My Handicap Tastes Like Ash

As mentioned previously, I committed to a handicap challenge with AJ Stuckey without doing any research on the odds of achieving my goal.

I wanted it to be challenging but realistic. The only possible reference point I had was the Chasing Scratch duo attempting to reach scratch in one year.

They are still working on dropping from 11 but they also have jobs, wives, and kids. I only have a job and a girlfriend who needs an engagement ring. As well as an upcoming Paris trip that will most likely delay my 2024 outside start date to mid February.

Shaving 18.7 down to 11.7 by November 15th seemed like an aim for the moon, reach the stars goal.

AJ is shooting for 2.0 after starting the year at 4.7. He had originally committed to 2.7 but changed it an hour after we launched the episode.

I have since done some research on what certain handicaps shoot. I must confess I am relieved.

Striking distance isn’t that far away according to Par3NearMe.com.

If you shoot a 80, you can say that your handicap is an 8.

If you shoot a 85, you can say that your handicap is a 13.

If you shoot a 90, you can say that your handicap is an 18.

The author describes these numbers as a simple imperfect method. Thanks the recent GHIN Rewind, I discovered my handicap is actually 18.8. Not 18.7.

My lowest index was 17.1.

My Grint App says my Low Handicap is 19.2, but only 70% of my scores have been attested.

The biggest jump my Grint handicap made was between 9/29 and 10/3 when I recorded a 103 (31.1) followed by an 89 (17.4), my first ever sub 90 round.

Sounds like to paraphrase Pirates of the Caribbean, my 2023 handicap may be more of a guideline. I will be more intentional about inputting my numbers in 2024.

My two sub 90 rounds in 2023 were completed in a vacuum. In other words, I was playing by myself. No wasted time looking for another person’s ball. No small talk distractions.

I’m no different than most average golfers. If I can remove three putts and OBs off the tee, I should be in business. I examined my 2023 low round of 87 recorded October 8th in an effort to find the low hanging fruit.

I’m not always great with the Grint GPS shot tracking and higher level stat recording. Some holes don’t have any shots recorded. Some have a 462 yard 6 iron because I had forgotten to turn the tracking off before going to the next hole.

As such, it is unclear to me as whether I did have any out of bounds off the tee. I will have to do a better job of tracking those speciality disasters moving forward.

Low Lights from the Lowest Round of 2023

Three Putts: 4

Bogeys: 7

Double Bogeys: 4

Advanced Low Lights

Three Putts on Par 5: 1

Three Putts on Par 3 in which the tee shot landed on the green: 1

Three Putt on 308 Yard 18th: 1

Highlights

Greens in Regulation: 7

Score on 7 Holes in GIR: +1

Scramble: 1

Three Pars in a Row over 14, 15, 16 including a scramble on 14

Opened Bogey, Bogey, Par, Double and still recorded my lowest round of 2023.

Returning to Par3NearMe’s simple imperfect formula, if I could eliminate the 3 putt on the Par 3 11th and Par 4 18th, my score changes to 85.

Despite a 283 yard drive on the par 5th, I hit the second shot fat when I normally will go for the green in two. That frustration carried over to the putting green where I three putted. That hole cancels out the par on the par 3 8th, normally a bogey or worse for me.

As of January 31st, I am infinitely more confident in my putting and short game thanks to consistent work both at the sim, which has a Perfect Putt mat, and going to the club.

I am very unsure of my driver right now. It feels dead at the simulator. Several swings last night resulted in a 220 yard carry with little roll out. My expectation was that I was consistently driving the ball further during my lowest round of 2023, but that was not the case.

Perhaps, I’ve lost some distance but traded in length for consistency although I have told countless people I don’t trust my driver in the sim compared to outside.

That round I recorded drives of 241, 190, 283, 222, 157, 266, 215, 205, 242, 207, 228, 258, and 259.

One drive was not recorded. The average is 228.

Hole 2 - Par 4 - 190 yard drive - 191 yard 6 iron - 2 putt - bogey

Hole 4 - Par 5 - 283 yard drive - 79 yard 6 iron - 3 putt - double bogey

Hole 6 - Par 4 - 157 yard drive - 193 hybrid - 3 putt - double bogey

Hole 9 - Par 4 - 215 yard drive - 67 yard 8 iron - 2 putt - bogey

Hole 12 - Par 4 - OB, 205 yard drive - 173 yard 8 iron - 2 putt - double bogey

There are some issues.

Sadly, I didn’t utilize the app correctly during my stretch of pars on 14, 15, and 16 so I can’t determine exactly went well. I carded four pars to close out the back nine four days prior to reach 90. Perhaps that is a better performance given the make believe pressure of wanting to be sub 90.

I told my mental coach, I rarely take advantage of good drives and I rarely recover from bad shots. In other words, I’m bad at this. Or rather in October, I was inexperienced.

My knowledge menu has grown dramatically after 27 rounds at four different courses in North Carolina heat from August 28 to October 30.

The shock and awe of chipping out of real grass instead of off a Chicago sim mat is gone.

The physical and mental stamina required to play a 2.5 hour round by myself instead of 2 sim rounds in 90 minutes isn’t a surprise anymore.

Things I haven’t practiced include, fairway bunker play and green side bunker play. The challenge will be not being in a full panic when the ball invariably rolls into the beach. All I can do is read and watch video in preparation.

What I wonder now is what will three months of serious practice, relative to what I was doing this time last year, in the simulator and practice green, do for my game?

If I come out guns blazing, can I stay the course or continue to make swing changes?

If the first five rounds are in the 90s, what then?

Do I pivot to in person lessons?

Will the manufactured stress of wanting to shave my handicap from 18.8 to 11.7 be fuel or a distraction?

What a fun, silly game.