Remember when you’d meet someone new and ask, “What’s your sign?” We golfers have replaced that time-worn line with, “What’s your handicap?”
But, just as we only vaguely understood the association of a May birthday with the stubborn Taurus bull, handicapping retains an aura of mystery. We know that by joining the CGA we have access to a very official looking Handicap Index™. From there, our imaginations are off and running.
Is lower really better? Should we really post abnormally high or low scores? And what really goes into the computation? Test your knowledge with the answers to these questions and more, all derived from interviews over the past year with USGA Director of Handicapping and Outreach Lee Rainwater, CGA Director of Rules and Competitions Lewis Harry and CGA Managing Director of Rules and Competitions Kate Moore.
We’re supposed to shoot par plus whatever our Handicap Index is on a given day.
First of all, we have to convert our Handicap Index to our handicap on a given day. That will depend on the course and tees we’re playing. Then, because the Handicap Index is calculated from only our eight best of our latest 20 score differentials, we’re expected to shoot an average of two to five strokes higher than our handicap. And we’re only expected to equal or beat par plus our handicap 20 percent of the time. FALSE.
A 79 is a 79 is a 79.
I wish the 79 I shot at the Links at Highlands Ranch was as brag-worthy as the 79 I will never shoot at Pole Creek. However, the 79 at the Links may not reduce my handicap at all, while a 79 at Pole Creek would be so fantastic that it would prompt my GHIN app to ask, “Are you sure?” And that’s all because of score differential, or this formula: 113 ÷ slope rating × (adjusted gross score ˗ course rating ± PCC adjustment). Don’t try that at home! But do look for Score Differential on your handicap record if you’re lucky enough to be comparing 79s. FALSE, with a possible exception if you play the same course from the same tees at the same time every day.
If we play from shorter tees, it will be easier to beat an opponent playing from longer tees.
Course rating and slope rating based on whichever tees we play figure into the calculation that produces our handicap. Before the round, we can check our handicap from any set of tees and see how many strokes we’ll give to or get from our opponent playing from another set of tees. Psychologically, we might be more likely to score better if we play from the tees that fit our game. But, technically, there’s no advantage whatsoever to playing shorter tees in a match. FALSE.
A nine-hole round can be converted into an 18-hole score for handicapping purposes.
Here’s something new for 2024! Nine-hole rounds are being converted into 18-hole score differentials by combining our score differential for the nine holes we played with our expected score differential on the other nine. That means that we no longer have to play 13 holes to post 18: We just post our completed hole scores, whether nine or 10 or 12 or 16, and the computer will spit out an 18-hole score differential for the record. TRUE.
One uncharacteristically low score is going to skew our handicap down noticeably.
Low handicappers are going to be more affected, proportionately, by one uncharacteristically low score. That’s because the GHIN parameters reduce a handicap index by a further one stroke if a player posts a score seven strokes lower than the handicap index, two strokes if the score is 10 strokes lower. One stroke is a lot if you’re a single-digit player, not so much if you’re a 23. So, true or false? MAYBE.
There’s no reason to post a ridiculously high score.
Unlike one ridiculously low score, a ridiculously high score most likely will have no impact at all on your handicap the next morning. It’s going to be one of those 12 of your last 20 scores kicked out of the calculation. However, it may knock one of your eight best scores off the calculation. So, post it. FALSE.
Newbies need 10 scorecards to get a handicap.
While some clubs may differ in their tournament entry requirements, players can see their brand spanking new Handicap Index pop into their GHIN apps once they’ve posted just 54 holes. Just be sure not to record a score higher than par-plus-5 on any hole. The Handicap Index maxes out at 54 and beginners will enjoy watching that number fall. FALSE.
Tournament scores don’t weigh any more than recreational scores when it comes to handicap calculations.
We used to get the dreaded R on our handicaps if we shot too low a score in a tournament, but not anymore. Some Colorado clubs base members’ tournament handicaps on their past tournament scores, but that’s not the USGA and CGA way. TRUE.
We can post our scores anytime on our phones’ GHIN app.
Here’s a case of what we can do not quite measuring up to what we should do. Last year GHIN introduced the PCC, Playing Conditions Calculation, to account for terrible weather or difficult course setups. It’s a computerized adjustment made at midnight, based on the day’s posted scores. So to be sure our scores factor into the PCC, we should post right after our round. This is especially true when we shoot a high score. TRUE, with an asterisk.
We shouldn’t post scores on days when it’s raining or the wind is howling. See previous. FALSE.
If we’re playing through an injury or illness, we should beg our opponents or our club for extra strokes. One can always ask, of course. But in this case, caps built into the GHIN calculation prevent your Handicap Index from adjusting quickly enough to compensate for a sudden disability. Once your index rises by three strokes over your lowest index of the past year, further increases are limited by half. Once it’s up by five strokes, it’s frozen there. When we have something extreme going on, we should appeal to our handicap chair, and certainly our friends, for a temporary adjustment. TRUE.
The lower the handicap, the better the golfer. In some cases, two golfers may have the same handicap without the same ability. One may refrain from posting high scores, thus fashioning what’s known as a vanity handicap that’s inaccurately low. Another may refrain from posting low scores, thus fitting the definition of a sandbagger with a handicap that’s inaccurately high. The USGA and CGA want us to post every score, in which case this should be TRUE.
Want to learn more about the rules of handicapping? Attend the Women’s Golf Summit Feb. 24 at Denver’s beautiful Botanic Gardens (or online).
Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She became a CGA member when she moved from Oakland, CA, to Littleton in 2016, and ghost-writes as “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.