What's more impressive, shooting your age at 65 or 85?

[larrybud]

Saw a really interesting Quora question that I thought I would bring here, because there is no right answer!

 

So which is it, 65 or 85?

 

I'm going with 85. Counting pros, 65s are shot all the time by the old guys, but 85s aren't. Just considering life expectancy, 56% of 65 year olds die before they are 85.

[Dpavs]

I'm going with 65. There are tons of older gents I know that can regularly shoot in the low 80's but only a few people I know can break par by 7 strokes regardless of their age.

[Dpavs]

Saw a really interesting Quora question that I thought I would bring here, because there is no right answer!

 

So which is it, 65 or 85?

 

I'm going with 85. Counting pros, 65s are shot all the time by the old guys, but 85s aren't. Just considering life expectancy, 56% of 65 year olds die before they are 85.

 

And out of that 56%, 100% stop playing golf. (yeah ok a bit macabre but I still could not resist)

[Springsteennut]

I’m impressed with any score an 85 year old can shoot.

[Hawkeye77]

My dad was so excited at 80 when he shot 79 (and he doesn't usually shoot in the 80s) I just can't describe it. No idea on the original question, but man did it light up his day!

[dlygrisse]

Depends on the course and tee boxes.

 

If you play the front tees on a fairly easy course I am sure there are a lot of 85 year olds who could shoot their age on occasion. 65 for anyone is a good score, whether you are 65 or 25.

[sdandrea]

One of the guys in my Thursday group shot 2 strokes UNDER is age yesterday. He shot 92. He's unbelievable. What a character and great guy to be around. Navy Vet.

 

[MtlJeff]

85 I think

 

I've seen some 65 year olds play outstanding golf. Theres a guy at our club who at 65 was a consistent + index, he shot the second best total score ever in our CC around that time.

 

Just playing golf at 85 is remarkable

[deadsolid...shank]

Great question.

 

I’m going to say 65. If that’s on a normal par 72 course it’s just such a minuscule number of people that can honestly go under par that far.

 

 

85 is almost as much about healthy as being good.

[golfgirlrobin]

65 is way harder. I play with guys in their 80’s who shoot their ages all the time. My favorite is an 85 year old who shoots his age all summer. Doesn’t play much in the winter, he’s too busy skiing.

[Warrick]

How many people will ever sniff a 65 at any age?

[williefo]

65. Way harder.

[Boricua Golf]

85 for sure

[Qqq123xx]

65 is way harder. I play with guys in their 80’s who shoot their ages all the time. My favorite is an 85 year old who shoots his age all summer. Doesn’t play much in the winter, he’s too busy skiing.

And what does he do on vacations Halo jump? :)

 

65 imo not close.

[Boricua Golf]

I just hope to be able to play at 85...lol

[youraway2]

I think the focus should be at what age you can attain this accomplishment, it's not easy and many will never succeed. We've had a few older golfers at our course who shoot their age in the 90's, but of course, very few. I believe age equaling rounds occur more frequently in the 70's.

[BushwoodJack]

You know what would be really interesting? To see how old the respondents are to this question. I also know quite a few guys shooting their age in their 80s if their health is still sound and from senior tees. 85 probably just sounds impossible to younger posters, whereas middle age and older guys can definitely see this. To me, as a previous guy said, it's 65 hands down without question. I mean, how often does anyone shoot 65, let alone a 65 year old on a regulation course 6,000 yards+ ?

 

[vernon]

Saw a really interesting Quora question that I thought I would bring here, because there is no right answer!

 

So which is it, 65 or 85?

 

I'm going with 85. Counting pros, 65s are shot all the time by the old guys, but 85s aren't. Just considering life expectancy, 56% of 65 year olds die before they are 85.

 

And out of that 56%, 100% stop playing golf. (yeah ok a bit macabre but I still could not resist)

As a guy that'll be 66 in 22 days (and undoubtedly dead soon as well) I greatly appreciate you bringing this to my attention!

 

I did shoot 68 last year as a 65 year old but I'm sure I'll drop dead long before I can ever get the two numbers to match.

 

56% huh?

