What is a Handicap and How do I Establish One?? (FAQ)

[pick-it-up]

Just thought I'd post this after reading the YG v OG thread.

Feel free to add or correct anything.

From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_handicap

Determining a player's handicap

A golfer's net score is determined from his or her gross score (the number of strokes actually taken) by subtracting his or her handicap from the gross score. The net scores of all the competing golfers are compared and (generally) the lowest score wins.

A player's handicap is intended to show a player's potential, not their average score, as is the common belief. A player will play to their handicap less than 25% of the time. The USGA refers to this as the "average best" method. So in a large, handicapped competition, the golfer who shoots the best with respect to his or her abilities and the normal variations of the score should win.

While there are many variations in detail, handicap systems are generally based on calculating an individual player's playing ability from his or her recent history of rounds. Therefore, a handicap is not fixed but is regularly adjusted to increases or decreases in a player's scoring.

A golfer whose handicap is zero is called a "scratch golfer." A golfer whose handicap is 20 is called a "bogey golfer." It is possible to have a handicap below 0; these are referred to as 'plus' handicaps, and at the end of the round, a 'plus' handicap golfer must add his handicap to his score. A professional golfer plays off scratch, but has no actual handicap.

In the United States, handicaps are calculated using several variables: The player's scores from his or her most recent rounds, and the course rating and slope from those rounds. A "handicap differential" is calculated from the scores, using the course slope and rating, and the player's handicap differentials are used to calculate the player's handicap.

Course and Slope Rating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_ha...ting_and_slope

Basic Handicap Calculator:
http://www.rangergolf.com/_handicapt..._handicap1.htm


Calculating Course Handicaps, Handicap Differential and Handicap Indexes:
http://www.pgaprofessional.com/handi...ml#calculators


Course Rating and Slope Database Lookup (USGA)
http://www.usga.org/playing/handicap...ing_lookup.asp

USGA Handicap System Manual:
http://www.usga.org/playing/handicap...em_manual.html

[JamesGold]

I nominee this as a sticky.

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by JamesGold

I nominee this as a sticky.

I agree.

[jwaldrop]

Thanks for posting this! In moderating our MGA, I have guys complain about their handicaps fairly often, and have always tried to explain that the handicap is "potential", not your average. This really says it well. Some guys don't understand why those two or three really bad scores don't raise their handicap substantially.

[Bigvivec]

Yes...solid package put together by Pick-it-up...everyone playing in our Rewound Young Guns/Assisted Living tournament ought to take a look at this and review their numbers in the days leading up to the recording period.

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

Yes...solid package put together by Pick-it-up...everyone playing in our Rewound Young Guns/Assisted Living tournament ought to take a look at this and review their numbers in the days leading up to the recording period.

Perhaps you could post a video clip explaining it for some of your more literacy-challenged teammates.

[pick-it-up]

Or at least in #6 font for us OG's.

[Ty_Webb]

In the US, do you guys have a restriction on how quickly a handicap can increase? For example, if someone's 20 scores are something like the following (earliest first):

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20

then their handicap would be 0 (obviously not a particularly realistic example I know). Then, their next 10 scores are all +20, would their handicap then be 20? Or is there a brake on how quickly it increases?

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

In the US, do you guys have a restriction on how quickly a handicap can increase? For example, if someone's 20 scores are something like the following (earliest first):

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20

then their handicap would be 0 (obviously not a particularly realistic example I know). Then, their next 10 scores are all +20, would their handicap then be 20? Or is there a brake on how quickly it increases?

If your scores looked like that you run the risk of being jumped in the parking lot for "sandbagging"...

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

In the US, do you guys have a restriction on how quickly a handicap can increase? For example, if someone's 20 scores are something like the following (earliest first):

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20

then their handicap would be 0 (obviously not a particularly realistic example I know). Then, their next 10 scores are all +20, would their handicap then be 20? Or is there a brake on how quickly it increases?

As you add a new score of 20, one of the old zeros would drop off and the handicap would use just one of the 20's in the formula. Each time a zero dropped, another 20 would go into the calculation and the index would gradually increase over that period with the addition of each high score. Your index would never reach 20 though, as there is a multiplier factored in...I believe that the differential is multiplied by .96, so your index with all +20 scores would be more in the neighborhood of 19.2.

[Ty_Webb]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

As you add a new score of 20, one of the old zeros would drop off and the handicap would use just one of the 20's in the formula. Each time a zero dropped, another 20 would go into the calculation and the index would gradually increase over that period with the addition of each high score. Your index would never reach 20 though, as there is a multiplier factored in...I believe that the differential is multiplied by .96, so your index with all +20 scores would be more in the neighborhood of 19.2.

That's very different from our system then. Catches up very quickly with current results, whereas to go up under our system takes ages. You can only go up 0.1 each qualifying round that you play.

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

That's very different from our system then. Catches up very quickly with current results, whereas to go up under our system takes ages. You can only go up 0.1 each qualifying round that you play.

