The Blathering Duffer
(TBD vol. 24.2)
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, Arcos, Shot Scope, Golfing Focus, Every Shot Counts by Professor Mark Brody Columbia University Business School.
(TBD vol. 24.2)
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, Arcos, Shot Scope, Golfing Focus, Every Shot Counts by Professor Mark Brody Columbia University Business School.
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