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The Most Controversial YouTube Handicaps

2026-03-19 · Blog

Handicaps are the most argued-about number in golf, and on YouTube, where creators play on camera and millions of fans scrutinise every shot, the debate gets even louder. We dug into the last 20 rounds of six of the most talked-about handicaps on our leaderboard, ran every score through the differential formula, and looked at what the data actually says.

A quick reminder: a round's differential is how it compares with what a scratch golfer should shoot on that course, allowing for how hard it is. Below zero beats scratch. A handicap is the average of a player's best 8 from their latest 20.

Kyle Berkshire: too good to be true?

Handicap in March 2026: +4.8

Kyle is the world's longest driver and, on our numbers, one of the most genuinely elite players in YouTube golf. His controversy isn't that his handicap looks padded. It's that it seems almost impossible for someone who calls himself a content creator rather than a touring pro.

Kyle's rounds in the spotlight
  1. Payne's Valley6 under−8.2
  2. RainDance National2 over · Rating 79.9, Slope 155−4.3
  3. The Standard ClubLevel par−3.1
  4. PGA West StadiumLevel par · Rating 76.0−3.1
  5. Mickelson National6 over+1.3
  6. Mickelson National9 over+3.6
  7. Mickelson National9 over+3.6

RainDance tells the story best. On one of the most statistically difficult courses in the country, he shot just 2 over, a differential of −4.30. His best of all, 6 under at Payne's Valley, is a −8.22: that one round alone would put most YouTubers' handicaps in a different postcode. The three rounds at Mickelson National are the eyebrow-raisers, but for a player of his calibre they look like genuine off days, not sandbagging.

RainDance National2 over on a course rated 79.9

Micah Morris: the Magnolia Grove effect

Handicap in March 2026: +3.7

Micah is one of the most naturally gifted ball strikers on YouTube. But look closely at his last 20 rounds and there's a pattern that's fuelled plenty of comment-section debate: his home course, Magnolia Grove Crossings, appears five times, and four of his best differentials come from there.

Micah's best differentialsAt his home course, Magnolia Grove
  1. Magnolia Grove4 under−5.8
  2. Magnolia GroveRating 74.8, Slope 135−4.9
  3. Magnolia Grove−4.0
  4. JCB Golf & Country ClubEngland−4.0
  5. La Costa9 holes−3.5
  6. BallenIsles North−1.8
  7. Magnolia Grove−1.5
  8. East Lake−0.3

A handicap comes from your best 8 differentials, and four of Micah's most important ones come from a course he clearly knows inside out. That said, he can do it away from home too: a −3.95 at JCB in England, −1.80 at BallenIsles North and a solid −0.27 at East Lake. Even without the nine-hole round at La Costa, his handicap holds up.

Magnolia Grove4 under at home: a −5.75 differential

Rick Shiels: the world traveller's dilemma

Handicap in March 2026: +1.0

Rick is the best-known name in golf content, and a handicap just better than scratch feels about right if you watch his videos. The debate isn't about his ability. It's about how many part rounds feed into it: seven of his last 20 were rounds of 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 holes, where we work out the holes played and project the rest. Lost balls, early concessions and the logistics of a shoot day mean Rick rarely plays a clean 18 on camera.

Rick's rounds in the spotlight
  1. Fairmont St Andrews Kittocks8 holes−1.5
  2. Lykia Links−1.3
  3. Gloria Golf Resort−1.2
  4. Real Club Valderrama6 over · Rating 76.1, Slope 147+3.0
  5. The Grange, Australia10 over+4.4

When he does play full rounds, the scores are solid, and 6 over at the fearsome Valderrama is only a +3.0. The odd one out is The Grange in Australia: 10 over, even after 4 shots came off for net double bogey limits, and a +4.37 that's his worst by some way.

ValderramaRick Shiels at one of Europe's hardest courses

Stephen Castaneda: the Rating problem

Handicap in March 2026: 3.6

Stephen's handicap gets lively debate in the comments, and the raw differentials show why: his last 20 run from +2.33 at The Tribute all the way to +16.91 at Whistling Straits, where he carded 21 over. That's the widest spread of anyone here.

