San Diego Lady Links Golf Club
Vicky Minneti
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All About Golf Ball Types

5/13/2025

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Golf Balls, TBD 25.5

To paraphrase Shakespeare: What’s in a Ball, A Ball by any other name is still a ball, is it not still round, does it not still fly through the air and roll across the green?

Well, Yes….but no. The better question is What Ball Should YOU Be Playing? Golf balls differ in weight, size, dimple pattern, compression, feel, core and cover material. All factors determining how a ball plays for you based on your swing speed and skill level. A forgiving ball flies nearly the same distance on off center hits, while a premium ball makes you pay dearly in distance if not hit properly. But a premium ball allows a skilled player to shape ball flight at will. Prices can range from $1-$5/ball. So NO, not all balls are alike. Titleist started the revolution in the modern ball in 2000. Their solid core innovation propelled them to top ball manufacturer. Prior to that balls had a liquid core around which was “wound” rubber, think Rubber Bands. Think of the solid core ball as a solid superball with a cover thrown on it. These balls instantly replaced the wound ball due to the massive jump in distance and control players now had.

“Distance” balls are almost always a 2 piece ball, a superball with a plastic covering. These will be your cheapest ball and have an Ionomer or Surylan cover. These balls don’t hold greens as well often rolling out several feet and may seem to bounce off your putter and are generally less durable. Urethane is used on the better balls making them more “sticky” to hold greens and putter control. Increasing the number of layers in the core may help cushion a hard ball to feel softer and/or help with control and spin around the green. Firmness in the middle superball layer is offset by a soft feel with layers around the core. The minimum # of layers for a control ball is 3. Premium balls have 4 layers with urethane cover. Only TaylorMade makes a ball with 5 layers, the TP5 and TP5X. But the more layers a ball has, the more powerful swing is required to compress all those layers and get the best distance and control out of it’s technology.
  1. Swing Speed is how fast the club head travels at the moment of impact. All references to swing speed here are for the driver, the fastest club. The numbers below are for the average of the listed category.

LPGA Women: 94 mph (Mid swing speed)
Average Scratch Women: 80-90 mph (Low-Mid swing speed)
Women + Seniors + Juniors: 60-80 mph (Low swing speed)

Knowing your swing speed may help you pick a ball. For a rough idea of swing speed, take the total distance of your driver and divide by 2.4. But let’s face it, most of us are in the Low swing speed category and should be playing a low-mid compression ball. How to roughly estimate your swing speed:
Example 1: If I hit my driver a total of 185 yds then 185/2.4=77mph. This is a rough approximation of swing speed. Next time you play, if you have a gps golf watch or range finder, you can get a rough approximation of your driving distance.
Example 2: If I’ve been to a simulator, it will tell me how fast I swing and give me all kinds of data including Carry Distance (travel through the air) and Total Distance (includes roll out). If it tells me I have a swing speed of 65 mph then my expected distance is 65 x 2.4 =156 yds.
  1. Compression Rating is a scale of how much pressure is required to compress the core. The scale goes from 30 to 110, soft to hard respectively. In reality, it is a measurement of deformity of the ball at impact. A harder ball deforms less and has less contact time with the club face. However, there is no industry standard for measuring compression. You cannot compare directly the rating number of one company to another. Use this as a general relative comparison. Some companies just use terms like low, medium and high compression to compare balls. Generally speaking, Low Compression= 30-65, Mid Compression= 70-85 and High Compression= 90-110.
Higher compression balls go further when hit with a higher swing speed, 100 mph or more. But these players lose distance with a soft or supersoft ball. While a player with swing speed less than 80 mph can hit a soft ball further than a hard ball due to higher launch and hang time of soft balls. But there’s more to choosing a ball. If you have a slice, the harder ball will accentuate the slice due to less contact time. A softer ball has more face contact time allowing for some correction of the slice. A softer ball gives up spin to gain distance and therefore you give up some control on irons and wedges and may not “hold the green” very well.
  1. Ball size: There is a max weight, but not a minimum weight. Heavier balls travel further due to aerodynamics. There is a Diameter minimum, but no maximum. Callaway Supersoft Max is an oversized ball, but does not exceed the weight limit. The size shifts the center of gravity and helps get the ball in the air with slower swing speeds. However, on whole, smaller diameter goes further.
  2. If you hit your driver over 200yds, want a lot of control around the green, play off a low-mid HCP and don’t mind paying $60/dz ($5/ball) then go with premium balls. If your drive is 160yds or less, there is no reason for you to be playing a premium ball e.g. Pro V1 or TP5. Look for a low compression 2 piece ball. Those in that mid driving range, 160-200yds, will probably find a mid compression ball works best, 2-3 piece ball. The more control you have with pitching and chipping, you may want a Urethane cover too for increased control.
Feel and price matter too and everyone’s priority is different. You can book time on a simulator and take several different balls to hit or go through an actual ball fitting with a pro. If distance or cheap price is a priority, then the 2 piece distance balls are for you. If you lose a lot of balls, then you may also want the 2 piece ball. If cost is no object, then the 3-5 piece balls may be right for you. If feel and green control is most important, you also want these balls. Finally, simulator testing is a good start to understanding distance and spin, but there’s nothing like taking your final choices out to the course to really see and feel the ball flight.
  1. Finally, Ball manufacturers update their balls every year or two. The ball I loved last year is now a higher compression and no longer fits my game as well! If you loved the 2023 Callaway Supersoft, you may not like the 2025 Supersoft that has also gotten a bit firmer. Other balls softened a bit as the company realized their target golfer for that ball needed less compression. So if you suddenly feel like your ball doesn’t play as well, its not you. Your ball was “updated”!

