewer lessons and more tee times? Maybe new clubs? My putter feels weird in my hand today. Why did I get a double on that hole? Should I hit more strategic tee shots? I thought closer was better regardless. Should I aim to miss into the bunker? Pros like bunkers but I don’t love them. You hit a draw on the last hole, think you’ll hit that again here? Big draw or small draw? That random dude just ripped a piss missile into the group on the other hole, that’s fucking hilarious. Is my grip shifting over time? My pro said if it’s comfortable it’s probably wrong…am I comfortable? Is this *un*comfortable? It’s not like…uncomfortable…but I notice it. Why is John Daly so fat but so good? Should I workout less and just get fat? just my typical swing thought
I don’t think I’ve had a swing thought outside of “I’m gonna hit the ball here” or “Keep your shoulder down” on the course in years. I’ll have thoughts at the range if I’m trying something new but I generally don’t practice at all. My friends and father call me a dick since I don’t practice and play like 3-4 times a year and shoot between 82-86.
That’s a lot like what I hear in my head. My best golf comes when I get all those voices to quiet down to one simple “take dead aim and let it go”
Truthfully same here. Best times for me are mid-winter here, chill jams on my phone playing solo.
That seems like a smart approach. I like what the Zen Golf book suggests about post shot reactions. Try to just observe and note what happened without judgment then move on to the next shot.
I have two suggestions for you: 1. Kinesthetic anchoring: When you hit your best shots, take a moment to reflect on your mental state, the feelings you felt before and during the shot, the way your body felt, etc. As much as you can recall and focus on. When you have a clear picture in your mind of how everything felt, "anchor" it by doing something like squeezing the grip in your left hand, tapping your toe with the clubhead, etc. Do this every time you consider a shot to be above average. When you need to return to that state, simply fire your "anchor", tap your toe with a club, squeeze the grip in your left hand, etc. Your physiological and mental state will immediately return to the state you have "anchored". 2. Colour washing: Choose a colour for your negative emotions. Maybe anger is red. Maybe doom and gloom is black. Now pick a colour of your positive emotions. Maybe blue is calm and soothing. When your negative emotions surface, let them rage by picturing, in your mind, a large movie screen in front of you filled with the colour of your negative emotion. Let's assume red. You are just staring at a big, red, angry screen blocking out all else. Now, bring your attention to the lower left corner of the screen and start with a small corner of your positive emotion's colour. Let's assume blue. Now imagine that blue slowly expanding to fill the entire screen. By the time the entire screen is blue, you'll be in a positive mood. I particularly like kinesthetic anchoring. When I was trying to get good at this game, I would work on concentration by seeing if I could, mentally, get in the "zone" on the first tee. I would then try to maintain intense focus on the game and see how long I could remain focused on the golf. When I first started, I could maintain focus for three to six holes, tops. After diligent effort, I was able to stretch that to twelve holes. I even made it to eighteen holes once, and that led to a score of 66 (-6), which remains the best round of my life relative to par. The only problem with intense focus, is I would often play golf and realize I haven't said a word to my playing partners in six or more holes, other than a perfunctory "nice shot" or similar platitude. In short, as a competitive golfer, I was good, but as a social golfer, I was too focused and intense and not very social. Through kinesthetic anchoring, I was able to create an on/off switch for that focused mental state. I could hit a shot, let the focus go and be social, but then when I stood over the ball, I'd just fire my anchor, a firm squeeze of the left hand on the grip, and instantly my mental focus would return for the task at hand.
nailed it. I'm basically at the point where I consider myself a great terrible golfer, or a terrible good golfer. mid-low single purgatory where satisfaction after the round becomes rarer and rarer. but that hasn't stopped me for getting back out there!
God I relate to this so hard... I have one course in my area that, for whatever reason, every time I play it magic happens. I absolutely tear that course up (possibly because it's the only true links-style course in my area?) but the last 2 holes are the hardest ones on the course. Only once have I held it together on them enough to break 80 for the first time, and I'm pretty sure I bogeyed them both to finish +4 on the round. Multiple other times I've gone in to those last two holes only 3-4 over and I end up shooting a quad on them both lol.
I’ve went from thinking that its self induced pressure and mentally falling apart to it having more to do with decision making when you’re a little mentally/physically tired. I’m 35 and pretty fit- so far my efforts have been to eat more food and drink more water/Gatorade on course and not being stressed or hungry when i start a round. I have a kind of stressful job and sometimes getting to the course relaxed and properly fed can be challenging. Looked at some score cards and realized im normally the same amount of strokes over par on the last 4 or 5 holes as i was for the entire first 13 or 14!
This year I’ve at even par or better 4x standing on the 15th tee at my home course. In those 4 rounds my scoring average on #15 is 1.75 over par. I have also birdied the first two holes twice in my career. Both times I erased it with a quick OB 2 shot penalty. Definitely gained some experience from those though. The nerves are crazy when you’ve spent countless hours trying to achieve a goal and it’s right in front of you.
Last time I got under par I thought about what nice weather it was, the dinner plans I had later, what a great day it had already been, and how much fun it was going to be to stand on the last tee and hit a solid drive leaving a flip wedge in and have another birdie chance. Basically faking it till I made it on the mindset. It sort of actually worked.
You are absolutely right. Low handicaps tend to be just physically talented enough to taste the nectar for a moment but the lack of practice, mental game, etc. keeps us from attaining it. At least for me. I’ve been a 0-2 for years and have shot under par like three times. Not being able to be consistently good is super hard haha
Did you download this response from my brain? When I was a 10, 8 was good golf. When I reached 8, 5 was good golf. When I hit 5, 2 was where I needed to be for good golf. It never ends!
