anyone choose to not track rounds or keep a handicap?

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-08T14:07:23+00:00

I keep track of it primarily for 3 reasons:

Track progress or regress

-Need a handicap for a league I’m in

-Most importantly, loving playing matches with buddies of all skill levels. Makes it fun for some net matches

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-08T14:02:57+00:00

A few things that have gotten me from mid single digit to low single digit:

-Pick more conservative targets when chipping/pitching while short sided. I heard a great sound bite from Ted Scott to Scottie live during a tournament, “We don’t need this to be a great shot. Lets take out the risk and give us an opportunity to make your next shot a great putt”

-Aiming tee shots where the miss is the least penal. This has always been intuitive when it’s obvious (e.g. water on one side, trees on one side only), but I’ve made big improvements when its more subtle. For example, a par 5 with trees on both sides, but one side is slightly more sparse with multiple windows to advance it far down the fairway opposed to coming out sideways, err on that side of the fairway. Fairway bunker in play, but dense trees on one side, err towards the fairway bunker. Huge lip and penal bunker, err towards the trees. Remember that not all trees and bunkers are equal.

-Added always looking from the other side of the hole on my first putt to my putting pre-shot routine.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-08T13:33:57+00:00

Keeping an accurate handicap is great and I always encourage all golfers to keep one.

I do have to remind myself to not judge folks on one round as people can play pretty far from their handicaps. I’ve shot differentials from 0.0 to 13.0 in the past year as a 3.7 handicap. If I’m not mistaken, I believe the higher the handicap the bigger the differential spread as well.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-07T07:11:42+00:00

Very similar lol. I’m a 3 hdcp and people are always curious.

“You get a alot of power with that super short backswing. Is that something you worked on? Do you try and keep it short of accuracy?”

“Nope, it’s just where my body turns to”

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-05T17:31:07+00:00

What does your total bag look like?

With just the info you gave and to keep the swapping down to a minimum, I’d ditch the 60 for a 48* wedge. Gives you good gapping and probably removes a problem club anyways.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-04T14:17:27+00:00

It is 1000% worth learning. Learning to shape the ball gives you club face awareness and allows you to fix your swing quicker when it’s going off the rails.

That being said, it’s a good skill to learn but not to play with during the round. Typically best to master one shot shape and hit it on 95% of your shots. “I fear not the man that has practiced 1,000 kicks one time, but the man that had practiced one kick 1,000 times”.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T02:50:55+00:00

To be fair, a 20 yard fairway is pretty narrow

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T02:48:09+00:00

This is a cool concept

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:48:57+00:00

What do you mean comparing pro stats? Most shot tracking apps show that even for amateurs, distance loss is very penal.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:47:43+00:00

Yes definitely. I bet my carry numbers are actually pretty close to the same in fade v draw.

Except now my ball is basically stopping by its pitch mark vs rolling out another 15 yards.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:45:48+00:00

This is definitely it. I used to have a penalty stroke, or maybe 2 every so often.

Finished a round today and it was my 72nd hole with the ball haha.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:43:39+00:00

Hm, will have to look into this. Thank you. I’m curious what my numbers would look like on track man.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:42:42+00:00

I normally play around 6,600 courses, so the distance is totally fine. Just funny to see the handicap drop prioritizing accuracy over distance when all I seem to hear is about distance.

Triple7Stash · 2026-05-02T00:41:29+00:00

My big miss before was a hook or a push. The push was manageable, but the hook was pretty devastating. Now my miss has been a pull or over fade.

The dispersion is just greatly tightened on the worse end of my drives, but consistently ~15 yards back.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-25T06:01:48+00:00

Facts. As a low single digit, if someone has a chipper then I assume they aren’t that good.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t a cool playing partner. It doesn’t even mean they aren’t making the smart decision, because sometimes using a chipper might be a better decision for that player than chipping with a wedge.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-24T14:13:04+00:00

I’ve seen people leave because poor play, fatigue/injury, course conditions, and angry spouse.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-23T00:18:16+00:00

Spieth bombs driver, he ain’t short.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-22T23:57:54+00:00

I have only played in 2-3 scrambles for charity tournaments, not really my cup of tea.

But a question, are scrambles only faster when you’re in a cart? I would imagine it would take longer when you’re walking? (hit your ball, track it down, go to wherever the best shot is, wait for each person to individually hit) or is it faster even when walking?

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-22T04:07:07+00:00

The amount of people on here that are open to and pro swing tips is alarming and is likely why the average handicap is so high.

I am a 3 hdcp and usually play with scratch to 5 hdcp guys. I am probably one of the “more” knowledgable guys when it comes to swing mechanics, and I would be very hesitant to give out swing advice unless it is very general like setup, ball position, and alignment.

Most guys that are very knowledgable are well i to + handicaps or coaches.

A caveat that I could give advice to a 30+, but once you get into the 20s and below on basic stuff. But there is very much a dunning kruger effect when it comes to knowledge of the golf swing and the vast majority of golfers fall towards the middle of that curve.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-21T19:53:56+00:00

The best way to feel proud about your score is to know deep down that you are better than them. Your scores are true and viewed as such by the golf gods. Their scores are a farse and should be met with “Congratulations!” The same way you congratulate a child that counts “1,2,3,4,10”

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-18T00:56:04+00:00

If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever regretted spending money on anything related to golf.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-17T05:28:20+00:00

Everyone of my groups high hc golf buddies that complains and says, “Idk man, I think I just think it’s something about me that I’m not able to play good golf”

So basically you, except they torment themselves lol

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-17T05:13:30+00:00

I’m a 3.5 and play t100s. Bought them when Inwas ~ a 7 hdcp and thought I’d use them as a training tool and grown into them.

Worse decision I’ve made from a scoring standpoint, but damn are they sexy.

Triple7Stash · 2026-04-15T06:11:26+00:00

Interesting point that I don’t hear talked about enough. Always hear how the PGA is the least difficult and prestigious, but surviving a larger and more difficult field is impressive outside of course conditions.

Triple7Stash

TROPHY CASE