Have I totally fried your brain? Are you totally confused? Well here’s a few more details to make your head swim. Balls that used to be hard as a rock 20 yrs ago have gone through a lot of changes, sold to other companies and re-formulated. For instance, Top Flight is no longer a rock, but makes very good cheap balls, although their durability may be a little lacking. Pinnacle is now owned by Titleist and made in the same factory as the PRO V1. I find it to be a very good 2 piece ball of medium compression with decent control around the green and good durability. Pinnacle also makes a “Soft” ball for women in particular, but I haven’t tried them yet. Maxfli was Dunlop, then TaylorMade now owned by Dick’s and makes awesome balls for all levels at a very affordable price. Direct to Consumer balls abound and many, like Vice, are made by engineers that used to be at major golf companies so they know what they are doing! So there’s got to be a ball made for you out there somewhere, you just gotta find it!

A Fun Challenge to test different Balls
Next time you play a round with friends, each of you can bring a different sleeve of balls to test. Play your ball for 6 holes then swap balls. Play the next 6 holes and swap again. This way, you can compare how different balls feel to you and whether a ball gives you more or less distance or if you can hold a green or control it on the putter.
Have a Ball of a Time!






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Tips & Tricks for playing Balboa 18 Golf Course

4/22/2025

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Balboa Park 18: Hints, Tricks & Special Rules
This is a challenging course for all Handicaps so don’t get upset with yourself if you score more than you are used to. Its OK! Be patient with yourself. Bring lots of extra balls and you may just want to use some cheap balls! The greens are FAST! Practice putting before you start so you get a feel for the greens. There is often a breeze that will be more in your face on the back 9 so you may need to take more club than you think on your approach shots. If your ball is on a bare patch e.g. where carts enter and leave the fairway, you may take a 1 club length free relief. Always Enforced is a CART Path Only Rule on holes 1-5. If you have mobility issues, talk to the cart guy and ask for a Handicap Flag to allow you to be on the fairway.
Hole 1: On your approach, you may want to err short Or to the right of the green as you may get a bounce back to the green. Left of the green is deep rough.
Hole 2: There is a cart path that cuts across the fairway and a short fence across a part of the fairway. If the fence directly interferes with your swing or ball, you may remove the cross beams (slide them back) or take a 2 club length relief no closer the hole. Also take a free drop from maintenance area if you land in that rough dirt patch near the cart path crossing, 1 club length.
Hole 3: If your ball ends up in the boulders nearish the green on the right side, take a free drop, 1 club lengths no nearer to hole.
Hole 4: Hint, Avoid the Right at all cost! Err to the left as your ball will most likely bounce off the hill back onto the fairway. If you don’t have great control of your driver, hit your straitest club off the tee even if you give up distance.
Hole 5: Its ok to hit over the green as the hill will keep your ball in play and may knock it back to the green. Watch out for the deep bunker in front of the green! Tee balls hitting the power lines, re-tee with no penalty.
Hole 6: Canyon in front of the tee box is a penalty area, If you hit into it, you may pick up your ball and use the drop zone above near the cart path on the right with 1 penalty stroke.
Hole 7: Wood fence on right, near the street, is out of bounds. Use local rule and drop 2 club lengths inside the fairway at the spot it went out of bounds for a 2 stroke penalty.
Hole 9: If the maintenance building to the left is on your line or in your backswing, take free relief dropping at nearest point of relief no closer to hole.
Hole 11: As above for that same building that is now on the right side of the green area.
Hole 12: Canyon to the right, left and long. If you go into the canyon, drop 2 club lengths from point where it went in for 1 penalty stroke. On Approach, if your ball goes down the cart path past hole 13, take a drop in grassy area between the bench and the cart path above where the white tees are for #13, 1 stroke penalty.
Hole 13: Hint, you might want to take 1 club more than you think to make sure you get over the canyon. If you go into the canyon, you may drop at the bottom of the hill in the grassy area for 1 penalty shot.
Hole 15: Maintenance area is playable. If line of play or swing is blocked by equipment or shed You may take nearest point of relief, No Penalty.
Hole 16: Chain Link fence on right is out of bounds. The OB line continues to the tall white pole. For 2 stroke penalty, drop your ball 2 club lengths into the fairway from the point it went OB. Beyond the OB pole, is considered Red or Penalty area. You can hit out of it for no penalty, but that’s a bit scary. For a 1 stroke penalty you may drop 2 club lengths to the left of the cart path on fairway side where the ball ENTERED the penalty area.
Hole 17: Hint, If there is no wind, you may want to use 1-2 clubs less than usual for this distance. If the wind is up, stick to your normal club for this distance.
Hole 18: Right and Left are BAD! Fairway is narrow. Just use your straightest club to stay in the fairway. If you go over the edge to the left, you will be in deep rough and need to hit back up over or through the trees. Good luck! If you lose your ball to the right, drop in the fairway 2 club lengths for 1 penalty stroke.