That's really the difference...anyone has access to maintaining a handicap in the US whereas those with your system need to be affiliated witha club and participate in organized qualifiers...our system doesn't allow for a streak of bad form which I think is a major flaw...a golfer who plays nearly every day can have a down month and be grossly over his "real" handicap...

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

That's really the difference...anyone has access to maintaining a handicap in the US whereas those with your system need to be affiliated witha club and participate in organized qualifiers...our system doesn't allow for a streak of bad form which I think is a major flaw...a golfer who plays nearly every day can have a down month and be grossly over his "real" handicap...

I don't think that "anyone" can maintain an approved handicap. You still have to hold membership in a club or association affilliated with a USGA member organization. Joe Golfer can't just sign up to the GHIN site on his own and start entering scores. My Men's club (The Foothills Golf Club) plays on a public muni, but the club is a member of the Colorado Golf Association, which in turn is a member of the USGA. It's through that chain that I get the privilege of maintaining a handicap.

[Bigvivec]

It is different than the British model though...sure a handicap might not be offically approved, but you don't have to participate in monthly medals to enter a score either...

[Ty_Webb]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

It is different than the British model though...sure a handicap might not be offically approved, but you don't have to participate in monthly medals to enter a score either...

Aren't you supposed to record every single game that you play?

[JPsuff]

.


Here's the formula for a handicap:

(Score - Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating

So lets say that you've played a course that has a Course Rating of 73.7 and has a Slope Rating of 128 and you've just shot an 86.


To figure your handicap for that round, the formula would be: (86 - 73.7) x 113 / 128.

So that goes like this: (86 - 73.7) = 12.3 Then 12.3 x 113 = 1,389.9 Then 1,389.9 / 128 = 10.858 This is your Handicap Differential which is rounded to the nearest tenth making it 10.8.

You need a minimum of Five rounds and a maximum of Twenty to figure your handicap.


-JP

[jcgolfpro]

Originally Posted by JPsuff

.


Here's the formula for a handicap:

(Score - Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating

So lets say that you've played a course that has a Course Rating of 73.7 and has a Slope Rating of 128 and you've just shot an 86.


To figure your handicap for that round, the formula would be: (86 - 73.7) x 113 / 128.

So that goes like this: (86 - 73.7) = 12.3 Then 12.3 x 113 = 1,389.9 Then 1,389.9 / 128 = 10.858 This is your Handicap Differential which is rounded to the nearest tenth making it 10.8.

You need a minimum of Five rounds and a maximum of Twenty to figure your handicap.


-JP

Don't forget the .96 multiplier to be applied to the differential average...

[jcgolfpro]

The actual process is:

Adjusted Gross Score - USGA Course Rating = Difference
Difference multiplied by Standard Slope (113) = Result
Result divided by USGA Slope Rating of Course = Handicap Differential (Round to Nearest 10th)

Which is what JP posted...

After you have your handicap differential(s), you average the number being used for the handicap

5 or 6 Scores - Lowest 1 used
7 or 8 Scores - Lowest 2 used
9 or 10 Scores - Lowest 3 used
11 or 12 Scores - Lowest 4 used
13 or 14 Scores - Lowest 5 used
15 or 16 Scores - Lowest 6 used
17 Scores - Lowest 7 used
18 Scores - Lowest 8 used
19 Scores - Lowest 9 used
20 Scores - Lowest 10 used

Multiply the average by .96 to get the USGA Index


Of course, this doesn't take into account those players that sandbag and are caught up by the system with Exceptional Tournament Performance reductions...oh the whining this creates...and all the excuses.

Also, the players that improperly post their scores without using Equitable Stroke Control to properly adjust their score is another method of "sandbagging."

[Porter20]

We have a handicap committtee that certifies all the score cards, that must be witnessed by other members. Also, if you shoot a score that is in your best five during one of our big 10 tournaments (money paying tournaments) then that score stays in your profile for a year. So if you post your best score and it is five or 7 strokes below your normal handicap it drags your handicap for a least a year. It is a pretty good rule to help control sandbagging.

One guy, who I play with a lot, was about a 8 handicap and shot a 73 in the club championship. It was good enough to win his flight net & gross; but now that his game is a little off (averaging rounds at 85), his handicap has not gone up much because it still has that 73 tattooed on there as one of his best 10.

[Bulls9999]

Our club uses the "lowest 10 scores of the last 20". So it is not really an 'average stroke over par'. Also, if you have a really good day, it affects your handicap. If you have a really bad day, it doesn't. I think that's what is meant by it being an index of your 'potential' than your true every-day scoring ability and that most people rarely play to their handicap (that is, unless you have no standard deviation).

Originally Posted by Ty_Webb

In the US, do you guys have a restriction on how quickly a handicap can increase? For example, if someone's 20 scores are something like the following (earliest first):

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20
+20

then their handicap would be 0 (obviously not a particularly realistic example I know). Then, their next 10 scores are all +20, would their handicap then be 20? Or is there a brake on how quickly it increases?