Are you the best "you" in GHIN?

[pseudoswede]

(Apologies if there is already a thread like this. I tried searching, but I couldn't find anything.)

 

tl;dr - How many people have the same name as you in the GHIN database? Do you have the best index?

 

Growing up in Kentucky, I thought I had a pretty unique name. Yet, there is a guy with the same name as me in Denver. We have never met, but our lives have closely intersected over the past 20 years. He's a doctor. His group's practice was a few hundred feet across a vacant field from where I worked for almost a decade. I had to unlist my phone number because his patients kept calling me since I was in the phone book. My brother-in-law (a doctor) has met him a few times. The doctor who did my colonoscopy is good friends with him. Even my own mother was a patient of his--probably because she wanted me to become a doctor like my sister instead of an engineer. It all culminated about three weeks ago on a golf course when a guy (who sells particular high-end luxury items) thought he was being paired up with one of his best customers. The doctor, not me. Sorry to disappoint, sales guy (and mom).

 

I have the most logical GMail address for my name (firstname.lastname@gmail). For years I've been getting e-mails for "me". I own a few gas stations in Atlanta. I own a chain of clothing stores in malls across Tennessee and Alabama (sadly it appears I'm always late with rent). I own a house somewhere in Indianapolis, and those renters are always late with rent. I was a PhD candidate at the University of Texas in Austin. I have a jealous girlfriend in the Philippines who keeps trying to reset my Instagram password (if Mrs. Swede reads this, I swear I don't). I work for a large financial institution in NYC that has gotten a few invites to bachelor parties. I'm applying for loans to try to open my own physical therapy practice in New Jersey. I have a kid at an elementary school somewhere in Manitoba, Canada. It appears I regularly file taxes ... in Kenya. No wonder I'm always tired! During the pandemic, I got an e-mail from the Black Gold Golf Club in California thanking me for my membership. I also get a confirmation e-mail every time "I" book a tee time. Sometimes I'm tempted to try to book a tee time for myself, or cancel his out of spite.

 

When I was looking up my opponent's index for our upcoming match play the other day, it suddenly struck me: how many of "me" play golf? I went down the rabbit hole of the GHIN Golfer Lookup to find "me". I use the accepted long-form version of my name, but I also searched using the one common spelling variation as well as a very common nickname that a lot of people like me go by (which I used growing up but not anymore). You can limit yourself to the US, or all of the countries in GHIN (except Nicaragua is broken). The doctor is a 19.6, so at least I got that going for me. He is a member at a pretty nice country club. Maybe if I call the pro shop.....

 

Play along, if you want, with this template below.

 

• How many of "you" are there (including you)? 6
• Your current index: 7.3
• "Your" best index: 6.9 (I bet it's the banker)

 

I have now made it a life goal to be the best "me" in GHIN. I'm off to the range.

Edited May 26, 2021 by pseudoswede

[jordan2240]

Well, I have no idea about golf, but there was a guy with my same first and last name who also lived in the same town I do, and he didn't like to pay his bills, so I was often getting calls from bill collectors.  I once got a call telling me my Ford Windstar was being repossessed (I've never owned a Ford Windstar).  Must have been a surprise for the guy when he walked out of his house and his car was gone.  Funny thing is, I always felt guilty telling the collectors they had the wrong guy, figuring they probably had 'heard that one before'.  'Fortunately' for me, he died, and I haven't been bothered by his callers since.

[TheDominator273]

Only 5 other people come up in the GHIN database with my last name, one is my brother, another an uncle, two others are in my area so are definitely related somehow.  None of them share the same first name so I am the best "me" golfer.

 

 

[MelloYello]

Man, we are at a loss for topics.

 

 

(Yes, I am, btw.) 🙂

[lefthack]

I had to look up what GHIN was. 🤣

[MPAndreassi]

Only ten of us with the same last name in the whole database. One is my father and the others I don’t know. I’m the best, so at least that’s something. 
 

How many of "you" are there (including you)? 10

Your current index: 5.5

"Your" best index: 5.5

 

[Jskiser]

Current index is a +3.1

best index is a +4.6

 

there’s one other guy with my name that used to have a GHIN. He was a 2. I think that was the closest. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Jskiser

[Ferguson]

Only one FERGUSON in there, I checked.  

6.4 

 

[Qqq123xx]

There is only one other Q, he's really spaced out, and never posts his scores. So no idea. 

[bigred90gt]

Apparently you have to have a GHIN in order to access the handicap lookup.

[Hawkeye77]

LOL, I've been getting occasional calls since 2000 related to the person who had the cell phone number previous to mine about bad debts, bad student loan debts, you name it.  They tapered off a few years ago when collectibility for some of it was time barred, but I know her name well and based on a call I got very late at night from someone in Alaska last fall asking for her in connection with something political of a local nature to Alaska, I looked her up and sure enough she's hanging out there and looks creepy.

 

As for golfers, the app only lets me filter one country at a time, and in the U.S. one state at a time, so lol, I don't have time.

