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on the scorecards for my course, they have yardages from different tees, par for the hole and handicap (i assume for the hole). the handicaps vary on every hole. here, i'll list it out how they are for you.

1ST HOLE
yardage: 480
handicap: 16
par: 5

2ND HOLE
yardage: 195
handicap: 8
par: 3

3RD HOLE
yardage: 420
handicap: 2
par: 4

i was wondering, what does this handicap mean? does it relate to my handicap? if my course handicap is an 18, how do both of the handicaps relate? i've always been confused by this but have never been able to figure it out.

The particular hole handicap has nothing to do with your own current handicap. It's simply a ranking of each hole by order difficulty to make par. The #1 handicap hole is the considered the most difficult to par and the #18 handicap hole is the easiest to par.

Look at your course's scorecard and see if the handicap rating coincides with your personal experience. It's always fun to rank the holes in your own order of difficulty and see how it matches up with the scorecard. I hope this helps clears it up for you.

thank you for the response. that certainly makes sense. the first hole is pretty easy considering it's a 480 yard par 5. it's usually played up wind so it's difficult to reach it in 2 but can be done on some days. then there's the third hole which is ranked #2. i would have thought it would be most difficult considering you can't miss your tee shot right or else you'll have a huge tree in your way. the most difficult hole on my course is the 10th hole which plays only 350 yards but up wind, too. i guess when the wind blows, it plays really tough.

Note that most courses have all the even numbered handicapped holes on one nine and the odd numbered hadicapped holes on the other nine. This sometimes effects true #1 handicapped hole rating.

yeah, on my scorecards, the even numbered handicap holes are on one nine and the odds on the other. i wonder who makes the decision as to how difficult a hole is to par?

The handicaps for each hole is determined by the club pro (at public courses) in most cases. Private courses are probably set by the greens commitee. My pro consults me (I am a supt) and gets my input, but he has the last say - we have had some friendly disagreements with it, but I respect the fact in the end, it's his call. The reason for the odd-even on each nine is to "balance" the front nine and back nine for those that play just nine holes, which is typical in many leagues, or for those that have an established handicap and might only have time to play just nine and want to continue to post their score. I.E. you can't have the number one and number 2 handicap on the same nine, as it would screw up how many shots you can get on any on just nine hole play. I agree it doesn't reflect fact that many courses have one nine plays more difficult than the other. My course has 3 holes on the front that are more difficult than any hole on the back, but the hole handicaps does not reflect this.

greenguy,

Thanks for the info and welcome aboard. Being leaguegolf (I run a 36 man golf league at my local county owned public course) I get a lot of feedback from the "greenguy" there, and it will be interesting to compare his thoughts with yours.

I mentioned this on the "intro and greet" part, but for those who haven't read it, I would be glad to share thoughts and answer any questions anyone has on maintenance practices. But there is a limit because what works here on my course might not work elsewhere. For example, one common question from golfers is why the greens aren't as fast on their course as the course down the road. Many things factor in this, but there is a reason my greens aren't as fast as let's say, Augusta. First, 99.999 percent of the golfers here couldn't handle it and, most important, they weren't built for extreme speeds. Most guys in my situation try to get them as fast as we can without stressing the greens - and me - out. It's as much art as science. And this might not surprise some, but the course setup depends on my mood that day! Lesson - don't hack off your supt! Hole locations the next day might be in places you've never seen b4!

Amen with the pin placements. Last year a player in my league complained that the pin placements on several greens were being repeated on league days. Bad move! The following 3 weeks the pins were in the "A" positions and the scores went south. I left a case of Michelob Light, (on ice) in the "greenguys" cart with a note saying "We're sorry and we surrender" and the next week the pins were a little more friendly. New league Rule...You **** off the greenguy....You buy the beer!

The handicap has to do with matchplay. for example, if your handicap is a 30, and your opponent's is a 29, then on the hole with the handicap of "1", he/she gives you a stroke extra on that hole - meaning your score on that hole is subtracted by 1 at the end of the match. If they have a handicap of 28, then the holes with handicaps of "1" & "2" the rule applies.

The handicaps tell you the toughest holes on that particular course, is another way to look at it.

I never realized that!!! I just looked at my latest scorecard, and sure enough!!! WOW I would have NEVER gotten that one (at least I don't think I would have).... I'll have to let others know about that one, thanks!!

Wherever you are, hit 'em good.

hmmmmm, i never realized that myself. all of the holes on the front 9 at my course have odd handicaps and the holes on the back 9 have even ones.