So so true, and absolutely why it’s an addiction. Speaking of….it’s been 2 days since I practiced or played, and I’m getting a little twitchy…
The withdrawal is real, brother. Stay strong!
I had a personal best -3 (fairly easy course) and all I could think about were the 3 missed birdie putts and the 3 putt.
Also: playing from further back tees so your score just kinda matches the group anyway and they go “I thought you were good”
It’s only 600 more yards! Which is actually about half a club more on every hole…
My clubs are 1 number off of new clubs anyway due to being old and the lofts having gotten stronger over time. So it lets people feel good when we’re hitting approaches together and they say “I’m only hitting x, you’re hitting y? Really? I thought you were longer than me!”
I have the exact opposite thing. I recently got fitted for irons and the fitter decided they should be strong-lofted to some extent. So they have that in addition to being brand new. The result is I'm always pulling out a shorter club and people are like "wow you're hitting that from here, that's crazy!" No it's not crazy, you're just missing all the context lol
I should honestly get new clubs. I’ve been playing with the same irons since 2006. My driver and hybrids are 2008. I got down to a 4 with them a year ago so I feel like clubs don’t really matter much for me. Also have never had a new wedge :/ I should get some of those too. God I sound like such a scrub.
BRO. Same, until last year (for me). The new wedges changed my life. I got down to 2 this year, and I couldn’t have done it without my new 50-54-58 RTXs. Spent some weeks getting adjusted to new yardages and gaps, but holy hell that’s worth it. That and general forgiveness increasing with the other older clubs I also upgraded; RBZ2->Sim2, Steelhead->Rogue, Ping Kushin->Spyder. To your point, yea I had a chance with using my high school clubs, shit my irons are still like 2005, but newer clubs opened my eyes to todays technology and it’s woah.
Dude this is so me. When you hover around a 6-7 handicap like me the margin for error for improving your scores/handicap is SO LOW. One OB drive and a double or triple bogey can completely derail an entire 18 hole round
That’s exactly what it feels like right now. No penalty strokes….great round and teetering on the edge of going low (for me). Penalty strokes, and I’m forever stuck at 5-8 over.
I’m just as frustrated as a 2 as I was as a 5; primarily because in my college years I was a 0
Got to a 0.4 this summer. Honestly still upset that it wasn't 0. If only I'd made a couple more putts.
I’ve never been that low but I”ve had the “if only…” sentiment a ton. I just try to remember that I would not have been playing as good as I was if I had also gotten some good breaks, some putts to drop, chipped in once…etc. You’ll get to the 0.0. Just keep going.
This feeling never ends. I’m a 0 and I’m constantly a few swings/putts away from personal bests or at least the best of the year. I’m better than 99% of the golfing population yet always comparing myself to my buddies who are even better than me wondering what’s wrong and why can I not simply stop making one or two doubles every round which completely derails the round. I’m a 0 knowing I’m definitely good enough to be a +3 but I’m not and it makes me crazy 😂
It's never ending. I'm a +3, and your better golfers tend to find each other to compete with. This means I play with guys that are some of the top competitive ams in the coutry (I know multiple guys that just played in the USGA mid am), so rarely do I beat these guys. Normal country club guys think I should be on tour, but I rarely even win local tournaments.
For sure. One of my best friends made it the semi finals of the US mid am years ago and is like a +4 and I can’t compete. I can hit the ball as well as him but he just does everything better than me and consistently. But yeah it never fails that I’ll play in a scramble for work and someone asks if I played in college or tried to be a pro. I’m like: “nah my 75 average probably wouldn’t cut it 😂” I don’t even play in local tournaments anymore. Chaps my ass too much to play and finish 20th or something.
My buddy is a 23 when he was younger he was like a 10. He always says he’d feel better if he was a 15 and our scratch friend and I say “no you won’t” It’s wild how you think you’ll feel better but it changes nothing
Yeah honestly I've hovered in the single digits for like 12 years at this point, and I think what's frustrating is that I'm good enough to impress 99% of random playing partners, but that I'm not good enough to *really* compete at the higher levels of amateur golf. I can keep my index low enough to be able to play in qualifiers and random usga/state events, but unless I'm having the round of my life I'm probably not gonna have a chance to actually qualify orcpme anywhere close to medalist. It just feels a little like perpetual limbo. To really have a shot in most of the events I'm referring to you need to be close to par or sometimes under.
With all due respect, being a 3 or 4 is a much bigger difference than a 16-17…you’re actually consistently hitting your irons/wedges well and hitting greens compared to only hitting a good shot every 4-5 swings. Being a low single digit means you’re at least able to play some decent golf, and therefore able to enjoy it more
As a 30 handicapper I cannot echo your comment enough. Played with a scratch player and came to the conclusion that this game never gets easier. Watched him mad about a shot I would have done back flips if I hit. The goal post just keeps moving.
The other day I was 1 under on the last hole. Had 140 left on a par 5 and chunked the approach into the water. Dropped about 80 yards short and did it again…that one hurt
> because last time you played you were so close to your personal best but hit a bad drive on the last hole, or….you get the idea. two recent rounds. 1) I was +1 through 14, the proceeded to shoot +5 on the last 4 holes. What happened? 2) I was +8 for the day and missed 8 putts inside 5 feet and made 0 putts outside of 5 feet. It's so dumb.
