Why Your Handicap is Hiding Your Skills

One of the things that makes golf so accessible to people is the handicap system, it allows players from all skill levels to compete against one another fairly. It’s one of the reasons golf is so popular with adults and why it continues to be one of the fastest growing sports in participation. The problem with this system is that our handicap has come to be a universal measurement of a player’s abilities. We think of every 10 handicap golfer being a 10 handicap putter, chipper, driver, and a 10 handicap in approach shots. We need to look at the handicap as a GPA, not a report card for golf. It gives us a 30,000ft view of a golfer, but to improve, we need to analyze the different parts of a golfer's game independently and total them to create a handicap. 

To start to zoom in on a golfer's skill level we need to break their handicap up into a few different sections. I like to think of the handicap as a combination of scores from driving, Approach shots (outside 40 yards), Short Game (40 yards and in), and putting. A player's handicap is made up of an average of these four criteria, so a scratch golfer could be a +4 in Driving, a +2 in Approach, 0 in short game, and a 6 in putting. When they start to work on their game, nine times out of ten, they will instantly work on hitting the ball closer because in the last round, they hit a ball into the trees that cost them a shot, or they didn’t hit the 50-yard pitch shot to 5ft. What really happened is those missed shots stuck in their heads, but they also missed 4 putts from 8ft and had a chip shot that ended up 12ft from the hole. Those five shots are not horrible when you look back on the round, but for a scratch golfer, they are far below expectations. 

The key when looking at where you need to improve is to dig deeper than just your handicap and memory of important shots. It’s all about looking at where your skill level stands compared to the average golfer of your handicap. According to Arcoss the average scratch golfer drives it only about 260 yards; that’s not terribly far. This tells us that a lot of really good players are making up their scores with excellent putting or short game shots. So, if you're a five handicap and you honestly drive the ball 280 yards off the tee and don't lose many golf balls, it's time to stop trying to improve your strength and look at short game as the low-hanging fruit to improve. Honest assessments of your skills as a whole, not just of one-off shots, will give a player great clarity on where they need to improve. We have created a skill assessment that you can use to break down each part of your game by handicap to better understand what areas you should be focusing on for improvement. If you would like to receive this information, leave a comment, and I will email you the one-hour assessment and game book.