The GHIN app tracks more statistics than you could ever record on a scorecard.
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How is your game?
We don’t mean ‘How are you THINK you played.’ We are asking how you are in fact performing. There is often a difference between feel and real.
The good news is that your answer doesn’t have to come down to guesswork. Performance, after all, can be measured. The easiest way to do this is by holding one handicap index.
Posting your results doesn’t just give you a snapshot in time. It helps to create a broader picture. It shows how you’re progressing, or regressing (hey, it can happen to the best of us). It also allows you to put your game in context. Dig deeper into the data and you can see how you compare to other players.
Are you better than average? This, too, can be measured. The average handicap index for male players in this country is 14.2. For female players, the average is 28.7.
In the United States today, more than 3.2 million golfers keep a handicap indexfrom 2.6 million in 2020. As participation in the game is growing, so is participation in GHIN, the disability system overseen by USGAwhich continues to add to GHIN’s capabilities while making GHIN itself easier to use.
Take, for example, a new one 30-day free trial of the GHIN app. Now you can download the app at no cost (previously, you could only use the app if you were already registered for a handicap index) and start posting scores. The clock doesn’t start ticking on your free 30-day trial until you’ve posted 54 holes, at which point GHIN will give you your estimated handicap range (within 5 strokes). You can continue to post results during your 30-day free trial. When your trial expires, you can then sign up for a GHIN handicap index (cost is usually around $50-60 depending on your club or local golf association’s price), which is good for one year.
In the past three months, more than 86,000 golfers have taken advantage of the free 30-day trial and more than 27,000 have gone on to register for a GHIN handicap index, enjoying features that are more extensive than ever, such as .sh. improved shot tracking, on-course GPS and color-coded maps of greens that show which way shots break. More bells and whistles are coming later this year and next year, including gamification features that will allow players to compare their net scores with others based on their handicap on the course they’re playing.
As much as golfers play by feel, surveys show that most also consider themselves data-driven.
“So we’re also looking at improved statistics and analysis of your game and how you compare to players in your handicap range or golfers in a target handicap range,” says Tom Padula, director of product management of the USGA, GHIN applications. “The point is, how can we help you better understand your game based on the information you give us?”
How is your game? No need to answer at this time. We will check back after you post some more results.