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Wind, Slopes & Lies

4/6/2025

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The Blathering Duffer
25.04.01
Be a LEWD Golfer!
No, I’m not telling you to strip down and go streaking across the fairway or sit at the 19th Hole Bar and tell dirty jokes. Rather I’m saying be more aware of the lie of your ball on your approach shots and what to ask yourself to decide which club to pull for that shot into the green. Lie-Elevation-Wind-Distance….LEWD!
Lie of the Ball
It is rare that our ball lands on a perfectly flat area even in the middle of the fairway. We need to adjust our target if the ball lies above or below our feet and adjust what club loft we use if it is uphill or downhill. In the rough, the ball sitting up or slightly down in the grass or nestled deep affects what club to use. Let’s briefly take a look.
Ball Above the feet: The ball is likely to hook or draw somewhat. For a Right Hand (RH) golfer Right to Left and Left Hand (LH) golfer Left to Right. How much of a draw depends on how severe the lie above the feet is. In the fairway, it is usually a mild elevation difference between feet and ball, so a slight draw. If you are on a more severe side hill, the movement will be greater. Experience and making mental notes will help you make adjustments.
Ball Below the feet: The ball is likely to fade or slice. For a RH golfer Left to Right and LH golfer Right to Left. As above, the severity of the fade depends on the elevation difference between feet and ball and experience will help you adjust your aim.
Uphill Lie: This ball will tend to rise more and fall shorter than expected. A slight uphill lie may not require a club change, but perhaps a bit more swing. A more severe uphill lie may require you to club up (e.g. use a 7 iron instead of an 8 iron) to achieve the distance wanted, sometimes 2 clubs more. Experience will help you decide.
Downhill Lie: This ball will fly flatter and run out more. It may run through the green instead of stopping as expected. You may want to club down to a higher lofted club so the ball will land softer e.g. take a wedge instead of the 8 iron.
In the rough, if the ball is sitting up, you can use a wood if that’s the club you’re inclined to reach for. But if the ball sits down a little, it’s harder for the wood to cut through the grass and make good contact so you are more likely to top the ball. A hybrid club may be a better option. Hybrids are designed to cut through the grass and lift the ball and fly higher than a wood. If the ball is sitting down and its thick rough, you may not even be able to use a hybrid. You may just want to take a little more lofted iron to get down to the ball and lift it out of the thick grass. Yes you give up distance, but you are less likely to top the ball and more likely to advance the ball back to the middle of the fairway for an easier next shot.
Elevation
Here we ask if our target is above or below where we are standing. If the green is below us, we can treat it as slightly closer to us. If the green is above us, think of it as farther away. If you have a range finder with “Slope”, it will tell you actual distance and playing distance. For instance, the 17th hole at Balboa 18 is 150yds, but severely downhill. The slope makes it about 135yds. Instead of using my 3 iron, I can pull out my 5 iron. Without a range finder, think of a mild elevation change (1-10yds) keep the same club and adjust your swing. A moderate elevation change (11-20yds) is a 1 club change and a greater elevation change is 2 clubs.
Wind
Wind affects your ball flight and distance. A general rule is headwinds (hurting) affect distance more than tailwinds (helping). A hurting wind will hurt your distance 2x more than a tailwind will help distance. A 10 mph wind may hurt your distance by 12 yards or help by 6 yards. Into a 10mph wind, you’ll need to club up at least 1 club, but in the same helping wind, no club change is needed but you might adjust your swing. Wind is not constant and so on the day you’ll need to pay attention and make adjustments.
Distance
Firstly, what is the distance to the target/green. Secondly, after taking into count all the variables, what is the playing distance. The difference between your clubs is approximately 10yds. But could be as much as 15yds. You need to know your club distances. Every golfer is different.
So here’s how to apply LEWD to your game. I’ll look for actual distance first… 125yds. to the middle of the green. The Lie in the rough is ok, not sitting down, but slightly below my feet. I can use a 5 Hybrid or 7 iron, both go 125yds, but the hybrid can roll out more. The green is slightly uphill from me so I’m going to add 5yds = 130yds. There is a light wind in my face, so I add another 5 yds = 135yds. My 7 iron is now too short, but my 6 iron should get to the front of the green. I might get it with my 5 Hybrid with a full swing and good roll out, but if I club up to my 3 Hybrid, I’ll get there easily. The ball will fade slightly, left to right. So I’m going to aim at the very left edge of the green knowing that the ball should move towards the center of the green and use a nice easy swing so I don’t go too long.

I know it sounds like a lot to think about, but if you remember LEWD, its easier to remember and work through your shot selection. After just a few rounds of thinking like this, it will come more naturally and you will see better shot results and your scores start to come down, little by little.


Good Luck and Have Fun and BE A LEWD GOLFER!


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Golf Games

3/20/2025

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The Blathering Duffer
Scoring Methods and Games
Vol. 25.03_A
Winter is over, Rainy season nearly done, April flowers will soon be blooming. The beginning of Golf Season is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere now! To get you in the mood, I thought I’d give you several different games you can play with your friends that may make the game even more fun. I really like #3,#5,#10,#11,#12, #13 and #14. I think Bingo Bango Bongo (#13) may be my favorite and the Vegas Scramble (#14) would be a fun!
  1. Stroke Scoring is the usual scoring method we all know. Straight up, how many strokes did it take you to get the ball in the hole.
2) Match Play is a 1vs1 format often seen in team competitions like the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup. Just remember to keep to the rule of furthest from the cup plays first. Total score doesn’t matter. This is all about winning a hole. If both players hole out with the same score, the hole is halved, no point given. Otherwise, the player that holes out with fewest strokes wins the hole and goes 1 Up in the match. No reason to finish hole if you have lost it. Continue the match until there is no possibility of the player down being able to tie or win. For instance Up by 3 holes with 2 holes to play. A/S = All Square. Dormy = best the down player can do is to tie the match with remaining holes.
3) Stableford Scoring. In the 1800’s an English Doctor had such a high score he invented a new scoring method that didn’t feel as penalizing and Highest Score Wins! This is a popular scoring method in Britain even in many amateur competitions. The low HCP golfer may like to assign points as Par=1, Birdie=3 Eagle=5, Albatross=7. For us higher HCP golfers I like starting with Bogey=1, Par=2, Birdie=3, Eagle=7 and Albatross=8. If you would score greater than Bogey, Pick up your ball as anything else gets ZERO points.
4). Molave. Similar to Stableford with a tweak. Hole in 1 on a Par 3=7. Otherwise, maintain the same scoring you have in Stableford, but on a Par 4or5 an Albatros=8. Or increase all those by 1 for us high HCPers playing Bogey=1: Hole in 1=8 and Albatross=9.
5). Shamble not quite a scramble. This is a great game to help the short hitters or golfers with driver problems play well. Simply pick the best drive out of the bunch and everyone hits from that spot. From there on, play your own ball. You get the best distance of the group, but feel like you are competing with your own skill otherwise.
6). Scramble is what most of us are used to. Everyone Tees off, pick the best ball to play, everyone plays from there. Pick the best ball from the next shot and so on. Always play the better ball and take a group score. Often used in fun tournaments.
7). Texas Scramble is similar to a Scramble, but whose ever ball is chosen to play cannot hit the next shot. This rotates the sitter around all players and makes it more likely that everyone will have their shot used throughout the round.
8) Four Ball (Team Format) You’ll see this at Ryder and Solheim Cups. Everyone plays their own ball. Once the balls are holed, record best score for your team.
9). Greensomes (Team Format) is a 2vs2 game. All players hit their Tee shot. Each team selects best ball and then alternate shot from there forward until the ball is holed.
10) Skins is a gambling game. Decide how much money/hole is up for grabs. I’m cheap, so I’d be game for $1/hole. A golfer Must win a hole outright to take the money. If no one wins the hole, $ rolls over to next hole. It keeps rolling over until there is a winner. Then the next hole is worth $1 again…. Or whatever you agreed on.
11). Flags reminds me of the game capture the flag played by kids. You can use HCP with this too. Use the Par of the hole to determine the stroke used for closest to the hole. Wherever your shot finishes for that Par stroke, put your tee down. Closest to pin wins the hole. If a low HCP player plays a high HCP player, the higher HCP player will get an extra stroke on holes appropriate to their HCP.
12). Wolf (best with 4) another gambling game. Agree on $/hole. Select order and keep it through the match. Rotate through who tees off. Keep order. Throw a Tee to decide who is the Wolf to start. The wolf can select a Partner or go Lone Wolf. Everyone plays the hole normal. If the wolf is not beaten, they stay wolf. If the wolf (or their partner) wins, they take the money. If there is a partner, wolf splits the $ with the partner. If there is no winner on the hole, the $ rolls over. The wolf changes only when they lose the hole. The winner of the hole becomes the new wolf and takes the $ ion offer for the hole.
13). Bingo Bango Bongo Allows you to keep your score as normal but with added game of points for Bingo: 1st on Green, Bango: closest to pin and Bongo: first in hole. To be fair, Furthest away always plays 1st. Keep a separate score card for the Bingo Bango Bongo points.
14) Vegas Scramble Roll of the Dice. Use order of tee off to determine Golfer #1-4. Tee off then roll the die to determines whose ball you take. If 5 or 6, take the best ball. Continue normal scramble from there. (If you only have 3 golfers and die rolls on 4, roll again.) One of those big fuzzy dice hanging from your car mirror would be Fun to use!
15) Alternate Shot or Foursomes (Team Format) is another format used in Ryder and Solheim Cups. Its a 2vs2 match and is exactly as it sounds. Each team selects the first player to tee off. Then they alternate who plays the ball until it is holed out. Team with lowest score wins the hole. The one caveat to this is that teams must also alternate who tees off, no matter who finished the previous hole. Player A tees off on all odd holes and Player B tees off on all even holes.


