The Golf Thread - 2016!
Discussion
JamesNotJim said:
+1 gross today. Not even good enough for a win, pipped by 2 points. HA! love being a low handicapper me. 
Ignore them. Stableford points and net scores are meaningless. The winner is the person who takes the fewest shots. If that was you, then you are the winner to me!
Handicaps are like letting football teams have more players. Doesnt happen in the FA Cup, shouldnt happen in anything other than the most relaxed social golf.
SpeckledJim said:
JamesNotJim said:
+1 gross today. Not even good enough for a win, pipped by 2 points. HA! love being a low handicapper me.
Ignore them. Stableford points and net scores are meaningless. The winner is the person who takes the fewest shots. If that was you, then you are the winner to me!
Handicaps are like letting football teams have more players. Doesnt happen in the FA Cup, shouldnt happen in anything other than the most relaxed social golf.
That would kill the game of club golf in a flash.
So James not Jim may have bettered his handicap by several shots, which is to be commended.
But the guy who won bettered his handicap by 2 more than JNJ did, which should be applauded!
If mid to high handicappers knew they had absolutely zero chance of winning, the attraction of competitions would soon wear off.
Everyone strives to get better at golf - and the only way that can happen for the club golfer is to practice and win competitions to lower their handicap. After all, all of you single digit golfers were mid to high handicappers once and the only reason you are where you are now is because you won competitions to get there.
Give the less able a break!
Rosscow said:
SpeckledJim said:
JamesNotJim said:
+1 gross today. Not even good enough for a win, pipped by 2 points. HA! love being a low handicapper me.
Ignore them. Stableford points and net scores are meaningless. The winner is the person who takes the fewest shots. If that was you, then you are the winner to me!
Handicaps are like letting football teams have more players. Doesnt happen in the FA Cup, shouldnt happen in anything other than the most relaxed social golf.
That would kill the game of club golf in a flash.
So James not Jim may have bettered his handicap by several shots, which is to be commended.
But the guy who won bettered his handicap by 2 more than JNJ did, which should be applauded!
If mid to high handicappers knew they had absolutely zero chance of winning, the attraction of competitions would soon wear off.
Everyone strives to get better at golf - and the only way that can happen for the club golfer is to practice and win competitions to lower their handicap. After all, all of you single digit golfers were mid to high handicappers once and the only reason you are where you are now is because you won competitions to get there.
Give the less able a break!
It hasn't killed the sport of marathon running.
Only golf says you don't have to be the best to win. We strive to get our handicaps as low as possible, knowing that we will never, ever be off +4. That is the game.
And some of us massage our handicaps to give us a chance of winning a sleeve of balls for second-best nett in a Sunday Medal.
Winning the nett competition in and of itself does nothing at all for your handicap. That is a vanity. And it is nice, and fun, but its a vanity.
Hundreds (thousands maybe, dunno) of teams play in the FA Cup knowing they will never win it. The challenge is how far you can get.
There is no public glory in a round of applause for an 85 (or a 75, or a 95, or a 105) when half the room shot lower. The private satisfaction in the 85 is if it cuts the handicap.
I love the competition, and I don't mind losing at all if a better player beats me gross and we both enjoyed the match. (and if I didn't let myself make any stooopid decisions!)
If he beat me or I beat him nett, it's fun but we both know it means nothing. He, or I, can have our moment and our 50p, but it isn't real.
I can (narrowly) beat Usain Bolt if I start from the 40 metre mark. It would be fun, but it wouldn't be the reason to take my marks.
I don't think a chap who plays 4 times a year and shot 10 under his entirely false handicap should get more celebration than the guy who really really works at his game and played the best round of his life to shoot a 4-under-handicap 71 and best gross.
Doesn't happen in marathon running.
SpeckledJim said:
Bryson De Chambeau is trolling golf.
I like it.
I like his single length clubs strategy and I admire his attire but it all goes to s**t when he's goes through that protracted putting addressI like it.
Trolling indeed
As for lowest gross versus best stableford, our clubhouse gives mild applause for the chap that shoots 72 but they shout and holler when a 28 handicapper is called up with 46 stablefords
I'm a purist, been in both camps, best net of 57 a while ago, got some abuse for that and, more recently, a best round of 73 which was 4 off of the winner who plays off +2, give me the latter any day
Over to you Rosscow......
djstevec said:
cheddar said:
SpeckledJim said:
Bryson De Chambeau is trolling golf.
I like it.
I like his single length clubs strategy and I admire his attire but it all goes to s**t when he's goes through that protracted putting addressI like it.
Trolling indeed
eta
Tiger Shark clubs maybe?
