When you say your score...

[Spuddy]

This is useful, but my question is.... if you say you went around in 95. Is that your exact score, OR, is it your score which has been amended? I.E, say you got blew out and got a 9 on a par 4. Do you take 3 shots off and say it is a 6? I.E Are you saying you got 95, when your exact score would be 98. Or are you saying you got 95, with the amendments of nothing being more than a double bogey?

That site is pretty confusing. No one will normally talk about their adjusted score (how many strokes you took adjusted so that you had no more than a net double bogey) unless you might say that you had a net 70 but it'll go down as a 69 for handicap adjustment purposes after a 7 on a par 4 where you weren't getting a stroke. If it was a handicap stroke play competition then your score would either be your stableford score or else your net score (gross score minus your handicap).

 

[Jimaroid]

Well, TheCaddie, you've really confused yourself here.

Calculating your handicap adjustment is different from saying what you scored in a single round. Yes, they use similar words but they're different calculations and mean different things.

If you want to tell someone in a bar what you scored that day, assuming a 25 handicap you can say "95 gross for a net 70". This is simply the number of strokes you took (95) minus your handicap (25). That's all there is to it.

 

[TheCaddie]

I shot 86 the other day and my score includes the 9 I took on a par 5. I had 86 shots, so that's my score. Seems like you're over-complicating things a little. Gross = your number of shots. Net = gross - handicap. Simple.

Appreciate everyone's feedback. To add a bit of color to why I am asking this question. It's because I am currently a "nomad". I am playing pretty regularly at Richmond Park, but I have no official handicap. So I want to know what my official handicap would be!

So, after looking at the official CONGU ruling, it got me thinking about how you guys shouted your scores on here.

Ultimately, my last three rounds have been 100, 103, 102..... and, ( I need to do the actual maths), but I think my handicap would be around 24. Maybe even lower.

For the past year or so, I have had it in my head that I would be sitting on an official, 28+ when I join a club. And it was just a bit demoralising, as I do feel like I am improving and continuing to get better, and I also feel like I am better than most complete novices.

Obviously if I was a member of a club, this wouldn't even be a thread, as I would put my score card in and let the computer do the rest!!!

 

[need_my_wedge]

This is useful, but my question is.... if you say you went around in 95. Is that your exact score, OR, is it your score which has been amended? I.E, say you got blew out and got a 9 on a par 4. Do you take 3 shots off and say it is a 6? I.E Are you saying you got 95, when your exact score would be 98. Or are you saying you got 95, with the amendments of nothing being more than a double bogey?

I play off a handicap of 19. If I shoot 89 in a round, then I shot 89. In a medal comp (strokeplay), I still shot 89, but I am given a net score of 70 after subtracting my handicap. At our course (par 71) I would have played my round one under handicap.

In a stableford comp, I would have still shot 89, still one under handicap which would give me 37 points. The stroke index tells me which holes I get shots on, I get one for each hole except the hardest hole on the course S.I. 1 where I get two shots. The points you score on each hole are for the net score determined by your handicap - if you shoot a par, you subtract the shots you get on that S.I and equate that to stableford points e.g. double bogey or more =0, bogey =1, par =2, birdie =3, eagle =4, albatross =5. Our 13th is a par 4 S.I.1, I get two shots there, if I par it, it becomes a net 2, i.e. I get 4 points, but if I shoot a 7, it becomes net 5 for 1 point etc.

In matchplay, it's hole by hole, depending on the comp in question, but usually something akin to 3/4 of the difference between you. If your opponent plays of 5 and your handicap is 25, the difference is 20. 3/4 x 20 =15, so you would get 15 shots which you would use on the holes with S.I1 - S.I 15. Say hole S.I1 is a par 4 and you both shoot 5, you get a shot meaning you won the hole with a net 4. Hole S.I2 is a par 3, your oppo shoots 3 but you shoot 4, you still get a shot meaning you halved the hole, no one wins it. S.I. 3 is a par 5, your oppo shoots a birdie 4, you shoot 6, even with your shot (net 5) you can't beat him, he wins the hole. The three holes you don't get shots on (S.I 16 - 17) need you to match him shot for shot or less.

But which ever format I play, if I shot 89, I shot 89. Hope that helps

 

[need_my_wedge]

With regards to working your handicap out, there are those more qualified than me, but as I understand it you put in any 3 cards from general play and they will base the handicap on the lowest score, so 100 is your lowest score, minus the course par of say 72 would give you a handicap of 28. When you then compete in medal or stableford competitions, any net score under handicap lower than buffer will help to reduce it (each point under buffer will reduce your handicap by 0.4), any net score over buffer will increase your handicap by 0.1, caveat that 28 is the maximum it can increase to.

 

[Jimaroid]

For the past year or so, I have had it in my head that I would be sitting on an official, 28+ when I join a club. And it was just a bit demoralising, as I do feel like I am improving and continuing to get better, and I also feel like I am better than most complete novices.

Don't worry about it. Lots of us started there, it's nothing to feel demoralised about, it's just the reality of the game. Just go out and enjoy playing.

