Good Player vs. Ok Player

[FKA HB]

When the round is over, a good player will always remove his hat to shake hands.

 

A good player never looks like he's doing something for the first time.

[jpking17]

When the rough is above my ankles...and I see someone pull a 3 Wood from 250 out...instead of hitting a 150 yard shot to the 100 stake...I know I'm in trouble. The good player hits the iron, is good around the greens, and can score even when they aren't getting off the tee so well. A good player is a game manager and keeps doubles off the card.

[CELTIC]

Score

 

100+ Keep at it, it's a great game

 

95 - 99 You're on your way - you're hooked

 

90 - 94 You're starting to get pretty good at this. Your wallet is about to fit in your back pocket much easier

 

85 - 89 Ok, you're a good golfer - definitely some skills. Hmmm...maybe I can win my club championship

 

80 - 84 You're a pretty darn good golfer...I know I can shoot par if my wedges and putter were just a little better

 

75 - 79 Yes - You're there. You are a really good golfer and many envy you...if you only started earlier

 

72 - 74 Jeez - get a life man, there are other things other than golf

 

67 - 71 Your spouse is considering a new partner cause your face is a distant memory

 

66 nd below - I'm sure you're not reading this so who cares...

[IcemanYVR]

You said 'in your mind', so, let's take a 180 yd. par 3, only instead of a green at the end, there's a barn. An Ok golfer can't hit the broadside of the barn most of the time. A good player can not only hit the broadside of the barn, but pretty much hit it most of the time.

 

And a great player will tell you what window they will break in the barn.

[Obee]

A truly well-executed shot into a 20mph wind is pretty much a dead giveaway that someone can play golf at a (reasonably) high level.

 

It's not a dead giveaway if they can't do it (I know some really solid +1/+2 guys who don't flight it well into the wind), but if you can execute the shot reliably that you can control your ball, which is a giveaway for, at least, a really good ball-striker.

[Bloom]

Boring golf.

 

He's good if after about 5 holes it just dawns on me that he's even par or better and I never noticed.

 

As it's been said here before, Fairways and Greens my friends.

[wkuo3]

A couple of things which might have separate the "good" player" from a "okay" player. IMO

 

Where I use the definition of a good player as someone score in the 70's most of the time and occasionally a few sub par rounds. Okay player scores in the low 90's and sometimes in the 80's.

 

A good player could save par from almost anywhere. An okay player sometimes have too many bleeding holes ( doubles, triples or worse ).

A good player has a game from 170 -210 yards. An okay player really could not get more than 30% success rate in that range.

A good player has confidence in his game around the green, and the okay player prays it's his lucky day.

 

What separate a good player and an okay player is but approx. 1/2 stroke per hole, figure that out and you can be a good player ,too.

[SNIPERBBB]

Shoots under par while playing like crap.

[sjt4718]

Greens in regulation is the correct answer. Ballstriking is where it's at.

[pearsonified]

Ball striking. A player is someone you *know* is gonna step up and hit a pretty good shot.

 

I played with a +2 today, and I could pretty much tell he was a stick after two shots. I was certain by his 5th non-putt shot.

 

He shot a relaxed 72 E with 3 birdies. And he could have easily had 7 or 8 if the putter had cooperated or our foursome had been less rambunctious :D

 

Bottom line—homey was piping it all day, and with an interesting bag to boot:

• PING G30 LST 9º with Tour AD GP-6x untipped
  
• TM M3 15º with stock Tensei White X
  
• PING G30 19º hybrid
  
• Custom-fit EDEL SLS-01 irons with Paderson Kinetixx shafts
  
• Custom-fit EDEL wedges (50º, 54º or 56º, and 60º)
  
• EDEL E-3 putter with round grip (he hated his lag putting, which I thought was just decent...VERY good hands on everything around the greens, tho)
  

See? WRX af.

 

Footnote: I shot 77 and actually tied homey over the final 15 holes after a rough start. I never got any putts to drop (13 GIR), but let's be honest—I would need my best stuff to beat this guy.

[MadGolfer76]

Whether I lost the round by more than just a stroke or two.

[Gamble Gamble]

Boring golf.

 

He's good if after about 5 holes it just dawns on me that he's even par or better and I never noticed.

 

As it's been said here before, Fairways and Greens my friends.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Boring golf where you can easily count score at the end not by numbers but by their relative score to par (plus 1, minus 1)

[b.mattay]

A forty to seventy yard pitch that is nipped off the turf with a little draw and loads of spin!

[Ghostwedge]

My 2 cents... this to me is what separates the two. The good player turns his 75 into a 71, he got the most out of his rd.

The ok player could have shot the 75 but turned it into an 82.

[2bGood]

In the context of the overall golfing public a true 15-18 handicap is a 'good' player and a true 25-30 handicap is an okay player. So the difference is things like being able to make decent contact with the ball most of time. Rarely making more than 3 putts. Getting near the green in regulation etc. etc.

