We’re less than three months out from the 2014 Goodboys Invitational and I’ve been getting cards and letters from tens of thousands of folks wanting to know where the Goodboys stand in terms of their handicaps so they can begin to make their Vegas wagers. Well, the 2014 pairings haven’t been announced yet, but as far as our individual Goodboys handicaps go, here is where things stand as of today, courtesy of MyScorecard.com:

“Vegas” Clark – 6.8
“Killer” Kowalski – 6.9
“2 Times” Proctor – 13.7
“The Funny Guy” Andrusaitis – 13.8
“Deuce” Doucette – 15.4
“Hulkigan” Tripp – 18.7
“Skipper” Bornemann – 19.6
“Goose” Dwyer – 21.6
“Doggy Duval” McLaughlin – 23.0
“Possum” Shepter – 25.3
“The Great White Shank” Richard – 25.7
“Cubby” Myerow – 35.8

I know what you’re thinking: with all the work on my golf game and the rounds I’ve been playing, why can’t I pass the Possum to grab that elusive 10th spot in the standings? Well, the fact is, the more you play, the harder it is to reduce your handicap. Going into last weekend’s round at Western Skies, the MyScorecard.com tracker indicated I had to shoot a 97 to lower my handicap. I shot a 98 and saw my handicap drop 1/10 of a point, from 25.8 to 25.7. Which got me thinking: what if I had shot, say, a 94 – below what MyScorecard said I needed to shoot? And you know what? That would have dropped my handicap only 3/10 of a point more, to a 25.4. So even shooting a 94 wouldn’t have been enough to overtake that damned Possum (who, to be honest, doesn’t play enough to move his number one way or the other).

You see, when it comes to lowering one’s handicap in the MyScorecard.com system (and, I’m guessing, the USGA system if you have one there), once you enter a dozen rounds or so you basically are what you are – meaning, in my case, it will take more than a few consecutive sub-100 rounds to get my handicap moving south in any kind of meaningful way. Which is not to say it can’t be done, it’s just that if I want to catch that Possum varmint before the 2014 Goodboys Invitational there’s not a moment to lose – it’s “put up or shut up” time.

The clock is ticking…