Have Fun and Have a Great Golf Year!


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Chipping

12/29/2024

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Chipping (TBD 24.8)
​We’ve already discussed putting and how important it is to eliminate 3 putts from our game and how we can practice lag putts. Now lets discuss that other part of the all important short game, Chipping! The short game basically comprises 3 aspects of golf skills: Putting, Chipping and Pitching. Some may question what’s the difference between a chip and a pitch. Even the experts will disagree on where the division occurs. For us, the chip is within about 1-15 yards of the green and is a finesse shot taken with a wedge or short iron. A Pitch is further away from the green and requires more power than finesse. Typically we think of the chip as being fairly close to the green and fills us with dread as we walk up to it thinking “Don’t Duff Don’t Duff OMG Just DON’T DUFF IT!”
As anyone I’ve played with can tell you, I’m no expert at chipping. I have my good days and bad days. But I am more aware of what I’m doing and have drastically cut my double chips. Tiger Woods tracked his double chips ( DC’s) and its a stat you should track too. Ideally we want the DC’s to be Zero, but realistically 1-2/round for a high HCP is ok. Rather than think “Don’t Duff it!” Think “Get it on the Green!” GIOTG!! Initially on your journey of reducing DC’s, we don’t care how far from the hole it is, just GIOTG!
There is no way to improve at chipping without practicing it. I can’t really talk you through all the ways you can chip. But for the high HCP I might be able to offer you a few things to think about so you may better understand the principles of chipping. However, I highly recommend a lesson with a real coach.
First off, chipping is typically done with a wedge, but which wedge? Wedges typically come in 4 lofts: Pitching Wedge (PW) 45-48 degrees, Gap Wedge (GW) also called an Approach Wedge (AW) 48-52 degrees, Sand Wedge (SW) 54-56 degrees and Lob Wedge (LW) 58-62 degrees. Wedges come with different grinds also which is how fat the bottom is and how its angled and other technical stuff. But basically, we don’t want the bottom/leading edge of the wedge to get caught in the turf, but rather bounce off the turf when we chip. And the grind helps with this.
If you are NOT a mid-low HCP player, You Should Not Play a Lob Wedge. This is a very technical club that most of us high HCPers should not try to play. I learned to chip with just a PW and a SW. I did fine with that for a long time. When I bought my new clubs, they offered me a GW and I said sure. I like it! If all you have is the PW and SW, you are OK. You’ll do fine.


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The Blathering Duffer: The Handicap System (TBD 24.7)

12/16/2024

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What is the Handicap System?
The Handicap System is an agreed upon world wide system of assessing a golfers scoring ability, abbreviated HCP. There are 2 governing bodies that dictate the rules of golf and HCP system, the US Golf Association (USGA) and the Royal and Ancient group (R&A) in Britain, the home of golf. The rules and HCP systems of each were similar, but not exactly identical until 2019. They have now harmonized their systems so a golfer in Germany can play a golfer in the US, Australia or Japan and compete nearly as equals based on their HCP’s.

How does a golfer get a Handicap?
A golfer must belong to a club OR join the USGA to get an HCP. Often when you join a club e.g. the women’s club at Balboa or Torrey Pines, part of the membership fee goes to the USGA and the club uploads your score into the system when you play with the club. You then download the GHIN App and when you play outside of the club, you can enter your scores as well. FYI, Lady Links is not a part of this system.
GHIN = Golf Handicap and Information Network

An individual golfer can download the GHIN App on their own and pay a small fee to the USGA. Don’t quote me on these costs, but I believe its about $60 for 1 year. However, if you select a member club during registration e.g. Emerald Golf Club in Oceanside, you can join for $35. You can also make your own friends group of up to 10 people and each of you pay $40. (Costs estimated and subject to change!)

