NEW WORLD HANDICAP SYSTEM HAS ARRIVED
World Handicapping System Has Arrived
What Do I Do? You will have been allocated a new Handicap Index which replaces your old handicap. For most players it will not differ much.
Where Do I Find My Handicap Index? You can find it on the England Golf Union website https://members.whsplatform.englandgolf.org./signup and enter your CDH Number or look at the list on the notice board as before.
What next ? Find the slope of the tees that are being used. They are on the noticeboard. For the Manor the white tees have a slope of 129, the yellow tees have a slope of 124 and the red tees have a slope of 129.
You calculate your Course Handicap by multiplying your handicap index by the slope and dividing by 113. So a 15.3 handicap index playing off the yellow tees the course handicap is
15.3 x 124 ÷ 113 = 16.78 which is rounded to 17
Isn’t this all a bit complicated? Yes, but don’t blame Phil or the club. It’s the Golf Unions. However there will be look up sheets on the notice boards and starters hut to save you doing the maths.
Can I now play? Afraid not. You now have to calculate your playing handicap. This is the adjustment made for different competition types. We are used to playing to 90% for 4BBB comps. But now each type of competition has its own adjustment. For most common competitions the playing adjustment will be 95%. So the rounded course handicap of 17 would now multiplied by 95% giving 16.15 which is rounded to 16.
Why 2 handicaps? The Course Handicap is used for calculating your Handicap Index and calculating any scores for holes that have a N/R. The Playing Handicap is used for competition result purposes. Note if you are playing Stableford, then you may have run out of shots for competition purposes, but you may still have a shot left for handicapping purposes.
Competitions off different tees! If a competition is played with more than 1 set of tees, then the set of tees with the lowest Course Rating is used and the difference to the higher course rating is added to the Playing Handicap only (not the Course Handicap). So at the Manor if a mixed competition is played off the yellow tees which have a Course Rating of 68.4, and red tees which have a Course Rating of 70.8 then the players playing off the red tees would get 2.4 extra shots. The shots are then added to the Playing Handicap before rounding. So a red tee player with a playing handicap of 15.3 would have a course handicap of 15.3 x 129 ÷113 = 17.46 rounded to 17
If the competition allowance was 95%, then 17 x 95% =16.15 +2.4 =18.55 rounded to 19.
It is possible to have a competition with mixed tees for the men with some playing of the whites and others off the yellows. Then the whites would get 1.4 shots. This again being added to the Playing Handicap before rounding
Note that for stableford the calculation is slightly different.
Which Handicap do I put on my scorecard? According to the rules of golf you are disqualified if you do not put the correct handicap on your scorecard. But now there are 3 handicaps. Your Handicap Index, your Course Handicap and your Playing Handicap. The Course Handicap is the one that is mandatory for your scorecard. Although CONGU recommend that you also enter the Handicap Index and Playing Handicap. It would be extremely mean to disqualify someone for putting the wrong type of handicap number on their scorecard until we are all familiar with the procedures. Also there are unlikely to be any qualifying competitions until course conditions improve after the winter.
Look Up Sheets Congu rules say that the club should provide sheets for calculating the Course Handicap. The club will also provide sheets to calculate the Playing Handicap. So that you only have to use one set of look up sheets, the Playing Handicap sheets will also include the Course Handicap. So be careful when using the sheets for the first time, but it will make things easier in the future.
Bottom Line Under the Rules of Golf you must make sure that your scorecard has the correct name, correct date, correct competition, correct Course Handicap, correct gross cores for each hole and is signed. (covid rules may override this).
It is better for you if you enter your Playing Handicap as you will then know how many shots you have for the competition.
It is useful for the administrators of the competition to have the Handicap Index so any checking can be done. Also for the split of divisions.
Is it as difficult as it seems? With the help of lookup sheetsit should soon settle down. Remember most of the world has been playing to these rules for many years.
Just go out and enjoy yourself on the course.
Be aware when using tools on the internet. The rules for Playing Handicaps in Scotland are slightly different to the rest of GB and I.