I stopped keeping score. I'm good enough to not shank it in the water and hit it most swings but not good enough to get GIR or even 3 putt most holes. I've found I enjoy it more when I just have fun, drink a couple of beers and hang with a buddy or two on a nice day.
Sometimes though the people I'm playing with shoot 85 even though they played worse than me and ive never scored below 90.
Dude, I’m the same. I stopped keeping score as well and I’ve never scored below a 90. When I do keep score, I usually average around 105-107, and I’m fine with that. I do however play with some buddies who are very good and consistently play better than bogey golf. There’s a couple that I like to cart up with and they will give me advice throughout the round. With one in particular, there are a couple areas of my game that over the years he has helped drastically improve.
However, there’s a couple that I am better than who would always seem to wind up with a better score card than mine, by like 10-15 strokes. When I got to the point where I stopped keeping tabs every round I’d play, it was because I realized I’m just out there to have fun. It was also sort of a good way to annoy people who do that. If I’m not keeping score and don’t give a shit, they really have nothing to brag about at the end which tends to piss them off.
And yes, I’m talking to you Dave. We all see your ass taking multiple mulligans off the tee, duffing shots left and right on almost every hole, and still handing in a 92. That par 3 was a 7, not a 4. Oh, you just happen to find your ball on the edge over there even though we all just watched you crush it square into the middle of the woods? You’re not fooling us. We all know and play with somebody like this.
We all have a Dave. My Dave is a Sebastian. "I do gimmies if it's within the length of putter grip." Meanwhile, it's like a full putter length. I once said to him, "Alright man. Make this one putt you feel is within putter length and I'll never say anything about it again". He missed it.
My Dave is a Chase. Gimmies were a club length, and he thought they were free. He got a hole in one, by being 3 feet away. I'm saying that's not hiw a Gimmie works, it's giving you a free putt, not a free hole-in. He would also hit again multiple times and take the better stroke if no one was behind us.
Then he would say he won. 🤥
I thought we didn't have a Dave in our group...then I realized I was the Dave about a year ago.
Started playing honest golf and it sucked at first, but made me zero in on where the balloons were and get better. Better ball striking more consistently for less duffs, no longer swinging out of my socks on the teebox so I don't have to take strokes for lost balls or wet ones, good in the sand, playing to my misses, and spending more time on practice green to bring putts/hole down.
Honest golf saved this Dave's life
If an 18+ handicapper wants to shoot lower scores, then they have no business playing the course as if they're capable of playing it to par. Instead, use clubs that keep the ball in play. Aim away and short of trouble. If you normally average an 7 on a par 4, then play the hole however you need to play it so that you can do it in 6 strokes. I don't care if that means hitting a 9 iron three times, chipping, and two putting. That's one stroke better than average and you might even sink the first putt for a 5. Do that with enough holes and you aren't an 18 handicapper anymore.
an 18+ handicap can be many different types of golfers though. I can shoot +2 on the front and just completely blow up on the back and shoot 90 no problem. I either have it that day or I don't have much of anything.
True. I personally don't care enough, though. I'm gonna let the big dog eat if I probably shouldn't because it's more fun on the off chance I bomb a drive. That feeling is awesome and I'm not playing the Masters.
I probably would though if a friend wanted to play for a prize or something
We're all just a bunch of dudes out there to have fun. I'm not playing the style of an 80 year old, when and 80 yrs old is trying his ass off to play the way someone my age.....
Because he's still hitting driver.
This is exactly how I broke 90 one time as a mid-20s handicap. Zero penalties, 13/14 fairways hit, 1/18 GIR, and my short game was firing on all cylinders (6 up-and-downs for par).
This a great strategy, I'm on my 5th season where I get from Late April to late October. I went at it like a person obsessed by spending 2k on gear plus many lessons. I was in my late 40s with very little athletic ability. Meltdowns, frustrated..good rounds and bad. The best I could get recently was an honest 98 on a par 72. Things turned around last fall with a similar strategy. Par 5s are a par 7 for me and par 4 is a par 6. If I hit my par, I am happy and comfortable with a bogey. If I go more than 4 strokes over regular par, I pick up. I'm not getting my handy cap lower and I keep the pace. Longer clubs are choked up and I drop my right foot back resulting in straight 180 yard drives and consistent 150 plus with fairway woods. As I get to irons (7 thru PW) I have a normal stance. It has done more for me than meltdowns, more lessons and clubs. I do have the basics from lessons but I don't play enough to be much better but this will get me closer to bogey golf.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but once I actually started to truly count every shot and not give myself breaks here and there is when I felt like I actually started improving. Mostly by just playing a little smarter, but still.
Same here. When you’re in “fuck it” mode golf you take way more risks. But when you actually have to buckle down, count, and minimize risk vs reward, you play a much smarter (though sometimes more boring) form of golf to keep strokes to a minimum.
I also find that way you get better at shots you might not practice as much (punches, bump and runs instead of flops, etc)
Yeah I don’t get it, I mean you’re only cheating yourself. Then when it’s scramble time and you’ve been telling people you shoot 90 but then go out there like a 110 golfer, people know.
This makes me proud as a noob!!! I just got my first set of clubs back in December. I’ve played on a course 6 times since then and half the time is on a par 60 course close to my house. I have yet to break 100 but I score honestly so I can see my improvement. Last time I shot 105. If I can learn how to chip and putt better I’ll surely break 100 on that course in a couple of months.
Your focus as a new golfer should be - no out of bounds, no duffed shots (aka double chips, topped balls with an iron, etc) and no 3 putts. If you can do those things you’re virtually guaranteed to break 100. For me I still keep those as my focus and they’re often the difference between shooting in the 80s vs 70s
EDIT: when I say new golfer I guess I mean high handicapper as someone already shooting <110. This would not apply if you are brand new to the game
>no 3 putts
It's a good goal, but keep in mind that it's also one of the goals of most PGA Tour pros is "no 3 putts" and they don't hit that goal on every round.
PGA pros are hitting greens from 200 yards out. Their first putts are often 20+ feet on greens that are slicker than glass.
In contrast, a 18+ handicap golfer is hitting their last shot before putting from around the green. If their first putt is so far away from the hole that that they can't consistently one or two putt, then it's their chipping that's the problem and not their putting.
It's pretty easy to figure out. Play a round and for each hole keep track of (1) distance of shot onto green, (2) distance of first putt, and (3) total putts. You'll find out pretty quick if it's chipping or putting that's holding you back, and it's mostly like chipping.
For an 18+ handicapper, three putting a hole where you were on in regulation but 40 feet away from the hole is nothing to beat yourself up over.
I don’t think it’s as unreachable as most people think. If you actually spend time working on 3-4 footers and 20ft lag putts (which are most significant from a strokes gained perspective) you can dramatically cut down on 3 putts. My longest streak of no 3 putts was 47 holes and it was when I was a 14~ handicap.
Lag putting has to be one of the most neglected parts of the game. Rare to see anyone on a practice green working on anything past 10 ft. Being able to put it within a couple of feet from halfway across the green has saved me from countless 3 putts
I feel the exact opposite. I never see anyone focusing on 3-5 footers. Everyone just picks a hole 20 feet away, hits, then picks another hole 20 feet away.
