Someone asks you "What's your handicap ?"

[1s1k]

In the times I do get asked it is usually within the first few holes but the last time was interesting or odd.

 

I was playing particularly well and was asked what my handicap was after I tapped in my putt on 18 to shoot 74.  I said around a 3 or so.  He said nice and walked back to his cart and drove away.

 

 

[Socrates]

I'm one of those guys who doesn't like to give out a number to random people.  I just tell them I'm an OK golfer and I've played more than a few times.  If they ask where I want to play from, I usually defer to the majority (unless they are really bad and are headed for the Silver tees).  It's about being cordial and enjoying the day, especially if it's a resort course I've never seen.

 

IF, they turn out to be good people and they ask at some other point in the round what I play to, I usually will give them a number indicative of my game.  I keep track of my hcp, but it's not like I'm a Plus hcp so it doesn't really matter if I'm a 4 or a 6 so I usually say a number in that ball park.  I never play for money so it's always about playing the game and trying to enjoy the round.

[RoyalMustang]

I have been playing for 6 months, typically play with random people, and it has never come up, save for one time.  Then again, only 2 of those people broke 90 legitimately. The one guy that said "I am a 10" and was proud of it was taking 12-foot gimmie puts and not counting hazard balls, so I don't count that guy! 

[Naptime]

I would just say "you owe me 2 strokes a hole, and 2 more per side."

[rbgndfw]

I usually tell them my handicap is the same as it has always been, "between my ears".

 

[HackDaddy360]

I just give them the rounded number.  
 

I also don’t love it because I carry a +1 but probably am playing to a 2 right now (though was beating my handi for about 15 holes yesterday).   When I carried a +2 or better I knew how well I was playing and I know I’m not there consistently yet but when I drop a 67 or better here and there the handicap won’t come up all that fast once the system knows that’s at least in the bag.  
 

It’s actually kind of embarrassing to say you’re a + handicap because you get the “oh ya?” or some snark - or people don’t want to play with you.  
 

I usually just say I’m a scratch and move on.   

[ThinkingPlus]

15 minutes ago, HackDaddy360 said:

I just give them the rounded number.  
 

I also don’t love it because I carry a +1 but probably am playing to a 2 right now (though was beating my handi for about 15 holes yesterday).   When I carried a +2 or better I knew how well I was playing and I know I’m not there consistently yet but when I drop a 67 or better here and there the handicap won’t come up all that fast once the system knows that’s at least in the bag.  
 

It’s actually kind of embarrassing to say you’re a + handicap because you get the “oh ya?” or some snark - or people don’t want to play with you.  
 

I usually just say I’m a scratch and move on.   

More or less scratch is a good generic choice.  Far too many don't know what a plus is anyway.

[TServos]

Redheads, beer and Tex-Mex food.

[jlbos83]

Actually, "Lack of skill".

[vtpachyderm]

I was so disappointed when I saw the results of this poll. On a site where the average drive is 300 and the PW goes 150 (actual data be damned), the responses being as careful and polite with regards to handicap just doesn't add up?!?!?!? I thought that a handicap index is the ultimate brag and yet here I read all the low hcp'ers being very modest and polite and nonchalant about it. I'm calling BS personally - 🤣

 

Just last year I finally managed to get that first number of the index to drop to single digits and dammit - I was going to tell the whole freaking world I finally made it to single digits. Hell, I told my wife that if I end the season in single digits, I'm treating myself to new clubs, and what do you know, I have new clubs in the bag for this season (that based on my handicap I have no business playing but that's a story for another day)

 

p.s. If I round up, I'm a 10 so I always round down 😉. I have too much fun on the course, and my golfing buddies are merciless when it comes to emotional support, so I'm rubbing it in that I'm single digits for as long as I can!!!

[TheDeanAbides]

I've never had an official handicap because I've always been a nomad. I used to figure it out based on my average score, but then I saw how people actually had their caps determined by clubs and realised I was an inadvertent bandit!

[ColinKelvin]

1 hour ago, vtpachyderm said:

I was so disappointed when I saw the results of this poll. On a site where the average drive is 300 and the PW goes 150 (actual data be damned), the responses being as careful and polite with regards to handicap just doesn't add up?!?!?!? I thought that a handicap index is the ultimate brag and yet here I read all the low hcp'ers being very modest and polite and nonchalant about it. I'm calling BS personally - 🤣

 

Just last year I finally managed to get that first number of the index to drop to single digits and dammit - I was going to tell the whole freaking world I finally made it to single digits. Hell, I told my wife that if I end the season in single digits, I'm treating myself to new clubs, and what do you know, I have new clubs in the bag for this season (that based on my handicap I have no business playing but that's a story for another day)

 

p.s. If I round up, I'm a 10 so I always round down 😉. I have too much fun on the course, and my golfing buddies are merciless when it comes to emotional support, so I'm rubbing it in that I'm single digits for as long as I can!!!