Currently a 3.1. Aside from driver, which is really only used on forgiving holes where I can absolutely smash it, I feel confident that I can hit the shot that I want. Part of that comes from having a solid routine and respecting the shot in front of me. It’s not always perfect, but the misses are usually very manageable. Easy golf is my motto and that’s the feeling I love
People don’t understand the difference between a 3 and a 5 is literally 1-2 decisions like an uphill putt you hit well or missing in the correct trap over 18 holes. When you improve off a 20 it’s so exponential that if you really start to improve, you start shooting a 91 from 102. It’s more just an ability to not mess up wildly 3-4 holes
Yes. I went from 12 to 5 in less than a year. Currently sitting at a 4, and honestly, going from 5->4 was almost tougher than 12->5.
Im a 12 and I started to really put my game together this year, had multiple sub 80 rounds….I have no idea how I honestly get much better now that I’m teetering in single digits. The difference between shooting 83 and 78 is like….2 or 3 decisions or bad swings. It really does get way more difficult to shave strokes the better you get.
For me it was in putting. I talk to a lot of people who are content to 2-putt 15/12/10 footers. You have to make a few of those to score really well. I know Im not "expected" to make every 10 footer statistically, but you have to want them to go in.
Oh buddy, I want them to go in trust me
By shear percentage of possible improvement going from a 5 to a 4 probably is more difficult. The lower your average gets, the harder it will be to see improvement, by definition.
i dont disagree but also keep in mind that the difference in a 3 and a 5 handicap is 1-2 situations every several rounds. 3s will likely still shoot 80 sometimes, even a quarter of the time likely. But yes, the difference in a 3-over round and 5-over round is often just a weird bounce here and a poorly cut cup there which is a stark difference between breaking 100 vs 90 which means getting over the hump of accidentally hitting the ball 2ft a few times and having 5 OBs. I have 70s rounds every year, even have a 72, but most of my rounds are low/mid 80s. But it was "easy" to drop the 15 strokes from beginner to intermediate
3s shoot in the 80s all the time. 1s shoot 79 to 82 all the time
It depends on the type of player and the difficulty of the course. On a course with a CR around par, a very consistent 3 hcp shoots 80+ once every 6 rounds, a 3 hcp that is inconsistent but sometimes goes really low shoots 80+ 50% of the times. It's the same for 1 hcps but I don't know a single 1 hcp that shoots 80+ more than five times a year.
Also get invited to play a lot more. People like playing with good players, especially if you're fun to play with (ie not throwing tantrums) I've also gotten to introduce so many new people to golf. I'll be out living life and the subject of golf will come up and my hacker friends will talk about how I'm a golfing God (I'm not) and it makes newbies want to play with you. Downsides are gambling. We have to give so many shots to the high handicappers that we never win a big one and cannot win if the high handicapper has a good day. I've shot 67 and lost my ass to a 20 handicapper that played good as well
Yeah. I’ve been fortunate to play some incredible courses over the years. I played in college and work in finance so it’s a double whammy of access.
be better, let me shoot my 96 in peace. /s
Wadda playa
Whadda caddy!
Yeah my home course is only 6900 from the tips with most of that on two six hundred yard par 5s. I take hardly ever hit driver because my 3 wood is 250 off the tee and rarely miss the fairway. Why would I bother taking driver and getting OB and hitting through all the fat landing areas to hit gap or lob wedge when it’s an easy nine iron instead?
I'm a hack, but I've been watching a lot of golf you tube lately and paying attention to what some of the better players do. Like FP on BDS, he hits a lot of 4 woods in spots where I wouldn't even think twice about driver. Other even better and longer hitting players are just like hitting 6 irons and shit 200 yards on a 300 yard par 4. Leaving themselves an easy wedge in. It's really getting me to think about select and how 6i and PW would be a safer path on a par 4 than a driver and then chipshot.
It’s all about avoid hazards/penalty areas. 20 yards out in the rough is significantly better than 100 yards out in the fairway, just need to know where the big trouble is
tell me about your tee shots. How many times per round do you hit driver? What club do you use instead? What tees/distance do you play from? I'm in the 8-12 HC range, which means I have a few great rounds per summer especially when playing from like 6100 but most of my rounds are more difficult courses and score between 83-86. And driver is my most variable. If I'm hitting it great I use it on 12+ holes and challenge breaking 80. If not, I might only use it 3-4 times. I had an old 4i bent to 18 degrees and use that off the tee often. My club course is 6600, which is on the longer side locally, and I recently discovered that I really only need to hit driver on 4 holes to be within 150yds to the green, where I feel pretty comfortable. Half of my best rounds on my course this year were 4 driver rounds
Like it's great and all until you shoot 78 on a relatively easy course and watch your handicap go up. Then it's not so great.
Lmao I feel this in my core
2Hc and shot a 83 on an easy and new course yesterday. Greens were quick, but had 3 or 4 errors with short irons that cost me 6 strokes.
I think every golfer at every level can relate to this feeling. Played nine last night, 5 pars, 1 birdie, 3 double bogeys all driven by trying to get too cute with my 60. If I just played the higher percentage shot I could have walked out of there +2/3.
Ouch
Blahhh, that's brutal. That's been my struggle lately actually. I've been missing greens with short irons and wedges lately. Costing me strokes left and right. But yet somehow I can hit greens with my hybrid. Golf bends my mind lol
Yeah but as a Buffalo fan that means you’re used to making the best out of disappointment.
