World Handicap System (WHS)

[Bdill93]

The high level explanation of it is easy... and the post gives a good one.... BUT - we have 62 pages of detail that will probably come out in the wash eventually!! (Eg I have a spreadsheet and I worked out my HI as 12.765656, the email arrived and I am 13.1 why is this??? Exactly how hard is a "hard-cap?" Would it hurt id someone hit me with it? Our slope is only 136, surely it should be 137!! )

You've had your email?

 

[lobthewedge]

I dont have a clue how it all works, and not really interested.

Just go out and shoot as low as you can, the rest will sort itself.

 

[Swango1980]

The high level explanation of it is easy... and the post gives a good one.... BUT - we have 62 pages of detail that will probably come out in the wash eventually!! (Eg I have a spreadsheet and I worked out my HI as 12.765656, the email arrived and I am 13.1 why is this??? Exactly how hard is a "hard-cap?" Would it hurt id someone hit me with it? Our slope is only 136, surely it should be 137!! )

The high level explanation of the current system is even easier. It goes something like "you have one handicap, whatever course you play". If asked how is it calculated, you can simply say "the more you shoot under handicap, the more it will decrease, whereas if you shoot worse than a specified buffer of handicap, it goes up 0.1". You could of course add more detail if requested, but it is all fairly straight forward.

A high level explanation of WHS is straightforward, albeit less so than the CONGU high level explanation. It is the detail that gets more complex, hence the length of this thread. There will still be lots of things that will puzzle golfers. Such as, why their handicap doesn't go up much, or at all at courses that are absolutely harder than their own, why 95% is used for Playing Handicap for medal but not match play (I understand it, but it will be one of the most common questions once all golfers get wind of it), why Scotland use exact Course Handicap, whilst the rest of the UK use Course Handicap to a whole number before converting to Playing Handicap, etc. Players will also need to get used to tracking their last 20 scores, otherwise they might be surprised when they sometimes shoot a round better than handicap, and then their Index goes up, not down.

 

[rulefan]

why Scotland use exact Course Handicap, whilst the rest of the UK use Course Handicap to a whole number before converting to Playing Handicap

Other than geeks, who will actually know?

 

[Grant85]

The more I think about it, the more the WHS makes sense and is good in terms of giving the 'correct' number of shots for people around certain courses.

Of course people will take some adjustment to the change, in terms of feeling like they can't work out their handicap or they are not sure how a certain score will impact their handicap until well after they have finished playing.

I also hope the slope rating will encourage people to think more carefully about the course they are playing, and the set of tees and people won't always be as keen to play the back tees.

 

[rulefan]

in terms of feeling like they can't work out their handicap or they are not sure how a certain score will impact their handicap until well after they have finished playing.

With WHS they will know early in the following morning. Under CONGU they will know some time after the comp has been closed. Which might be after the weekend.

 

[Swango1980]

Other than geeks, who will actually know?

People that play in both Scotland and England? I know it may not apply to many. However, one cannot say a major benefit of the WHS is that handicaps are portable around the world (which England Golf do, plenty), but then say some of the inconsistent oddities will not really have an impact on anyone. At a guess, I would suspect that more people in the UK play golf in both Scotland and England more often than people that play golf in UK and somewhere else in the world. That is just a hunch though

 

[Swango1980]

With WHS they will know early in the following morning. Under CONGU they will know some time after the comp has been closed. Which might be after the weekend.

There is a fairly simple mathematical approach, that requires little effort, in working out what ones CONGU handicap is likely to be before a competition is closed. However, in most cases (at my club anyway), competitions are closed not long after the last group has submitted their scores, so golfers will get to see their new handicap long before midnight.

There are some golfers who usually hand around after a comp, and after a good round there is a little buzz for them in terms of what we think their new handicap will be. We tell them, based on predicted CSS being SSS, and then this is usually confirmed before they go home anyway (extra exciting if they get an Exceptional Scoring Reduction). I guess this can still happen to some extent, it will just require logging into the app, and getting a calculator out if their top 8 is likely to change.

 

[rulefan]

The last groups in most of our comps finish well after the pro shop has closed. The pro closes the comps and currently checks the cards for nrs etc. My impression is is that many smaller clubs don't have people available to handle closing until Monday or if a midweek until a few days later.

 

[MendieGK]

I doubt that your h&c sec was correct. The data used for the trial conversion was taken from the CDH on 5 October. Any scores returned since will not be accounted for and the question of CSS is still being investigated by EG and dotgolf.

Is this CSS point along the same lines as my complaint last week? Sorry I can’t seen previous comments around this.

 

[AmandaJR]

Seems our Lady Captain has received her handicap index and included it in this weeks news to try and help others in advance when they received theirs:

The red tees have been given a slope rating of 133. Your handicap index is not the handicap you will be playing of here, as the slope rating has to be taken into account. As an example my current handicap is 27.2. I have been informed my handicap index is calculated to be 25.8, however because of the slope rating at our course I will be actually be playing off 30.

