The idea of a good golf score will be entirely different from one player to another.
A scratch golfer may say that a good score is 73, whereas a high handicapper may call 93 a great score. Let’s look at the different golf scores and how they compare based on skill level.
Good is a relative term in golf, and you must consider skill level before you can say whether a score is good or bad.
Good Golf Score for a Beginner
A good golf score for a beginner is anything around 110. If you can shoot 110 as a new beginner, you will have a long future in the game of golf. To shoot 110, you probably got close to fitting a few greens in regulation, made some two putts, and even had a bogey or two on the course.
However, I have always found that beginners trying to get started in the game are much better off focusing on hitting great shots as opposed to their score. The number of strokes it takes to get the ball in the hole will be a lot for a beginner.
Take your time and learn to make great shots.
Start trying to two putt or take just one shot out of the sand, get your golf ball in the fairway from the tee and avoid water hazards. These are all much more important than trying to shoot low scores.
Good Golf Score for an Average Golfer
A good golf score for an average golfer is around 90. Average golfers tend to call it a good day when they can break 100; breaking 90 happens a little less frequently.
As an average golfer, you likely make some nice pars and an occasional birdie. However, the problem for average golfers often becomes the number of strokes it takes to get out of trouble. In addition, there is that occasional slice that pops up or a three-putt, and it just adds up over the course of the round.
Breaking 90 is going to take a good short game, some practice, and a bit of dedication to the sport.
When you can start breaking 90 consistently, you will move out of the category of the average golfer.
Good Golf Score for a Pro
Professional golfers try to shoot below par every time they go out to play. For professional golfers, good scores a really dependent on the course difficulty, course rating, and conditions of play.
If you shoot a 71 on a really tough golf course in the rain and wind, it’s likely a great score. However, shooting 70 on an easy course with perfect conditions may not be quite as good of a score.
Most professionals will determine if their score was good based on how the rest of the field does. If a pro shoots 67 and everyone else is in the low 70s, it was a great round. However, some professionals are so good that they can shoot scores in the low 60s.
Professionals need to make a lot of birdies and even eagles to be able to keep the number of strokes as low as they do.
When a professional shoots higher 70s or into the 80s, it’s considered a bad day on the golf course.
Where Your Score Ranks You in Terms of Handicap
Golf uses a handicap system to help players be able to compete against one another in a fair golf match. The handicap system will take into account the course difficulty, and course raging and give you an average handicap or average score that you will typically shoot at that course.
Depending on what your golf handicap is, you will fall into three different ranges, low handicap golfers, mid handicap golfers, and high handicap golfers.
| Low Handicap Golfer | Mid Handicap Golfer | High Handicap Golfer | |
| Handicap Range | 0-9 | 10-20 | 21+ |
| Score | Par-79 | 80-94 | 95+ |
| Consistency | High | Average | Poor |
Low Handicap Golfer
The low handicap golfer shoots in the 70-79 range. These amateur golfers tend to make a lot of one putts, know how to birdie a hole, and can keep the ball in bounds for the majority of their round.
Most low handicap players have a fair amount of club head speed and can get some good distance off the tee. As great as low handicap golfers are, they are not quite to the level of a professional and still have work to do to get to that point.
Mid Handicap Golfer
Mid handicap golfers make up the most significant portion of golfers in the game. These players range from a 10 to 20 handicap and will shoot between 80 and 94. Mid handicap golfers tend to have a few great holes and a few bad holes when they are on the course.
With a mid handicap golfer, you can expect that the scoring will be a bit inconsistent, but most of the time, it ends up in this 80-94 range.
As mid handicappers transition into low handicappers, their scores will become really consistent in the low 80s. At this point, many mid handicappers can figure out what has been keeping them from the low handicap range, and they can make the necessary adjustments to their golf game.
High Handicap Golfer
High handicap golfers and beginners tend to fall into the same category. However, most high handicap golfers have played the game for quite some time.
With high handicappers, you can expect a handicap to be higher than 21 and the scores to be higher than 95. Some high handicappers are not able to break 100 and will continually work on trying to get these scores down.
One thing that hurts high handicappers is turning a simple bogey into a triple bogey. If you miss a green, it’s really not a big deal to chip back on the green and make a putt. However, if you keep chipping back and forth over the green, it will hurt your score.
Some golfers are happy staying in the high handicap range and having fun on the golf course. Not all players are on a mission to be low handicappers.
Brittany Olizarowicz
Britt O has been playing golf since the age of 7. Almost 30 years later, she still loves the game, has played competitively on every level, and spent a good portion of her life as a Class A PGA Professional. Britt currently resides in Savannah, GA, with her husband and two young children.