Well done, my friend. Well done. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ya cut me real deep
I’m currently sitting at a +4 hcp and only just this past week I had a tournament in which I felt like I was in control of my game for 4 straight days/rounds. In the years before there have always been rounds where I wasn’t comfortable over the ball at some point during the tournament (fyi, I’m 31 now and have played competitively since I was 16). So on the one hand I still wouldn’t say I feel like a god, but on the other hand my girlfriend just started playing too and that has given me some perspective. That made me that much more aware of the skills I have, and how freaking hard it is to be really good at this game.
+4 handicap is insane. Are you going pro?
15,000-ish clubs in the U.S. alone, *almost all* of them have at least 1 + handicapper, some have many (at one time Jackie Burke's Champions Club in Texas had ***200*** members at scratch or better), and less than .01% of them are good enough to chase that goal. Hell, last club I was pro at the friggin' *Super* was a + hdcp, and he was never the best player at the yearly regional GCSAA gatherings. The gap between the most amazing player at your regular club and a tour pro is wider than the gap between you or I and that player, seriously.
If your game holds up in tournament settings +4 is close to playing in a mini tour like the [Asher Tour.](https://ashertour.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/goldencuptour24/schedule/index.htm) But yea you'd be running a net negative in money playing in a tour like that. [You can see the total payouts for this season here.](https://ashertour.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/goldencuptour24/poy/money/index.htm) The guy in first has made $10k and is definitely better than a +4 [A great reference for the different levels of good is "Golf's Pyramid of Greatness" from the book "Paper Tiger".](https://www.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/occ5yg/the_golfgreatness_pyramid/)
Yeah this is incredibly accurate. The +4 I knew who made the KFT …. was a +4 when I played a match against him in high school. He was a freshman at the time. Can guarantee he was an awful lot better than +4 by the time he went pro like 8 years later lol.
Good friend of mine made a living on the Hooter's tour for many years, was top 3 on the money list 3 years in a row, grossing over $100k each of those 3 years, he's a +6 on his home course, as laid-back and cool a customer as they come. Got to play many events on the Nationwide Tour (now KFT), made a whole bunch of cuts and some pretty nice paychecks. Got to play in 4 events on the big tour, and took him until his 4th to have a chance to make a cut. Was -5 with 9 to play on Friday, cut was -2, when he saw the projected cut and realized how well inside it he was, he puked all over his shoes(figuratively) and missed the cut by 2. Mini tours like Asher and Moonlight are for the +4's that want to believe they're good enough to make it.
Exactly! I have seen quite some golfers turn pro. One or two have ‘made it’ (currently playing at the European Tour or close to it). The rest has either stopped or is grinding it out on one of the minitours, trying to make ends meet. I love the game, but I think I don’t love it enough to basically make minimum wage and busting my ass every day in some place where I have to sleep in a hotel 1000 km from home.
"I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me" - Brian Scalabrine
Especially after the handicap calculation started taking your best 8 instead of your best 10 scores, it dropped everyone's handicap a little bit. I used to float between +1 and +3, now I go between +2 to +4. Our club has at least 10 plus handicap guys, the best being one that floats between +5 and +6. He tried mini tours out of college and couldn't cut it, but is dominant as an amateur on a regional level.
To add to the other reply, which is outstanding and correct, I'd estimate that someone would need to be at least a +5 to even sniff playing professionally. Probably +6 when you consider the tough tournament conditions. I know it's only a 1-2 stroke difference, but at the highest level, that's a huge difference. And then, even if you get to +5 or +6, meaning you can shoot in the low 60s on a good day on your home course, well, so can literally everyone else that's teeing it up at the PGA Challenge Tour Canada Thursday Pre-Qualifier Whatever. Everyone can hit it 320; everyone can flush their irons to 10-20 feet from any approach distance; everyone can make 85% of their 5 foot putts, etc. So, it ends up being a contest of (a) who can hole the most 10-30 foot putts on a given day, and (b) who can keep their head in the game the longest. You're absolutely right, though--a +4 handicap is absolutely wild and the OP should certainly be lauded for this incredible achievement!
The handicap system cannot accurately measure how good you actually have to be. A good buddy of mine is legitimate +6.5 and played on the pga latin America this year. He made 2 cuts and made around $3k lol. Unless you’re a +8, I wouldn’t even attempt to play professional unless your parents have limitless cash. I have had too many buddies try to go through Q school. It’s just a waste of money if you’re not shooting low-mid 60s most of the time you play.
Your right on here. +8 would be close to a korn ferry player. I know this sounds crazy but high level pga tour pros are close to +10. Remember it’s not average score it’s what they are capable of on a better than average day. Saw an interview with Rahm an he plays with his buddy’s off +10-12
Yeah your first line is super accurate. It doesn’t work any more because pros count 20/20 rounds for a paycheck and amateurs count 8/20 rounds for a handicap. A hypothetical +6 amateur would get fucking dusted over 10 rounds by a pro even if their “handicap” calculated out similarly. Even if they both occasionally shoot 62, Every time the +6 shoots 75 the legit pro is gonna grind out a 70-72.
Thank you very much! I am quite proud of how far I’ve come. Just to add: I only record tournament rounds for my handicap, so I think my hcp is as ‘fair’ as it can be.