[Shilgy]

21 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

LOL, I've been getting occasional calls since 2000 related to the person who had the cell phone number previous to mine about bad debts, bad student loan debts, you name it.  They tapered off a few years ago when collectibility for some of it was time barred, but I know her name well and based on a call I got very late at night from someone in Alaska last fall asking for her in connection with something political of a local nature to Alaska, I looked her up and sure enough she's hanging out there and looks creepy.

 

As for golfers, the app only lets me filter one country at a time, and in the U.S. one state at a time, so lol, I don't have time.

You can probably do the states in under two minutes on the app. You must be a busy guy!

 

 

Only about a dozen with the same last name in the database, none with the same first name. 
 One had a lower index than me at 2.0

Mine is currently 3.7

low in last 12 months 3.0

 

Growing up in the Twin Cities-Minneapolis/St Paul there with two with our last name in the Minneapolis phone book. Both were James M ——and we lived four houses apart.

 Exchanging mail was almost a daily occurrence. 🤔

[Hawkeye77]

1 minute ago, Shilgy said:

You can probably do the states in under two minutes on the app. You must be a busy guy!

 

 

Only about a dozen with the same last name in the database, none with the same first name. 
 One had a lower index than me at 2.0

Mine is currently 3.7

low in last 12 months 3.0

 

Growing up in the Twin Cities-Minneapolis/St Paul there with two with our last name in the Minneapolis phone book. Both were James M ——and we lived four houses apart.

 Exchanging mail was almost a daily occurrence. 🤔

 

Haha, a challenge!

[Shilgy]

6 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

 

Haha, a challenge!

🙀

[Hawkeye77]

2 minutes ago, Shilgy said:

🙀

So .... that was excruciating, lol.  Took 8:07:40 (but I looked at Guam and Virgin Islands by mistake), and sure enough down towards the bottom was the only one out there and the b_______d is a 5.0 - has to be a vanity cap!

[pseudoswede]

Whatever you put in the name fields persists as you switch states/countries (at least it does in Chrome), so that makes it a bit easier.

[betarhoalphadelta]

2 hours ago, bigred90gt said:

Apparently you have to have a GHIN in order to access the handicap lookup.

 

I have WHS through The Grint, but I don't think I have a GHIN, so I'm in the same boat. 

 

As for me, I'm the best "me" golfer in the entire world, and don't need to search GHIN to know that.

 

I have a unique last name. As far as I can tell, literally everyone in the world with my last name is my relative by blood or marriage. And I'm the only "Brad" or "Bradley" among them. 

 

So I've got you beat on the firstname.lastname@gmail.com address... I bought the domain name of my last name . com, so my email address is firstname@lastname.com

 

A couple years after I had bought that domain name, I had an uncle email me all angry because I'd taken it before he could lol...

 

[lefthack]

6 hours ago, Hawkeye77 said:

LOL, I've been getting occasional calls since 2000 related to the person who had the cell phone number previous to mine about bad debts, bad student loan debts, you name it. 

 

Sorry about that. 🤣

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Barely anyone with my last name even, of them my dad is closest at 4.9. I'm off +0.9 right now. 

[MtlJeff]

I have the greatest same name stories of all time --Gather round lads and i will tell you the tales...

 

1) When i first started dating my wife, at the same time she was doing her PhD in college and meeting new people. Turns out one of the people she met was another woman who was dating a guy with the exact same name as me and who lived in the same suburb. Needless to say, when they started talking about their boyfriends --This became a major problem. Eventually they sorted out that they were not dating the same person, and we all became friends

 

2) I have the same name as someone who used to book the "just for laughs" comics for the Montreal comedy festival. I can't even tell you how many Facebook messages from aspiring and up and coming comics i've gotten asking for me to book them

 

3) The CEO of a company i used to work with, when i was in marketing at my old job... also had the same exact name as me. Eventually because i emailed so many people in their company for normal business stuff, my name would often come up in Outlook first when they wanted to email him. I got hundreds of emails from this company--And really sensitive stuff too. Like stuff only the CEO should be looking at. He was surprisingly cool about it. I would forward him all the emails meant for him...But it was weird, i mean we worked at 2 different companies but i got SO many of his emails

[aenemated]

Yep.

 

Cuz I'm apparently the only one. 

[bigred90gt]

On 5/27/2021 at 2:30 PM, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I have WHS through The Grint, but I don't think I have a GHIN, so I'm in the same boat. 

 

That's me too. I have a WHS number through Grint, but gave up my GHIN when I gave up my membership at the last course I was a member. 

[RobotDoctor]

• How many of "you" are there (including you)? 1
• Your current index: 3.8
• "Your" best index: 3.8

I was always told that I was a "one of a kind" person and apparently according to the GHIN registry, I am.  😁😁😁

[Imp]

On 5/26/2021 at 3:38 PM, TheDominator273 said:

Only 5 other people come up in the GHIN database with my last name, one is my brother, another an uncle, two others are in my area so are definitely related somehow.  None of them share the same first name so I am the best "me" golfer.

 

 

There can be only one! Me too. LOTS with same last name, but not same 1st. 

 

[PixlPutterman]

Oddly enough, with my unique last name there are only 4 who share it in GHIN, but one with the same first name.

 

I am 23 points better than his cap.

 

There was one better than me with the same last name, but just by a point