Obviously I'd rather win a competition by shooting the lowest gross score rather than having the highest stableford score.
But, you would literally hand out every trophy or prize to the same 5 members. And that simply can't be good for a golf club.
You have to remember that golf is a game to be enjoyed for fun. We don't play it professionally. Imagine if the +2 handicapper won every weekend, and the 28 handicapper came last every weekend. Boring!
But, you would literally hand out every trophy or prize to the same 5 members. And that simply can't be good for a golf club.
You have to remember that golf is a game to be enjoyed for fun. We don't play it professionally. Imagine if the +2 handicapper won every weekend, and the 28 handicapper came last every weekend. Boring!
Ooh how exciting!
Golf as a mainstream sport/pastime, simply doesn't exist without the Stableford system, all those mid-high hc players, paying their subs, and turning up to play every week.
If you want to be a gross snob that's fine, but there's always someone better, so moaning about shooting +1 and not winning, is just as bad to the +2 hc player who shot 67?
Most golfers greatly admire the better players, No one wants to play off 28, everyone wants to be 'that player', that always shoots par or thereabouts.
I think it's poor form to be
y about the system that gives the lesser skilled players, the incentive to keep playing.
Golf as a mainstream sport/pastime, simply doesn't exist without the Stableford system, all those mid-high hc players, paying their subs, and turning up to play every week.
If you want to be a gross snob that's fine, but there's always someone better, so moaning about shooting +1 and not winning, is just as bad to the +2 hc player who shot 67?
Most golfers greatly admire the better players, No one wants to play off 28, everyone wants to be 'that player', that always shoots par or thereabouts.
I think it's poor form to be
y about the system that gives the lesser skilled players, the incentive to keep playing. But everyone in every other amateur sport who plays for fun makes do without an artificial tilt to their pitch.
95% of weekend runners know they stand zero chance of winning, the fun is in the doing, and the competing, not the winning.
I enjoy a game of golf where the handicaps have levelled the playing field and made the result a lottery (in my favour or otherwise, I am not being snobby about anything. I would get massacred in literally ANY serious strokeplay competition. Completely massacred). It makes it more engaging. But reading anything into the actual result at the end is a nonsense.
Like my Usain Bolt analogy. Would you applaud my victory after a 40-yard head-start? Doesnt that seem a strange thing to celebrate?
95% of weekend runners know they stand zero chance of winning, the fun is in the doing, and the competing, not the winning.
I enjoy a game of golf where the handicaps have levelled the playing field and made the result a lottery (in my favour or otherwise, I am not being snobby about anything. I would get massacred in literally ANY serious strokeplay competition. Completely massacred). It makes it more engaging. But reading anything into the actual result at the end is a nonsense.
Like my Usain Bolt analogy. Would you applaud my victory after a 40-yard head-start? Doesnt that seem a strange thing to celebrate?
But in most other sports people play in a league / division / classification that is grouped for their skill level.
Usain Bolt doesn't run against people who regularly post 15 second sprints.
Accrington Stanley are rarely paired against Barcelona and I'm yet to draw Roger Federer at the local tennis club.
However I can turn up at the weekend and have to compete against the best player at our golf club.
Usain Bolt doesn't run against people who regularly post 15 second sprints.
Accrington Stanley are rarely paired against Barcelona and I'm yet to draw Roger Federer at the local tennis club.
However I can turn up at the weekend and have to compete against the best player at our golf club.
Rosscow said:
Obviously I'd rather win a competition by shooting the lowest gross score rather than having the highest stableford score.
But, you would literally hand out every trophy or prize to the same 5 members. And that simply can't be good for a golf club.
You have to remember that golf is a game to be enjoyed for fun. We don't play it professionally. Imagine if the +2 handicapper won every weekend, and the 28 handicapper came last every weekend. Boring!
If you are a member of a club, you will know that it takes time for most golfers to find their level of ability and for the Club Handicap system to balance out. There will always be some catch-up time, where a player who's game is improving wins everything, as he is constantly shooting below Par (nett)But, you would literally hand out every trophy or prize to the same 5 members. And that simply can't be good for a golf club.
You have to remember that golf is a game to be enjoyed for fun. We don't play it professionally. Imagine if the +2 handicapper won every weekend, and the 28 handicapper came last every weekend. Boring!
2 handicap players will have more consistency, if the weather is good, bad or neutral. They will generally be up there in the scoresheet.
When it comes to golf...
The Ability to play well is a natural thing, practice improves your likelihood of using that ability, if it is tutored.
Ability can be learnt, hand eye coordination, mechanics, tempo and course management.
Getting round the course in a competitive fashion is a great achievement for most.