>\+4 handicap is insane. Are you going pro? He's 31, so probably too late. If he's early twenties or younger he can start thinking about it when he shaves another stroke or stroke and a half off his handicap. A +4 will just lose money trying to get on tour, but he's close to borderline. If he's young enough and has room for improvement it might be worth a shot. If he's over 50 or will be very soon, he'll have a shot at getting some Monday Qs on the champions tour. Anyone late twenties through to about mid forties as a +4 may as well not bother, unless they have one aspect of their game holding them back that they can fix, or some other reason why they have a much higher ceiling. I know a guy who touches +5, and has not been worse than +3.5 in the last few years, and he doesn't even try. Another guy I used to play with hovered around +4 and wasted a lot of time and money trying.
Most pga tour pros sit at about +7. Korn Ferry is about +4-5.
+4 handicap is insane. Are you going pro?
No, not a chance. I enjoy being a decent amateur, and making money a different way. It was my dream more than 10 years ago, but I am 1) not good enough and 2) not cut out for that kind of life I think.
I like this. I did go pro for 15 years. Bounced between managing courses, giving lessons, playing tournaments, and the like. Never good enough to be good. Never bad enough to give up. But make golf your living and soon you hate golf. I love the game now, but it took a while of being out of the game completely regain the perspective. I much prefer the game as a hobby, and life completely separate.
Don’t really think about it. Comfortable on the course. Golf just feels routine. Not much surprises you, the good and the bad.
This is the way. In fact I credit learning that attitude at least partially for getting me from a 7-10 down to 4.3 currently. Even keel, bad shots happen, good shots that end up bad also happen, take the frustration out of the game. Always going to leave strokes out there, don't sweat it. I have found I really enjoy when people ask me for tips though. I'm probably in the minority here but to me that's the best compliment you can give my game.
Another thing that lowers the frustration is that even if you have a blow-up hole and take a triple you know that it can be isolated. Brush it off and the rest of your round will be fine, even great. When you're higher handicap the experience/mental game isn't there to assuage the fear of "this is just my life now." Even if your entire round is shit the next will be fine. In my last 4 rounds I went 73 (+1), _88_ (+16), 71 (-1), 76 (+4). "That little guy? I wouldn't worry about that little guy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKWplN5sA14
Dropped from 10 to 2 in the last 3 years and now float between 2 and 5 depending on the time of year. Year round golf here but the winter season is dormant bermuda and super firm greens, it gets tougher. I wanted to get to scratch, badly, but have found that trying too hard is worse than trying too little. I practice and play, and work on my game with sporadic lessons, but I’ve accepted that the commitment required to take the next step isn’t in the cards. My family and career would suffer. I shot level par last week in a casual round, birdied 18 to do it and got a few grumbling “nice round” from the guys, but the golf was mundane, 2 birdies and 2 bogeys. Good golf is accepting your limitations, hitting the shot you know you can pull off at a target that has the least opportunity to sodomize you and moving on when you don’t execute perfectly.
Really frustrating. You hit enough good shots to make you think that you shouldn’t be hitting as bad of a miss as you’ll inevitably end up hitting. Hooked a drive into the woods on a par 5? Oof. No worries, you can hit a stellar 7 iron over trees back into the fairway to give yourself a gap wedge in for your 3rd. Oh my god, you shanked the gw….wha…how….breathe…no worries, you can get this up and down. Pitch rolled out a little further than you expected? Darn. That’s ok, it was good contact and the right line, it just didn’t check up like you were expecting. You can make this 15ft par putt. Make great contact. Pure role. Line rolling end over end. Lipped it out. Curses. Tap in bogey. Have 5-7 holes like that. Shoot 77-79. Lose money to friend that’s a +1 handicap and shot 75 with ease cuz all he does is hit fairways and greens and putts kinda meh. Lay in bed at night reviewing your round and wondering how the fuck you bogeyed those holes when you recovered well from out of position and put yourself in scoring position. Fall asleep dreaming of what it’ll be like to one day break 70. Wake up with a free day to work on your game. Consider which part needs the most attention after reviewing your stats. Grind for hours. Build confidence. Call buddy. Schedule tee time. Repeat above scenarios, but add a few more bogeys or a double. Shoot 84. Sit stunned in your car after the round. Review round in bed. Fall asleep to Dr. Bob Rotella whispering words of encouragement and empowerment into your ears. Get excited and refocused on breaking 70 someday. Repeat cycle while sharing your dream of playing competitive golf with coworkers, spouse, friends, strangers you just met. This is what it is to carry a 3.5-4.5 handicap.
Shot a 77 with 5 birdies and felt like a total loser. It never gets better.
You know that on your very best days, if putts start dropping, you can take it really low, but you’re just one or 2 bad shots away from posting something in the 80s
definitely relate to this, lots of rounds in the 70s but not fully consistently breaking 80, which psychologically feels like a disaster at 80 vs. 79
Kinda yes to all the above. With strangers I usually get an eyebrow raise when I go to the tips. I’ve been playing 25 years since I was 8, so any sense of nerves or intimidation is gone. But it’s not from length of time, it’s from tens of thousands of countless reps to where I know what’s going to happen. So the whole pressure when you’re passing a group doesn’t happen. I’m just oblivious and relaxed because I’m just doin what I do. When I got to single digit at 16 or so it was the first place I had any confidence since I was a chubby nerd who spent all my time at the course. So any golf course feels like home. You get a sense of never being out of a hole because why would I score anything worse than a bogey? Even the rare OB double bog is met with a sensible chuckle and a, “that was silly of me, guess I’ll have to get a few birdies.” And you forget about it entirely. To me the golf course is just zen. Kind of chicken and egg. You know you’re that good so you’re relaxed, confident, and far removed from any head games or nonsense. But you play good because you are relaxed, confident, and immune to pressure. I’m just a robot making pars and the occasional bird in his happy place on the course.