 

The question is, can you say you are single digits / single figures when your playing handicap is 10? 😉  I ask as a fellow 9.8 handicap.  Deep down I think/know I am a 10, having drifted up from 9.1 18 months ago... 

[vtpachyderm]

1 hour ago, ColinKelvin said:

 

The question is, can you say you are single digits / single figures when your playing handicap is 10? 😉  I ask as a fellow 9.8 handicap.  Deep down I think/know I am a 10, having drifted up from 9.1 18 months ago... 

I say yes, as it's just a number, and course rating has the ultimate say at the end. If I play off the forward tees, then my playing handicap on some courses it'll be single. Deep down I also know I'm closer to an 11 than a 9 as you can see in my scores that are used for the calculation. The new hcp system helped me a little bit and actually it's a bit more honest. 3 really good rounds got rid of some previous high scores, so  I've got 3 rounds at the start of the season as a buffer, and then most probably that index will creep up over 10 again. But hey, like I said, this is my one chance to brag a bit, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

 

[ColinKelvin]

24 minutes ago, vtpachyderm said:

I say yes, as it's just a number, and course rating has the ultimate say at the end. If I play off the forward tees, then my playing handicap on some courses it'll be single. Deep down I also know I'm closer to an 11 than a 9 as you can see in my scores that are used for the calculation. The new hcp system helped me a little bit and actually it's a bit more honest. 3 really good rounds got rid of some previous high scores, so  I've got 3 rounds at the start of the season as a buffer, and then most probably that index will creep up over 10 again. But hey, like I said, this is my one chance to brag a bit, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

 

 

Fair enough - I totally empathise, having done exactly the same - I told anyone who would listen (including those who didn't ask) that I was a single-figure player when I reached 9.  It's a great milestone.  You have some good scores in there, so hopefully you can get even lower in 2021.  Good luck!

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I say Index to the nearest whole number except on tee box, then it would be exact decimal.  Though usually we just look up in the GHIN app and let the app tell us the strokes for each man.    Outside of that probably the most common way I describe my game to someone that asks is that I say "I'm basically a bogey golfer"

[Forged4ever]

On 1/13/2021 at 11:50 AM, BNGL said:

Handicaps are a weird thing to me, because I just never took the time to understand the formula plus when I’d play games with guys we’d all just play off scratch anyways even though our group was all around +2 to +5 (all of us tried to play for a living at different points in our lives). Another thing is that it’s kinda complicated explaining to a non golfer or novice golfer how a play works so usually I’ll just answer with a range of scores.

 

”what’s your handicap?”

 

”I don’t have one established but I’ll shoot anywhere from 68-74 consistently”

 

then we’ll usually readjust after 9 and then we’re usually set for the year if we play regularly. 

Exactly!!

 

This is exactly the range of the guys in our Inter Club SWATs, and ironically the only two guys above a +2(I was +2.8 at the time) were two former Tour Boys, one who carried a card for 2 years, the other for 3 years, and they were scratch and  1~ to 2~, and that was only cuz families, work and life got in the way and they Played once or twice a month though if they got hot with the putter, well, they could go low with anyone in the field.  I'll never forget the one, cuz he took me for $1200 when he threw a 66 down from the greens(the US Open tees) at Oakmont and that was Frankie Fuhrer, lol. It was his first round in 5 weeks😜🤪

 

We had a pretty regular group from the top-5 clubs in town and now and then a guy would show up from one of the smaller clubs or a newb from one of our clubs, and even though we Played off of scratch, if he was "soft," one, he'd lose his *ss and secondly, he never showed up again😂😂. 
 

I was very very rarely ever asked though when I was, I stated simply, "+2.8." 
 

Cheers🍻

RP

[HackDaddy360]

On 3/5/2021 at 12:23 AM, vtpachyderm said:

I was so disappointed when I saw the results of this poll. On a site where the average drive is 300 and the PW goes 150 (actual data be damned), the responses being as careful and polite with regards to handicap just doesn't add up?!?!?!? I thought that a handicap index is the ultimate brag and yet here I read all the low hcp'ers being very modest and polite and nonchalant about it. I'm calling BS personally - 🤣

 

Just last year I finally managed to get that first number of the index to drop to single digits and dammit - I was going to tell the whole freaking world I finally made it to single digits. Hell, I told my wife that if I end the season in single digits, I'm treating myself to new clubs, and what do you know, I have new clubs in the bag for this season (that based on my handicap I have no business playing but that's a story for another day)

 

p.s. If I round up, I'm a 10 so I always round down 😉. I have too much fun on the course, and my golfing buddies are merciless when it comes to emotional support, so I'm rubbing it in that I'm single digits for as long as I can!!!

