Bogey Golfer Official Handicap and Stats

The USGA defines a Bogey Player (casually known as a bogey golfer) as: A player with a Handicap Index of approximately 20.0 for men and approximately 24.0 for women. When we give or take a couple strokes, about 14% of male golfers and 15% of female golfers fall into the “bogey golfer” category.

No golfer shoots the sames score every round, but a typical score for a male bogey golfer is between 93-97, depending on the par and difficulty of the course. Of course, bogey players will shoot plenty of scores better and worse than that range. That’s just the nature of golf.

Beyond the final score, what does a bogey golfer’s game look like? Using data from Shot Scope, we can evalute how a typical bogey golfer performs in all facets of the game, and how that performance compares to 10-handicap players and scratch golfers (players with a handicap index of 0.0).

Let’s look at the percentage of fairways each level of player hits off the tee, how often the hit the green in regulation, how frequently they get up-and-down from inside 50 yards, and how many putts each level of player takes per round.

You’ll notice a few key takeaways from this data. First of all, the biggest differentiator between a bogey golfer and their next-level counterparts is in the approach game. Bogey golers hit around 19% of their greens in regulation. Meanwhile, 10-handicap players hit 32% and scratch players manage to hit more than half, 51%, of their greens in regulation. 

The difference between a bogey golfer and a 10-handicap player, more or less, boils down to one more green in regulation per side (9-holes).

The next biggest differentiator between these skill levels of golfers is, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the short game. 

From inside 50 yards, bogey golfers get up-and-down just over 30% of the time. That means 7-out-of-10 tries, it takes the bogey golfer three or more strokes to finish the hole from inside of 50 yards. 

Meanwhile, the 10-handicap player gets up-and-down 39% of the time, just shy of 4-out-of-10 times. Again, the scratch player is successful here more than half the time, getting up-and-down 54% of the time from inside 50 yards. 

Considering that on the 7-out-of-10 times the bogey golfer fails to get up-and-down, they will take more than three strokes to finish the hole a few of those times, the strokes a bogey golfer loses here can really add up. The good news is, there are plenty of strokes to be gained by improving your short game.

Finally, you’ll notice that there isn’t a big difference between the bogey golfer and the 10-handicap, or even the scratch golfer, when it comes to the percentage of fairways hit. Scratch players only hit about one more fairway per round than bogey golfers. However, the fairways hit stat doesn’t come close to painting a complete picture of off-the-tee performance.

Bogey golfers looking to improve off the tee should focus on reducing penalty strokes off the tee and adding distance, either by hitting the sweet spot more often or implementing a speed training program (there are plenty of great speed training options available today).

The average handicap for male golfers is 14.2. If you’re trying to become as good as you can be at golf, being a bogey golfer is part of the journey, but not the destination.

Let’s compare the statistics of a bogey golfer (20-handicap) to a 15-handicap player to establish some benchmarks for improving.

I find that trying to improve a little bit in a multiple facets of the game is less intimidating than heading to the first tree trying to beat my scoring average by 8-10 strokes.

Here are a few ways to improve from being a bogey golfer to becoming a mid-handicap player

• Hone a go-to shot off the tee: This should be a shot that you can reliably put in play, avoiding penalties and punch-out situations that really damage your scorecard. This shot should leave you a manageable distance to the green on a standard par-4 hole for your second shot. If your go-to tee shot leaves too long of a second shot, consider moving up a set of tees.
• Work on hitting more greens in regulation: By hitting about one more Green in Regulation per side, your approach game will align with that of a 10-handicap player instead of a bogey golfer.
• Improve your short game: It’s not too much to ask to get up-and-down just once more per round than you already do, and eliminate one instance of needing 4-or-more strokes to hole out from inside of 50 yards each round. If you can achieve that, your improved short game will shave multiple strokes from your score each round.
• Practice your putting: The easiest ways to improve your scores on the putting green are to avoid 3-putts, and make more makable putts. Focus on becoming excelling from 3, 6 and 8 feet, and getting your first-putt within 3-feet on putts from outside of 20-feet.

Being a bogey golfer means you’ve conquered golf’s first big milestone of breaking 100, and you’re doing it consistently. Next up is becoming a mid-handicap golfer, then a single-digit player. Sooner or later, you’ll set your sights on being a scratch golfer. But no matter what your skill level is today, chances are good you’ll always be working to improve. That’s what makes golf all about the journey, not the destination.