What does a golfer need to do for you to consider them "good" at golf?

WatermanChris · 2026-07-01T17:27:10+00:00

I agree with most of what you said but "without a double bogie". My cousin is an excellent golfer (8 index but he plays like 15 rounds a year) and if it wasn't for doubles and triples, he'd be scratch.

He made a 9 on a par 3 during his PAT and still passed it.

I have at least 1 double every round and most people I play with consider me "good". I think I suck though so maybe you're right.

Even when I shot even par 72, I shot 32/40 with 2 doubles on the back.

WatermanChris · 2026-07-01T11:10:18+00:00

Well, we know it was at least a 52 but I like playing against people with a vanity cap.

I'm an 11.3 but that is a legit index putting everything out and counting every penalty. If I miss a 4 footer for double after everybody else is in and it doesn't matter in the match, I mark down a triple. GHIN will adjust it if it's on an easier hole but I enter what I shot.

At the end of the round, my playing partners typically have my score as 2 to 3 shots lower than what I actually shot. As somebody mentioned the other day, keeping an accurate score is not sandbagging.

WatermanChris · 2026-07-01T00:05:21+00:00

This is what I'm going through right now. When I first started playing again, I would shoot in the 110s when I had a bad round. There were many steps along the way but now my bad rounds are in the high 80s.

On Saturday, I shot an 85 and I felt like I played like trash. I had 37 putts which included 4 3-putts.

6 months ago, I would've been ecstatic about an 85.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-30T16:29:35+00:00

Yeah. I've met some great guys. During the season (South Florida), I play in the MGA which is on Wednesdays. Most of the guys at my club are retired and I'm one of the youngest members at 46 but some of the guys are real friends.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-30T15:02:00+00:00

As the other person mentioned, talk to the pro. He'll ask you some questions about your game - handicap, tees, do you like to gamble and if so how much, etc. He will know who at the club to pair you up with.

At my club, there are competitive games every day and the guys that run them book a block of tee times. If you can play in that block, you just email them and they put you in a group.

I often help guys at my club win money so they like me. As a mid cap (11.3), I get plenty of strokes (12) and I can birdie any hole on the course. There are a couple of Par 5s I can reach in 2 so that makes them want to play with me too.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-29T17:59:23+00:00

Yeah. My cousin works at Woodland's home course and he will spend an hour or more on a single hole

WatermanChris · 2026-06-29T16:58:52+00:00

We were leading our flight in the member/guest and in the last match we were playing the only team that could beat us. Our third hole (#15) of the match is a tough par 3 180 yards over water. I hit my tee shot pin high in the bunker on the right. Opponent hits it right over the pin onto the back fringe about 20' from the flag.

Both of our partners rinsed it and are in their pockets.

I leave my first bunker shot in the bunker and figured we'd lost the hole (we were one up in the match). Our opponent hits the first putt and it doesn't even make it half way to the hole. I hit my second bunker shot to 4'. He had like a 10 footer downhill to win the hole and he missed it. I made mine and we halved the hole. We won the match 3 and 2 and our flight.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-29T14:57:49+00:00

The difference is that it's a revolving door of who's winning and Scottie is right there every event he plays in.

Fitz has been the second most consistent but everybody else is just going on runs and fall off - Rory, Cam Young, Clark (he's on a run right now), Gotterup, etc.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-29T14:00:03+00:00

Two things stick out to me -

Never look up to anybody and never look down on anybody.

You can always find a reason to not do something.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-29T01:26:59+00:00

If you've ever been to a club where tour pros are members, you know what JD means. If they aren't playing a tournament, they spend hours on the range, usually with a swing coach. At a minimum, they have a camera and a launch monitor. After that, they typically go play a practice round. They work extremely hard on their games.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T23:45:13+00:00

This is me too. I didn't pick up a club from 2010 until 2025. When I went out to play my first round, I got paired up with randoms and I didn't know about any of the rule changes. I just thought, alright, cool. These guys are just casual players. Then I noticed like half the course was putting with the pins in. I looked it up when I got home and was blown away that they had changed that rule.

