Text 11134, 105 rader
Skriven 2007-01-30 11:24:06 av hap newsom
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: RE: Golf and NewMex 971
===============================
Good Morning Mr Loo!

->  -> And now it's your turn to hear "speak English, please!"
->  HN> BIL's handicap was +2 which meant he'd play his round of golf and 
then
->  HN> ADD  two strokes to get his handicapped score...I was at the time 
a -20
->  HN> or a  twenty handicap which meant I played my round and then 
SUBTRACTED
->  HN> 20  strokes to get my handicapped score.
-> 
-> Okay, what I didn't know: that a "20 handicap" really means a
-> "-20 handicap" and that in this system there could be a greater
-> than zero handicap. So essentially on the same course and
-> conditions he would be expected to score 22 better than you.

Yeh, pretty much that's how it works.
-> 
->   It's a system where players of
->  HN> vastly  different abilities can actually compete fairly with each other
->  HN> on a (pretty  much) level playing field.
-> 
-> That part I got, it was the terminology that threw me.
-> 
-> I don't understand "par" either. It's got to be difficult, as
-> professionals in tournaments sometimes don't make par, and
-> sometimes even the winners are pretty close to par. To me "par"
-> should mean par, as in average, not some nearly unattainable goal.
-> 
Well there are plenty of variables tossed in there as well. Usually when pro's 
don't make "par" on a hole it's because they've made a mistake or 
misjudgement in their play. When I don't make par on a hole, it's a compilation

of the many errors I've made between the teebox and the hole in the green! 
Par is often more a matter of the length of the hole than how difficult it 
is...on one of my favorite courses the 13th par three 185 yard hole is the 
most difficult hole on the course and few people actually make par on it 
without a lot of practice. In theory you should be able to reach the green of 
a par 3 in one stroke, a par 4 in two strokes, and a par 5 in three...and two 
putts to hole out once you have reached the green. I have a friend who can 
drive like a bullet but couldn't putt downhill with a funnel (grin) I on the
other 
hand am a rather poor driver but I make up for it on the green......once I 
manage to accidently land on it (grin). Often Pro's will play well under par on

a tourney and the total by the end of the tourney will often have scores of 
12-15 below par for the winners. My best round of golf was 39 on a front nine 
at a local course...that's 3 over par and for me it was a phenominal 9 holes of

golf...I simply could not make a bad hit on the ball....of course I shot almost

double that on the back nine and totally blew the euphoria of the front nine 
to heck and back! 

-> Of course the similar beating the point spread system in
-> wagering also throws me (here I understand the terminology
-> and the mechanism and even the reasoning, but what I don't
-> get is the need in the human psyche for such a system).
-> 
If I can beat you 19 times out of every 20 that we play...I need to have 
some enticement for you to even wager with me....so that you'll actually 
have a reasonable chance if you do well to win the wager. 

->   My BIL was good enough to be a
->  HN> pro golfer...but he  happened to be in the Air Force at the time....He
->  HN> generally shot somewhere  between 2 and 6 under par for a course 
of 18
->  HN> holes.  
-> 
-> Yeah, can anyone short of Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh claim that?
-> It sounds as though anyone with the natural level of skill he had
-> and the amount of practice that it took him to get to those numbers
-> he would have done well to turn pro.
-> 
Lots of people are very good players....not many are "plus" handicaps though. 
I know quite a few people who are 10 or less handicaps. I never got better 
than a 16 and usually settled right around 20-23 for a handicap. Then there 
are the "sandbaggers" who intentionally keep their handicap higher than it 
should be so when they play (there is almost always money bet on golf 
games) someone they will win more often than not. We used to play penny a 
stroke, dime a hole and a dollar for KP (closest to the pin) on the par
three's. 
But that's because we were cheap (grin) ! Lots of players play for many 
mutliples of that and there are lots of other bets to be made as well, longest 
drive fewest putts and you can have sidebets on every hole! 

->  ->  HN> I do my best to avoid heavy drinkers on the course...they tend 
to get
->  ->  HN> upset  when they can't hit the ball anymore (grin). 
->  -> Yeah, but be consoled by the fact that they probably
->  -> couldn't hit you, either.
->  HN> Sure, but they hold up the game for everyone while they try to find
->  HN> their  clubs!
->  
-> Playing in Phoenix I learned the important words, "may we play
-> through, please?" - words always directed at us, not the other
-> way round.
-> 
I was always a fairly fast player and I preferred to walk the course rather 
than use a golf cart...most courses now won't let you walk the course....well 
they will let you but you have to rent a cart anyway (grin). 
chat with you soon
hap 
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