Are there more really good amateurs than there were 40 years ago?

[David_Elvins]

I was really surprised to see these stats. 


https://www.usga.org/handicapping/handicap-index-statistics/mens-handicap-index-statistics-d24e6096.html



According to the USGA 2.5% of handicaps are scratch or better and a third of golfers are off single figures.


This seems like an incredibly high number when you consider how many players are pretty average. Maybe less casual golfers have a handicap than in other countries? Or maybe there are just a heap of good players.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Those numbers do seem significantly higher than I would have thought. But then again there are a lot of really good players out there.

[Bryan Izatt]

Slope wasn't universal until about 1990. It was a game changer. I played a course today that had a course rating of 70.3 and a slope of 145.

I played some competitive amateur events 50 years ago and qualified for the provincial (state) championship with a 79 playing off an 8 handicap.  Today neither that handicap or score would qualify for anything.  Competitive amateur scoring is way better now than it was 50 years ago.  More players, better training, more competition, more specialization - there's no comparison.


Lately I've been watching replays of hockey games from the 1960's, 1980's and 2010's at the highest professional levels.  The difference in skills and abilities between now and 50 years ago is astounding - they skate faster, pass better, stickhandle better, shoot harder and are better coached and play more of a system.  Most sports have moved ahead remarkably - golf is no different.


Tommy, could you name the course you mentioned above - the rating and slope seem to me to be out of whack with each other if you're talking about the rating and slope from the same tee.  I'm just curious.




 

[Tommy Williamsen]

It is Ballyhack. I looked it up and it is 70.6 and 145 slope.

[Jeff Schley]

I haven't played Ballyhack, but know that it has a reputation as a very difficult course. I looked it up and seeing 71.2/146 from the Ridge tees at 6131 yards. That is Stout! Must have quite a few hazards to clear in the air.

They have a max slope of 155 from the back tees. Not many courses have that.

[Edward Glidewell]

This seems like an incredibly high number when you consider how many players are pretty average. Maybe less casual golfers have a handicap than in other countries? Or maybe there are just a heap of good players.

Huge numbers of players in the US don't have official handicaps, even among people who play regularly. I used to play pretty regularly with a handful of work colleagues and I was the only one with an official handicap. I have a friend I play with 5 or 6 times a year who would be low single digits if he had a handicap, but he doesn't. The only people I ever play with that have official handicaps are my father and his friends who are all members of country clubs.

If you're not a member of a private club and you're not playing in competitions, there's really not much incentive to get a handicap for many players.

[V. Kmetz]

Huge numbers of players in the US don't have official handicaps, even among people who play regularly. I used to play pretty regularly with a handful of work colleagues and I was the only one with an official handicap. I have a friend I play with 5 or 6 times a year and he would be low single digits if he had a handicap, but he doesn't. The only people I ever play with that have official handicaps are my father and his friends who are all members of country clubs.

If you're not a member of a private club and you're not playing in competitions, there's really not much incentive to get a handicap for many players.

It's a oblique to the topic issue, but I have to agree... my 10-12 golfing familiars kept handicaps up to 15 years ago, but now just play off one another's historic HCP range as modified by known frequency of play/reports...re-adjust at the turn if things are clearly queer from the usual numbers.

[David_Elvins]

This seems like an incredibly high number when you consider how many players are pretty average. Maybe less casual golfers have a handicap than in other countries? Or maybe there are just a heap of good players.

Huge numbers of players in the US don't have official handicaps, even among people who play regularly. I used to play pretty regularly with a handful of work colleagues and I was the only one with an official handicap. I have a friend I play with 5 or 6 times a year and he would be low single digits if he had a handicap, but he doesn't. The only people I ever play with that have official handicaps are my father and his friends who are all members of country clubs.

If you're not a member of a private club and you're not playing in competitions, there's really not much incentive to get a handicap for many players.

Thanks Edward, 


I found some 5 year old  stats from Australia that had about 0.7% of golfers with a handicap of scratch or better and 20% in single figures.  Which makes a bit more sense based on my observations down here.  Presumably most of this is due to more people having handicaps but I wouldn't discount some of it being due to elite golf being much better in the US.