YouTube golfer Garrett Clark has responded to criticism after fans questioned the handicaps of some of the Good Good members.
Clark, who competed at the PGA Tour’s Creator Classic at East Lake, is one of the platform’s biggest names and has helped popular group Good Good gain over 1.6 million subscribers.
Clark is an accomplished player who led the Creator Classic during its early stages in Atlanta. The American is one of the lower-handicap players in the group, and some fans have questioned whether his index is correct.
Now, Clark has answered the scepticism.
Garrett Clark shares common ‘misconception’ about his handicap
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During a video on Good Good Labs, Clark claimed some fans don’t understand the handicap system and why some players are so low.
“We’ve been reading a lot of your comments, and there’s a lot of misconception about what the handicap system is,” Clark said. “I want everybody at home to understand this moving forward so that there are no more questions.”
Fellow Good Good member and YouTube personality Brad Dalke added: “A lot of people don’t believe the handicaps we put in and the ones that we tell them and put in.”
Clark went on to reveal his current handicap index and why he’s a +5 despite shooting rounds in the 80s.
“I wanna say for me, I have an 87, an 86 and multiple rounds in the 80s in my last 20 scores, but those are not getting counted towards my handicap,” Clark added.
“It’s just my eight best scores. To show you the difference, my handicap right now is +5, which is because I’ve had some rounds like a 66, multiple rounds in the 60s and even with those rounds in the 80s, they don’t count, but my scoring average is 73.4. That goes to show the difference between a handicap and an average score. I think that’s the misconception there.”
Handicap system explained after Garrett Clark admission
The revamped handicap was introduced back in 2020. Before the new WHS system, a handicap was calculated using the ten best differentials from the last 20.
Now, a unified system is in place, which takes an average of the best eight scores from the last 20 rounds.
The post-2020 format also takes into account course ratings and allows handicaps to be adjusted depending on the difficulty of a course.
For example, a four handicapper would probably be given in excess of ten shots at Oakmont due to the extreme difficulty of the course.
So, when the likes of Clark and Dalke are shooting in the high 70s and low 80s, it’s not because their handicaps are too low; it’s because they’re playing above their scoring average.
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