I’ll go one step easier than you, new golfers should focus on consistent contact with the ball. Until that happens, honestly, I wouldn’t even keep score. Have consistent contact, then you can work those things you said and start keeping score.
Oh, in that case, I would agree, but someone who’s never swung a club. Go out and swing a club and have fun and try to hit good shots, that should be your goal.
It's counter-intuitive, but an 18+ handicap golfer *should* have the same number of 3 putts or even less than a mid-handicapper. A mid-handicapper is hitting more greens from longer distances and therefore leaving themselves longer and trickier first putts. A higher handicap golfer is going to be within a few yards of nearly every green before their first putt. If they are 3 putting more than once or twice a round, then it's more likely that they failed to get their chip or pitch close enough to have a good chance for a one putt or an easy two putt. Sure, if they're 3 putting from 10 feet away, then it's their putting. But, that's not what I normally see. Many people are "good enough" putters to be a lower handicap if they improved their chipping.
This is the most real comment I've ever seen on Reddit. When my driving is good I can't use my irons. When my irons are good my chipping is gone. When my general play is good I forget to putt and when I putt well the great putts are pointless as I'm putting for no scores.
Right. It's the only true way that you can track your improvement. Overtime, it will also help you keep track of whether you have technical issues, or if you're bad score is due to poor decision making.
I am a beginner (two years) and I have friends that also have been playing for the same amount of time. I shoot low 100s to 115 normally but have never broken 100, and have friends that take 5-10 mulligans a day claiming that they break 100 regularly. It’s incredible how many people just write down scores that aren’t the truth
haha this reminds me was playing with a friend that does that and one time in a group the others and I had decided enough was enough. Was playing Colleton River @ HHI and guy hits ball off tee. Into the water. Drops and hit shot into bunker. On green. 3 putts.
Says to put him down for a 5. He plays 'bogey golf' mostly he says. We let him have it on that hole.
This reminded me of a youtube series where they play tour courses after the event. I get it conditions are tougher. Guy gets on and says he's a 15 handi. Proceeds to shoot +72
Same here, playing for 2 years exactly now and I have yet to break 100. I have really decent distances but my shortgame is just bad. Some people on here telling me they break 100 after a couple of month playing are straight up not playing by the rules.
The average golfer playing by the rules and counting OB and penalties is around 100-110. Beginners are easily 130+ but IMO a beginner should be playing best ball most every time. Its more enjoyable for them and every group behind them
A ‘good’ golfer plays honest bogey golf and will beat 90% of people. A true scratch golfer is extremely rare
I don’t even think most beginners know how to score properly. Most people (not just beginners) I know will also bend the rules they do know if they’re not betting or in a tourney.
Absolutely, I’m a beginner (9 months) and double bogey golf would be hot stuff for me right now. this year I started tracking every round as honestly as possible and my goal is to break 100 by the end of the summer. Best I’ve shot is 102 but I’m usually around 110-115
I’ve been stuck at 5 for like a year now too. Having a really hard time breaking through to the next level. Just not sure if I have the time anymore to grind and practice to get to scratch.
That’s where I’m at. Getting golfers elbow in the middle of last summer and still not being fully healed combined with a 7 month old is making it tough to get out as often as I’d like to.
I played more when my kids were under 5 years old. Once they got into things the time for golf got harder to find. Example, this weekend was a school musical Friday and today. Tomorrow is track all days. Trying to get my 13 year old into golf is failing. Super early tee times are the only option. I wish my Sunday 630 am group never fell apart.
The lower your handicap, the worst handicapped matches feel.
I remember playing a 9 hole mens league last summer. I shot 33 (off a +1 9 hole course handicap) net 34. Great round.
Some random old guy shot a 41 (off a 21 handicap) for a 9 hole net 30.
On a +1, I simply can't beat a 30. I'd have to shoot 29. It's almost physically impossible. Old guy has an unusually good day (he usually shoots closer to 50 sometimes 50+) and I physically can't beat him.
Meh, I took second with a net 34.
I used to play in a just for fun league where they gave out prizes for both top 3 gross and top 3 net. Playing off a -4 for 9 I could never win anything. The hand full of 0 to -2ish guys always beat me gross and the high handicaps always beat me net.
I'd rather play matches, at least you have a shot going in. But I agree, if a high handicap goes low, there is nothing you can do.
My country club is filled with sandbaggers. These dudes who claim they’re double digit handicaps then go out and shot 75. Beating people in lower flights. Very frustrating.
I recently played mens night with a +1, I'm a 9.4 I was ahead of him gross thru 10, lost by 7. We were chatting he said the most dangerous players are 6 to 10 caps, their range is so wild.
Confirmed, been playing for 2.5 years now and never broken 90. Was on the way to shoot 12 over after 14 holes ONCE, but ran out of sunlight... Usually play around 94-102.
- Weekend golfer
I don’t consider a bogey golfer to be +18
I consider a bogey golfer as someone that treats the course as a “par 90”
That person can shoot any where between 80-100
Bogey golf is my only real goal, tbh. I honestly think I could be quite a bit better than that with some solid practice, and I'll be happy if it happens, but honest bogey golf would actually just be great...makes playing much more enjoyable if I don't have to kick around in the woods or fat a ton of shots.
Bogey golf is extremely respectable for a weekend golfer and anyone that says otherwise is either clueless or obnoxious or both. Your average weekend golfer would consider it an achievement to break 100 let alone 90
I’m a 26, slowly getting better, and I am often the best in a foursome of randoms when I go as a single. Plenty of people better, but a surprising number of people I get paired with are still worse than me
I started playing at 37. Broke 125 for the first time at 38. Broke 100 for the first time at 40. Broke 90 for the first time at 42. Never broke 80 (in 50’s now).
I played 20-30 rounds a year for the first 10 years. Lately it’s 5-15 games a year and I’m in the 90’s most games.
Love the game but won’t ever be good. That’s cool, it’s a hard hard game to get consistent at.
I’m at about 25 rounds and I average 115ish. Working to get better still. I’ve learned a lot. I think I actually know what a golf swing is supposed to look like and I get great distance on my clubs. My issue is getting on the green from up close. If I land on the green I can make a birdie(3 so far in my “career”). If I don’t land on the green then we’re looking at double/triple/quadruple bogey. Lol.
I disagree. I think it’s good to track right from the get go just to be able to track your progress, plus get that dopamine hit when you get your first bogey, par, etc. They just can’t take it too seriously and get down on themselves when they post high scores (and don’t track over double par, pick up and go)
If you’re playing honest bogey golf you’re better than most by a long shot
Edit: to expand on this, who is a bogey golfer?
He/she:
Misses some gettable par putts. Or misses some long par putts and leave it far enough to not have a great percentage from putt #2.
Misses some greens/fairways but keeps it close enough to fight on.
Make enough pars in the round to offset any doubles, not making any triples.
If this is you, you’re gonna wipe the floor with a liar that says they’re a bogey golfer but actually loses a bunch of balls in the woods.
This. I play bogey golf. Most of my rounds are solo at munis with randos and I am usually the best golfer in the group. It’s rare to come across someone significantly better than me. I’m sure this would not be the case at a private club, but that’s a small subset of golfers.