[2bGood]

Ps: I should have said a good player can beat and LPGA pro, an okay player can argue about is on golfwrx.

[dg_1983]

Good players make birdies, lots of them.

 

Ok players don't.

 

Everything else is utterly irrelevant

[thug the bunny]

Sure score and all those other metrics are valid, but usually after a couple shots you can tell. A good player's shots make that sound, esp on irons. And they have that trajectory. And they go where they were intended.

[m111]

My 2 cents... this to me is what separates the two. The good player turns his 75 into a 71, he got the most out of his rd.

The ok player could have shot the 75 but turned it into an 82.

 

Oh yea I’m the second one basically every round. Last round, +2 on the front and hit every fairway and at 5+ greens but no birds (basically one of my best 9s). Then had 3 three putts on the back and then was 190 out to a protected par 5 on 18 and went for it and pulled my hybrid into the water - was getting tired and ballstriking was getting sloppy and knew I should’ve been smart and could’ve just hit wedge-wedge and maybe have a <10ft birdie putt but I just wanted the eagle opportunity and to hit the green in 2 since I don’t get that much.

[SurfDuffer]

In your mind, what specific shot or thought process separates a good player vs. an okay player.

 

In other words, what specific shot makes you think "Man, this guy/girl can play!"

 

IMO, I think a good indicator is the ability to hit a good lob shot or hit a flighted iron shot in the wind

 

How they recover from a bad shot. Everyone hits bad shots. What separated the good players from the rest is the shot that follows a bad shot. That is everything.

[OrangeGravy]

In your mind, what specific shot or thought process separates a good player vs. an okay player.

 

In other words, what specific shot makes you think "Man, this guy/girl can play!"

 

IMO, I think a good indicator is the ability to hit a good lob shot or hit a flighted iron shot in the wind

 

I'm 8 for 10 with that shot. 5 for 10 out of the fairway

[cwglum]

1st instructor I ever had told me he can tell a good player from anywhere on the range. Trajectory. On Standard shots ... every club in the bag will peak at nearly the same height. Us mortals will struggle to elevate long irons and balloon short irons.

[dg_1983]

I like and agree with the comments about ball flight into the wind and the peak height across the bag.

 

These guys are great ball strikers and can't help but be "good" at the game.

[nitram]

Boring golf.

 

He's good if after about 5 holes it just dawns on me that he's even par or better and I never noticed.

 

As it's been said here before, Fairways and Greens my friends.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Boring golf where you can easily count score at the end not by numbers but by their relative score to par (plus 1, minus 1)

 

No matter how you get it done, it's ALL about the score.

[Ghostwedge]

Ps: I should have said a good player can beat and LPGA pro, an okay player can argue about is on golfwrx.

 

Hang on to your billfold pards... your "good" player isn't within 15 shots of an LPGA player. i m o

[Obee]

Ps: I should have said a good player can beat and LPGA pro, an okay player can argue about is on golfwrx.

 

Hang on to your billfold pards... your "good" player isn't within 15 shots of an LPGA player. i m o

 

Come on over to my "Cage match" thread!! LOL

[Ghostwedge]

My 2 cents... this to me is what separates the two. The good player turns his 75 into a 71, he got the most out of his rd.

The ok player could have shot the 75 but turned it into an 82.

 

Oh yea I’m the second one basically every round. Last round, +2 on the front and hit every fairway and at 5+ greens but no birds (basically one of my best 9s). Then had 3 three putts on the back and then was 190 out to a protected par 5 on 18 and went for it and pulled my hybrid into the water - was getting tired and ballstriking was getting sloppy and knew I should’ve been smart and could’ve just hit wedge-wedge and maybe have a <10ft birdie putt but I just wanted the eagle opportunity and to hit the green in 2 since I don’t get that much.

 

Course management ... most of us could be better at it. Depends on what you want out of your rd, i try to break par every single time i tee it up, others just want to hit some good shots and drink beer. Iʻm good with all variations just so we all respect the course and each other as golfers.

[Ghostwedge]

1st instructor I ever had told me he can tell a good player from anywhere on the range. Trajectory. On Standard shots ... every club in the bag will peak at nearly the same height. Us mortals will struggle to elevate long irons and balloon short irons.

 

The above ^^^ this is good stuff. Guy's used to watch Ben Hogan hit shots over a tree, he would back up 10 more yds after every one until he could clear the tree with every club,till all his shots were the same height.

[heavy_hitter]

OK - 2 or more double bogeys per 18 holes

GOOD - 0-1 double bogey per 18 holes

 

This is why it needs to be defined. To me averaging 2 or more double bogeys a round is a well below average player.

[naval2006]

A good player can keep consistency through time. And the few times they don't hit ok they have a decent up and down skill.