Forums

Re: Kiawah and degree of difficulty

• Davgelb 15 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 6:12 PM

  I have played Kiawah, I guess, too many times to count but today was the first time I clicked on the handicap numbers on the scorecard.  I was really amazed that hole #10 was listed as the number 18 handicap hole!  That is the hole that I have probably bogeyed the most on the back nine.  Is the handicapping of the holes geared to players who have upgraded their clubs and that makes it easier to play that hole?  I play with the original equipment but it's not as if I'm too far away with my second shot.  I just find it to be a really tough hole to par, let alone birdie.  Any comments?

• tibbets 1,043 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 6:26 PM

  The handicap numbers come straight from the actual Kiawah scorecard, which you can see here. (Masters play from the Ocean Tees, Pros from the Dye Tees, etc)  There are quite a few holes that are out of whack when comparing the real course to this game.  Hole # 2 for example is rated as the 3rd hardest hole, when in reality it has always played as one of the easiest in this game.  Also #8 listed as the 2nd easiest on the golf course, when in reality it plays much harder in the game.

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 6:42 PM

  Mr. Tibbets, I consider your 31-27=58 at Kiawah our best of the best. It is true that it was done from the old amateur tees but done with a 235 driver and first upgrade irons. I doubt that anyone knows Kiawah front 9 as well as you. The 2nd hole at Kiawah is infact a very easy par. It is the little 2 to 5 footers for birdie that drive most people nuts. Fact of life.

• tibbets 1,043 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 6:52 PM

  That is true SP, using the tour Starter set there were many sub 60 rounds recorded at Kiawah from the white tees.

  As to the original topic, I'm guessing that we have a mixture of pin placements and such that skew the handicap ratings.  #10 as the OP mentioned has a pin placement about 5 paces off the left edge.  There's no chance that any hole with a pin placement that close to the edge of the green with that angle of approach can have a handicap rating that high.  Were the pin on that hole placed in the front-center of the green, it would play much differently and might more accurately reflect the handicap number listed on the scorecard..

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 7:00 PM

  This is an interesting article.

  http://www.carolinasgolf.org/handicap/holeallocation.htm

  In general, the handicap stroke allocation that appears on a scorecard indicates the ranking of holes in which a higher handicapped player most needs a stroke or strokes to obtain a half in a singles or four-ball match play event.

  
  

  A common misconception is that the handicap stroke allocation is a ranking of the degree of difficulty of holes on the course, but it is not. A handicap stroke should be an equalizer and should be available on a hole where it would most likely be needed by a higher handicapped player. 

• BOFFMEN 337 Posts

  Tue, Nov 10 2009 9:25 PM

  Ah yes the Great Equalizer....

• Davgelb 15 Posts

  Wed, Nov 11 2009 9:29 AM

   

  Thanks for the reply.  You raise an interesting point about pin location and handicap rating that I've never really thought about to a great extent.  On the public course that i play weekly, the scorecard's list of handicap holes never changes from round to round, yet pin locations and tee locations vary from day to day and week to week.  Most of the greens have no more than 4 or 5 different pin locations.  On other courses that I have played, I've seen as many as nine.  On my public course, there are several two-tier greens on the course and making a par on those holes (I'm a 14-handicap) is usually not too much of an issue if the pin is located more centrally on either of the two tiers.  On the other hand, when the greenskeeper puts the pin (maliciously?  gleefully?) puts the pin right at the edge of an upper tier, even an approach shot to the proper tier doesn't guarantee an easy par.

  Naturally, the course, having printed up 12 million scorecards at a discount eight years ago, does not care where the pin locations are.  I'm wondering if ANY course around the country has a supply of scorecards with different handicap hole numbers, depending on which hole location is being used for the day.  Your assessment of hole #10 at Kiawah suggests that they should!