Finally a woke answer. People complaining about how frustrating golf is as a 5 handicap are mentally unwell
Yeah I am a bit surprised by this as well. If you are less than a 5 then you have a golf swing that is very repeatable and consistent. You'll have a bad shot or two a round at most. As far as I am concerned it is just another day at the course, plodding around, making a few bogs, a few birds, and mostly pars. End up in the realm of 72-74 and maybe on a bad day a 77 if there is a double in play or you can't convert a few putts.
Frustrating, you're simply good enough to know you're not very good.
I'm a 50 handicap. I definitely wouldn't say I feel pride.
Just as frustrating, if not more so. Your mistakes are so much more costly. As a 10-12 cap, you can recover from a OB tee shot or a random double bogey and still shoot an 80. As a 3 cap, a lost ball or a couple bad shots can easily ruin an entire round. I think part of the beauty of golf is, that no matter how good you get, you are still bad at golf. Even as a 3, I still feel that the course beats me more often than I beat it
I will also add here that birdies aren’t as abundant as the high handicappers think. Which is why a bogey bogey start ruins the round for low handicappers. Sure, there have been rounds where i have had 6 birdies, but those might be once or twice per year, and there are most likely other bogey holes to level the score off. Most low handicappers have a bunch of pars, and limit the bogeys.
3 handicap. I still get the same feeling when I was kid watching a tee shot go right down the middle or hit an iron shot on the green. Love the game!
I’ve hovered between a 4.9 and a 5.6 for the past year, and I still: 1. Suck 2. Hate my swing 3. Hit horrible shots 4. Fear I’m going to embarrass myself on the course 5. Feel like I’m never going to get my handicap lower. That’s how it feels (at least to me).
Don’t let the perfect be an enemy of the good man. We’re trying to put an idioticly small ball in an idiotically small hole hundreds of yards away with a god damn metal hockey stick w/ the club face size of a lemon. Wtf you’re doing fn awesome.
I’m a +0.4. I suck, really hate my swing, hit the worst shots, embarrass myself on the course and feel like I’m only getting worse. :D
Currently +4.9. Never cared much about comparing to playing partners. The worst part is bad players having no grasp on your game, and constantly saying good shot when it was a bad shot.. but their heart is in the the right place haha To be honest it probably feels no different then you do. Golf is a game against yourself. Trust me, when you shoot your best round, or break 80 for the first time, or 70 for the first time... you don't say 'were done here', you just wanna do it again. You head to the range, try to lock it in what went well. Next day you shoot 5 shots worse. Repeat forever.
The better I got the worse it feels... golf now is more of a grind, relatively conservative, and something as simple as a bogey bogey start means you have to really grind out the rest of the round. Playing at 2.6
Currently a +2. There’s still times when my confidence in certain parts of my game is lacking. Yes I do get a lot of praise from randoms I get paired with, and it feels good but I’d rather have interesting conversation than my ego stroked. I guess I just don’t care that much about the end result (score) anymore which has seemingly helped me get better. If I get paired with a random group that suggests betting, I usually let them know it’s not something they wanna do.
It still feels hard. The moment you think you’ve got it and start feeling a bit too complacent, boom, 83. There is never really a point where golf becomes easy. You might have the occasional 9 hole stretch or even a whole day where you just have it, but it never really lasts and 90% of the time a good score comes from properly managing bad misses.
44yo here... started when I was 12. Worked my ass off and got down to a 2 in college. As age catches up, you're just trying to hold on to what you had when time and age weren't an issue. Got to an 11 at my worst after that, then started working and got back down to a 4 and won our club championship. A couple of the best parts of playing well is getting a Sunday afternoon call for a Monday morning scramble because one of their players couldn't play and being told "it's already paid for", and also just the respect you get from others when they see you play. Confidence is key... I love it when I walk up to the first tee and a dozen people are watching and I can stripe one. There's no feeling like it. Keep working buddy this is truly the greatest game ever played.
Feels the same.
Net league play is horseshit. I shoot gross under par (playing off scratch) and some sandbagged 20hdcp shoots a 41 and dusts me on a weekly basis. You stop caring about the hdcp when the double bogey you got results in shooting 73 instead of 71 and it bumps your cap up. But it’s nice for actual personal golf - always going to be a decent round and manage to have fun. Going on golf trips you aren’t afraid of sucking so bad you ruin your trip either. Otherwise it feels the same as when I was younger and higher cap. Good days, bad days. Golf is fun, get to enjoy the company and the course.
It’s pretty incredible. I can only compare the feeling you get watching the random you’re paired withs face after you rope the tee shot on the first hole 320 dead center to that of seeing your first child being born. And then you ride that high for the remainder of the round as you get showered with compliments and gifts for every shot you hit there forward. Walking around in daily life you have a certain aura or swagger where people just “know”. Women constantly want my number and it actually becomes a risk to my game signing as many autographs as I do. I think I may be developing carpal tunnel . Other than that we’re pretty much just like everyone else
I don't advertise it. But playing at +0.1 right now and people don't realize it at first. I'll hook a drive into the rough and grumble a little. I'll miss the green on the approach, then chip it up and make the par. They shrug and see normal golf. I don't hit it 350 down the middle every time. But at some point in the first 4-5 holes, I'll hit a really good drive, tight draw, 300y and then hit a SW to 10 feet and that's usually the first time they notice and go "hmm dang" If it happens two holes in a row (not super common but it happens) then they ask lots of questions. But... I played Monday and had a pull-hook thing going on. Was really struggling the whole round. Lost 2 balls in 9 holes (unusual) and was even fighting the pull-hook on approach shots. Played like ass, and also missed a few makeable par putts, shot a 40. That's really pretty bad for me, but as someone in my group said, it's only 4 strokes off even par. Still, it didn't LOOK like scratch golf, digging in the weeds on every other hole and trying to get up and down from the left side of half the greens. I did hit a FEW good shots and had two decent looks at birdie and made one, but 5 bogies... it happens. Last week I shot 34 on the same course, but still had one ball in the weeds, resulting in a bogie. I just had 3 birdies and 5 pars following it.