Stephen's rounds in the spotlight
  1. The Tribute+2.3
  2. Oak Tree NationalLevel par+2.4
  3. Gentle Creek1 under+2.8
  4. The Tribute (Old American)Level par · Rating 66.3+4.4
  5. Loraloma2 over · Rating 61.7, Slope 99+14.0
  6. Whistling Straits21 over+16.9

The one that stands out is Loraloma: 2 over, but a differential of +14.04, because the course is rated just 61.7. A modest score on an easy course looks terrible in the numbers (it doesn't make his best 8 anyway). What really keeps his handicap higher than fans expect is The Tribute, where he's been anywhere from level par to 18 over: an 18-shot gap on the same course.

Whistling Straits21 over: a +16.9 differential

Riggs: the Fore Play enigma

Handicap in March 2026: 6.8

Riggs of the Fore Play podcast has some of the most extreme differentials on our whole leaderboard, swinging from genuinely impressive to catastrophic depending on the course.

Riggs' rounds in the spotlight
  1. We-Ko-Pa Saguaro1 over (12 holes)+3.6
  2. TPC Scottsdale5 over+4.3
  3. Grayhawk Talon8 over · Slope 149+4.6
  4. Granite Links6 over (16 holes)+7.0
  5. Streamsong Blue9 holes+8.2
  6. Bethpage Black17 over+10.2
  7. Cypress Point16 over+12.9
  8. Olympic Club Lake21 over+14.6
  9. Tot Hill Farm25 over+18.5
  10. Oakmont35 over+20.8
  11. Streamsong Red25 over+21.7

The bad days are very bad: 35 over at Oakmont is a +20.79. But when Riggs is on, he's on: 1 over at We-Ko-Pa, 5 over at TPC Scottsdale, 8 over at Grayhawk's Talon on a 149 slope. His best 8 say he's a genuine mid-single-figure golfer on a good day. The trouble is those days don't come often enough, and he keeps taking on the hardest courses in golf, which is admirable but keeps his worst numbers extreme.

OakmontRiggs at Oakmont: 35 over

Bobby Fairways: the most honest handicap on YouTube

Handicap in March 2026: 12.0

Nobody thinks Bobby is cheating. He's controversial because his scores are so wildly unpredictable that fans can't agree on what his "real" number is.

Bobby's rounds in the spotlight
  1. Coral Canyon10 over+7.4
  2. Dye Preserve10 over+7.6
  3. TPC Sawgrass9 holes+16.8
  4. Bethpage Black30 over+20.0
  5. BallenIsles South9 holes+22.5

Bethpage Black, 30 over, is a +20.02, and a nine-hole round at BallenIsles South projects to +22.52, the highest of anyone in this article. But his best, 10 over at Coral Canyon (+7.43), backed up by Dye Preserve (+7.64), shows there's a better player underneath. On a course in his wheelhouse he's a genuine 10 or 11. What makes him so likeable is that he plays up: Bethpage, Sawgrass, Wolf Creek. That's not controversial at all.

Bethpage BlackBobby Fairways: 30 overCoral CanyonBobby's best differential

The verdict at a glance

Here's each player's best and worst differential from their last 20, on one scale. The further right the line runs, the worse the bad days:

Kyle BerkshireToo good to be a “YouTuber”−8.2+6.3Micah MorrisHome course reliance−5.8+4.0Rick ShielsPart-round volume−1.5+4.4Stephen CastanedaExtreme variance+2.3+16.9RiggsBest v worst gap+3.6+21.7Bobby FairwaysPlays up, pays the price+7.4+22.5

From each player's latest 20 rounds as of March 2026.

Every handicap here comes from real scores in real videos, worked out the same way as every player on our leaderboard. What the data shows is that "controversial" usually means one of three things: a player dominates their home course, their best days are so good they seem unbelievable, or their scores swing so much it's hard to pin down who they really are. Often, all three at once.

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