Dan_1981 said:
But in most other sports people play in a league / division / classification that is grouped for their skill level.
Usain Bolt doesn't run against people who regularly post 15 second sprints.
Accrington Stanley are rarely paired against Barcelona and I'm yet to draw Roger Federer at the local tennis club.
However I can turn up at the weekend and have to compete against the best player at our golf club.
Good post, Golf is in fact the best of sports due to this. I could play Golf with Rory tomorrow, share the same course and thoroughly enjoy it. In no other sport, can players of such differing ability levels, enjoy playing together. Usain Bolt doesn't run against people who regularly post 15 second sprints.
Accrington Stanley are rarely paired against Barcelona and I'm yet to draw Roger Federer at the local tennis club.
However I can turn up at the weekend and have to compete against the best player at our golf club.
Golf is the bestestest.
SpeckledJim said:
But everyone in every other amateur sport who plays for fun makes do without an artificial tilt to their pitch.
Golf - a sport? A game of skill perhaps but to call it sport is stretching things a bit. You can however choose how to play this game, strokeplay or Stableford or even match play.I don't think you can really compare the likes of marathon running with Golf to be fair.
Edited by Blaster72 on Saturday 10th December 15:11
I have no squabble with handicaps making a hole-by-hole round of golf more enjoyable.
It is the bit after the game is finished where we forget that in golf the lowest score wins that somewhat mystifies me. Where is the personal satisfaction in a win reliant on a head-start? If the win is combined with a personal best, then that's immensely satisfying, but by virtue of your own work and score, not your score less your handicap in comparison to everyone else's.
And the clubhouse collective betrays the truth when they groan at the 28 handicapper who wins with the nett 59. And the chap, red-faced, hopefully apologises as he collects his sleeve of balls. And hopefully carries on playing regularly down to a genuine 18, instead of disappearing until he is mid-twenties again.
It is a complete sleeve of balls.
Does any club golfer really find it is the quest for best nett that propels them out of bed at 6am on a Sunday? Instead of the 4 hours with your mates, out of the house, the dream to shoot the lowest gross you can, the matchplay, the betting, the fresh air, the lucky eagle, etc, etc.?
I am in the middle - not good enough to win best gross, but probably too low a handicap to stand any chance at best nett. So my only motivation is to set personal bests.
It is the bit after the game is finished where we forget that in golf the lowest score wins that somewhat mystifies me. Where is the personal satisfaction in a win reliant on a head-start? If the win is combined with a personal best, then that's immensely satisfying, but by virtue of your own work and score, not your score less your handicap in comparison to everyone else's.
And the clubhouse collective betrays the truth when they groan at the 28 handicapper who wins with the nett 59. And the chap, red-faced, hopefully apologises as he collects his sleeve of balls. And hopefully carries on playing regularly down to a genuine 18, instead of disappearing until he is mid-twenties again.
It is a complete sleeve of balls.
Does any club golfer really find it is the quest for best nett that propels them out of bed at 6am on a Sunday? Instead of the 4 hours with your mates, out of the house, the dream to shoot the lowest gross you can, the matchplay, the betting, the fresh air, the lucky eagle, etc, etc.?
I am in the middle - not good enough to win best gross, but probably too low a handicap to stand any chance at best nett. So my only motivation is to set personal bests.
SpeckledJim said:
..,but probably too low a handicap to stand any chance at best nett. So my only motivation is to set personal bests.
It's all about setting personal goals for me, hell I don't even play more than 5 rounds a year with friends anyway. The point I am making, is that without Stableford, Clubhouse golf is dead. Clubhouse golf, as in a 28hc guy, playing with his <5 and enjoying a game of matchplay? Without stableford, this doesn't happen does it?
Any club that has consistent winners with over 40 points, has a problem imo.
My motivation is enjoyment and improvement, I'm with you Jim that there are various cheating tossers who give artificial handicaps and walk away with undeserved prizes but at the end of it all I don't play to win a sleeve of balls or a bottle of wine I play to enjoy myself and socialise and have a personal challenge to continually learn and improve.
99% of my Golf is social for enjoyment with the odd competition but I can understand where very good amateur Golfers can get a bit carried away and take it all far too seriously. If you enter competitions to win and work hard all year dedicating lots of time to improving your game and your fitness then I can see how these handicap chancers could get a touch annoying.
99% of my Golf is social for enjoyment with the odd competition but I can understand where very good amateur Golfers can get a bit carried away and take it all far too seriously. If you enter competitions to win and work hard all year dedicating lots of time to improving your game and your fitness then I can see how these handicap chancers could get a touch annoying.
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