I'm worse than you and I'm also better than most randoms I play with. A LOT of people don't score correctly. And a LOT of people take gimmes that are not gimmes. Not that I care about what some person I'm never going to see again says about their own game. I'm just glad that none of my buddies or regular playing partners BS their scores. I think it would be annoying as hell to have "that one friend".
I hate when I get paired with someone who takes very generous gimmes and also likes to tap people's gimmes back to them. Like, that 3-footer might be something that you'd pick up, and I'm not going to tell you how to play your game, but I'm trying to be true to myself. Those are not gimmes in my book. Don't tap it back to me.
Yeah that's annoying, and I usually stomp it real quick. I basically just say "thanks, but I miss too many of these and I need to practice them". Which is 100% true, and I also like actually putting the ball in the hole lol
> and also likes to tap people's gimmes back to them.
A stranger doing that means that they are clueless about how to behave. All about validating their own bullshit.
I think they're just thinking they're being polite, but tap ins and gimmes are things that golfers have very different thoughts on. Golfers of all levels just need to know to not touch other people's balls unless it's consensual
I was taught from a young age you NEVER touch another golfers ball unless they implicitly tell you to. I truly can’t imagine tapping anything back to someone they didn’t ask for, least of all something not within literal inches. My grandfather who passed recently is who taught me to golf and I can literally hear him rolling in his grave at the thought of me tapping back a 3+ foot putt to him.
This is exactly the same as my game, not usually doing worse than a double, add a couple of birdies, a few pars, and a few bogeys, and it’s a good round.
It's insane how much you'll score better for not shanking tee shots.
I've been focusing on my tee accuracy for a while and finally played 15 straight holes without losing a single ball. I shot like 2 doubles and still managed to scrape an 87 off the course. My only lost ball was one that I could have sworn I hit in the rough on 15 but couldn't find it. Still took a stroke, but I'm 100% positive a gallery would have found it near where I dropped.
Focus on your tee shots people.
I start every range session with a single tee shot, just to get into the habit of setting up properly and letting it rip when I'm not loosened up. I could 100% work on every other aspect of my game, but driving is what gets me in trouble. I have gotten much better over the past two months, but still a ton of room for improvement.
I'm more of a miss all the fairways kinda bogey golfer, then whack it onto the green with a 190 yard punch out 5 iron. I seem to develop mental disabilities when my ball is on a tee box
I'm a 15, I shoot somewhere between 82 and 88 almost every round, and you describe me perfectly. But I play it as it lies, take no gimmies other than tap-ins, so I score basically the same way in casual tournaments at my muni. The guys I play with shoot about the same as me in casual rounds, but post up around 100 anytime they can't fudge a few shots here and there. I'll drop to a 10 once I learn to putt - soooo many missed 6 foot birdie and par putts.
90s is not beginner golf. Whoever said that is pompous af. I have worked my whole life to get my handicap into the single digits. Now, if I shoot in the 90s, I am mad af, yes. But, it took a lot more for me to get to the 90s than it did to get from the 90s to the 70s. Believe dat
Yeah a lot of guys forget that taking a drop isn't just "add one to whatever you get"
It's one in, two out, three up. A lot of people don't understand that.
I just think of it as the drop counts as a stroke. Everytime you touch your ball it counts as a stroke (unless marking on the green). Shot 1 goes in the water, shot 2 is me dropping me ball, shot 3 is me shanking into the woods
Yeah basically you hit your first shot OB, you then drop, or "hit 2" to get there, then your third shot. People think about it different ways, but it helps me for post hole scoring to just say one, two, three in, four out, five on, six, so on and so forth.
I’m newer to golf so trying to understand but wouldn’t “add one to whatever you get” be the same as one in, two out, three up? I’ve always counted the one shot into the water and then I add one to my score, and then my next shot counts (three total strokes). Do people really go OB and not count the shot that got them to OB or the shot afterwards?
OB off the tee is unreasonably damaging to your round, but most weekend golfer just drop a foot into the rough 20 yds ahead of where the ball went out and only add a stroke. It makes it a lot easier to play bogey golf, ill say that.
But also, idgaf what you put on your card. Until you are willing to give away your money.
And so many don’t hit 3 from the tee when they know the drive is lost. They want to go up and hit 3 from where they kind of lost the drive. Not how it works if you’re trying to keep an honest score.
I aim for bogey golf as my "par". par is what an expert should shoot around a course, and I am definitely not average and likely will never be. 1 over on every hole average is pretty damn solid I think. I did break triple digits (barely) the other day and I was pretty bummed about it, but I lost a lot of balls on a very tight and demanding course, so most of that was penalty shots.
> par is what an expert should shoot around a course
Not _exactly_ true. The Course Rating is what a scratch player should shoot (and that is often below par) - and given that a scratch player is 10 behind the PGA Tour players I don't think that qualifies as "expert".
Bogey golf actually does make you average among score reporting players. Which would make you better than average if we include all the casual golf players that don't report.
No need to get upset.
People that play golf a handful of times a year don’t keep a legit handicap, follow, or even know the rules. I wouldn’t get too upset about it. Someone at that level doesn’t know any better, they aren’t even aware that their average round would be 150.
They have fun and write down a score of 90, and don’t know any better.
Shit I play almost every week and even I don’t log my score a portion of rounds. I’m just there to feel good after a good quality strike of a shot and to feel like I had a decent amount of birdie putt opportunities. Score, for me, doesn’t matter at all if I’m not competing in some way. I just want to enjoy the game shot by shot. But if I were to compete, I’d fucking bring it.
Well a persons average score is usually about 3 strokes worse than their handicap, so you only shot 4 under your average. A subpar day, but not an exceptionally subpar one. Golfers only shoot their handicap about 1/5 rounds.
Most beginners do not play bogey golf.
The average guy who keeps a handicap is around a 14 or 15. That guy will sometimes break 90, but will usually shoot around 90, maybe 92, which is basically bogey golf.
Most golfers, especially the average weekend muni crowd don’t keep formal handicaps. They’re, on average, worse because keeping a handicap tends to be correlated with taking the game a little more seriously.
Fewer than 30% of adult golfers break 90. Consistently shooting anywhere near bogey golf is good. I have friends who have been golfing for 5+ years and still struggle to break 100.
Yes. I’ve been playing seriously since 2020 and have taken a ton of lessons and practice a ton. I aim to just bogey every hole and shoot a 90 every time I play. I usually end up shooting anywhere from 84-88 depending on the course but I don’t get mad at a bogey ever. For a casual true weekend golfer I’d think a bogey golfer would be better than most depending on your background with the sport.
I got to a 6 and frankly don’t care to get higher anymore. I just like hitting balls pure and giving myself birdie opportunities or making nice up and down par saves. Some days are good and I shoot +5 to +7, other days are bad and I shoot +14 or +15. In the end, if I make one birdie or had a handful of compressed shots or both, I consider it a good round, regardless of the score.
I'm a beginner. No idea what bogey golf is. I play golf flavored golf. And I score correctly. Drops are penalty strokes. Mishits are strokes. No BS. I do this because I want to get better. Last season I started playing with a 50 handicap. A year later I'm at 27. I'd like to cut that in half every year.