The use of the GHIN App has made getting a Handicap so much easier and less costly than in the old days. Some of us will remember when you absolutely had to belong to a club and present the score cards to the club scorer who was the only one with access to a computer and he/she entered the scores to the USGA. This was a barrier to many of us who either couldn’t afford to OR didn’t want to join a club. Now everyone can get an HCP for relatively little cost.

How is a Handicap calculated?
Your Handicap is based on your last 20 scores. When you first start entering scores, your will get a provisional HCP with each entry until you have established 20 scores. The HCP is NOT an average of the 20 scores! It uses your BEST 8 Scores in the last 20 rounds and averages them out. If you have a couple of blowup rounds, they won’t raise your HCP. However, because its based on your best 8 scores, it is also not your general average, but your “best 8 average”. This system allows for you to have some bad days due to illness or injury or maybe rusty from time off playing without having significant effect on your HCP. It also caps your HCP if it starts to rise rapidly. If there is more than a 3 point shift in a short period, it holds your average until the algorithm can tell if its a true upward trend or just a bad few rounds.

Scoring vs HCP
Let’s say you’ve established an HCP of 25. Let’s examine what our expectations for scoring should be. It is not as simple as adding your HCP to par, but its close. So a par 72 + 25 HCP= 97 score might be what you think, but you’d be wrong. Each course is given a slope rating which is a numerical value to indicate its difficulty. The slope is used to determine how many strokes you get on the course: Slope/113 x HCP = Course HCP. Lets say we are playing at Balboa Golf Course with a slope of 120 from the Red tees. Slope of 120/113 x 25 HCP = 26.5 Course HCP. Don’t want to do the math, use the GHIN App. Once you input the course and the tees you’ll be using, the GHIN App will determine your course HCP. We’ll round 26.5 up to 27 and the course expected score would be 72 par + 27 course HCP = 99 score. However, we are not expected to score our HCP every round, remember this is our “best 8 average”. If we score within 3-5 shots of our course HCP, we’ve met our expectations. We are only expected to score to our HCP 20% of the time, i.e. once in every 5 rounds.

Competing with your HCP
You are playing against those golfers I mentioned earlier. The German has an HCP of 16, The Australian at 10 and the Japanese is a 5. You’re still a 25 and you might be thinking you’re about to get a smack down. But the HCP system saves you. If you look at the score card, each hole has a Stroke Index or SI. This is used to determine if a player gets a stroke on a hole. The Japanese will get a stroke on holes with SI 1-5, so only 5 strokes. The Australian gets a stroke on SI holes 1-10 and the German gets a stroke on SI holes 1-16. But with an HCP of 25, you get a stroke each and every hole!

The Japanese scored 82 (gross) minus her 5 strokes = 77 (net) ….She had a rough day.
The Australian scored 86 gross - 10 = 76 net…. She scored close to her HCP
The German scored 95 gross - 16 = 79 net… She had jet lag, not used to the heat!
You scored 97 gross - 18 = 79 net…. You had a great day!

You can see how the HCP is used to level out the play and allows for players of all skill levels to compete against each other.

Enter your Scores in GHIN!
New this year, the GHIN App allows you to enter 9 hole rounds as well as incomplete rounds. If you play twilight and only get 15 holes completed, you can still enter the round. After each round, pull up the GHIN App, select your course and tees and enter your scores. You’ll have a choice of entering total score, front 9 and back 9 scores or hole by hole. If you don’t complete the round, it is best to do hole by hole entry. GHIN then uses an algorithm that looks at your scores for each hole and the stroke index for each hole to determine your likely score for the remaining holes. This is then used for your HCP calculation.


Happy Handicapping!