 

Disconcerting to say the least....... :scare: :scare:

[Pooh_Bear]

How can anyone honestly say 85 is more difficult? I was a scratch golfer for twenty years and I couldn't shoot 65 then. I can shoot 85 though. Every day and twice on Sunday if I needed to. If your talking about throwing the 85 year old at 7000 yards then maybe but those guys are playing at 5500 and if they're decent can still hit it close to 200 off the tee. Shouldn't even be a conversation.

 

A decent 85 year old will be so short off the tee that he won't be able to get in any trouble. Knock it up around the green and make six pars a round. The 65 year old has to go 7 deep. Not a chance.

[MtlJeff]

You know what would be really interesting? To see how old the respondents are to this question. I also know quite a few guys shooting their age in their 80s if their health is still sound and from senior tees. 85 probably just sounds impossible to younger posters, whereas middle age and older guys can definitely see this. To me, as a previous guy said, it's 65 hands down without question. I mean, how often does anyone shoot 65, let alone a 65 year old on a regulation course 6,000 yards+ ?

 

I'm 37 right now so i can't comment from my own experience on either. I've been around a lot of good golfers of many ages though. I am sure if you go to senior amateur events there will be plenty of 60yr olds there that can shoot in the 60's so for sure it's happening somewhat regularly

 

In our senior CC a few years back i think a guy shot 67 and he must've been 65+ at the time. And this was from 6600yds on a tough course playing true stroke play with pressure. I know of a couple of other seniors around here who've definitely done it. I played a guy in an interclub once who was a +1 and was definitely around 65 or more. He probably had some rounds close to 65

 

I don't know too many 85yr olds that play golf period, let alone shoot 85 which is a pretty good score, though i guess it happens frequently too based on responses

[deadsolid...shank]

I play very regularly with three guys right around 60. Although it doesn’t happen often I’ve seen all three in the 60’s from 6500 yards.

 

I haven’t seen the 65 year old into the 60’s yet, but have seen very low 70’s.

[TServos]

Well, I know that I will never shoot 65. But if I stay healthy and continue to be semi serious about golf, I could maybe visualize shooting 85 on an easy course when I’m that old.

[Llortamaisey]

65. Even more impressive is 27 from a 27 year old for nine holes.

[BMC]

65. Tom Kite doesn't shoot his age anymore, and he plays Champions tour.

[RSinSG]

Shooting 65 is much harder, and as others have said it’s not even close. There are a lot of 85 year olds in my league who shoot their age every week. They play from the reds and rarely drive it more than 185-190, but they hit it straight.

 

OTOH, I’ve only seen one 65 y/o shoot his age and that was my buddy 4 years ago. Passive brag ahead- We carpool but we’re in different foursomes that day. I had just shot my career best of 67 and couldn’t wait to show him the card as we’re always in friendly competition. When I did he said something like “Wow” and then showed me his card with the 64 he had just shot to break his age by 1.

 

I came within one stroke last year when I shot 68 (which was my best score in relation to par as it was a par 73 course,) but it still is an item on my golf bucket list.

 

One of the better (albeit shorter) players in the league just turned 80 last summer and he still shoots in the high 60’s. He’s tearing up the Red tee flight. So yeah, shooting 65 is way rarer.

[rxk9fan]

65 is killing it at any age. Shooting it while 65 years of age or older is one of the more impressive feats an amateur can pull off IMO... depending on if it is a legitimate track and playing real golf (No winter rules, no picking up putts, etc.).

Each year I just hope to get under par a few times and shooting 65 is not something I expect will happen. I am now 60 years old and even when I play pretty well I am not close to 65. Today, the high was 43 degrees and I played a 120 slope at 6300 yards. I hit the ball decent and putted well and shot 75. I can't think of 10 shots I could have shaved without a miracle :-)!

[DavePelz4]

Geez...I'm gonna need to live to 105 to have a chance with this shooting your age thing.

[deadsolid...shank]

Geez...I'm gonna need to live to 105 to have a chance with this shooting your age thing.

 

Well, only a couple more years then!

[DavePelz4]

Geez...I'm gonna need to live to 105 to have a chance with this shooting your age thing.

 

Well, only a couple more years then!��

 

It's Tuesday. We're going to Denny's to celebrate with 2 for 1 brandy manhattan's and the meat loaf platter. How jealous are you?

[squarre]

They are both impressive, but going 65 low is tough regardless of age. I think (no proof) there are probably more good in their younger year 85 year olds that can stay in the 85 range.