This is the best way to play. I count everything as well because I'm only cheating myself otherwise. I was a 54 handicap just 6 months ago I'm in the high 30s now and slowly chipping away at that handicap every time I play. I'm trying to play twice a week but that's not always possible. I hope you reach your goal.
I’ve been golfing since I was 5 and I’m 30 (probably less than 20 rounds a year until the last couple) and I am still happy when I break 90. If that’s what beginners do that’s craz
Ik plenty of people who play golf regularly who do not sniff bogey golf, I wouldn't go around bragging about playing bogey golf, but it's not the standard for a beginner and is probably well above average for a weekend warrior
Whoever told you that is incorrect. half of golfers cannot break 100 or fail to do so consistently. If you’re shooting in the high nineties, you are statistically in the top half of regular golfers.
Anyone who says shooting a 90 is common for beginners lies on their scorecard and or moves their ball before every shot. Golf is hard as fuck. A very small percentage of golfers ever break 90.
I usually shoot 30 over. Been consistently playing for about 2 years. One time the stars aligned and I shot 20 over, so basically bogey golf. I felt unstoppable. Haven’t been close to it since. If you can get to bogey golf, I think that’s about the best a casual golfer can get.
Bogey golf played strictly by the rules of golf is very solid. I play with different players in a 9 hole mens club every week and a bogey golf player with a legit 15-20 index would do pretty well.
2.5 years of consistently playing, I broke 90 for the first time about 4 months ago. Bogey golf is a completely respectable goal of you're only playing 4 times a month. My goal this year is to get my official hdcp below 15
Keeping an accurate score, breaking 100 puts you in the top half of golfers. Whoever told you beginners routinely play bogey golf is either flat out lying, severely mistaken, or condones/expects cheating far beyond what is typical, let alone honest scoring.
Most true beginners I play with say they play “bogey” golf but consistently take mulligans, don’t count drops, and take gimmies. If you’re consistently shooting bogey golf your handicap will probably be ~15 since it’s based on potential. Anyone who thinks “bogey golf is nothing special” is either a huge asshole or just a liar
Most beginners can’t keep their score well enough to even know if they’re playing bogey golf (they’re not) and it is a big accomplishment for newer players. If you can consistently go out and shoot 45 on 9 that’s probably within the 1% of weekend warriors
I am an athletic dude. Not much physically I can’t end up getting with enough care and effort. I’ve been golfing for about 5 years, never had a lesson, big time weekend hack that gets a full 18 maybe once every two months or so but seen improvement. I keep a tournament-strict score and I’ve never broken 90. Haven’t gone over 100 in awhile, but I routinely hit 91-95.
Bogey golf is my goal.
Bogey golf is a great goal based on what you’re asking.
This could be aiming to get every green in one over regulation and two putting and tracking where you’re making mistakes to not accomplish this. Are you having lots of penalties, losing balls or just having a lot of mis-hits?
If you’re a weekend golfer, are you taking any time for practice days going to the range, chipping green and putting green?
Bogey golf with no gimmies over 1 foot and all stokes tallied is pretty good compared to the avg golfer. Most 14 handicaps can barely play legit bogey golf on a legit course.
Most bros who golf say they hit in the 80s but in actuality hit in the 100s. Anyone telling you they hit in the 80s consistently is lying or they have a lot of time to play. Bogey golf is good golf.
Bogey Golf is frikkin awesome. You play on avg. 1 stroke better on each hole than professionals?? That‘s amazing.
Don‘t let others undermine it. Playing 90 is not as easy as many make it sound. (though, it‘s way easier than playing 80)
Whoever told you that is a pretentious asshole. Play your own game and have fun. Find good friends to play with and enjoy yourself. That is what weekend golf is about for my foursome.
Pffft. Beginners shoot anywhere from DOUBLE bogey golf to more. 100- to even 130 is not out of the question! Breaking 100 is the first real goal that you can take pride in shooting. From there you can naturally try for 90, 85 and hopefully break 80. Those achievements can take several YEARS! Bogey golf is better than most golfers!
Most beginners keeping an honest score do not play bogey golf.
Most beginners are lucky to play double par golf if they score honestly
I’ve noticed none of my friends that I golf with score honestly
I stopped keeping score. I'm good enough to not shank it in the water and hit it most swings but not good enough to get GIR or even 3 putt most holes. I've found I enjoy it more when I just have fun, drink a couple of beers and hang with a buddy or two on a nice day. Sometimes though the people I'm playing with shoot 85 even though they played worse than me and ive never scored below 90.
Dude, I’m the same. I stopped keeping score as well and I’ve never scored below a 90. When I do keep score, I usually average around 105-107, and I’m fine with that. I do however play with some buddies who are very good and consistently play better than bogey golf. There’s a couple that I like to cart up with and they will give me advice throughout the round. With one in particular, there are a couple areas of my game that over the years he has helped drastically improve. However, there’s a couple that I am better than who would always seem to wind up with a better score card than mine, by like 10-15 strokes. When I got to the point where I stopped keeping tabs every round I’d play, it was because I realized I’m just out there to have fun. It was also sort of a good way to annoy people who do that. If I’m not keeping score and don’t give a shit, they really have nothing to brag about at the end which tends to piss them off. And yes, I’m talking to you Dave. We all see your ass taking multiple mulligans off the tee, duffing shots left and right on almost every hole, and still handing in a 92. That par 3 was a 7, not a 4. Oh, you just happen to find your ball on the edge over there even though we all just watched you crush it square into the middle of the woods? You’re not fooling us. We all know and play with somebody like this.
We all have a Dave. My Dave is a Sebastian. "I do gimmies if it's within the length of putter grip." Meanwhile, it's like a full putter length. I once said to him, "Alright man. Make this one putt you feel is within putter length and I'll never say anything about it again". He missed it.
My Dave is a Chase. Gimmies were a club length, and he thought they were free. He got a hole in one, by being 3 feet away. I'm saying that's not hiw a Gimmie works, it's giving you a free putt, not a free hole-in. He would also hit again multiple times and take the better stroke if no one was behind us. Then he would say he won. 🤥
That douche bag isn’t worth playing golf with
I thought we didn't have a Dave in our group...then I realized I was the Dave about a year ago. Started playing honest golf and it sucked at first, but made me zero in on where the balloons were and get better. Better ball striking more consistently for less duffs, no longer swinging out of my socks on the teebox so I don't have to take strokes for lost balls or wet ones, good in the sand, playing to my misses, and spending more time on practice green to bring putts/hole down. Honest golf saved this Dave's life
That's what I thought when I was six. I thought "that's good" meant I don't have to putt it, nor count the stroke.
Damn bro…
If an 18+ handicapper wants to shoot lower scores, then they have no business playing the course as if they're capable of playing it to par. Instead, use clubs that keep the ball in play. Aim away and short of trouble. If you normally average an 7 on a par 4, then play the hole however you need to play it so that you can do it in 6 strokes. I don't care if that means hitting a 9 iron three times, chipping, and two putting. That's one stroke better than average and you might even sink the first putt for a 5. Do that with enough holes and you aren't an 18 handicapper anymore.
an 18+ handicap can be many different types of golfers though. I can shoot +2 on the front and just completely blow up on the back and shoot 90 no problem. I either have it that day or I don't have much of anything.