Funny post but I’ll square this one for you. 
 

Playing to a + handicap means you better show up and play.  Can I drop a sub par round with some degree of regularity?  Yes.  However, that +1 is mixed in with some 76’s, 74’s and even a stray 80.  
 

so when you tell someone you’re a + and shoot 76 your playing partners can be like 😒.  People - even educated golfers - think being a + means you’re about to be on tour and do nothing wrong.  That’s not true - at all.  Particularly as a guy who works 50+ hours most weeks.  
 

So if I say “I’m a pretty good player” and/or “about a scratch” that’s all technically accurate.   And if I drop 74 rando’s will say “nice round!” And I’d I drop 68 they’ll say “OMFG that was awesome to watch!” 
 

My buddy I just watched the final round of the players with used to be a playing professional.   He and I - along with other guys in our groups - are legit good players. None of us are in our prime and the whole group can go deep.  He just dropped a 63 the other day, for instance.  
 

once you reach a mutual understanding that everyone is really good - and you’ve seen it - the handi’s don’t matter.  
 

So all of the “well I’m about a scratch” is what you say to new/rando/unknown players.   Just avoids the problems. 
 

oh and yes - I did hit a 366 yard drive in Palm Desert last week and no it wasn’t massively down hill or down wind 😜

[Obiwan21]

"I'm holding a golf club" is my standard answer.

[vtpachyderm]

7 hours ago, HackDaddy360 said:

Funny post but I’ll square this one for you. 
 

Playing to a + handicap means you better show up and play.  Can I drop a sub par round with some degree of regularity?  Yes.  However, that +1 is mixed in with some 76’s, 74’s and even a stray 80.  
 

so when you tell someone you’re a + and shoot 76 your playing partners can be like 😒.  People - even educated golfers - think being a + means you’re about to be on tour and do nothing wrong.  That’s not true - at all.  Particularly as a guy who works 50+ hours most weeks.  
 

So if I say “I’m a pretty good player” and/or “about a scratch” that’s all technically accurate.   And if I drop 74 rando’s will say “nice round!” And I’d I drop 68 they’ll say “OMFG that was awesome to watch!” 
 

My buddy I just watched the final round of the players with used to be a playing professional.   He and I - along with other guys in our groups - are legit good players. None of us are in our prime and the whole group can go deep.  He just dropped a 63 the other day, for instance.  
 

once you reach a mutual understanding that everyone is really good - and you’ve seen it - the handi’s don’t matter.  
 

So all of the “well I’m about a scratch” is what you say to new/rando/unknown players.   Just avoids the problems. 
 

oh and yes - I did hit a 366 yard drive in Palm Desert last week and no it wasn’t massively down hill or down wind 😜

 

Ah - my faith in this site has been restored. This post is the ultimate flex move that a legit scratch player will give to a 95mph driver swing speed, 9.8 hcper player to put said mid handicapper in his place 😉. I mean, your so-so/bad round is my said mid-hcp'ers "OMFG that was awesome" round.

 

To any non-golfer it's a polite response saying I'm pretty decent yeah 😇.

[Guy In Lyon]

Sammy Davis Jr. once said, "My handicap? Man, I'm a one-eyed, black Jew. That's my handicap."

 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

44 minutes ago, Guy In Lyon said:

Sammy Davis Jr. once said, "My handicap? Man, I'm a one-eyed, black Jew. That's my handicap."

 

LOL... Sammy Davis. He was a classic. I can't think of him without thinking about the time he was on All in the Family. 

[golfjam]

I rarely tell my index and say I'm a bogey player instead.

[drumdude96]

My handicap is my swing.

[tgreenwood11]

The wrong answer is "I'm a 7 but haven't been playing much"....LOL

[SurfDuffer]

I realized about 10 years ago that the handicap system was by and large useless.  For the most part I stopped playing in groups and events where sandbaggers would cheat the system.  Only track handicap  since coming to that realization as a means to track and measure my own play.  My enjoyment of the game increased once all the handicap cheats were out of the picture.  Instead of playing in the Saturday and Sunday morning sandbagger betting games I opted for end of the day solitude.

Edited March 24, 2021 by SurfDuffer

[Baitkiller]

Bogey takes away all expectations.  Bets are usually per hole based or skins so it's like playing match anyway. We use tee boxes on threes and fives for handicapping at my regular course. Takes the math out.

[chasethebirdie]

I never volunteer and always round up 🙂