[lkastonidwedsrer]

I got this in an e-mail, don't know where it came from originally or if it's true.

COULD YOU BEAT TIGER WOODS???

If Tiger Woods played you, how many strokes would he be giving up to
make a fair match? The answer may shock you.

You may consider yourself a fine player with your 3 handicap. Or
perhaps you frequently play to your 15 handicap. You may even think
that Tiger Woods could spot you a stroke per hole and you'd have a
close match.

Turns out a stroke per hole would be about right if you were about a 3
handicap, and Tiger would still probably win.

The handicaps of our favorite PGA Tour pros remain a mystery. Sure, we
know they're in the "+" realm (which, oddly enough, means better than
scratch, but how far?

Calculations
PGA Tour courses don't have established ratings. Pros often play from
tees used only in PGA Tour events, the rough is grown extra long and
thick, and greens are sped and firmed up. Each of those changes has a
dramatic effect on the course rating and slope, making it difficult to
ascertain the true nature of a pro's handicap index.

Normally we apply a 0.96 multiplier to a person's average differential
in calculating handicaps. This is to help figure in the "potential" of
a player. A golfer with an un-adjusted handicap index of 5 becomes a

4.8 index after the 0.96 multiplier is applied. It would make little
sense, however, to take a plus-5 handicap to +4.8, so we must instead
divide by 0.96. That would make a +5 golfer a +5.2 golfer, again
figuring in the "potential."

At the Top: Tiger Woods
What does it take to be the top golfer in the world?
Here are the shocking figures:

Used | Date | Score | CR/Slope | Diff. | Tournament
---- ---- ----- -------- ----- ----------
* | 01/28/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 15.3 | Buick Invitational
* | 01/27/07 | 69 | 78.1/143 | 11.5 | Buick Invitational
| 01/26/07 | 72 | 78.1/143 | 7.7 | Buick Invitational
| 01/27/07 | 66 | 78.1/143 | 8.3 | Buick Invitational
* | 09/04/06 | 63 | 74.8/143 | 14.9 | Deutsche Bank
* | 09/03/06 | 67 | 74.8/143 | 9.9 | Deutsche Bank
| 09/02/06 | 72 | 74.8/143 | 3.5 | Deutsche Bank
* | 09/01/06 | 66 | 74.8/143 | 11.1 | Deutsche Bank
| 08/27/06 | 68 | 75.1/128 | 8.0 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
| 08/26/06 | 71 | 75.1/128 | 4.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
* | 08/25/06 | 64 | 75.1/128 | 12.6 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
| 08/24/06 | 67 | 75.1/128 | 9.2 | WGC - Bridgestone Inv.
* | 08/20/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
* | 08/19/06 | 65 | 78.1/151 | 17.5 | PGA Championship
* | 08/18/06 | 68 | 78.1/151 | 13.5 | PGA Championship
* | 08/17/06 | 69 | 78.1/151 | 12.2 | PGA Championship
| 08/06/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
| 08/05/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 98 | Buick Open
| 08/04/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
| 08/03/06 | 66 | 74.3/133 | 9.8 | Buick Open
---- -------- ----- -------- ----- ----------
Average Differential: 10.6
Best 10 Average Differential: 13.2
Handicap Index: +13.75
Now, take a deep breath and read that again. +13.75. Tiger's WORST ten
differentials average out to +8.05.

Something like 10% of golfers ever reach single digit handicaps.
Tiger's not only done that (while still in the womb, no doubt), but
he's blown through the single digits on the OTHER side of scratch and
is in heretofore unexplored territory at +13.75. That may be the single
best handicap index ever!

[DaleJrGirl]

I still don't understand the whole handicap deal with golf.

[Searmoreibe]

I still don't understand the whole handicap deal with golf.

All I know is I look it when I play.

[rojettafoxx]

I still don't understand the whole handicap deal with golf.

What about it don't you understand?

[didrexx]

What about it don't you understand?

Basically the whole thing. How you figure it, how it applies to your score and what it means exactly.

[Mediconlinee]

Basically the whole thing. How you figure it, how it applies to your score and what it means exactly.

Basically it allows players with lesser talent to compete. I've got a 9 handicap and one of my buddies has a 19. I give him 10 strokes and we can gamble then.
They flight tournaments by handicap, A flight, B, C, D. Then people of relatively the same talent compete against each other and have a chance to win.
The way it's figured, put simply, is you take your best 10 of your last 20 rounds. Then you add them up and divide them by 10. However many strokes you are over par would be your handicap.

That's a simple explanation but there are a lot of other things that factor in. Difficulty of the course you play, what set of tees you play, course rating and course slope.

