Amateur Scoring Statistics?

[SunnyDaze]

I have seen or heard in various places for some time now that some small percentage (usually 5 or 10) of all amateur golfers breaks 100 consistently, and some much smaller number of golfers scores below 80.

Are there any actually published statistics for this? I did a quick internet search but couldn't come up with anything. I'd be curious to see what the numbers look like.

BTW - Happy New Year all!

[ezra76]

I've heard it said all over the place, magazines, golfchannel ect...

It's been discussed on here before and I am convinced of one conclusion. The pool of amatuers includes all who golf without making money at it. How many people play once a month, twice a year, considered in that number? Now take into account I played no less than 2 rounds per week last year as well as probably once a week at the range and over 100hours on the practice green. If I couldn't break 100 after that I'd buy a nice tennis racket.

[SunnyDaze]

Yeah - it sure could make a difference in the numbers if you play with the amateur definition just a little!

And if I put all that time and money into the game, and I still couldn't break 100, I would think about choosing a sport where I didn't have to hit a ball with something in my hand at a target - especially when the ball is moving before I hit it. ;-)

Fortunately, I have only gone over 100 a couple of times in my life, and was trying to figure out where all the >100 golfers (the 95%?) came from.

[ezra76]

Go play at cheaper course on a Sunday. Everytime I go down to the "hack course" I am usually the best by 20-30 strokes with the guys I get paired with... and that's shooting in the mid 80's. lol. It's kind of funny but gets old quick. Dogleg left par 4, I'm hitting a 5iron, they're all hitting driver, even though the straightest shot in the group last 4 holes was about a 20yd. slice. There are quite a few bad golfers and even more really bad golfers out there. If you play at more expensive, harder courses, you'll see more of the top 10% who actaully try to play the game and score, not just see how far they can slice a driver on every hole.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by ezra76

Go play at cheaper course on a Sunday. Everytime I go down to the "hack course" I am usually the best by 20-30 strokes with the guys I get paired with... and that's shooting in the mid 80's. lol. It's kind of funny but gets old quick. Dogleg left par 4, I'm hitting a 5iron, they're all hitting driver, even though the straightest shot in the group last 4 holes was about a 20yd. slice. There are quite a few bad golfers and even more really bad golfers out there. If you play at more expensive, harder courses, you'll see more of the top 10% who actaully try to play the game and score, not just see how far they can slice a driver on every hole.

I play most of my day to day golf at a district muni. We have 250 members in the men's club there, and I'd say that over half are 20 handicap or better. And most of the organized clubs I've been familiar with over the years would have a similar or better skilled membership, so those stats cannot be based solely on such groups.

I also see all manner of players during casual rounds, from guys who couldn't break 140 without a handfull of mulligans, to near scratch golfers, all playing on the same muni. So just based on my course, I think that those numbers are way off base. In my experience, I have never seen that high a percentage of bad players anywhere, and I don't see how such statistics could be gathered unless taken from organizations where scores are recorded and records kept. I know of no way to query the USGA Handicap database to get such statistics, although it may be possible for an administrator to do so. That is the only way I can think of for anyone to get any reliable statistics.

I'd say that the percentage of players who never breaks 100 is higher than 50%, but I doubt that it could be as high as 90%.

[ezra76]

Fourputt- My point is what is considered in that group. When I play with some of the members at the muni up the road I get my lunch handed to me. There are loads of sub 5 guys up there. It's also one of the toughest courses in the state, not to mention the cheapest of the tough courses by far. Now say there's like 200 or so guys that break 100. There are also thousands more guys who play like 3 or 4 times a year and shoot way over 100. I don't disagree that numbers seem skewed but I know for a fact I've played with 9 guys who will probably never break 100.

It's the same thing with the crazy driving distance averages. I've seen a lot of guys who can't hit it more than 150 before it takes off into the woods.

[Sandpiper3]

I remember reading that the avg round for a male golfer is around 97. I completely believe that. Another stat i remember is that only 10% of all golfers can break 80, and only 5% are consistent single digits. Then less then 1% are scratch or better.

When you add up ALL golfers in the world, from sunday players to Mr. T. Woods, those stats start to look pretty accurate.

[Fourputt]

ezra,

My point is... how would anyone collect reliable statistics from that group of players who plays 3 or 4 rounds a year? They aren't part of any club where scores are recorded. There simply aren't any accurate numbers available for that huge number of players who may only play a round or 2 for the company sponsored tournament, or during an annual family outing, etc. They play the round, go up the the bar and have a few drinks and talk about how much better it should have been, then toss the card in the trash and forget the game for 2 or 3 months. How could anybody possibly reliable gather data that would include such players. And as you have said, those who play in organized clubs tend to be considerably better than that, and those are the only ones I can think of whose scores would be available for data collection.