 

[Spuddy]

With regards to working your handicap out, there are those more qualified than me, but as I understand it you put in any 3 cards from general play and they will base the handicap on the lowest score, so 100 is your lowest score, minus the course par of say 72 would give you a handicap of 28. When you then compete in medal or stableford competitions, any net score under handicap lower than buffer will help to reduce it (each point under buffer will reduce your handicap by 0.4), any net score over buffer will increase your handicap by 0.1, caveat that 28 is the maximum it can increase to.

Almost... All 3 cards are adjusted so that you score no more than a net double bogey on each hole (basically the effect of really bad holes are softened). It's these adjusted scores that are checked against the SSS or CSS to work out the handicap.

 

[TheCaddie]

It seems to calculate handicap:

[h=2]Calculating your Starting Handicap[/h]First you need to establish what your starting handicap would be.
What you need is the following information:

1. Three scorecard for games played over a 18 hole course.
2. The course standard scratch score (SSS) of the Tee you are playing on. Usually ranges between 70-74.

CONGU allows double bogey (+2) maximum, on any hole. Therefore, if a player takes 8 shots (gross score) on a par 5, the maximum score allowed for that hole is 7 (adjusted Gross Score)
[TABLE="class: gTable, width: 300, align: center"]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Round[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Strokes[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Standard Scratch[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Gross Score[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Adj. Gross Score[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

1​

[/TD]
[TD]

110​

[/TD]
[TD]

71​

[/TD]
[TD]

39​

[/TD]
[TD]

35​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

2​

[/TD]
[TD]

103​

[/TD]
[TD]

72​

[/TD]
[TD]

31​

[/TD]
[TD]

24​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

3​

[/TD]
[TD]

100​

[/TD]
[TD]

72​

[/TD]
[TD]

28​

[/TD]
[TD]

25​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]

84​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
From the above example add three adjusted gross scores i.e 84, and divide by 3. i.e. 84 / 3 = 28. So your starting handicap would be: 28.0

Only adjusted scores (nothing more than a double bogey) come into play for the initial handicap calculation and then, following from there, SI is used when calculating handicap changes. Therefore I would probably start at 28, but get cut relatively quickly to mid 20s.

I THINK....

This all stems from me loving this game, and just wanting to not be at 28, and be a tiny bit lower!! Better keep practising!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If we refer to a two over par as a double bogey then...putting things as simply as possible for a rough h/cap calc - where you scored worse than a double bogey on a hole you can ignore some of your shots and your score on the hole for handicap calc purposes only is a double bogey. So for handicap purposes the worse you can score on a par 3 is a 5; on a par 4 - 6; on a par 5 - 7.

So let's say in a gross (total shots) round of 109 you had six triple bogeys and three quadruple bogeys, you can adjust your 109 by 6x1 (for the triples) plus 4x2 (for the quads), And so your 109 becomes 109-6-8=95 (a 14 shot adjustment)

If course Standard Scratch (more often than not the same as the par for the curse) is 72 then your nett score for that round for h/cap purposes would be 95-72=23.

And you do three cards in this way and average the three nett scores - and you get a handicap.

Of course if you then score a gross 109 off a 23 handicap youractual nett score will be 86 - way over par because the 'adjustments' of 14 shots made to calculate handicap only apply for that purpose. Unfortunately we can't ignore what we actually score when we are playing

 

[Baldy Bouncer]

Sorry, but you`re thinking AND worrying too much about what your handicap might be.......just go out and play Golf, enjoy the experience and your handicap will take of itself.:thup:

 

[Wayman]

Gross

 

[TheCaddie]

Sorry, but you`re thinking AND worrying too much about what your handicap might be.......just go out and play Golf, enjoy the experience and your handicap will take of itself.:thup:

Just keen to learn. Trust me, I am enjoying the game!

As mentioned, because I am not a member of a club, I don't have the benefit of just handing my card in and then being pleased or dissapointed when I see my handicap.

I just want a rough idea of what my handicap would actually be at the moment, IF, i was at a club.

 

[Region3]

If I say what score (strokes) I had it's gross.
If I say how many points I scored it's HC included.

No-one ever says their 'adjusted' score based on nett doubles - other than that's how stableford works.

I know a lot say gross is the only score that matters, but it doesn't tell the whole story.
If I say I shot 90 people will think I played badly.
If you say you shot 90 you would rightly be congratulated.

That's not picking on you, but one of the great things about golf is that the handicap system allows us to all compete together and judge our scores relative to a general good day. I don't see why we should ignore it just because some people say gross is the only one that matters.

It sort of is the only one that matters, but it isn't at the same time.

 

[TheCaddie]

Cannot wait until I do join a club. Will be so good!

 

[Imurg]

Unless youre playing Scratch or there's a lowest gross prize, if you're playing Medal then Nett is the most important as that's the winning number. In a handicap comp saying "I shot 80" means nothing as its the lowest nett score that wins. You can quote your gross if it makes you feel good but it has no relevance to the comp.
In Stableford it always has to be points as that's how the scoring is done.