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Tracking Golf Stats

11/14/2024

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The Blathering Duffer
Stats to Track
Why Track Stats?
Tracking key stats can help to understand what the true weaknesses of your game are. This gives a starting place to work on improvements. We can also look at stats collected by Arccos or Shot Scope to give us some self awareness. Both have millions of shots from golfers across all Handicaps (HCPs) that have been collated and examined by statisticians. For instance, without looking at my stats, Shot Scope tells me that an HCP of 25+ is hitting 3 putts 4 times per round, a 15 HCP 3 putts 1 time per round and a scratch golfer once per 2 rounds. So now I know if I cut down on my 3 putts, I’ll improve my scores. What the stat doesn’t tell us is HOW to improve putting. (See my previous Duffer about putting!)
Here’s another stat that changed the way I hit my approach shots. Most amateurs hit ~80% of their approach shots short of the green. Course designers put most of the trouble (bunkers!) short of the green. I was pretty sure this applied to me so I just started taking a longer club than I would have thought. I may still miss a few short, but I’m hitting more greens or at least miss in better places and avoid trouble.
What Stats to Track?
This can vary depending on your HCP and goals. For most of us, the average golfer, there are 5 stats we can track. I’m going to give you a bit of a twist on some of the traditional stats you might already know and end with a couple bonus stats.
  1. Fairways In Play…. NOT Fairways Hit. Call this FIP. One of the interesting stats from Arccos and Shot Scope is that Distance off the tee is more important than Fairways hit in your scoring. A Drive that goes 50 yards further, but lands in the short rough is better than the shorter drive in the middle of the fairway. But there are limits. If the long drive is in long rough and you can barely get a club through it, well its not in unfettered play. Nor would a Drive that’s blocked by a tree or under a bush. Our Goal is to have 50% FIP. (A scratch golfer is at 50%, PGA Pro’s are at 60%.)
  2. Greens in Regulation or GIR. On a Par 3, the first shot should be on the green. On a Par 4, the 2nd shot should hit the green and on a Par 5 the 3rd shot should hit the green. A 25 HCP hits 15% GIR, a Scratch golfer hits 52% GIR and a Pro hits 67% GIR. Make 50% a Goal!
  3. Proximity to Green or PG. This is tracking where your approach shots hit when they don’t hit the green. What’s important to me is where am I missing: short, long, left and right. I’m not so concerned with distance at this point. If you are a mid to low HCP, you need to be more granular and want the distance from green also. If you are missing mostly short, you will know to take a longer club. If its right, or left but pin high or mid green range, then you have a club head or swing path error, but the right club. Or what I like to say… Right Club, Wrong Place…. Our Goal should be to have 12% in each direction (with 50% GIR!)
  4. Double Chips. This is a short chip shot around the green that you have total expectation of getting on the green. You might be 6 inches or 16 ft off the green. But you chunk it and it hardly goes anywhere or you’ve completely misgauged the swing and it fails to get to the green. Or you thin it right through the green to the other side off the green. These are score killers. It happens to the best of players, but we need to work on limiting them. High HCP players tend to have 4-5/round. Yikes, that’s 4-5 extra shots. Missing the green on approach is not a score killer, but the bad chip is. We need to get this down to 1/round. The only way to really improve this is to practice and get a chipping lesson. On my score card, I’ll put a line for chips. If its a double chip, its a 2 (or more!). I hope to see 0 or 1 going across my card for each hole. That’s the Goal!
  5. 3 Putts….NOT number of putts per hole. As an average golfer, we are not expected to hit many birdies at all. Every Par is a victory. If we are on the Green in Regulation, we’ve at least given ourselves a chance at birdie, but our expectation is to get Par, 2 Putts! But if you miss the green and have a short chip and are able to get the ball on the green close to the hole, you’ll have 1 put and Par. So the total #putts can be misleading. Its the 3 putts on a hole that really counts and kills your score. The Goal is to 3 putt no more than once per round.
  6. Bonus Stat! For the advanced player, mid-low HCP: 6a) Distance from Hole your approach lands. 6b) Distance of putts holed. If you are a mid-low HCP golfer, you are doing great. Now you want to improve your approach shots and extend your putting confidence. You hole 95% of 3 footers, 50% of 6 footers, 30% of 10-12 footers. What distance do you need to work on more. Do you need a putting lesson?
  7. Bonus Stat! Scoring totals of Birdies, Pars, Bogeys, Double Bogeys and Others (greater than double bogey). At the END of the round count these up. We’d love to eliminate the Others completely, but everyone has a blow-up hole, even the greats. To break 100 (Par 72) you can have 9 Bogeys and 9 Doubles (+27). To break 90, you can have 5 Pars, 9 Bogeys and 4 Doubles (+17). To Break 80 think of it as 12 Pars, 5 Bogeys and 1 Double (+7). If you score an Other in any of these scenarios, you’ll need to make it up by cutting back on Bogeys and Double Bogeys. Goal 1) Eliminate the Others and 2) Decrease Bogeys and Doubles appropriate to your scoring goal.
How do you implement this? You can get club tracking tags through Arccos, Shot Scope, or Garmin and connect to their apps. We’ll do a separate Duffer on these in the future. Or you can do it the old fashioned way of just keeping your own score card and on the extra lines mark check for yes or X for missed…1) your Score, 2) Drives-FIP check or X, 3) GIR check or X, 4) Proximity to Green-PG: S=short, L=Long, Lt=Left, R=Right. 5) Chips 0,1,2,3….
​Collect this data for just 3 rounds before you make any changes. After 3 rounds, look at the stats, see where your strengths and weaknesses are, figure out what you can change on your own and what you need help from a Pro to solve. Sometimes, just a little self awareness can really help you focus. Continue to track stats to monitor your progress.


Good Luck, Golf Good and Have FUN!
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Newsletter Beginnings:  Some  Rules

9/8/2024

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The Blathering Duffer is Lady Links very own newfangled newsletter. This will be a fairly short discourse on golf topics that may be of interest to our members. Topics will include Rules, Etiquette, Equipment, game improvement strategies, course info, course strategy, golf statistics, scoring formats, fun games to play on the course and more. Pose a question to our fearless leader, Vicky, and she’ll pass on the query for us to answer. There will be a team of newsletter writers who will probe deep into the rabbit holes looking for the best answers we can provide. TBD will be available at Lady Links Venues, Facebook, by email (if requested) and website (https://www.sandiegoladylinks.com/).
Our first topic is Rule Changes since 2019. As this golfer recently returned to golfing, I was surprised to find out there had been a lot of rule changes. Most changes came in 2019, a few more in 2021 and again in 2023. Most of 2023 changes deal with accommodations for disabled golfers. Now I know a lot of us are just social golfers and don’t pay much never mind to rules, but as your game improves and the more you play the more you may want to know what is the actual rule for…. When your ball lands in an animal hole what do you do and is there a penalty? (Drop 1 club length from the nearest point of relief with NO Penalty) These rule changes even catch out the pros as Rory McElroy just took a penalty for not dropping properly for an unplayable lie at Pebble Beach due to rule change to in 2023. Some rule changes go towards speeding up the game. Remember to always play Ready Golf! I won’t go into huge detail in this issue, but below is a list of most of the more important rules that may come into play most often. In future issues, we may choose 1 rule to go into in more detail. You can download the App USGA Rules of Golf that has lots of helpful videos too.
  • Search time-Reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes
  • Ball moved during search-Replace NO Penalty
  • Embedded Ball-Free relief anywhere through the course (old was only in the fairway or green)
  • Measuring a drop-Use longest club not the putter. (NO Belly Putters for this!)
  • Dropping-Drop from knee height rather than shoulder
  • Taking stance on wrong green is not permitted (If you hit your ball to another green and need to hit back, you must drop off that green to hit back, see rule 13.1.f)
  • Ball Unintentionally hits player or equipment-No Penalty
  • Double hit-No Penalty, counts as 1 stroke only (more likely to happen in sand or deep rough)
  • Touching sand in bunker incidentally is permitted (e.g. getting in and out, still should not touch sand when taking stance or stroke)
  • Loose impediments can be removed anywhere including hazards and bunkers, just don’t let your ball move
  • Dropping ball out of bunker is allowed-2 stroke penalty (If bunker is unplayable due to conditions there is another rule) So if you suck at bunker play like me, you can move your ball out of and behind the bunker in line with the hole and just take a 2 stroke penalty. Then go get lessons to learn how to get out next time. ;-)
  • Water Hazards are now called Penalty Area. The term Hazard has been removed and Penalty Area is now used for both yellow and red marked areas. Slightly different rules for taking relief from red vs yellow Penalty Areas. Talk later on this!
  • Touching ground (grounding the club) in Penalty Area-No Penalty
  • Ball moves on Green after being marked-replace ball, No Penalty
  • Ball accidentally moved on Green-Replace, No Penalty (Applies to a practice swing accidentally hitting the ball)
  • All damage on Green can now be repaired. (Do not try to improve natural lie of the green!)
  • Positioning a club for alignment is not permitted
  • Caddie assisting with alignment is not permitted
  • Putting with flagstick in hole is Permitted
  • Ball wedged against flag stick and side of hole is deemed as holed
  • On the Tee-Ball is not deemed in play until stroke is made-accidental movement of ball does not count as a stroke, re-tee No Penalty.
  • Removing loose impediments on the green-you may now use a towel or glove to brush aside No Penalty.
  • Note: Sand on the Green is a loose impediment and may be brushed aside, but sand on the fringe is part of the lie of the course and may not be brushed aside.









