What percentage of golfers shoot under 100?

According to the National Golf Foundation, the average golf score remains where it has been for decades: 100. This, in spite of all the innovations in club and ball design and instruction. The USGA says that the average golf handicap for men is 16.1, and is 29.2 for women.

The National Golf Foundation breaks down scores this way:

Average Score Percent of Adult Golfers Under 80 5% 80-89 21% 90-99 29% 100-109 24% 110-119 10% 120+ 11%

So, according to the NGF, 55% of golfers surveyed report breaking 100.

There are flaws in all these numbers, however. The first is that they assume golfers are playing by the rules. I have yet to see the round where a golfer took stroke-and-distance on a lost or out-of-bounds ball. Gimmies on the green are legion. Whiffs are declared “practice swings.” Mulligans on the first tee are expected as a matter of courtesy. Given this, I am certain that the average score is well above 100, and that handicaps are much higher than reported.

The handicap reporting also has issues because only better and/or more dedicated players tend to bother to pay for, and record their handicaps. Bad players don’t keep handicaps, so the “handicap” for the general population is much higher than reported.

In addition, the USGA’s handicap system is completely broken. There’s supposed to be a handicap committee on every course, along with the opportunity for “peer review.” Members are supposed to have “a reasonable and regular opportunity to play together” and access to scoring records must be available “for inspection by others, including, but not limited to, fellow club members.” I don’t know who would do the peer review on my handicap, since I often play alone, and even if playing with others almost never play with the same group twice. Even among regular groups, I’m certain that they are not going online to look up the scores others post to be sure it’s all on the up-and-up.

Below are the 2017 USGA statistics for handicaps.

USGA Handicap Index Statistics

Handicap Index Percent of Total Cumulative +1.0 or better 0.92% 0.0092 +0.9 to 0.0 0.68% 0.016 0.1 to 1.0 0.0095 0.0255 1.1 to 1.9 0.0126 0.0381 2.0 to 2.9 0.0162 0.0543 3.0 to 3.9 0.0207 0.0751 4.0 to 4.9 0.026 0.1011 5.0 to 5.9 0.032 0.133 6.0 to 6.9 0.0377 0.1707 7.0 to 7.9 0.0435 0.2142 8.0 to 8.9 0.0476 0.2618 9.0 to 9.9 0.0513 0.3131 10.0 to 10.9 0.0543 0.3674 11.0 to 11.9 0.0566 0.424 12.0 to 12.9 0.0572 0.4812 13.0 to 13.9 0.0569 0.5382 14.0 to 14.9 0.0547 0.5928 15.0 to 15.9 0.051 0.6438 16.0 to 16.9 0.0469 0.6907 17.0 to 17.9 0.0433 0.734 18.0 to 18.9 0.0378 0.7717 19.0 to 19.9 0.0334 0.8051 20.0 to 20.9 0.0296 0.8347 21.0 to 21.9 0.0262 0.861 22.0 to 22.9 0.023 0.884 23.0 to 23.9 0.0198 0.9038 24.0 to 24.9 0.0168 0.9206 25.0 to 25.9 0.0143 0.935 26.0 to 26.9 0.0119 0.9469 27.0 to 27.9 0.01 0.9569 28.0 to 28.9 0.0082 0.9652 29.0 to 29.9 0.0068 0.9719 30.0 to 30.9 0.0054 0.9774 31.0 to 31.9 0.0045 0.9819 32.0 to 32.9 0.0036 0.9855 33.0 to 33.9 0.0029 0.9884 34.0 to 34.9 0.0024 0.9908 35.0 to 36.4 0.0092 1

So what percentage actually break 100? I’m sure it’s lower than the 55% reported by the National Golf Foundation. The best thing to say is that if you are legitimately shooting in the 90s, you are better than most. If you’re shooting in the 80s, you’re an excellent player. Those who shoot in the 70s are an anomaly.

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