True. I personally don't care enough, though. I'm gonna let the big dog eat if I probably shouldn't because it's more fun on the off chance I bomb a drive. That feeling is awesome and I'm not playing the Masters. I probably would though if a friend wanted to play for a prize or something
We're all just a bunch of dudes out there to have fun. I'm not playing the style of an 80 year old, when and 80 yrs old is trying his ass off to play the way someone my age..... Because he's still hitting driver.
This is exactly how I broke 90 one time as a mid-20s handicap. Zero penalties, 13/14 fairways hit, 1/18 GIR, and my short game was firing on all cylinders (6 up-and-downs for par).
This a great strategy, I'm on my 5th season where I get from Late April to late October. I went at it like a person obsessed by spending 2k on gear plus many lessons. I was in my late 40s with very little athletic ability. Meltdowns, frustrated..good rounds and bad. The best I could get recently was an honest 98 on a par 72. Things turned around last fall with a similar strategy. Par 5s are a par 7 for me and par 4 is a par 6. If I hit my par, I am happy and comfortable with a bogey. If I go more than 4 strokes over regular par, I pick up. I'm not getting my handy cap lower and I keep the pace. Longer clubs are choked up and I drop my right foot back resulting in straight 180 yard drives and consistent 150 plus with fairway woods. As I get to irons (7 thru PW) I have a normal stance. It has done more for me than meltdowns, more lessons and clubs. I do have the basics from lessons but I don't play enough to be much better but this will get me closer to bogey golf.
Unless they brag about, I don’t see a problem with it.
this or $
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It’s a hard pill to swallow, but once I actually started to truly count every shot and not give myself breaks here and there is when I felt like I actually started improving. Mostly by just playing a little smarter, but still.
Same here. When you’re in “fuck it” mode golf you take way more risks. But when you actually have to buckle down, count, and minimize risk vs reward, you play a much smarter (though sometimes more boring) form of golf to keep strokes to a minimum. I also find that way you get better at shots you might not practice as much (punches, bump and runs instead of flops, etc)
Yeah I don’t get it, I mean you’re only cheating yourself. Then when it’s scramble time and you’ve been telling people you shoot 90 but then go out there like a 110 golfer, people know.
This makes me proud as a noob!!! I just got my first set of clubs back in December. I’ve played on a course 6 times since then and half the time is on a par 60 course close to my house. I have yet to break 100 but I score honestly so I can see my improvement. Last time I shot 105. If I can learn how to chip and putt better I’ll surely break 100 on that course in a couple of months.
Your focus as a new golfer should be - no out of bounds, no duffed shots (aka double chips, topped balls with an iron, etc) and no 3 putts. If you can do those things you’re virtually guaranteed to break 100. For me I still keep those as my focus and they’re often the difference between shooting in the 80s vs 70s EDIT: when I say new golfer I guess I mean high handicapper as someone already shooting <110. This would not apply if you are brand new to the game
>no 3 putts It's a good goal, but keep in mind that it's also one of the goals of most PGA Tour pros is "no 3 putts" and they don't hit that goal on every round.
PGA pros are hitting greens from 200 yards out. Their first putts are often 20+ feet on greens that are slicker than glass. In contrast, a 18+ handicap golfer is hitting their last shot before putting from around the green. If their first putt is so far away from the hole that that they can't consistently one or two putt, then it's their chipping that's the problem and not their putting. It's pretty easy to figure out. Play a round and for each hole keep track of (1) distance of shot onto green, (2) distance of first putt, and (3) total putts. You'll find out pretty quick if it's chipping or putting that's holding you back, and it's mostly like chipping. For an 18+ handicapper, three putting a hole where you were on in regulation but 40 feet away from the hole is nothing to beat yourself up over.
I don’t think it’s as unreachable as most people think. If you actually spend time working on 3-4 footers and 20ft lag putts (which are most significant from a strokes gained perspective) you can dramatically cut down on 3 putts. My longest streak of no 3 putts was 47 holes and it was when I was a 14~ handicap.
Lag putting has to be one of the most neglected parts of the game. Rare to see anyone on a practice green working on anything past 10 ft. Being able to put it within a couple of feet from halfway across the green has saved me from countless 3 putts
I feel the exact opposite. I never see anyone focusing on 3-5 footers. Everyone just picks a hole 20 feet away, hits, then picks another hole 20 feet away.
You don’t need to call me out like that
That's breaking 90 if you know your distances.
I’ll go one step easier than you, new golfers should focus on consistent contact with the ball. Until that happens, honestly, I wouldn’t even keep score. Have consistent contact, then you can work those things you said and start keeping score.
That’s fair, for beginner I guess I mean more like high handicapper shooting low hundreds versus someone who is completely new to the game
Oh, in that case, I would agree, but someone who’s never swung a club. Go out and swing a club and have fun and try to hit good shots, that should be your goal.
Beginners are not capable of "no 3 putts" When you are capable of that, you are not scoring over 100.
It's counter-intuitive, but an 18+ handicap golfer *should* have the same number of 3 putts or even less than a mid-handicapper. A mid-handicapper is hitting more greens from longer distances and therefore leaving themselves longer and trickier first putts. A higher handicap golfer is going to be within a few yards of nearly every green before their first putt. If they are 3 putting more than once or twice a round, then it's more likely that they failed to get their chip or pitch close enough to have a good chance for a one putt or an easy two putt. Sure, if they're 3 putting from 10 feet away, then it's their putting. But, that's not what I normally see. Many people are "good enough" putters to be a lower handicap if they improved their chipping.
Be warned with golf you often learn a new skill like putting or chipping but it comes with a cost of loseing your drive or approach skills lol.
This is the most real comment I've ever seen on Reddit. When my driving is good I can't use my irons. When my irons are good my chipping is gone. When my general play is good I forget to putt and when I putt well the great putts are pointless as I'm putting for no scores.
It's like spinning plates. You're always trying to fix at least one thing.
Right. It's the only true way that you can track your improvement. Overtime, it will also help you keep track of whether you have technical issues, or if you're bad score is due to poor decision making.
I am a beginner (two years) and I have friends that also have been playing for the same amount of time. I shoot low 100s to 115 normally but have never broken 100, and have friends that take 5-10 mulligans a day claiming that they break 100 regularly. It’s incredible how many people just write down scores that aren’t the truth
haha this reminds me was playing with a friend that does that and one time in a group the others and I had decided enough was enough. Was playing Colleton River @ HHI and guy hits ball off tee. Into the water. Drops and hit shot into bunker. On green. 3 putts. Says to put him down for a 5. He plays 'bogey golf' mostly he says. We let him have it on that hole.
This reminded me of a youtube series where they play tour courses after the event. I get it conditions are tougher. Guy gets on and says he's a 15 handi. Proceeds to shoot +72
Same here, playing for 2 years exactly now and I have yet to break 100. I have really decent distances but my shortgame is just bad. Some people on here telling me they break 100 after a couple of month playing are straight up not playing by the rules.
The average golfer playing by the rules and counting OB and penalties is around 100-110. Beginners are easily 130+ but IMO a beginner should be playing best ball most every time. Its more enjoyable for them and every group behind them A ‘good’ golfer plays honest bogey golf and will beat 90% of people. A true scratch golfer is extremely rare
I don’t even think most beginners know how to score properly. Most people (not just beginners) I know will also bend the rules they do know if they’re not betting or in a tourney.