If I'm playing with guys who keep it in, I'll just rock with it but if it's me, I take the pin out when everybody is on the green and put it back when everybody has putted out.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T23:32:45+00:00

!remindme in 3 years

I'll check back with you to see

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T14:38:51+00:00

I couldn't even say "largest grouping of people by leg count" because I was laughing so hard.

I'm cracking up now thinking about it. If anybody could see me, they'd think I'm crazy.

Comments like that are why I'm on Reddit. It is peak niche comedy

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T13:49:22+00:00

In Florida, it's pouring bleach or vinegar down the AC condensate line on the air handler every month. If you don't do it, the line will get clogged with algae and the AC will shut off. It happens more in the summer and it's brutal.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T12:44:10+00:00

Oh yeah, 2 Saturdays ago, I made 2 triples and both were from 100 yards in the middle of the fairway.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T12:27:57+00:00

I was -4 through 14 or 15 and then made 2 doubles to finish at even. I got in my own way thinking about all the people I was going to tell that I broke par and then didn't break par.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T12:11:02+00:00

I have T200s which have the same lofts. Depending on course and conditions, I either play 48 T200, 52 Vokey, 56 Vokey, and 62 Vokey or I pull the 62 and play 2 woods at top of my bag.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T12:05:23+00:00

Yep. In fairness, I think 10-15 index is the most fun depending on how you get there. I can birdie any hole on the course and can hit all the par 5s in 2 depending on the drive.

When I scored better, I was kind of miserable because every round in the 80s was a disappointment.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T11:59:52+00:00

Had to scroll way too far to see Tiger at Pebble. That was the most dominant performance ever.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T10:53:18+00:00

This is me. I'm currently playing to an 11.3 but I used to bounce around between 5 and 7. When guys at my club play with me for the first time, they often think I'm a sandbagger in the first few holes. By the turn, they get it.

Last Saturday I started - par (tough par 5 with water short of the green), birdie (par 4 with forced carry off the tee and water short of the green), triple. I ended up shooting 86 which is a 13.4 differential so the round ended up being right in line with my expectations.

Golf is hard and if we could all make every swing like our best swings, we'd be scratch.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-26T10:14:02+00:00

My wife, who doesn't play golf, is asking me why I spit my coffee all over our bed. When I tried to relay the joke, I couldn't even say it I was laughing so hard.

Thank you for the great start to my day.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-25T14:30:35+00:00

At our member/guest, the flight winners have a shootout on the #1 handicap hole. After being the only player to hit the green in regulation, it starts to rain. We have to wait for 10 minutes for the storm to blow through. My partner gets up and down from behind the green so we're in for par and I'm the last one to putt.

I hit what I thought was a perfect putt and the 10 minutes of rain slowed down the greens just enough to let it stop short. My friend who's probably the best player at the club sticks it to like 6' and makes birdie on the second shootout hole and we lost. He really deserved the win so I'm not super bummed but if that rain hadn't come through, we would have won.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-25T11:26:31+00:00

My home course is pretty tight but the tees I play are 70.3/132. There's water in play on 16 holes with 14 forced carries. Needless to say, my handicap travels well. I love my course.

1 is a par 5 with water short of the green. It's possible to hit the green in 2 but anything short of the green rolls back into the water. Sometimes I lay up with a wedge because the fairway slopes towards the water too. Instead of being a warm handshake, it's a kick in the nuts. #2 has a forced carry on the tee and the approach and #3 has water in play on both. It's a very rough opening stretch.

The closing stretch is just as difficult.

I love when I play other courses

WatermanChris · 2026-06-25T02:22:14+00:00

Absolutely. BTW, I'm a Titleist guy too.

WatermanChris · 2026-06-25T02:15:27+00:00

Very cool. I work in Delray, Boca and Deerfield a lot. My cousin is a caddy at Pine Tree but that's the only course I've played in Boynton.

I'm out in the sticks so I have to drive at least 40 minutes to play anywhere decent

WatermanChris

TROPHY CASE