I recently had someone submit a suggestion through the site contact form to ask for the reviewers handicap when submitting a review - as well as provide the ability to sort or search on this parameter so the user could look for reviews on specific products by people at the same level in their game. What do you guys think of this suggestion? Wouldn't be too hard to implement from what I can see (as a programmer, I know just enough to be dangerous..

I like the basic idea, but there is one flaw. I have my index down to an 8.5, but it's pretty ugly. I don't hit big bombs off the tee (I'm happy with 240 in the fairway) or hit a lot of greens (only 6 or 7 a round). I do get up and down a lot and putt well. I don't get in much trouble, I just don't have the length any more.

What I'm trying to say is my review of a product may come from a totally different perspective as an 8.5 who hits 300 yarders but can't sink a putt to save his life.

So maybe in addition to the index, add a small block (50 characters?) for a game description. Something like 'Drives 250+, slight fade. 30 putts per round.'

JW

JW,
Your 8.5 still tells me you know what you're doing out there and probably didn't just start playing. We are making a BIG assumption that people will tell the truth as to what their handicap is anyway. I have seen one site where it breaks it down by scores: Usually shoots: Under Par, 70's, 80's, 90's, over 90. I think that would probably work well. What do you guys think?

Mr_D,

I've got 40 years of this addiction under my ample belt started when I was 10. I've been as low as a 4 many moons ago. My game has always been steady, never impressive. I've never broken par for 18, but have for 9 several times. My best 18 hole round is even - twice on a par 70, once on a 72.

Given that most players don't have a USGA handicap and of those who do, most that I know can't tell you the difference between handicap and handicap index, the idea of UP, 70s, 80s, etc might work a little better.

I still think my idea of a brief game description has merit, though. Kind of the old 'It ain't how, it's how many' idea. The 'how many' is a fairly small range, but the 'how' is infinite.

As far as truthfulness goes, I think our reputation as golfers is just a little above that of fishermen. All we can do is accept each other's word. At least until the day comes when we have a GGR outing and all our faults are laid bear to the world.

JW

Some way of telling how good the golfer is would help give meaning to any review. Maybe a rating chart for each of the games components. SHORT GAME, PUTTING, DRIVER DISTANCE AND ACCURACY, IRON PLAY, ? ? As we all know, there are many ways to shoot 80, you can bomb the driver and approach shot and miss the putts, or you can hit a tee shot of 190 yards and nail the second and tap in for birdie. I think it would mean more to all of us if you know the strength and weaknesses of the reviews game, not just his average score. If I guy shoots 90 all the time because he 3 putts every hole, I don't really care too much what his review says about some fancy new putter. If you need 54 putts per round, who cares what you think of a new putter, your no expert on the subject. If you average less than 30 putts per round, your opinion means a lot more. The same idea holds true for reviews of irons and woods also. If you have a good short game, I'm interested in your review on wedges and irons. If you can't find a fairway off the tee with your driver, I don't really care what you think of the latest driver you can't hit. If you can find the fairway like Fred Funk, I'm ready to listen. I don't mean to piff any one off, but I think you see what I mean by this. At least I hope so.

Ok, I added two new fields Game and Score. In Game, the submitter can talk about things like how long they've been playing, their strengths and weaknesses, favorite courses, etc. Basically, tell a little about yourself. In Score, you enter your average score for 18. I did it this way because there are so many people that don't have official handicaps. You can select from Par or Better, 70's, 80's, 90's, Around 100, or Higher than 100.

Hopefully this will add a cool new element to the reviews. These fields are optional, but I would encourage folks to use them as much as possible. Pretty soon I will build in the ability to search on reviews for specific categories, brands or models based on golfer ability as well.