I have very mixed feelings about golf handicaps. I love that golf has a system to allow for golfers of a wide range of abilities to compete on a fairly level playing field. I also like having an objective measurement of how my game is progressing or regressing.
However, there are some things that I really don’t like. I don’t like that the system doesn’t have a way of accommodating “limited” rounds. For example, I sometimes like to play with just a few clubs. Some players like to occasionally play with vintage clubs. There’s really no way to calculate how many strokes things like this are worth. However, posting these rounds would tend to skew one’s handicap upwards, which could lead to accusations of sandbagging.
There is also a part of me that is somewhat uncomfortable with how the handicap system is used by so many golfers, including me, as a measure of how good a golfer is. I’m certainly not going to try and say that there’s no merit to the system, or that there’s no way to objectively measure how good a player is. There’s no doubt that after my early mid-life crisis year as an assistant pro I was a better golfer than at any other time of my life.
However, during that time, I was operating under a completely different set of constraints. I was in my mid-thirties — past my “prime” physically, but certainly more physically capable than I am now in my early fifties with a compromised lumbar disc. I was able to practice every day, and had access to video equipment and teaching professionals to give me constant feedback.
At this point in my life, I’m able to go to a driving range a couple of times a month at best. I can hit balls into a net in my back yard, but that’s really not the same as having unlimited balls at a grass driving range. This year I intend to play once a week and to try and get in some short game practice a couple of times a week, but that doesn’t compare to being able to work on all parts of my game every day.
Is it really fair to compare my handicap now to what it would have been in the mid-life crisis year? Who’s to say that shooting an 85 now isn’t as much of an accomplishment as shooting a 74 then?
Ultimately, one’s handicap index is just a number. Numbers are certainly an important part of my love of the game. I really enjoy being able to put up a good number when I can. But golf is certainly not just about numbers for me, at least not as much as it used to be. At this stage of my life, I definitely want to get better than I am now. Part of the reason I decided to start playing half-lefty was because it gave me the opportunity to be a beginner again, at least from one side of the ball.
I can reasonably expect to become objectively better as a lefty for several years to come. I also think I can objectively become a better righty golfer this year than I was last year. I’ll never be able to hit the ball righty as well I could 13 years ago. It’s simply unreasonable to think that I’ll every be able to generate the same kind of clubhead speed with the same kind of precision as I could back then.
But that’s okay. There are still parts of the game where I can strive to be as good, or better than I was before. I always had pretty good course management skills, but I can still make better decisions on the course that I used to. I can certainly have a better, more positive attitude. I can play with less tension and fear, and have more fun. I can also play with a greater appreciation for the gift of being able to play at all.
Alternate Golf 