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 The creation of the golf handicap system is one of the great innovations in the game. For more than 300 years, the system has allowed Mr. Smith as a 23 handicap to play on a semi-level playing field with Mr. Jones, who's a 7. I've run my share of club tournaments, but until recently I hadn't given much thought to what a tour player's handicap might be. Honestly, tour players are so good that the thought of assigning a handicap to them seems silly. But equating how good they are in relationship to our game piqued my interest. From experience, I've found most amateur golfers play worse in a tournament format where all the strokes are counted. The pressure and anxiety of knowing that every shot counts can weigh heavy on the amateur's mind. I was reading an article a few months back on Tiger Woods' tournament handicap index. The writer factored in the slope rating and handicap index of every tour stop and determined Woods had played to between a plus-7 and plus-9 throughout his career. If you compare that to the best players at your club, it might not seem that much better. Now factor in that he is playing the hardest golf courses in the world, under a tremendous amount of pressure, in good weather and in bad, and under every possible circumstance, and you begin to see the big picture of how wide the gap is between a tour professional and everyone else. I remember a few years back having a conversation with former tour pro and swing guru Mac O'Grady. I was telling him about a player I was working with. I explained his practice regimen and his work ethic. I told O'Grady that my student was a very good player. O'Grady responded that he might be a good player, but that he wasn't a "player" yet. I rattled off my student's accomplishments and mini-tour victories, but O'Grady said we could talk some more when my player had 150 PGA Tour events under his belt. I now see his point. Golfers have to compete a lot to experience all the situations and conditions that test players to see if they can truly stand up to the pressure and competition. It takes a certain amount of innate talent combined with desire, skill and an unparalleled work ethic to create the finished product. There are hours and years of preparation that go into being an elite player. I work 50-60 hours a week running a golf operation, so I can't be expected to compete with the best players in the world who spend that much time or more working on being the best players in the world. There's a reason why the club professional spots in the PGA Championship have been reduced over the years. As players get better, train harder and continue to improve, the gap between tour professionals and everyone else continues to grow. Take any scratch player and factor out all the mulligans, gimme putts and winter rules - even when it's not winter - he allots himself during a typical round. Take those away, and the scratch player is still going to need at least five strokes a side to compete against the best players in the world. SG Jamie Mulligan is a PGA professional and the chief operations officer at Virginia Country Club. |
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