I've heard those same numbers batted around since I first started taking a serious interest in golf, yet in all that time I've never seen any physical evidence to support the allegation. I wonder if the suppostion is anything more than just another golfing myth, self-perpetuated by rumor rather than by hard evidence. Maybe it's a fiction created so that many of us can feel that we are in that "rare" 10%. One reason Im skeptical is because I've been breaking 100 since almost the first time I decided to play with serious intent (in fact, I don't even remember breaking 100 as being a milestone for me... breaking 90, breaking 80 yes, but not 100). Since I've never been the athletic type, I never thought it could really be that hard for anyone to break 100 who actually put his mind to it.

[ezra76]

Yeah, good point. It's probably based off some stupid survey. I can't imagine that 90% of golfers who actually keep a handicap can't break 100. Cripes, I could let my mom tee off for me on every hole over 400 yds. and still break 100 if I played smart golf.

[Sandpiper3]

I find those stats fairly accurate, because i play at a club where a lot of tourists and ppl come from all over. In the three years ive been a member there, ive played with maybe 5 ppl that have been able to break 80, and played with countless #s of ppl whove shot 90+.

Fourputt, as you say theres no reason not to break 100 if u take the game serious, or even semi-seriously. The reason being though, how many ppl do you see day after day who just go out to have fun and take the ugliest swipe at the ball. Not very many ppl even take the time to go practise (and by practise i mean trying to get better, not just "go to the range", because when most players go to the range, they just keep doing the same things).

If you really think about all those terrible players out there, and the ppl who just dont take the game seriously, those ppl add up faster then most of the enthusiasts we have here on Shottalk.

[demon]

Originally Posted by Sandpiper3

I find those stats fairly accurate, because i play at a club where a lot of tourists and ppl come from all over. In the three years ive been a member there, ive played with maybe 5 ppl that have been able to break 80, and played with countless #s of ppl whove shot 90+.

Fourputt, as you say theres no reason not to break 100 if u take the game serious, or even semi-seriously. The reason being though, how many ppl do you see day after day who just go out to have fun and take the ugliest swipe at the ball. Not very many ppl even take the time to go practise (and by practise i mean trying to get better, not just "go to the range", because when most players go to the range, they just keep doing the same things).

If you really think about all those terrible players out there, and the ppl who just dont take the game seriously, those ppl add up faster then most of the enthusiasts we have here on Shottalk.

Some people do not have the natural ability to play decent golf, nothing wrong with that as long as they are having fun and not throw a fit after every single shot.

[sandwedge]

I typically shoot high 90's to low 100's depending on the day and the course. I have a couple of golf partners but a lot of the time I go out to the course as a single and get paired with people. I am about average compared to the people I get paired with. Some are much better but most are my skill level or worse.

I have been paired with guys when I have shot 102 and at they end of the round they tell me they shot low 90's. I know for a fact that I have beaten many of them by at least 5-10 strokes. If not for the multiple mulligans, generous drops and penalty strokes they didn't count, many of these low 90's players would actually be shooting closer to 110.

In my opion the average golfer shoots around 100 if USGA rules were followed.

[Sandpiper3]

In my opion the average golfer shoots around 100 if USGA rules were followed.

This is huge right here. SOOO many ppl dont even understand the rules theyre governed by, but think they have it right anywayz. I play with two friends of mine who are 20ish handicaps, they ended up missing about 6 strokes worth of penalties they didnt even know about!

[LyleG]

There was a guy at the course I played at last year who has golfed for 25 years, and plays between 4 and 7 times a week. He has broken 100 three times in his elustrious career (he openly admits this). Some people just suck real bad at this game, the rest of us just suck less to varying degrees.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Sandpiper3

This is huge right here. SOOO many ppl dont even understand the rules theyre governed by, but think they have it right anywayz. I play with two friends of mine who are 20ish handicaps, they ended up missing about 6 strokes worth of penalties they didnt even know about!

Yup. This is a peeve of mine too. How can anyone have a clue how they are doing if they play a different game every time they go out??? I play by the Rules of Golf as best I know how every round, whether casual or tournament. The only modifications I might make in a casual round would be in the interest of maintaining pace of play.... i.e. I won't go back to the tee on a ball that is unexpectedly lost... I'll drop near where it was last seen and play it as hitting 3. In a tournament, I would go back, or If there was reason to believe that ball might have finished in a bad place, I'd have already played a provisional. This way, I can honestly state when a round is exceptional, whether good or bad, because I always play by the same rules.