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Handicaps

9/8/2024

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Great Expectations was a great novel, but it also can be an ego killer for all us golfers. So let’s talk just how bad or good a golfer are we. That is after all what blather means… to talk, have a chinwag, chitter-chatter… Once I came to find out what is Average for amateur women golfers I realized that I’m not so bad. That helped me to enjoy my round of golf a little more and then start the journey to improvement with a statistic driven plan. So let’s look at some stats! Down the Rabbit Hole!
The average score for an amateur female golfer is 107. However, this stat does not include the millions of golfers who do not have a Handicap (HCP). It’s is thought that including ALL female golfers raises the average score to 110-115. Do you feel a little better now? OK, let’s keep going. Let’s break down scores and see what percent of all (male and female) amateur golfers score in each sort of benchmark range. Par is generally 72.
Less than 70 = 0.0001%, these are elite amateurs
70-79 = 5%, very good, scratch or near scratch low HCP golfers
80-89 = 21%, mid HCP golfers
90-99 = 29%, mid going into high HCP golfers
100-109 = 24%, high HCP golfers
110-119 = 10%, high HCP golfers
120+ = 11%, very high HCP
45% of all golfers score over 100/round and are high HCPers. USGA puts the average woman’s HCP at 26.4 and over 70% of women golfers in the USA have a HCP over 21. These numbers are mirrored in the UK and Australia. So, you should be feeling pretty good now. If you are one of the high HCPers, give yourself a break as you’re in the average. If you are regularly scoring under 100, you’re a pretty good golfer and can really pat yourself on the back! (Note: Stats show we only play to our HCP 25% of the time and score an average of 3 strokes more than our HCP.) If you just play and don’t give a rat’s behind about HCP, you can look at the scoring percentages above and get an idea of where you’d fit. I’m guessing Average!
So now you’re wondering how your drive stacks up. Well first let’s be reasonable and think about our age. Stats show that we reach our longest drives in our 20’s and then every 10 yrs. there is a drop off. If we’ve been playing life long, even though we lose distance our accuracy increases with both drives and approach shots. (Nice tradeoff) But the most severe drop in distance occurs after the age of 60. However, with access to more fitness and flexibility programs the drop off may be lessened. The average female golfer hits the driver 168 yds.. Skew this down a bit for your age and know that distance drops as the HCP increases. I’m betting that an awful lot of us just found out that we are Average! And we should be pretty happy about that. Some of us just found out that we actually do smack that lil’ white ball a heck of a far distance and are tickled pink! So I think all of us should be feeling pretty good now.
Average is a good starting point. With a little better course management and learning how to think more about the course, we can start dropping shots without having done anything to improve our swing. Then combine that with a lesson and a little practice, you will see even more improvement. You’ll be tumbling into that mid HCPer region in no time. But this may not be a concern for you. You may not have time to go for lessons or go to the range and that’s OK. That was me for a very long time. I played once a month at best and never really improved. The trick then is to be happy no matter how you are playing. Enjoy the time out with friends and don’t worry about your score. Manage that expectation and you’ll have a fun day outside with the birds chirping, the rabbits hopping, turtles sunbathing, the foxes trotting and the coyotes crossing paths.
Etiquette Note for the Teeing Ground
Keep all carts, motorized and pull carts, off the teeing area. Grab your club, ball and tees and walk up to the teeing area. Determine who will tee off first: tee toss, rock-paper-scissors, flip a coin….. After that it is customary to let the lowest scorer of the previous hole tee first, “Have the Honor”. However, in Ready Golf, if that person is not ready, whomever is ready should announce they are ready and ask to go ahead. The Honor golfer should acknowledge them and say go ahead… or say if they are actually ready to go. But let’s not get our knickers in a twist over this. When a player is hitting, everyone should cease talking, pulling clubs, making noise in general. Additionally, we should watch each other’s ball in case it heads into trouble. More eyes on it can mean a ball is found quicker with less delay to play.
Rule Note for the Teeing Ground
You must Tee your ball up behind and between the tee markers. You may not move the tee marker, but you may stand outside the marker with your ball still between the markers. You may go as far back as 2 club lengths from the markers, but no farther. (Maybe the ground is torn up closer, or your club distance is better a little further back…) You do not have to use a tee, you may build the ground for the ball (Chop it up higher when not using a tee). You may not alter the ground anywhere else on the course, only in the tee box. (Personal Note: Use a tee, don’t hack up the ground. This is the one and only place you get to put your ball on a perfect lie, a reliable height for greater consistency. I’m just sayin’…..And the grounds keepers will thank you.)
​ References: USGA Handicap Research Team, PGA, LPGA, National Golf Foundation, Trackman, Arccos, Shot Scope, Golfing Focus, Every Shot Counts by Professor Mark Brody Columbia University Business School.



