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Three (strange) Minutes with Tiger

Tiger Golf CrowdIf you’ve been to a PGA Tour event, you know it’s next to impossible to get an up-close view of Tiger Woods. You might wriggle your way to within 40 feet of a tee box or green, but unless you’re taller than most you’ll have to look through the backs of people stacked ten deep just to get a glimpse of the side of his leg. As I rode the shuttle bus in to see Thursday’s round at the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship, I decided I would use a little strategery to increase my chances of seeing the world’s number one golf swing at point blank. Point blank is what I got, and a bit more.

PGA tour stats show that Tiger Woods misses 36% of his fairways, and if you watch golf on TV, you know that when he misses he misses right just about every time. So, as Tiger played the 8th, I staked out some real estate on the right side of the 9th fairway (Tiger’s 18th for the day), about 300 yards from the tee. I planted myself on the rope and Continue reading “Three (strange) Minutes with Tiger”

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Help us Find a Name

 
It’s been decided. Online Handicap Blog is not doing it for us. It’s not strong. It’s not that exciting; it’s not really even that sexy.

We think we can do better, and we think you can help. We need a name, and potentially a slogan. Post your suggestions below (or send them to us) and share your thoughts about which suggestion you like most. The best one will become the new name for our blog.

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Start Putting (and Making) the Short Ones

Taking gimmes impact your handicapI remember reading somewhere that the average golfer effectively lowers his or her handicap a full 3 strokes by taking unwarranted gimmes.

In other words, taking gimmes on a regular basis results in a handicap index that is lower than your true ability. This is bad if you’re giving strokes to your friends on Saturday mornings. I don’t know how accurate that 3-stroke statistic is, but it’s compelled me to take the time, even when I’m just playing by myself, to putt everything out. I always want to know that my handicap is an accurate measure of my game, and unfortunately my game includes a fairly severe incompetence from inside 5 feet.

The day I left a 24-inch putt 6 inches short was the day I knew I had to do something about my short putting. If you’re like me, the sight of your golf ball coming to rest anywhere between 2 and 5 feet from the hole causes immediate, involuntary twitching. In fact, I sometimes will my chips to roll 10 feet past just so I won’t have to face the shakes from 4 feet. Continue reading “Start Putting (and Making) the Short Ones”

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Update: Out of Season Scores

After receiving feedback about the confusion involving out-of-season scores, we’ve made things easier and more intuitive.

If you live in a Northern region (e.g. NY), it is important that you do not post scores during the inactive season. This is because course slope & ratings (the measures of course difficulty) may not be accurate in winter conditions (and thus skew your handicap). Checking the box still let’s you post your score – however, a score that you designate as out-of-season is only recorded in your Score History, and does not get used in the handicap calculation.

Before, the out-of-season checkbox would appear throughout the winter. Now, it will only appear if you are actually in a region Continue reading “Update: Out of Season Scores”