Are you a ‘good’ golfer? The stars of the tournament say you should shoot this one

If you happen to be racking up club championships and your Handicap Index is in the low numbers, there is no doubt that you are a talented golfer. What about the rest of the golfing public? At what point are you considered a “good” golfer? The handicap index adds some context, although the answer remains subjective.

For a sport so insanely difficult to master, what does an amateur golfer need to shoot to be considered “good” at golf?

That was the question CBS Golf’s Colt Knost — who is also one half of it GOLF’s Subpar podcast duo — featured some of the sport’s best players at this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club. And if you need any kind of proof of how compelling (or controversial) this topic is, the video has already been viewed more than 4 million times in less than 24 hours on the CBS Golf Instagram page.

As you can imagine, the answers to the burning question were not universal.

“I think if you can shoot in the 80s, I feel like you’re a good golfer,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

“If you shoot 85 or less, I think you’re pretty good at golf,” Xander Schauffele said.

World No. 3 Cameron Young had a slightly higher bar to clear.

“I feel like anyone who shoots around 80 is really, really good at golf,” he said.

Meanwhile, two fellow European Ryder Cup players have much higher standards. Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy both said you have to break 80 to be considered a good player. Their Ryder Cup captain, however, allowed a little more grace.

“I would say 90 break,” Luke Donald said.

Collin Morikawa wouldn’t provide a number, but he had more context to add than anyone else.

“I don’t think there’s a number, but I think you have to be able to finish every hole without wanting to get a 2-footer,” he said. “But to be good at golf, don’t make a double bogey.”

Pushed for a count, Morikawa still didn’t move.

“There is no result, only without a double maid,” he said. “You can shoot 90, that’s 18 over, but all bogeys.”

We can also reach out to our friends at USGA for assistance answering this question. Last year, 3.68 million golfers in the United States alone held a handicap and scored a domestic record of 82 million rounds. Only 2 percent of those male players were scratches, and less than 1 percent of the women were scratches.

But we already know that scratch players are considered good.

However, the average handicap was 14.0 for male players and 28.8 for female players. The USGA also broke down the percentage of golfers in each handicap range, and the largest for men (26.48 percent) was in the 10-14.9 handicap range. According to their data, 29.81 percent of men who held handicaps last year were single-digit players.

So what do you consider “good” in golf? This answer remains as subjective as ever. But if you happen to ask THIS author — he agrees with the European Ryder Cup captain.