Playing to Handicap

[LincolnShep]

A question to anyone who has the opinion that scoring 36 points is always the same as playing to your handicap.

• my home course is par 71 off the yellows, if I go round in 89 I'm very happy (my handicap is 18)
• Bethpage Black is par 71 off the tips, if I go round there in 89 I'm a cheat and a liar

Both these events could score me 36 stableford points - are they both just "playing to your handicap"? I'm sure you'll concede that one of them is inordinately more difficult than the other one. That's why par plays no part in handicap calculations.

 

[rulefan]

Exactly.
Bethpage's rating is 77.5 and the slope is 155. I bet your yellow's SSS is no more than 1 from par.

 

[Imurg]

The bottom line is...
Can you go up 0.1 having scored 36 points..?
The answer, in some circumstances, is Yes.
Therefore scoring 36 points does not always equate to playing to your handicap

 

[Deleted member 23344]

The slides that are used by WHS

https://www.dcgu.org.uk/uploads/dorsetcounty/File/WHS/Presentation slides.pdf Page 25

clearly show that course rating is used and essential to calculate gross differential and ongoing it is the best 8 differentials that decide H.I.

Thanks for the slides!

 

[Deleted member 25172]

The bottom line is...
Can you go up 0.1 having scored 36 points..?
The answer, in some circumstances, is Yes.
Therefore scoring 36 points does not always equate to playing to your handicap

I'm happy to work as a currency exchanger for any of the people who don't understand this concept. If they're going to USA, I'm more than happy to give them 10 US Dollar for every 10 GBP.

Tenner as a tenner, right?

 

[SammmeBee]

Seriously guys.
36 points is playing to your handicap against par but par is irrelevant, it’s the CSS that counts.
This isn’t that hard...

Is there always a CSS then calculated every time I play?

What about from a non-measured course or set of tees?

What about if I play in Portugal?

 

[Springveldt]

Is there always a CSS then calculated every time I play?

Of course not since it's the Competition Scratch Score. When not in competition I'd use the SSS for the course which may or may not be equal to the par.

What about from a non-measured course or set of tees?

Is there such a thing? Doesn't each course have at least a SSS?

What about if I play in Portugal?

Which handicap system do they use? If it's WHS then I'd use the Course Rating for the tees I've played as the benchmark, if not I'd look for the SSS. If they don't have that, they must have something similar surely? I've never played there so I've no idea.

As someone else has said, if I played my course in a social round (par 70, SSS 70) and shot 79 I'd say I'd played to my handicap since I'm a 9.
If I played it in competition and shot 79 for 36 points I'd say I played better than handicap since the CSS is 71 (sometimes 72) as I'd get at least a 0.2 cut for my 36 points.
If I played Bethpage Black and shot an 81 to give me 36 points I'd say I just played the round of my life.

 

[Rlburnside]

The bottom line is...
Can you go up 0.1 having scored 36 points..?
The answer, in some circumstances, is Yes.
Therefore scoring 36 points does not always equate to playing to your handicap

I scored 36 points in our competition yesterday our sss is 70 the css for the day was 69, I didn’t play to my h/c, my son scored 38 points he did play to his h/c.

The 2 players that scored 35 points went up .1, on another day when the css goes up instead of down there will be more cuts and less .1s.

I’ve never really liked the fact that on any given day your h/c is determined on how other players have scored.

Does the new system only determine your h/c on how well you play?

 

[Imurg]

I scored 36 points in our competition yesterday our sss is 70 the css for the day was 69, I didn’t play to my h/c, my son scored 38 points he did play to his h/c.

The 2 players that scored 35 points went up .1, on another day when the css goes up instead of down there will be more cuts and less .1s.

I’ve never really liked the fact that on any given day your h/c is determined on how other players have scored.

Does the new system only determine your h/c on how well you play?

Don't get me started on that..
I believe there is a bad weather calculation or similar that adjusts scores in the way CSS does now but I dont know how often it will kick in or what effect it will have.
However, I'm sure someone will....

 

[Rlburnside]

Don't get me started on that..
I believe there is a bad weather calculation or similar that adjusts scores in the way CSS does now but I dont know how often it will kick in or what effect it will have.
However, I'm sure someone will....

I knew you was a fan of css ??

I did wonder how bad weather would be calculated.

 

[rosecott]

Don't get me started on that..
I believe there is a bad weather calculation or similar that adjusts scores in the way CSS does now but I dont know how often it will kick in or what effect it will have.
However, I'm sure someone will....

Yes, you won't get off that lightly. CSS will be back to haunt you in many different forms.

 

[Imurg]

Yes, you won't get off that lightly. CSS will be back to haunt you in many different forms.

How does it work in the WHS..?

 

[jim8flog]

Does the new system only determine your h/c on how well you play?

If more than 8 players submit cards on any day there will be a course conditions calculation as per the present.

It is not about how others play it is more about course conditions on the day. It is something that makes perfect sense to me - play on a day bucketing down in a howling gale and on another in bright sunshine with no wind that difference should be reflected in the CSS.

 

[rulefan]

Is there always a CSS then calculated every time I play?

There is a Playing Conditions Calculation which is similar but not the same. Experience is showing that it only kicks in rarely and is normally 1 up or 1 down when it does

What about from a non-measured course or set of tees?

Not recognised by WHS (or CONGU for that matter).

What about if I play in Portugal?

A clue. It is called the World Handicapping System for a reason.

 

[rulefan]

If more than 8 players submit cards on any day there will be a course conditions calculation as per the present.

It is not about how others play it is more about course conditions on the day. It is something that makes perfect sense to me - play on a day bucketing down in a howling gale and on another in bright sunshine with no wind that difference should be reflected in the CSS.

It is based on expected scores under normal conditions compared with the actual scores for that cohort of players an that day

 

[Bdill93]

Newbie question - where do you find the relevant CSS for that day for the course you're playing? Will it be on this mysterious handicapp app ive read about? Or should I be looking for this info somewhere before going out?

 

[rulefan]

Newbie question - where do you find the relevant CSS for that day for the course you're playing? Will it be on this mysterious handicapp app ive read about? Or should I be looking for this info somewhere before going out?

The CSS (Competition Scratch Score) is produced after the round and is an adjustment made to the SSS as a result of the scores returned in the competition. It will be shown on the result sheet.

SSS is a CONGU term which is the equivalent of Course Rating in the WHS system.
CSS is the the SSS plus an adjustment (unnamed) but similar to the PCC adjustment (referred to above) in the WHS.

PS If you weren't already aware, the CONGU system is being replaced in November (in the UK) by the WHS.

 

[Bdill93]

The CSS (Competition Scratch Score) is produced after the round and is an adjustment made to the SSS as a result of the scores returned in the competition. It will be shown on the result sheet.

Thank you for this!

 

[sunshine]

I can't be bothered to respond to each person on here, but shooting 36 points is shooting to your handicap when you get back to the bar. That also goes for medal too - net 71 (we're a par 71) means you shot to your handicap.

I think you guys think I don't understand the relationship between handicaps and SSS, and CSS. I do, and I get that for my course off the whites I would need to hit 38 points off the whites for a cut.

And here we find the reason why you won't listen to all the people explaining the correct answer... VANITY.

You play at a mickey mouse easy course where SSS is 2 less than par. It's nicer to compare your score against par because it makes you look better than you are!!!

 

[jim8flog]

And here we find the reason why you won't listen to all the people explaining the correct answer... VANITY.

You play at a mickey mouse easy course where SSS is 2 less than par. It's nicer to compare your score against par because it makes you look better than you are!!!

on a similar vein saying you are a single figure golfer may mean a different thing at different course.