Redhawk Mens Golf Club

 

The USGA Handicap System

A Simplified Explanation

 

Handicapping for a player and golf course is relatively hard to understand in its entirety.  This is a very brief and imperfect explanation.  The real thing is available on the excellent USGA web site at www.usga.org.   Unfortunately the real & correct explanation is long, compared to this brief story. 

 

Purpose

Handicapping is meant to allow people of differing skill levels to compete against each other equitably, and importantly, to allow people from different courses to establish handicaps that fairly compare to each other.  Handicap is determined by achieved scores for the golfer, combined with the difficulty of the courses he played to get those scores.

 

Terms

Here are the basic terms used. 

A golf course will have a Slope and Rating for each tee – briefly the measure of the difficulty of the course/tee. 

A player’s recorded (posted) scores will determine his Index.  The Index is particular for a player, & changes monthly based on scores posted by the player.  The SCGA does the computation of the Index for each player, and it is on the computer at the course.  Use your SCGA number to look it up.

A player combines his Index for the course, and the tees he will play from, to determine his Handicap for that round.  Then he plays golf!  His actual score is called Gross Score.  That’s the score that counts for Gross competition.  The Net score is Gross minus Handicap, and this is the score used for Net competition.  But this is not what is posted to the SCGA for handicapping purposes.  In order to eliminate “blow-up” scores from the handicap calculations, Equitable Stroke Control or ESC is required to adjust that Gross before posting, to what is called Adjusted Score.

During the playing of a round, some competitions such as Skins or Match Play use Stroke Holes.  This allows competition at each hole rather than just in the final score.

 

Application

The way these things are used is approximately as follows:

 

Slope and Rating

The USGA determines a course’s Slope & Rating.  Trained and experienced examiners check out a course, “assuming” the performance of a scratch golfer and bogey golfer – tee shot and second shot lengths are assumed, hazards evaluated, etc.  The Slope & Rating for each tee position is shown on the typical course score card, & on the SCGA web site at www.scga.org.  These values are checked by the SCGA every 10 years or less.  Both Slope & Rating are used, as is seen in Index calculations (see “Index” below). 

 

Ratings of Temecula Area Courses

 

All this confirms what we all know; Redhawk is one tough golf course!  And there is a significant difference from the tips (Black at Redhawk) to blue tees to white tees.

 

SCGA number

Just look at your card, but if you must you can look up your information with your name.  You can use your number to see all your recorded/posted rounds for the last 20 by visiting the SCGA web site.  You can also post your scores from your own computer rather than the course computer it you like.

 

Equitable Stroke Control/Adjusted Score

ESC basically says you can post no higher score on any hole than allowed by ESC.  For instance, say you are at 12 handicap for a particular round and tees, and you have 1 hole where you score the dreaded 8.  But for a 12 handicap the maximum ESC postable is 7.  So 8 is 1 stroke more than allowed by ESC, and you must “adjust” your Gross by 1 and post a score of 1 under your Gross score.  ESC values are supplied with the information that came with the SCGA membership card.  ESC maximum postable is double bogey for handicaps up to 9; 7 strokes (regardless of par) for handicaps 10 to 19; 8 strokes for 20 to 29; 9 strokes for 30 to 39.

 

Index, or Handicap Index

A golfer “posts” adjusted gross scores after each round he plays – ALL rounds he plays should be posted.    The SCGA computes the Index for us, using fairly complex math.  First each posted score is tested by the following: 

“handicap differential” = (adjusted score – rating) * 113/slope

where slope and rating correspond to the course & tees used for each round.  The number 113 is essentially the standard slope.  The last 20 posted rounds are examined, & the best 10 of those 20 are used to determine the Index for the player; that is the best 10 handicap differentials, not the best 10 gross scores.  The average differential of the best 10 are multiplied by 0.96 .  And this is finally the Index the SCGA gives the golfer.  Fortunately this math is all handled by SCGA & we don’t have to compute it ourselves.

 

Handicap

You need to find your handicap for the course you will play, and for the tees you will play from – usually before the round.  Back in prehistoric times, before computers at every course, a person got his Index from the Handicap Chairman each month, and used that to enter the “Green Sheet” posted at the course which was used to convert Index to Handicap.  You can still do this, but since this is the 21^st century, you can look up your Index on the computer at the course, then have the computer look up your handicap for the various tees.  It is possible to use the slope, rating, & index to compute your handicap, but why?

 

Gross Score/Net Score

Gross score minus handicap is net score.  Simple.  But remember you use handicap, NOT index.  And this applies to the 18 hole score; see below as well.

 

Stroke Holes

The course, NOT the SCGA, determines which holes are tougher or easier, and assigns rank 1 thru 18.  This is indicated on score cards by “handicap number”, typically shown on the score card near the hole number.  The highest handicap hole at Redhawk (handicap 1), not surprising, is number 5, which is to say it is the most difficult.  The easiest hole, handicap 18, is hole 12 – the short downhill 3 par.  The way the per-hole handicap is used is to allow golfers to compete at each hole rather than only on the total.  A “net score” on each hole is determined by subtracting one or more strokes on each hole as determined by the golfer’s handicap.  For example, a golfer with handicap of 2 takes 1 stroke off his gross score on hole 5 (handicap 1) and hole 13 (handicap 2) only.  A golfer with handicap 18 takes 1 stroke every hole.  A golfer with handicap 19 takes a stroke on every hole except hole 5 (handicap 1) where he gets 2 strokes. 

 

Match Play & Skins

Match play uses the stroke hole concept; in match play only 2 players compete at a time, and in Net Match play each hole is adjusted by the difference in handicaps.  For example, assume a player with handicap of 7 competing against a player with a handicap of 6.  The way this competition is conducted is that the handicap difference, in this case 7 – 6 = 1, is used.  So only the number 1 handicap hole is used to adjust the score for the player with the higher handicap.  In Skins competition, which is NOT “official” golf, each golfer in the competition uses his full handicap for each hole; the 7 handicap gets 1 stroke reduction from gross on handicap holes 1 thru 7.  At the conclusion, all net scores at each hole are compared; if the lowest score is tied (2 or more golfers with the same low score) then there is no award.  Where there is a hole with a single golfer having the best score, he is awarded a skin.  Total prize (usually money) is divided up by the number of skins made.  At Redhawk we have recently had both net and gross skins competition.

 

A Round

A round of golf, for handicap purposes, is 13 holes or more.  If you play at least 13 holes, the remaining holes can be filled in at the Net scores as you computed above for match play or skins – this is the score you would reasonably expect for the last holes.  Post it like normal.  Better yet, finish your rounds!

 

That is enough for a simple explanation.  Remember that a thorough and correct explanation is available at the SCGA and USGA web sites.  A book can be ordered from the USGA that also explains handicapping well.  And of course we have some members who know this topic pretty well.  Ask someone.

 

If this article helps, credit the material I stole from the SCGA and USGA as well as help from my friends.  If it doesn’t help it must be my fault because the other guys are really good!

 

Jim Schoonmaker

2006 President

Version Feb 19, 2006

 

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