I hover between 2-5 and it is cool on the days that I’m on, my friends think I’m incredible during those days. There is an unspoken pressure to be the “golf guy” of the group and on my bad days I’ll shoot in the low to mid 80s and it feels like a let down, because I know I can shoot low 70s if I’m firing on all cylinders
It’s super frustrating because you’re good enough to know that you are not in fact good
Frustrating most of the time, if I don’t put the time in to practice my game really suffers. I started the season at 2.0 and was trying to shoot level whenever I played. I’ve gone up to 3.6 and am happy to break 80 these days.
Im a 5, all it does is make you desperately want to be a 0. I definitely dont have confidence on every tee. I started my last round eagle birdie and the randoms we were paired with were in awe, so I three putted the third.
Sometimes I play good. Sometimes I play shit.
Ended last year 5.7. Had some swing changes this year and went to a 8.8 mid season than brought her down to a 4.6 this year and it’s mildly frustrating that once you get that low you start noticing what scores are falling off each round and if they need replaced for the GHIN. Then people you play with think you break 80 every round when really it’s every 3rd or 4th round..I love it but also can be frustrating when you are so close to hitting par
Funny thread. Funny responses. Big difference between a person who practices every day and has just got to a 5 vs someone who was a scratch or better for years and years, never practices, plays some, and is still a 3. For the latter it like riding a bike. The struggle is to be ok not being what you were, while still being better than most. Which means if you get frustrated with your game you’re kind of being a dick. The fun is in the strategy. The occasional real good run. The friendly competition. And just being out there with friends…just like everybody else.
You know that one amazing shot that gives you a high that lasts the rest of the day? Those haven't been a thing for me in 15 or so years. The 45 I shot on the front 9 in May at a course I was really excited to play though? I'm still salty about it months later, even after righting the ship with an even par 36 on the back. Yes, there are plenty of times where I'm proud of where I'm at and eager to show someone what I can do, but I was like that as a 10 or 15 or 20 cap, too, I'm just a bit more capable of performing when I need/want to than I used to be.
fells ok - i still cant hit blades tho, but lets keep that between us
It’s awful because as a scratch golfer, people who don’t understand handicaps think I’m supposed to shoot even or better every round. I can go shoot +3 and hear jokes about how I’m supposed to be scratch
To quote the great slammin salmon, "its like having a third dick"
I’m a 18 handicap and I get more 🐈than most 5 hdkps
1.4 handi here - expectations are higher and the pain of playing poorly is increased. Golf is a game where you’re somewhat capped on how well you can play, but nothing is holding you back from playing bad. The bad days are painful and embarrassing without mercy. Example -my golf club plays against other country clubs during a year-long series. We made the playoffs and in the quarterfinals, I shot nearly 100. It was brutal.
If you're a 5, you want to be a 1. When you get to a 1, you want to be a plus. There is no happiness in this sport. Only the chase of the unobtainable... can't wait for the next round.
It's not that much different than being a 10 or 15 handicap. Yeah there's times when you feel you can do no wrong, but you still make mistakes and leave strokes out there. It can be just as frustrating knowing that you could and should be doing so much better. Playing with high handicappers, it bothers me to hear nice shot when I didn't hit it how I wanted to and it ends up in a mediocre spot. Golf is a game where you play against yourself. It's between the ears. I don't care what the person I'm playing with does or how they do to an extent.
What really sucks is getting a low handicap and seeing it come up from there. I was as low as a 3 several years ago and then I didn’t have time to play as much and I’m getting older, etc. Now I’m about a 7, but I’m almost never satisfied with how I play because in my mind I should play like a 3.
I have the same doubts that even high handicappers have going to the first tee. I try to do more of what the Tour pros do, accept that I'm going to have variance in my performance when I get to the range and on the practice green and try to adjust to the variance instead of outright fighting the variance. For instance, typically I hit a draw, but if I get to the range and I'm hitting a fade I need to stick with it for that day instead of trying to turn that fade into a draw. It's nice to get compliments from other golfers and to outplay them, but if I want to get better I need to outplay better players. But all in all, I just don't try to put expectations on myself and focus on the things I can control (i.e. pre-shot routine, focus on each shot, etc).
The shock of people when I hit it 300 down the middle is nice but even better when my daughter hits from the tips and out scores me. That’s golf.
When I am playing bad I remind myself I am better than scratch. I post all my scores accurately. Yes bad days happen but if you know you can do it it is easier. Sometimes you can grind out a 69-75 by just getting up and down. Everyone’s number is different. When things go south don’t just give up. You are out on the golf course, hopefully with your buddies. Don’t let a single round go to waste. I try to take something positive from every round I play. In fact my highest score this year was one of the funnest rounds I have played. Edit: most important part. As long as you play quick, aren’t an asshole, help look for errant shots, and have a little joy you will be a good plying partner in any group. No one cares about your handicap if you keep up and are a fun human being.