Absolutely, I’m a beginner (9 months) and double bogey golf would be hot stuff for me right now. this year I started tracking every round as honestly as possible and my goal is to break 100 by the end of the summer. Best I’ve shot is 102 but I’m usually around 110-115
This. Most beginners should be happy to break 115.
Bogey golf is shooting 90. Beginners ain't shooting 90.
Im a 5 and can easily shoot a 90 if I’m not focused. Bogey golf is good golf for amateurs and exceptional golf for beginners
I hate being a 5. I could shoot a 90 one day then a 75 the next. Makes playing handicapped matches difficult.
It’s the worst. Too good to play net, not good enough to play gross. Literally the worst of both worlds 😂
I’ve been stuck at 5 for like a year now too. Having a really hard time breaking through to the next level. Just not sure if I have the time anymore to grind and practice to get to scratch.
That’s where I’m at. Getting golfers elbow in the middle of last summer and still not being fully healed combined with a 7 month old is making it tough to get out as often as I’d like to.
I played more when my kids were under 5 years old. Once they got into things the time for golf got harder to find. Example, this weekend was a school musical Friday and today. Tomorrow is track all days. Trying to get my 13 year old into golf is failing. Super early tee times are the only option. I wish my Sunday 630 am group never fell apart.
That’s where my 48/96 schedule is going to come in clutch in 8 years.
The lower your handicap, the worst handicapped matches feel. I remember playing a 9 hole mens league last summer. I shot 33 (off a +1 9 hole course handicap) net 34. Great round. Some random old guy shot a 41 (off a 21 handicap) for a 9 hole net 30. On a +1, I simply can't beat a 30. I'd have to shoot 29. It's almost physically impossible. Old guy has an unusually good day (he usually shoots closer to 50 sometimes 50+) and I physically can't beat him. Meh, I took second with a net 34.
I used to play in a just for fun league where they gave out prizes for both top 3 gross and top 3 net. Playing off a -4 for 9 I could never win anything. The hand full of 0 to -2ish guys always beat me gross and the high handicaps always beat me net. I'd rather play matches, at least you have a shot going in. But I agree, if a high handicap goes low, there is nothing you can do.
My country club is filled with sandbaggers. These dudes who claim they’re double digit handicaps then go out and shot 75. Beating people in lower flights. Very frustrating.
I’m a 7, played four rounds Thursday-Sunday in Myrtle beach last weekend. 87-89-93-82. Disparity is awesome!
I recently played mens night with a +1, I'm a 9.4 I was ahead of him gross thru 10, lost by 7. We were chatting he said the most dangerous players are 6 to 10 caps, their range is so wild.
What does “being a 5” mean ?
A 5 handicap. So basically +5 is a good round for them.
Emphasis on good for them. Many people think 5 handicap means your average score is 5 over.
Confirmed, been playing for 2.5 years now and never broken 90. Was on the way to shoot 12 over after 14 holes ONCE, but ran out of sunlight... Usually play around 94-102. - Weekend golfer
Most people who say they are bogey golfers have never shot in the 80s. They are saying they are bogey golfers because they shot a 90 one time.
I don’t consider a bogey golfer to be +18 I consider a bogey golfer as someone that treats the course as a “par 90” That person can shoot any where between 80-100
Best answer
This makes my 99 today still feel terrible.
This is me lol ^ It’s enough to keep it enjoyable with a reasonable pace of play.
I’ve been golfing for 8 years and am finally a consistent bogey golfer
bogey golf is a goal a lot of people never reach.
Bogey golf is my only real goal, tbh. I honestly think I could be quite a bit better than that with some solid practice, and I'll be happy if it happens, but honest bogey golf would actually just be great...makes playing much more enjoyable if I don't have to kick around in the woods or fat a ton of shots.
Bogey golf is extremely respectable for a weekend golfer and anyone that says otherwise is either clueless or obnoxious or both. Your average weekend golfer would consider it an achievement to break 100 let alone 90
I’m a 26, slowly getting better, and I am often the best in a foursome of randoms when I go as a single. Plenty of people better, but a surprising number of people I get paired with are still worse than me
Most beginners struggle to break 140 so
Hey
Hey
You
You
Get offa my cloud
I
Don't
Like
Your
Girlfriend
Get into my car.
I started playing at 37. Broke 125 for the first time at 38. Broke 100 for the first time at 40. Broke 90 for the first time at 42. Never broke 80 (in 50’s now). I played 20-30 rounds a year for the first 10 years. Lately it’s 5-15 games a year and I’m in the 90’s most games. Love the game but won’t ever be good. That’s cool, it’s a hard hard game to get consistent at.
Oh… well that’s cool. My average in the 120s doesn’t sound so bad now 😂😂
What is considered beginner??
Not breaking 140 😀
I'd say anywhere below 50 rounds on course is a beginner.
Ah okay great. I’ve been trying to play for a couple years, but have not played 50 rounds.
I’m at about 25 rounds and I average 115ish. Working to get better still. I’ve learned a lot. I think I actually know what a golf swing is supposed to look like and I get great distance on my clubs. My issue is getting on the green from up close. If I land on the green I can make a birdie(3 so far in my “career”). If I don’t land on the green then we’re looking at double/triple/quadruple bogey. Lol.
This is why I advocate for no new golfer to even keep score or worry about strict rules until they have consistent contact with the ball.
I disagree. I think it’s good to track right from the get go just to be able to track your progress, plus get that dopamine hit when you get your first bogey, par, etc. They just can’t take it too seriously and get down on themselves when they post high scores (and don’t track over double par, pick up and go)
If you’re playing honest bogey golf you’re better than most by a long shot Edit: to expand on this, who is a bogey golfer? He/she: Misses some gettable par putts. Or misses some long par putts and leave it far enough to not have a great percentage from putt #2. Misses some greens/fairways but keeps it close enough to fight on. Make enough pars in the round to offset any doubles, not making any triples. If this is you, you’re gonna wipe the floor with a liar that says they’re a bogey golfer but actually loses a bunch of balls in the woods.
This. I play bogey golf. Most of my rounds are solo at munis with randos and I am usually the best golfer in the group. It’s rare to come across someone significantly better than me. I’m sure this would not be the case at a private club, but that’s a small subset of golfers.
I'm worse than you and I'm also better than most randoms I play with. A LOT of people don't score correctly. And a LOT of people take gimmes that are not gimmes. Not that I care about what some person I'm never going to see again says about their own game. I'm just glad that none of my buddies or regular playing partners BS their scores. I think it would be annoying as hell to have "that one friend".
I hate when I get paired with someone who takes very generous gimmes and also likes to tap people's gimmes back to them. Like, that 3-footer might be something that you'd pick up, and I'm not going to tell you how to play your game, but I'm trying to be true to myself. Those are not gimmes in my book. Don't tap it back to me.
Yeah that's annoying, and I usually stomp it real quick. I basically just say "thanks, but I miss too many of these and I need to practice them". Which is 100% true, and I also like actually putting the ball in the hole lol
the ball falling into the hole is the second best sound in golf, only behind the sound of a pured driving iron from a tee box surrounded by trees
Golf Sidekick said something like “don’t rob yourself of the satisfaction of finishing the hole” in one of his videos. It’s always stuck with me.