 

[duncan mackie]

It seems to calculate handicap:

[h=2]Calculating your Starting Handicap[/h]First you need to establish what your starting handicap would be.
What you need is the following information:

1. Three scorecard for games played over a 18 hole course.
2. The course standard scratch score (SSS) of the Tee you are playing on. Usually ranges between 70-74.

CONGU allows double bogey (+2) maximum, on any hole. Therefore, if a player takes 8 shots (gross score) on a par 5, the maximum score allowed for that hole is 7 (adjusted Gross Score)
[TABLE="class: gTable, width: 300, align: center"]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Round[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Strokes[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Standard Scratch[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Gross Score[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"]Adj. Gross Score[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

1​

[/TD]
[TD]

110​

[/TD]
[TD]

71​

[/TD]
[TD]

39​

[/TD]
[TD]

35​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

2​

[/TD]
[TD]

103​

[/TD]
[TD]

72​

[/TD]
[TD]

31​

[/TD]
[TD]

24​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

3​

[/TD]
[TD]

100​

[/TD]
[TD]

72​

[/TD]
[TD]

28​

[/TD]
[TD]

25​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD]

84​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
From the above example add three adjusted gross scores i.e 84, and divide by 3. i.e. 84 / 3 = 28. So your starting handicap would be: 28.0

Only adjusted scores (nothing more than a double bogey) come into play for the initial handicap calculation and then, following from there, SI is used when calculating handicap changes. Therefore I would probably start at 28, but get cut relatively quickly to mid 20s.

I THINK....

This all stems from me loving this game, and just wanting to not be at 28, and be a tiny bit lower!! Better keep practising!

Not wanting to confuse the elements you are raising but the above calculation to establish an initial CONGU handicap is just plain wrong.

Take your single best card (total score after rounding individual hole scores to a maximum of 2 over par) and deduct the SSS of the course played = handicap allocation.

If you understand all the stuff you have been posting you will realise that as soon as you have the handicap the calculation for future handicap adjustments changes (you now have to adjust scores to a maximum of a nett double bogey which, off 28, could mean as many as 28 shots higher than the initial handicap allocation calculation!) so you will have to improve to get cut - the lower the allocation the less impact this nuance has.

Good to see someone so interested, but you really should be enjoying it for what it is rather than getting bogged down in the detail. You should consider your simple gross (total - the big number...) each time you play and see progress as a gradual reduction. When you join a club you just put in 3 cards and get told what your initial handicap is - it's that simple 😀

 

[SHiiBBZ]

Just keen to learn. Trust me, I am enjoying the game!

As mentioned, because I am not a member of a club, I don't have the benefit of just handing my card in and then being pleased or dissapointed when I see my handicap.

I just want a rough idea of what my handicap would actually be at the moment, IF, i was at a club.

Enter your cards on Golfshake.com. That's what I do. Gives you an official handicap.

 

[TheCaddie]

Not wanting to confuse the elements you are raising but the above calculation to establish an initial CONGU handicap is just plain wrong.

Take your single best card (total score after rounding individual hole scores to a maximum of 2 over par) and deduct the SSS of the course played = handicap allocation.

If you understand all the stuff you have been posting you will realise that as soon as you have the handicap the calculation for future handicap adjustments changes (you now have to adjust scores to a maximum of a nett double bogey which, off 28, could mean as many as 28 shots higher than the initial handicap allocation calculation!) so you will have to improve to get cut - the lower the allocation the less impact this nuance has.

Good to see someone so interested, but you really should be enjoying it for what it is rather than getting bogged down in the detail. You should consider your simple gross (total - the big number...) each time you play and see progress as a gradual reduction. When you join a club you just put in 3 cards and get told what your initial handicap is - it's that simple 

Completely agree. I guess my issue is, I can't join a club for a while yet (soon to be buying a house and relocating), so it'd just be nice to know where I am at roughly in terms of a handicap. The point of this thread, is that I presumed with my scores it'd just be 28. However, I think it might be lower. If that is the case, I'd be well chuffed!!

Doesn't effect my enjoyment of this game in the slightest either way though! Just engrossed in everything golf! haha.

 

[Oddsocks]

I'd hope it's not a net 94, although my recent form at Celtic manor....... Well it may have been possible 😡

 

[rksquire]

Well based on your handicap, and the stroke index, you can have quite a few shots knocked off (for a higher handicap).

I suppose the point i am getting at, is that recently I have shot 102 actual strokes, but based on a handicap of say 24. My 'score' would be 95.

Therefore, would I tell you lot I shot 95, or 102?

That would be 102 gross or 78 nett, not sure where you are getting the 95 from?

I think, although I might be wrong, the 95 comes from looking at the scorecard and applying the SI to see the number of shots he had on each hole, subsequently removing any shots he had over double bogey. So, in this round, for example he may have had a triple bogey (after shots given by SI) on 7 holes so as this won't count for handicapping purposes he's just removed them....maybe!