[Golf] What % of players can break 80 on a real course?

[URAISEMEIRAISEU]

It depends on what you mean by a "real course". If you mean a PGA Tour quality layout, then <1% of golfers could break 80. The courses those guys play are absolutly insanely difficult for your average player. Even players who have a single digit handicap would have difficulty breaking 90 on a tournament setup.

If you mean a course of over 6000 yards and par 72 like most golfers play then I'd say just under 10% of men over their lifetime. Under 5% on a regular basis break 80 on these courses.

[Kwaz]

1) I'd say that 90% of golfers are casual players.
2) I'd say that less than 10% of the regular players have a handicap of less than 10.

That already puts the figure at less than 1%.

I used to play off a handicap of 4. I know what it takes to consistently shoot under 80.

I'd put the figure at around .5%.

[KudzuKing]

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I heard somewhere that well over 50% of golfers cannot break 100 if they were to take no mulligans and count all penalty strokes.

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It matters greatly how "golfer" is defined when using stats like these.
Anyone who's ever played?
Recently played?
Often played?

Also, the course, as already stated, changes this stat by as much as 15 shots or so.

Also, as already stated, "can break 80" may be (mis)understood to mean different things by different people.

The course I grew up on is app6000 yds., and probably over half the guys that regularly play can break 80 50% of the time.
If they played a championship course, less than 10% could.

[mmbt0ne]

87% of OOT.

40% will tell you about doing it on Pinehurst/Pebble/Bethpage.

[disjunction]

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It depends on what you mean by a "real course".

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Absolutely. Reading this thread, it obviously also depends on what you mean by "player" and whether "can" means if they decided to reach their potential. Is the guy who plays once every two years a player, should we throw him in? I don't think that guy would make any claims about breaking 80.

[chesspain]

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I used to play off a handicap of 4. I know what it takes to consistently shoot under 80.


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As someone who never got his handicap below approx. 23-25 (and obviously, never had good skills [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]), I need to ask: Why can't someone who has the skills to have a "4" handicap get down, to say, "2," or even "scratch?"

[Kwaz]

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I used to play off a handicap of 4. I know what it takes to consistently shoot under 80.


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As someone who never got his handicap below approx. 23-25 (and obviously, never had good skills [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]), I need to ask: Why can't someone who has the skills to have a "4" handicap get down, to say, "2," or even "scratch?"

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It's about muscle memory and a mental game at that level. Both take lots and lots and lots of practice.

Some don't have the time. Some don't have the patience.

For me:
I had a motorcycle accident and 6 months out spelt the end of the dream.

[URAISEMEIRAISEU]

Golf is a game that becomes increasingly more difficult to improve at, almost at an exponently rate. The skill set to improve 5 shots from 20 to 15 is much easier to acquire then the skill set needed to become a 5 from a 10. When a player gets to the point where he is a 4 handicap player he's come to a point in golf where it's difficult for an average player to distinguish the things said player needs to do to become scratch, let alone do them.

[chesspain]

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Why can't someone who has the skills to have a "4" handicap get down, to say, "2," or even "scratch?"

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It's about muscle memory and a mental game at that level. Both take lots and lots and lots of practice.

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I guess you're saying that it never gets to be "automatic," no matter how good one becomes?

[doug funnie]

7174 yards, slope=140

there I go under 80 like 1 in 10. on a typical 6000 yard 115 slope probably 35-40% of the time