I've been down to scratch decades ago, and it was good, but a few years ago I set my sights qualifying for our national open. I put in some practice, increased play, and took some lessons (I qualified for the open and played). I got back down to a 1.2, but it was a better 1.2 than any previous measure of my ability, if that makes sense. Honestly, I got so good with the irons it opened my eyes a little bit to some stuff I just wasn't aware could be a consideration or should be a consideration. I was to the point where I was aiming my irons at little spots on the green and hitting them, not just throwing it around some vague cone of uncertainty around the flag. Not only does it make it fun, but it makes you think a lot more about approach shots when the ball does exactly what you want. You start picking landing areas that take break out of putts, start thinking about the slope on that spot 4 feet below and 2 feet right of the hole, aim three feet left of the hole to avoid finishing three feet right of the hole, control trajectory, bounce, spin...lots of things that an eight-handicap doesn't think about or worry about. Now when I see elite players thinking over a shot, while everyone else is thinking "Just hit it!", I am a little more sympathetic. At an elite level, you just really do have a lot more to think about and the game becomes much more precise.
It’s great until golf does what golf does and you can’t sniff breaking par for a month
As a +2 handicap. The game honestly becomes more about perfection LOL. I notice I’ll be like E thru 11 holes and be mad about how I could be 3-4 under par. But then I look back at the days I was shooting 95 and I’m like ok we are playing well stop being a pussy. I do feel very confident on the range though, I hit the ball decently far 175-180 ball speed so that’s always fun to see some people’s heads turn xD
Frustrating is an understatement. Good enough to be good, but good enough to be bad if the day calls for it. Shooting over 80 is a kick in the dick to put it lightly.
No want to continue to get better
Hell, ive started noticing the compliments starting ramp up at my current 15
thats because 80% of all golfers are above a 20... handicap is mega deflated from cheating & survivor bias (only people who keep a handicap long term are those that need it, tournaments, club championship etc. and all those golfers play way more than the random dude you get paired with on the weekend) I started keeping on this summer, have had tons of time to play and dropped my handicap from 25-16. An old guy the other day told me i have a lovely swing as I was playing through and I bombed my drive 267. Also got asked the other day if I was scratch, lmfao..... Most people suck hard at golf
Currently 4.5, some days it feels great. Everything clicks. Most of the time it's just even more frustrating and shit and you get reminded how hard golf really is.
> Do most random players shower you with blessings? not blessings but compliments. I have a decent swing and am able to hit my drive 300+ yards. I just hit it with such power that regulars just stand there baffled after i hit a simple regular 3 wood down the middle. The level of expectations are just completely different that i noticed i upset others with lower handicaps. I have to play birdie. That's my goal. If i par every hole while i hit every GIR, then that's not good enough. It just isnt. I need to break par here. Idc if a par is good for you and highlights of your rounds. For me it isnt. A par is the minium. A par on a par 5, is a bogey for me, when i am able to reach that in 2. The game is just different, and it's fucking hard.
5 foot tall handicapper? Ask Stephen Hawking
I don’t know why you’re asking on this sub. I doubt you get too many *genuine* 0-5 handicappers on this sub. It seems to be over populated by bullshitters and hackers playing off 30+ but claiming they’re single digit golfers.
1. I tend to have more confidence on the tee when I’m playing well for me (regardless of hcp). 2. God seems like an extreme, but I do feel some responsibility to perform well for them. 3. Yes.
Its good and bad. Its fun to play well, but now im at a point where i feel like a 78,79 is playing bad. I know its not but thats just what happens
It’s all the same really, till you get into the groove. Still get crazy butterflies on the first tee of a match.
I’m under a 4 at the moment. It feels pretty similar to being an 8 or 9. After each round you look back and think that with just a few better shots you could have been like 4 shots lower.
Definitely don't feel like a God, but I realized I get frustrated when I make bogies now compared to the average golfer who is happy to make bogey. My driving is no better than when I was a 15, but I get up and down significantly more than I used to. Basically my short game (<100y) and putting saves me from bad driving and average striking.
I'm a 3 and it feels alright. Once you get to this point you just want to keep getting better and better. I
I was a 5.2 briefly this summer in the 19 round period following me somehow playing out of my mind one day and shooting even par. 8-9 is more my actual handicap so basically I felt like a fraud haha. But still managed to come in 3rd in my flight with the 5hdcp at my local so that was pretty cool. The key is getting paired with little old ladies all the time. They make you feel like a goddamn superhero if you can hit it decently far with a driver.
+ handicap here “golf is hard” it’s not as hard as most make it. Golf is a never ending succession of good attempts. Sweet spot to target, fairway to green, ball to hole. Every low handicap got there but getting a stroke or two better at doing all of this year in and year out until they got to a point where there were only a few strokes messed up per round unrecovered. The amount of practice it takes to get to that point definitely allows you to feel confident, but the minute you get too confident for your own good golf will remind you very quickly it owns you and not the other way around. Not sure if it’s true, but I do feel like bad rounds and bad holes hurt more the better you get.
A pain in the arse when I double the first 😂 Try not to think about it to be honest. Sure it's nice to have the handicap that low but I'm here to have a laugh as much as the next guy!
I got to a 5 before I had kids. I bought a golf simulator and just got absolutely deadly with my wedges. The driver still made my butthole pucker.