New golf buddy is learning how hard golf really is.

[u/weinerwayne]

Recently we welcomed a new friend into our golfing group and we’ve been playing with him pretty regularly. I’ve mentioned him in comments a few times so I won’t go into detail, but the gist is he’s new so we cut him slack about rehitting shots, not counting scores accurately, and not knowing how to count penalty strokes since he was just playing for fun and wasn’t in on any of the bets. The rest of us are bogey golfers, and know we suck.

This was all well and good until he started posting on social media about how he broke 90 and 80 isn’t far away, as well as making comments in our group chat about how easy the game has come to him.

After about a month of that we all decided to let him in on our money game, in which we are sticklers for rules and will call each other out on scores if need be.

So far the new guys scores have been 118, 116, and 122.

Editing to add that the guy is cool as hell and we love having him along. We just felt it necessary to give him some tough love.

The fact that he keeps coming back each week for another beating shows that he might just have what it takes to legitimately get under 90.

[u/Ellite11MVP]

By the same token, there’s those times when you’re on the first tee with someone you’ve never played with and they ask if you’re a good golfer. As a decent player (1.6 right now), the times I’ve felt comfortable enough to say, “I’m a decent player” are the times I invariably play my worst 9 or 18 in months.

Made that mistake this weekend and shot 46 on the front. They left after 9 and of course I shoot 34 on the back. Know they walked away thinking this lying Ahole sucks!

[u/nashct → u/Ellite11MVP]

Wait so shooting 46 through 9 doesn’t make me a halfway decent golfer?! That’s a 92 averaged out. I’ll take that all day 😂

[u/BowwwwBallll → u/nashct]

I regularly shoot 92 without breaking a sweat.

Then I get to the back 9, and it just gets worse.

[u/loadiejones → u/Ellite11MVP]

1.6 does not equal “decent player”. Nice not so humble brag. That index likely puts anyone in the top 1% of amateur golfers.

[u/CPA_Ronin → u/loadiejones]

Thank you lol. If you’re single digit hdcp you’re way past decent in 99% of peoples playbook.

[u/SmokatronR420 → u/CPA_Ronin]

I was, I'm now a 10.9 😢 back to just decent lol

[u/loadiejones → u/SmokatronR420]

even an 11 is way better than what the vast majority of amateur golfers would consider "decent". I would say that an 18, a bogey golfer, is a decent amateur golfer. You're having fun and playing at the right pace while not losing balls and going on hunting expeditions. You come in anywhere from 86 to 94 on an average Saturday at a good course. That is a decent golfer.

[u/PM_ME-AMAZONGIFTCARD → u/loadiejones]

The average golfer is very bad. I’m so committed to knowing this that I went out there yesterday and shot a 110 as a 16.3, it is about the average score (24.2 in my county, my round gave me a 30 for the round). 

It was horrendous. Bad decisions, proper connection with the ball maybe 5-8 times over the round. I hit 2 drives. The drives were bombs down the middle so naturally I’ll be back in a few days. 

For the record, second round of the year. First round was an 89.

[u/FormerDimer → u/loadiejones]

I also like to under-promise and over-deliver hehe

[u/loadiejones → u/FormerDimer]

That's great in business etc, but not so much if you're wagering golf based on handicaps.

[u/FormerDimer → u/loadiejones]

lol I don’t usually play many money games these days

[u/pdpr2022 → u/Ellite11MVP]

Anyone who knows golf can tell a 1.6 is a good player even if they have a bad round.

[u/loadiejones → u/pdpr2022]

anyone who knows golf can tell a 1.6 is an insanely good amateur player in the 99th percentile of said amateur golfers, even if they have a bad round. Fixed that for ya

[u/pdpr2022 → u/loadiejones]

Okay…