Change is rarely easy. If you’re like most golfers, when the USGA and R&A released the World Handicap System in January, you probably felt some confusion. Don’t worry! We’re here for you.
Two of the new improvements to GHIN via the WHS are a Net Double Bogey maximum score on any hole you play and the ability to post hole-by-hole scores on the GHIN app or at GHIN.com once you’ve finished.
To understand your Net Double Bogey max score, you’ll need to know your Course Handicap at both the facility you’re playing and the set of tees from which you are playing. You can find that information on the GHIN app, but there is an easier, better way to do it.
Just post your hole-by-hole scores. It’s that simple!
When you utilize the hole-by-hole scoring option, GHIN automatically applies the Net Double Bogey in the appropriate places. All you have to do is enjoy your round of golf, keep accurate scores for each hole and enter them once you’ve finished. If you make a triple bogey (or higher) on non-stroke holes (based on your Course Handicap) the WHS hole-by-hole scoring option intuitively changes that score to a Net Double Bogey. If you make an 8 on a par-4 on which you’d receive a stroke, WHS hole-by-hole scoring automatically makes that change, as well.
The bottom line is hole-by-hole score posting takes all the guesswork and math out of your hands. Just pop in the scores on each hole, and WHS does the rest for you.
As a bonus – a rather large one – posting hole-by-hole scores provides you with quite a bit of data. Through WHS, you’ll have access to your average scores to par on par-3s, par-4s and par-5s. You’ll also see a percentage for the coveted “par or better” scores, as well as your percentages for birdies, pars, bogeys, etc.
The WHS hole-by-hole scoring also lets you add in Advanced Stats, such as putts per hole, greens in regulation and driving accuracy (fairways hit). Reviewing this data by the round, week, month or season is a great way to track your progress throughout the year.
If hole-by-hole scoring isn’t currently working for your club or home course, please contact the TGA at 214-468-8942 so we can start the process to correct the issue.
As part of the new WHS, the maximum hole score for every golfer will be limited to a Net Double Bogey – excluding tournament play. This adjustment is more consistent from hole to hole than the Equitable Stroke Control procedure.
The Net Double Bogey maximum score already is used in many other parts of the world. The calculation is rather simple, too. Take the hole’s par value and add 2 strokes to any handicap strokes you receive. That’s your max score on that hole.
If you post your scores using the hole-by-hole option, you won’t need to worry about the Net Double Bogey calculation. GHIN’s automation does it for you.
Many of you saw a change to your usual Course Handicap with the switchover to WHS. If you typically play from shorter tees (white tees, red tees, senior tees, etc.), then you likely saw your Course Handicap shrink a bit.
We’ve heard some feedback from these golfers, and some of them think their new handicap is too low and they won’t be able to compete. That’s just not true. For starters, the changes affected everyone who keeps a GHIN Handicap, and WHS was specifically designed by the USGA and R&A to create a more equitable system for competition.
Handicaps now take into account the difficulty and overall par value of golf courses. This makes it so you, the golfer, can play the set of tees you enjoy most while still fairly competing against your partners.
The new Course Handicaps under WHS are computed similarly to the old system, with an addition for Course Rating and par. Your Course Handicap is computed the same way, but it will be adjusted based on the difficulty of the course and the set of tees you play.
If you are accustomed to getting 15 strokes from your normal tees, then that number will be adjusted based on the new system. Let’s say the set of tees you play are rated at 69.0 and it’s a par-72 course. WHS takes the Course Rating (69) minus par (72) and adds that to the handicap. In this case, 69 minus 72 equals -3.
For the golfer used to seeing 15 shots, then he or she would now see 15 + (-3), which results in a 12. It’s important to remember all players from that set of tees are adjusted the same way.
Players using other sets of tees are adjusted for those sets of tees, too, and these numbers are equitable against golfers playing from any other set of tees.
For more information on WHS, click here.
