@Tron Awesome write up. I remember someone said that as a low cap/+ cap - they only get nervous playing with mid-caps because its the only group the feels like a low caps score is always going to start with a 6. In truth I’m going to shoot 74-76 alot vs 67. Some of my best rounds don’t look outwardly impressive by score either - an even par or +1, but instead a very low diff. Something else a lot of folks just don’t look at.
Anyway - what I actually was curious about was the wine. Gamay Noir, interesting! Please tell me you’ve cycled through some Beaujolais? I’ve found a Fleurie is something I can’t get enough of (had several different chateaus or domaines? now and loved them all)
I loved this write up. Generally GHIN and Tonics have been an awesome addition.
Im a pretty mediocre weekend warrior golfer and over the last decade (but even more so now with the switch to 9 hole scoring and only 8 scores counting) ive been accused of either being a massive sandbagger or a laughable vanity cap depending on the day. Its ridiculous.
To refresh: the system only looks at your last twenty scores, of which it takes the eight best score differentials to par when factoring in slope, rating, and conditions that day.
Small tweak: the “differentials” aren’t to par. It’s just the course rating and slope. The only time par enters the equation is when you have to take a score down to net double bogey.
(Score - CR) * 113/Slope
I’m sure he knows that, and just wrote that bit quickly.
P.S. Most people’s differential average is about 3 strokes higher than their handicap index.
I’m 38 years old, have two kids, and until recently, hadn’t worked out in a decade.
I’ve posted 50 rounds this year … the total rounds played is higher
I’m sitting at 24 posted rounds this year and feel like playing twice as much would help. Handling the excitement of a good round feels like it would be easier if it’s happening at shorter intervals.
I’m at 21 posted. I’ve probably played 30ish. I’ve hit the range 2x for an hour for every time I’ve played which I think has made a much bigger difference in my game in terms of finding some repeatable feels.
This is so true. Few novice golfers truly understand the handicap system.
I went on a trip this weekend with 9 guis. 1 is a mid cap (8ish), 3 are getting back into it after long hiatuses (each of them roughly 20 caps), and the rest were relative beginners (new to the game in the last 2 years, shooting 100+).
Everyone except the mid cap couldn’t comprehend that me having a 3 handicap doesn’t mean I average 3 over par every round, and struggled to understand the difference between course rating and actual par/its impact on my expected score.
I only learned about it a few months ago but love explaining it to others as “based on what tees you played, you shot what we would expect x handicap to shoot”. Idk if that’s 100% accurate but it seems to click when I explain it that way
How many people think they would have shot the same score no matter what tees they played? I feel like that’s the case for me at least 95% of my rounds.
Quite often when I am thinking about my improving my cap, I tend to play the tips just so I get credit for playing a more difficult golf course, and I’ll likely shoot the same score as if I had moved a tee or two up.
I almost never feel that way, but some courses are an exception if the up tees force me to take less club for drives due to narrower landing areas and penalties for missing.
Don’t get me wrong, I rarely think moving one set of tees (up or back) impacts your score by 4+ strokes, but even when the tees are pretty tight (less than 20 yards), the incremental gain from having 1-1.5 less clubs into every green will result in lower scores more often than not.