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The Scorecard

9/8/2024

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The Score Card
THE Score Card can help save you strokes! Yup, just by taking a minute to read the score card to familiarize yourself with the “Local Rules” may save you from taking unnecessary penalties or attempting to hit a hero shot when blocked by a part of the course. The Score Card also tells you everything you need to know about the course. Take a look at it before starting your round!
(Note: HCP = Handicap)
USGA, Local Rules and Playing Guidelines
The rules and useful information are usually on the back of the card. Guidelines may include location of bathrooms on the course, distance marker descriptions, restrictions on carts, drop areas, tips for ready play golf etc.
Rules will indicate USGA rule applications for their course e.g. a canyon may be unmarked but is a lateral hazard or a fence may be Out of Bounds (OB) or a pond is a lateral hazard. “Local Rules” are a selection of approved USGA rules the course has selected to use. Think of them as approved exceptions to the regular USGA rules. For example, if your ball lands next to a tree ordinarily there is no relief without penalty, but the local rule may allow free relief from staked trees. Or if your ball is in a flower bed, take a free drop or if its OB, you don’t have to walk back to the tee to re-hit with penalty, but take a 2 shot penalty and hit it from the fairway (for faster play). Barrier Fences may also get a free drop, or a part of the course is unmarked ground under repair, take a free drop… You see how you might take a penalty drop if you didn’t read the card or if you didn’t know better you might try to take a ridiculous unnecessary shot out of a flower bed.
Tee Selection
We’re all familiar with the scoring side of the card to record score. But let’s take a look at it more closely. Yes, it has holes 1-18, Par for the hole is usually highlighted and tee colors and distances per hole as well as total course distance indicated. Let’s start there. Usually there are at least 3 Tee boxes, but there may be as many as 5 Tee boxes to choose from. The same colors are used by most courses, but not necessarily. So generally speaking, Black = Championship Tees or The Tips (Professionals), Blue = Back Tees (Big hitting amateur men and Professional women), White = Middle Tees (Average amateur men and long hitting, Low HCP women), Green = Mid Forward Tees (Senior men, some juniors and long hitting, Mid HCP women), Red = Forward Tees (most women, senior men and juniors). Sometimes there is a tee even further forward used for younger juniors. Who these tees is intended for as noted is a generalization. What determines which tee you should use is the total length of the course you are most comfortable with and how long you hit your driver. Tees do not have a gender only a distance. There are no men’s or women’s tees. (Tees are Non-Binary in todays parlance! Hahahaha.)
Follow the tee color across the card and you will see a total distance for holes 1-9 and again for 10-18, then the total distance. The shorter full courses forward tees may be about 4700yds. I’m comfortable with 5000-5400 yards and drive the ball on average 175yds. So I might move back a tee on a short course. If you hit your driver 150yds or less, you will be most comfortable with less than 5000yds. If you are a low HCP player and drive 225yds or more, you may want to hit from the white tees. Unless you are playing a tournament that dictates what tee everyone plays from, go to your comfort tee.
Course Difficulty: Rating and Slope
The Score Card tells you the course Rating and Slope, sometimes on the front, but may be on the back. The rating and slope changes depending on the Tees and whether you are a man or a woman. Rating = what a scratch golfer could be expected to score on the course on a good day. Slope = Difficulty of the course. Average Slope is 113. Slope takes into account hundreds of metrics e.g. hazards, length, contours, greens and bunkers, bogey ratings etc. All this is put into an algorithm that comes up with a numerical value of 55-155. These numbers tell you if its an easy or hard course. For example, A rating of 72.4 and slope of 110 is slightly easy and a rating of 76.5 and slope of 128 is a difficult course. As a new player or high HCP, you may not want to play the hard course quite yet, or you may love the challenge. If you have a HCP, the slope is used to determine your “Course Handicap” which tells you how many strokes you get on the course over Par. Slope/113 x HCP = Course HCP. For instance, my HCP is currently around 24. I just played a course with a slope of 120. My course HCP is 120/113 x 24 = 25.48. So on this par 72 course + 25 strokes = 97 Course HCP. I scored a 102 or was 5 strokes over my Course HCP. Not bad as hitting the HCP would be a very good day. We’ll save Handicap discussions for another day.
Up to this year, many executive courses did not have a slope. Last year the USGA pushed for executive courses to get Slopes. Many executive courses now have a slope rating, but there may still be a few that have not been rated yet. This is a long involved process as so many metrics have to be used.
Hole Difficulty: Stroke Index or Handicap
Stroke Index (SI) is listed below each hole. SI runs from 1-18 with 1 being the hardest hole and 18 the easiest hole. SI is also sometimes called Handicap on the score card. This is used to determine if someone gets a stroke on a hole based on their HCP vs another player. A 5 HCP gets a stroke on SI 1-5, but a 16 HCP gets a stroke on 1-16. The rest of us high HCPers get a stroke on every hole! Even if you don’t really pay attention to SI when playing, it at least tells you the difficulty of the hole. When reading the card, be careful not to confuse SI line with the Hole line or Par line. Some people like to highlight the hardest holes on the score card for extra attention and planning.
Course Map
Not every course puts a map on the score card, but it sure is nice to have. The map shows the layout of holes in relation to each other, location of sand traps, shape of the green, tree lines, water on course etc. Some may have the hole diagram above the hole number on the front. But this doesn’t show you where one hole is in relation to another.
​Phone Number
If you encounter any problems on the course, medical emergency or harassment, call the pro shop. The number is listed on the card. I’ve seen enough of the old man fight videos on Youtube. If a group behind you starts hitting into you and you’ve tried to ask them nicely to stop, call the pro shop and ask for the Marshall to come out. Let him deal with the rude golfer. If a group in front of you is moving slowly and you can clearly see there is not another group in front of them, you can ask to play through them or call and ask for a Marshall. This is more likely to happen if they are a group of 4 and you are two. But you might just take the opportunity to hit extra golf balls while you wait….Patience is needed for all aspects of golf!




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