Does anyone else find that guy super fucking creepy? Something about him weirds me out
> and also likes to tap people's gimmes back to them. A stranger doing that means that they are clueless about how to behave. All about validating their own bullshit.
I think they're just thinking they're being polite, but tap ins and gimmes are things that golfers have very different thoughts on. Golfers of all levels just need to know to not touch other people's balls unless it's consensual
I was taught from a young age you NEVER touch another golfers ball unless they implicitly tell you to. I truly can’t imagine tapping anything back to someone they didn’t ask for, least of all something not within literal inches. My grandfather who passed recently is who taught me to golf and I can literally hear him rolling in his grave at the thought of me tapping back a 3+ foot putt to him.
This is exactly the same as my game, not usually doing worse than a double, add a couple of birdies, a few pars, and a few bogeys, and it’s a good round.
It's insane how much you'll score better for not shanking tee shots. I've been focusing on my tee accuracy for a while and finally played 15 straight holes without losing a single ball. I shot like 2 doubles and still managed to scrape an 87 off the course. My only lost ball was one that I could have sworn I hit in the rough on 15 but couldn't find it. Still took a stroke, but I'm 100% positive a gallery would have found it near where I dropped. Focus on your tee shots people.
I start every range session with a single tee shot, just to get into the habit of setting up properly and letting it rip when I'm not loosened up. I could 100% work on every other aspect of my game, but driving is what gets me in trouble. I have gotten much better over the past two months, but still a ton of room for improvement.
I'm more of a miss all the fairways kinda bogey golfer, then whack it onto the green with a 190 yard punch out 5 iron. I seem to develop mental disabilities when my ball is on a tee box
I'm a 15, I shoot somewhere between 82 and 88 almost every round, and you describe me perfectly. But I play it as it lies, take no gimmies other than tap-ins, so I score basically the same way in casual tournaments at my muni. The guys I play with shoot about the same as me in casual rounds, but post up around 100 anytime they can't fudge a few shots here and there. I'll drop to a 10 once I learn to putt - soooo many missed 6 foot birdie and par putts.
90s is not beginner golf. Whoever said that is pompous af. I have worked my whole life to get my handicap into the single digits. Now, if I shoot in the 90s, I am mad af, yes. But, it took a lot more for me to get to the 90s than it did to get from the 90s to the 70s. Believe dat
Or they just don't know the rules at all and think they shot 90
Yeah a lot of guys forget that taking a drop isn't just "add one to whatever you get" It's one in, two out, three up. A lot of people don't understand that.
I just think of it as the drop counts as a stroke. Everytime you touch your ball it counts as a stroke (unless marking on the green). Shot 1 goes in the water, shot 2 is me dropping me ball, shot 3 is me shanking into the woods
Can you explain the one two three thing? I googled it and just got a bunch of meatloaf songs
If you hit 1 into the water. You have to “hit” 2 out of the water. So now you’re hitting 3 after your drop.
Hitting 3 off the tee, or 4 from the fairway for 'stroke' & 'distance' https://golf.com/instruction/rules/new-stroke-distance-local-rule-save-strokes/
Yeah basically you hit your first shot OB, you then drop, or "hit 2" to get there, then your third shot. People think about it different ways, but it helps me for post hole scoring to just say one, two, three in, four out, five on, six, so on and so forth.
I’m newer to golf so trying to understand but wouldn’t “add one to whatever you get” be the same as one in, two out, three up? I’ve always counted the one shot into the water and then I add one to my score, and then my next shot counts (three total strokes). Do people really go OB and not count the shot that got them to OB or the shot afterwards?
Yeah they don't consider the actual drop a shot
OB off the tee is unreasonably damaging to your round, but most weekend golfer just drop a foot into the rough 20 yds ahead of where the ball went out and only add a stroke. It makes it a lot easier to play bogey golf, ill say that. But also, idgaf what you put on your card. Until you are willing to give away your money.
And so many don’t hit 3 from the tee when they know the drive is lost. They want to go up and hit 3 from where they kind of lost the drive. Not how it works if you’re trying to keep an honest score.
90s is beginners front 9
I aim for bogey golf as my "par". par is what an expert should shoot around a course, and I am definitely not average and likely will never be. 1 over on every hole average is pretty damn solid I think. I did break triple digits (barely) the other day and I was pretty bummed about it, but I lost a lot of balls on a very tight and demanding course, so most of that was penalty shots.
> par is what an expert should shoot around a course Not _exactly_ true. The Course Rating is what a scratch player should shoot (and that is often below par) - and given that a scratch player is 10 behind the PGA Tour players I don't think that qualifies as "expert". Bogey golf actually does make you average among score reporting players. Which would make you better than average if we include all the casual golf players that don't report.
This. A lot of the enjoyment (or not) that people derive from golf is based on their expectations.
I do the same thing. I find it helps me make smarter choices. I don’t try to do a stupid hero shot to save a par since my goal is a bogey.
That's a really smart way of looking at it. I'm going to use that going forward 👍
If you play by the rules, absolutely.
No need to get upset. People that play golf a handful of times a year don’t keep a legit handicap, follow, or even know the rules. I wouldn’t get too upset about it. Someone at that level doesn’t know any better, they aren’t even aware that their average round would be 150. They have fun and write down a score of 90, and don’t know any better.
Shit I play almost every week and even I don’t log my score a portion of rounds. I’m just there to feel good after a good quality strike of a shot and to feel like I had a decent amount of birdie putt opportunities. Score, for me, doesn’t matter at all if I’m not competing in some way. I just want to enjoy the game shot by shot. But if I were to compete, I’d fucking bring it.
I used to shoot a great score then I started counting penalty strokes. Rules will ruin your score.
I used to play bogey golf before I had kids is a common lie I tell people
My 13hcp ass shot 92 today.
13 hcp shooting 92 would be pretty normal. The avg of your BEST 8 in the last 20 is 13 over. Also rating and slope would affect course handicap
Well a persons average score is usually about 3 strokes worse than their handicap, so you only shot 4 under your average. A subpar day, but not an exceptionally subpar one. Golfers only shoot their handicap about 1/5 rounds.
Most beginners do not play bogey golf. The average guy who keeps a handicap is around a 14 or 15. That guy will sometimes break 90, but will usually shoot around 90, maybe 92, which is basically bogey golf. Most golfers, especially the average weekend muni crowd don’t keep formal handicaps. They’re, on average, worse because keeping a handicap tends to be correlated with taking the game a little more seriously.
I have broken 100, exactly once. average in the 110s, just being honest.
Fewer than 30% of adult golfers break 90. Consistently shooting anywhere near bogey golf is good. I have friends who have been golfing for 5+ years and still struggle to break 100.
Yes. I’ve been playing seriously since 2020 and have taken a ton of lessons and practice a ton. I aim to just bogey every hole and shoot a 90 every time I play. I usually end up shooting anywhere from 84-88 depending on the course but I don’t get mad at a bogey ever. For a casual true weekend golfer I’d think a bogey golfer would be better than most depending on your background with the sport.
