Three (strange) Minutes with Tiger

Tiger Golf CrowdIf you’ve been to a PGA Tour event, you know it’s next to impossible to get an up-close view of Tiger Woods. You might wriggle your way to within 40 feet of a tee box or green, but unless you’re taller than most you’ll have to look through the backs of people stacked ten deep just to get a glimpse of the side of his leg. As I rode the shuttle bus in to see Thursday’s round at the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship, I decided I would use a little strategery to increase my chances of seeing the world’s number one golf swing at point blank. Point blank is what I got, and a bit more.

PGA tour stats show that Tiger Woods misses 36% of his fairways, and if you watch golf on TV, you know that when he misses he misses right just about every time. So, as Tiger played the 8th, I staked out some real estate on the right side of the 9th fairway (Tiger’s 18th for the day), about 300 yards from the tee. I planted myself on the rope and Continue reading “Three (strange) Minutes with Tiger”

Help us Find a Name

 
It’s been decided. Online Handicap Blog is not doing it for us. It’s not strong. It’s not that exciting; it’s not really even that sexy.

We think we can do better, and we think you can help. We need a name, and potentially a slogan. Post your suggestions below (or send them to us) and share your thoughts about which suggestion you like most. The best one will become the new name for our blog.

Start Putting (and Making) the Short Ones

Taking gimmes impact your handicapI remember reading somewhere that the average golfer effectively lowers his or her handicap a full 3 strokes by taking unwarranted gimmes.

In other words, taking gimmes on a regular basis results in a handicap index that is lower than your true ability. This is bad if you’re giving strokes to your friends on Saturday mornings. I don’t know how accurate that 3-stroke statistic is, but it’s compelled me to take the time, even when I’m just playing by myself, to putt everything out. I always want to know that my handicap is an accurate measure of my game, and unfortunately my game includes a fairly severe incompetence from inside 5 feet.

The day I left a 24-inch putt 6 inches short was the day I knew I had to do something about my short putting. If you’re like me, the sight of your golf ball coming to rest anywhere between 2 and 5 feet from the hole causes immediate, involuntary twitching. In fact, I sometimes will my chips to roll 10 feet past just so I won’t have to face the shakes from 4 feet. Continue reading “Start Putting (and Making) the Short Ones”

Update: Out of Season Scores

After receiving feedback about the confusion involving out-of-season scores, we’ve made things easier and more intuitive.

If you live in a Northern region (e.g. NY), it is important that you do not post scores during the inactive season. This is because course slope & ratings (the measures of course difficulty) may not be accurate in winter conditions (and thus skew your handicap). Checking the box still let’s you post your score – however, a score that you designate as out-of-season is only recorded in your Score History, and does not get used in the handicap calculation.

Before, the out-of-season checkbox would appear throughout the winter. Now, it will only appear if you are actually in a region Continue reading “Update: Out of Season Scores”