[freeringtonesioo]

So basically it levels the playing field for tournaments and/or betting purposes?

[PRengine]

So basically it levels the playing field for tournaments and/or betting purposes?

That's pretty much it, yes.

[Anaedilla]

That's pretty much it, yes.

And you'd need 22-23 strokes if you played him straight up? Yikes.

Guy's good.

[Hujkmlopes]

And you'd need 22-23 strokes if you played him straight up? Yikes.

Guy's good.

They don't take into account that, if you played with him privately, he wouldn't have people throwing balls from the rough into the fairway and moving rocks that are in the way of his flight path.

Oh yeah, and let them give you a caddy with a yardage book like the one he has. It might not help the higher handicap, but someone in the 5-10 range would probably drop 4 shots if they knew exact yardages.

[Dfvgthyju]

On a tour conditions course, he'd have to spot me an entire 9 holes to give me a shot...

[CsFLhGNp]

i played oakland hills right before they shut it down for ryder cup and the rough even then was absurd and they were still growing it. I shot in the high 80s, and I felt like I played really great that day. I have shot lower than that there, but still to this day feel it's one of the best rounds i've played.

sick the course difficulty they play

[kmjbbT3U]

They don't take into account that, if you played with him privately, he wouldn't have people throwing balls from the rough into the fairway and moving rocks that are in the way of his flight path.

Oh yeah, and let them give you a caddy with a yardage book like the one he has. It might not help the higher handicap, but someone in the 5-10 range would probably drop 4 shots if they knew exact yardages.

if you are in the 5-10 handicap range, you are pretty good at getting yardage. being a yard or three off isnt that big of a deal. you're not shaving 4 shots off your score if you knew that it was 186 yards instead of 184 yards all day because you arent good enough to control your distances within a yard with the type of consistency it would take to drop that many strokes. and then there is the putting part. 5-10 handicaps are in the grand scheme of it all, average putters to possibly slightly above average putters at best. still missing more putts from 10-12 feet than they make. but if you are a 5-10 handicap, chances are, you are not knocking it stiff 10-12 feet with consistency. try more like 20 feet at best on a regular basis. you are so very very wrong.

[somozasayre]

Bluelexus and I were talking yesterday, tiger woods on a decent course not in championship form (wider fairways, low rough, slow greens, regular tee boxes) we both agreed would be the very low 60's nearly every time. I imagine he'd eagle most of the par 5's...

[Styparty]

i played oakland hills right before they shut it down for ryder cup and the rough even then was absurd and they were still growing it. I shot in the high 80s, and I felt like I played really great that day. I have shot lower than that there, but still to this day feel it's one of the best rounds i've played.

sick the course difficulty they play

And they kill on easy courses. I've mentioned this before, but Johnny Miller played one of our muny's years ago and set the course record. He'd never seen it before.

[opelonafqe]

And they kill on easy courses. I've mentioned this before, but Johnny Miller played one of our muny's years ago and set the course record. He'd never seen it before.

yeah and that's johnny miller.

i mentioned it before on these boards but a club in mi we played with this random guy who shot in the low low 60's and left eagles out there, and he wasn't a pro.

[Qnnoshxj]

yeah and that's johnny miller.

i mentioned it before on these boards but a club in mi we played with this random guy who shot in the low low 60's and left eagles out there, and he wasn't a pro.

The PGA tour used to play at my course through the sixties and seventies. Gary Player set the course record (63) in 1969. Our current club champion just tied it last year. It took almost 40 years for somebody outside of the tour to do it. I wonder what today's top pros would do to it today.

[Gooracouppy]

59 is the record at my course, it beat the pro's record. Right after that we found lots of new trees showing up.

[Adimonnna]

59 is the record at my course, it beat the pro's record. Right after that we found lots of new trees showing up.

That's the best way to ruin a golf course, especially if they are pine trees. Pine trees don't belong on a golf course unless it is for protection of a tee or green.
They planted hundreds of trees on our course when the tour was there. It made no difference to them but it made it unplayable for the average player. We are now spending thousands of dollars on removal. It is so much better now. I hope they are putting a lot of thought into it, or it will cost you more down the road to get rid of them.

[amotoustict]

That's the best way to ruin a golf course, especially if they are pine trees. Pine trees don't belong on a golf course unless it is for protection of a tee or green.
They planted hundreds of trees on our course when the tour was there. It made no difference to them but it made it unplayable for the average player. We are now spending thousands of dollars on removal. It is so much better now. I hope they are putting a lot of thought into it, or it will cost you more down the road to get rid of them.

The fairways are still there. You really just need to be in them now.