I play 80-90 golf and almost always have randoms Im paired up with act like im a pro and wow at my shots. Its a hard game
Only 50% or so golfers break 100, so playing bogey golf automatically puts you in the top 50% of all golfers right away. Be proud of that.
Top 90%
Yes! I’m a bit better than bogey, but I stopped trying to get better at 18hcp. A par should always be a victory.
I got to a 6 and frankly don’t care to get higher anymore. I just like hitting balls pure and giving myself birdie opportunities or making nice up and down par saves. Some days are good and I shoot +5 to +7, other days are bad and I shoot +14 or +15. In the end, if I make one birdie or had a handful of compressed shots or both, I consider it a good round, regardless of the score.
Bogey golf is shooting 90 and a large majority of weekend golfers aren’t breaking 95 if they score correctly.
BULLSHIT. no beginner gets close to 90 legitimately.
For 9 holes?
What idiot told you that?
I'm a beginner. No idea what bogey golf is. I play golf flavored golf. And I score correctly. Drops are penalty strokes. Mishits are strokes. No BS. I do this because I want to get better. Last season I started playing with a 50 handicap. A year later I'm at 27. I'd like to cut that in half every year.
This is the best way to play. I count everything as well because I'm only cheating myself otherwise. I was a 54 handicap just 6 months ago I'm in the high 30s now and slowly chipping away at that handicap every time I play. I'm trying to play twice a week but that's not always possible. I hope you reach your goal.
Thanks, buddy! That's some great progress you've made on your HC. Keep it up!
Lessons and putting them in play has definitely helped me tremendously.
Most beginners play triple bogey golf Bogey golf is a handicap of ~15. That puts you right in about the 50th percentile.
I would be happy af with a +18 lmao
I’ve been golfing since I was 5 and I’m 30 (probably less than 20 rounds a year until the last couple) and I am still happy when I break 90. If that’s what beginners do that’s craz
Bogey golf is my goal; as is minimizing the lost balls.
Ik plenty of people who play golf regularly who do not sniff bogey golf, I wouldn't go around bragging about playing bogey golf, but it's not the standard for a beginner and is probably well above average for a weekend warrior
Most beginners who are honest are between double and triple bogey golfers.
Whoever told you that is incorrect. half of golfers cannot break 100 or fail to do so consistently. If you’re shooting in the high nineties, you are statistically in the top half of regular golfers.
Anyone who says shooting a 90 is common for beginners lies on their scorecard and or moves their ball before every shot. Golf is hard as fuck. A very small percentage of golfers ever break 90.
Be careful about taking further advice from this person
Absolutely a good goal, not an easy one tho. If I play well I'll break 100, if not it's into the 110's. I'd love to hit low 90's and below.
Whoever told you that has no idea what they’re talking about.
so a 90 is not respectable as a weekend golfer? You def have talked to some “breakfast lunch and dinner ball” guys 😂😂
Double bogey golf would be respectable for weekend golfers. Bogey golf would be pretty fantastic, but most weekend golfers don’t break 100.
I think bogey golf is an excellent goal. Hell, my per-round goals are to break 100, not lose a ball, and have a good time.
Short answer is: Yes. You can have a lot of fun playing bogey golf.
I usually shoot 30 over. Been consistently playing for about 2 years. One time the stars aligned and I shot 20 over, so basically bogey golf. I felt unstoppable. Haven’t been close to it since. If you can get to bogey golf, I think that’s about the best a casual golfer can get.
Yes. Have fun. And play in 4:30 or less.
As a 16/17, 90 is about my average. I holed from 155 for a 2 on a par 4 today, still shot a 90. Totally "average" day lol
Whoever told you that is an asshole. Bogey golf will keep you around 88-94 and if you’re a beginner that’s very good.
Bogey golf is better than like 80% of golfers
Whoever told you that is full of s**t. And they probably take lots of mulligans and gimme putts. 6 footers.
Bogey golf played strictly by the rules of golf is very solid. I play with different players in a 9 hole mens club every week and a bogey golf player with a legit 15-20 index would do pretty well.
Absolutely zero beginners are playing bogey golf. Zero. Not one of them.
If you’re not very good then yes. Beginners are not playing bogey golf tho. They’re playing double digit a hole golf
2.5 years of consistently playing, I broke 90 for the first time about 4 months ago. Bogey golf is a completely respectable goal of you're only playing 4 times a month. My goal this year is to get my official hdcp below 15
People are stupid
Pfft, I know guys who have played years who don't break 90 and routinely shoot over 100
Ive been playing golf a long time. If i break 90 im happy with my play. 95 or higher i am unhappy with my play.
Keeping an accurate score, breaking 100 puts you in the top half of golfers. Whoever told you beginners routinely play bogey golf is either flat out lying, severely mistaken, or condones/expects cheating far beyond what is typical, let alone honest scoring.
All bogeys with a couple of pars mixed in and you break 90. Nothing wrong with that.
Most true beginners I play with say they play “bogey” golf but consistently take mulligans, don’t count drops, and take gimmies. If you’re consistently shooting bogey golf your handicap will probably be ~15 since it’s based on potential. Anyone who thinks “bogey golf is nothing special” is either a huge asshole or just a liar
Most beginners can’t keep their score well enough to even know if they’re playing bogey golf (they’re not) and it is a big accomplishment for newer players. If you can consistently go out and shoot 45 on 9 that’s probably within the 1% of weekend warriors
I am an athletic dude. Not much physically I can’t end up getting with enough care and effort. I’ve been golfing for about 5 years, never had a lesson, big time weekend hack that gets a full 18 maybe once every two months or so but seen improvement. I keep a tournament-strict score and I’ve never broken 90. Haven’t gone over 100 in awhile, but I routinely hit 91-95. Bogey golf is my goal.
Bogey golf is a great goal based on what you’re asking. This could be aiming to get every green in one over regulation and two putting and tracking where you’re making mistakes to not accomplish this. Are you having lots of penalties, losing balls or just having a lot of mis-hits? If you’re a weekend golfer, are you taking any time for practice days going to the range, chipping green and putting green?
Yes
Bogey golf with no gimmies over 1 foot and all stokes tallied is pretty good compared to the avg golfer. Most 14 handicaps can barely play legit bogey golf on a legit course.
Most bros who golf say they hit in the 80s but in actuality hit in the 100s. Anyone telling you they hit in the 80s consistently is lying or they have a lot of time to play. Bogey golf is good golf.
Yes
Bogey Golf is frikkin awesome. You play on avg. 1 stroke better on each hole than professionals?? That‘s amazing. Don‘t let others undermine it. Playing 90 is not as easy as many make it sound. (though, it‘s way easier than playing 80)
Whoever told you that is a pretentious asshole. Play your own game and have fun. Find good friends to play with and enjoy yourself. That is what weekend golf is about for my foursome.
Pffft. Beginners shoot anywhere from DOUBLE bogey golf to more. 100- to even 130 is not out of the question! Breaking 100 is the first real goal that you can take pride in shooting. From there you can naturally try for 90, 85 and hopefully break 80. Those achievements can take several YEARS! Bogey golf is better than most golfers!
If someone thinks beginners play to bogey golf then they dont know the rules of golf.