So this morning I was wondering – are us 70-year-olds still playing decent golf or totally falling apart? My regular golf buddy Bob keeps complaining about his handicap ballooning, but I feel mine’s been steady. Had to find some real numbers.
Digging Into The Data
First tried Googling “golf handicaps for seniors” like a normal person. Big mistake. Got buried under golf club ads and complicated PGA reports that made my eyes glaze over. Closed like five tabs before finding an actual stats website.
Took me forever to filter things down:
- Clicked ages 65-75 range
- Selected amateur players only (we ain’t pros!)
- Ignored those fancy tournament stats – just wanted casual players
My old laptop froze twice while loading the data set. Nearly rage-quit when the browser crashed. Made myself some tea and tried again.
The Reality Check
Finally pulled up the handicap distribution chart. Felt like uncovering buried treasure. Here’s what jumped out at me:
- Most guys my age hover between 14-18 handicap
- Only 1 in 10 keeps it under 12 – shoutout to those freaks
- Shocking how many 20+ handicaps there are – Bob ain’t alone!
Printed the chart and did old-school highlighting. Yellow for the 14-18 bunch where I landed right at 16, pink for the 20+ strugglers where Bob belongs. Showed him later – he threw his hat at me laughing.
What The Numbers Don’t Show
The stats don’t tell you about Frank at our club who just turned 70 and shot his personal best last week. Or that Bill’s “handicap improvement” came from switching to senior tees. Or how my putting falls apart after hole 9 when my back stiffens up.
Still useful though. Helps me understand why my drives feel shorter but my handicap hasn’t skyrocketed. Turns out everybody’s slowing down together. Might start calling us the “Sweet 16 Gang” – sounds better than “Old Guys Holding On”.
Stats say we’re mostly average players now. But screw the stats – I’ll still take $5 off Bob next Saturday.
