Beginning Golf – The Golf Handicap System Will Help You With Competitive Play

 When playing golf there is a standard handicap system that is used by all golf courses. It is used in matches and tournaments. The idea behind the handicap system is to try and level up the game to make it an even playing field and a more competitive competition.

 A golfer’s handicap is based on the differential between score and par achieved by the golfer in the last 20 rounds he has played. The handicap is based on the lowest ten games of these twenty. All games are on 18 hole courses. These games should all relate to one season. Some golf associations will accept fewer games. It is important for a golfer to have a handicap as this will help with fair play when playing golf against others.

 

A golf player is given a handicap numbered one through to thirty-six, the number one being the lowest handicap, and the number thirty-six being the highest handicap. A scratch golfer has no handicap, better known as a scratch player.

 

So how do these handicaps come into affect when playing golf? Well firstly you need to determine the difference between your handicap and that of your opponent i.e. if your handicap is 10 and your opponent’s handicap is 20 the difference is 10. This means that you will have to allow your opponent an extra 10 shots over the 18 hole course.

 

So how do you know which holes you can apply the ‘free’ shots to? On scorecards you will find at the bottom a section for Men’s HCP and one for Ladies HCP and this will order the holes by difficulty 1 being the hardest and 18 being the easiest. They will be out of order as they refer to the difficulty of the hole and not the hole itself. So you will allocate the strokes by the rating 1 first until you have used all the strokes available. In our illustration above this would mean that you would give a stroke on 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 &10 according to the handicap chart

 

Keeping track of your handicap, and using a handicap system, will help make the game fair play in a lot of golf matches, when playing against other opponents.

 

 If you belong to a golf course, they should have a system in place to use for tournament play, which is recognized by most golf courses and golf associations.

 

If you click on the links in my resource box you will find more information to help you with golf and your handicap.

 

Beginning Golf – Important Things To Remember!

Beginning Golf – Important things to remember!
Golf is one of those sports that you get hooked on yet when starting out there are so many things to take in it can be daunting and even scary!! If you remember the following tips I am sure you will find the sport of golf enjoyable and your game, handicap and enjoyment levels should improve.

1. Remind yourself that you are playing one shot at a time and only focus on playing the current shot to the best of your ability.

2. Trying to recover from trouble will land you in more trouble. Everyone plays bad shots try not to let them bother you and focus on playing a better shot next time.

3. Very obvious but make sure there is no one standing behind you when you tee off!

4. Keep moving and don’t hold up other golfers. When you are first starting out take time to practice on the driving range so you are confident that you can hit the ball. When you go out on a full size course you will be more confident when playing with others and will be able to participate in a more enjoyable game.

5. Keep Your Head Down! When lining up for your next great shot keep your head down as looking up will lift your shoulders which will alter the flow of the club sending your ball slicing off into the wild

6. Remember that putting is 50% of the game if you can master this shot the rest of the game will not be as important so you can relax more.

7. Watch where you stand – Other golfers will not mind the level at which you play as handicaps take care of this however they will mind if you do not follow the correct etiquette, i.e keep away from someone’s line, don’t talk when someone makes a swing, repair your ball marks and divots and let faster players through.

8. Follow the rules of the game – Turn up on time; keep correct count of all your strokes, complete your scorecards correctly, don’t hit out of turn.

9. Keep a note of the shots you find most difficult then go away and spend time practicing that particular shot i.e a putting green, driving range or even consider some lessons.

10. Remember it is just a game! – Staying calm, mixing with others, exercise are all brilliant attributes of golf enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously and you will find you can play a sport and love it.

Beginning to play the game of golf is an exciting experience there is so much to learn and the scale of the golf course and the time it takes to complete a round of golf add to the event. If you can remember some of the above advice I am sure it will be the start of a long sporting relationship

Woods and Federer: A Friendship of Champions

When people daydream about becoming the best of the best, the top of their chosen field, few pause to consider the potential drawbacks that such elevation may bring. Yet, for those who are truly remarkable within their own discipline, being so vastly superior to all the other competition can be surprisingly difficult to comprehend. Being the best has its perks, but one must also concede that it can be worryingly lonely.

It is therefore little surprise that two champions, who have dominated their respective sports for much of recent memory, have forged a friendship based on understanding how lonely being the best can be.

In golf, Tiger Woods has been there and done it all. The king of the greens, he is so vastly superior to most other players on the golfing circuit that few bother to even imagine success against him.

In tennis, Roger Federer has very nearly – with the exception of the French Open, which proves elusive – been there and done it all. The king of grass, he plays with the grace of a ballet dancer and many opponents know they have lost before the first ball has even been served.

Woods and Federer have become close friends, these two giants of their own sports. The two were brought together by Nike, who saw the potential of these two living sporting legends and united them for an ad campaign. They have since starred, together with footballer Thierry Henry, in advertisements for razor brand Gillette alongside their Nike commitments. Before the 2007 Wimbledon final – in which Federer played his tennis arch-rival Rafael Nadal – Woods recorded a video message for Federer, via Nike, encouraging his friends to win his fifth title. Both men confess to a friendly rivalry as to who can win the most majors in their respective sports; currently, Woods holds the record at 14, with Federer on 13.

Their friendship has extended beyond the advertising suite. In 2006, Woods was photographed supporting Federer from Federer’s own players’ box as he bid for the US Open title. Both have also openly talked of their friendship in interviews and how it has helped them; citing that only each other, out of everyone on the planet, can really understand the position they are in.

Tiger Woods – A Golfer Like No Other

There is something amazing about the world’s number one male golfer in this day and age – and it is not just his race, although this makes him pretty unique. No, Tiger Woods is remarkable for so many reasons that he transcends race, and makes the curiosity value that surrounded him for much of his early career completely irrelevant. Whether you like golf or not, you will undoubtedly have heard of him, and this is not something that could have been said for most of the people who preceded him in golf’s premier ranking.

From an early age it was clear that Tiger Woods was a phenomenon. At the age of two – yes, that’s right, two – he appeared on American television showing his adeptness at putting and a year later he played nine holes at California’s Navy Golf Club, making his way around in 48 shots. Now if you don’t know much about golf, take it as fact that that is amazing. Many adult amateurs would dream of shooting 48 for a nine-hole round. To do it at the age of three is incredible.

Tiger Woods turned professional at the age of twenty – not especially remarkable in this day and age, but certainly one of the younger players ever to do so. By the time he had turned professional he was already marked out as one of the most exciting prospects the game had ever seen – in fact, probably undeniably the most exciting. There was no doubt that in terms of coverage, he gained some extra attention for being of mixed race. But the coverage was far more than anything due to the fact that he just kept winning.

As things stand, with Woods just back in the game after eight months out following surgery on his left knee, he remains the top-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour. Despite the injury – with which he played the entire US Open in 2008, and won – Woods’ place was untouched, and at the age of 33 he has spent 536 weeks (more than ten years) at the top of the world rankings. That is more than the three next most successful men in the rankings put together. Those three men? Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros.