What’s your max?

 
The short answer: There is none.

For handicap purposes, the USGA imposes stroke limits (called Equitable Stroke Control, or ESC) to prevent golfers from sandbagging one hole to keep their handicaps high. Thus, when you enter a score into MyScorecard, we ask you to adjust that score for any holes where your strokes exceed that limit.

However, when you’re on the course, there is no “maximum” to take. Even a professional golfer can run up scores into the double digits. And just to prove a point, back in April of this year, Tour Player Kevin Na posted a 16 on the par 4 ninth hole at the Valero Texas Open.

Continue reading “What’s your max?”

You’re Better than Average

You may have had a tough day out on the golf course, but here’s something to keep in the back of your head.

Despite decades of scientific improvements in clubs and balls, more physical training, and all sorts of new ideas on improving your swing, the average golf score remains the same: around 100 for 18 holes.

90However, for MyScorecard members, that number is between 90 and 91 (for reference, the average handicap is just under 16). Some people may attribute it to the Hawthorne effect, which is at least partially true, but we attribute at least a portion of it to the fact that our members are just better.

So do a little dance – you deserve it.

The Quirks of the Slope

We will sometimes choose some of the more interesting questions asked by our members to share with you. Our most recent one comes from a member who shot a 70 on a course with a rating of 71.3 and slope of 132 (something we can all aspire to). When entering his score into MyScorecard, the differential read -1.1, which was actually less than the -1.3 the difference between the score (70) and course rating (71.3). Wouldn’t you expect that if you played a harder course, it should be greater than the difference of the rating and score? Continue reading “The Quirks of the Slope”