If that is accurate then I'm hoping the number of "reductions only" or high CSS will change if in general the handicaps might more reflect the ability and/or course difficulty? We have had years (certainly the 4 since I've been there) where the handicap system and annual reviews etc haven't been followed 100% correctly ("she has been cut a shot because she is better than she shows in medals" "she's worked so hard and deserves the cut" etc etc. Never mind hardly any increases due to CHR.

 

[Swango1980]

Seems our Lady Captain has received her handicap index and included it in this weeks news to try and help others in advance when they received theirs:

The red tees have been given a slope rating of 133. Your handicap index is not the handicap you will be playing of here, as the slope rating has to be taken into account. As an example my current handicap is 27.2. I have been informed my handicap index is calculated to be 25.8, however because of the slope rating at our course I will be actually be playing off 30.

If that is accurate then I'm hoping the number of "reductions only" or high CSS will change if in general the handicaps might more reflect the ability and/or course difficulty? We have had years (certainly the 4 since I've been there) where the handicap system and annual reviews etc haven't been followed 100% correctly ("she has been cut a shot because she is better than she shows in medals" "she's worked so hard and deserves the cut" etc etc. Never mind hardly any increases due to CHR.

There will be no reductions only comps (days). On days where the conditions are truly horrific, which are hopefully few and far between, these scores are likely just going to fall outside the best 8 rounds of a player.

Of course, if handicap committees are going to start messing with player handicaps based on notional ideas such as "such a player has worked hard so deserves one", or "such a player won a comp, so we'll give them a bit of an extra cut", than it could still effect the PCC for the day (i.e. the CSS as it is known now). However, given PCC is worked out for everyone playing on the course that day, rather than just people playing in a competition, then maybe the impact would be less severe on PCC than CSS.

Also, it will be interesting how Reviews will work, and if it will be as easy or feel as comfortable for handicap committees to start altering player handicaps. Under CONGU, it is a simple case of changing the handicap number. Under WHS, the handicap index can also be changed, but that has implications on the previous 20 rounds, as it is no longer based on the average of the best 8. An additional adjustment is required. And, given golfers can get a more detailed view on their handicap and scoring history, and their peers also have a view of this, then the handicap committee might be held more to account if they start making further tweaks outside these scores, without very good reason.

 

[jim8flog]

I dont expect that either, but hes only got 4 cards in so far in his golfing career, so his 12 may increase to 13/14 when its best 8/20. If he submitted his last few rounds theyd be all over the shop but hes got a back issue at present!

If he has only got 4 in to date he can expect his Handicap Index to jump around all over the over the place until he gets about 16 in.

 

[jim8flog]

The last groups in most of our comps finish well after the pro shop has closed. The pro closes the comps and currently checks the cards for nrs etc. My impression is is that many smaller clubs don't have people available to handle closing until Monday or if a midweek until a few days later.

Our Friday Saturday and Sunday comps are not closed until Monday generally speaking, it is an office function and not the pro shops (although the pros are being trained up to do it).
Weekday comps get closed the day after the comp.


Unless somebody is being really keen, the Club Captain sometimes gets on with it.

 

[jim8flog]

If that is accurate then I'm hoping the number of or high CSS will change if in general the handicaps might more reflect the ability and/or course difficulty? We have had years (certainly the 4 since I've been there) where the handicap system and annual reviews etc haven't been followed 100% correctly ("she has been cut a shot because she is better than she shows in medals" "she's worked so hard and deserves the cut" etc etc. Never mind hardly any increases due to CHR.

This certainly sounds true if some of that has been going on.

Mind you Annual Reviews are more of an art than a science.

 

[AmandaJR]

There will be no reductions only comps (days). On days where the conditions are truly horrific, which are hopefully few and far between, these scores are likely just going to fall outside the best 8 rounds of a player.

Of course, if handicap committees are going to start messing with player handicaps based on notional ideas such as "such a player has worked hard so deserves one", or "such a player won a comp, so we'll give them a bit of an extra cut", than it could still effect the PCC for the day (i.e. the CSS as it is known now). However, given PCC is worked out for everyone playing on the course that day, rather than just people playing in a competition, then maybe the impact would be less severe on PCC than CSS.

Also, it will be interesting how Reviews will work, and if it will be as easy or feel as comfortable for handicap committees to start altering player handicaps. Under CONGU, it is a simple case of changing the handicap number. Under WHS, the handicap index can also be changed, but that has implications on the previous 20 rounds, as it is no longer based on the average of the best 8. An additional adjustment is required. And, given golfers can get a more detailed view on their handicap and scoring history, and their peers also have a view of this, then the handicap committee might be held more to account if they start making further tweaks outside these scores, without very good reason.

Thanks so much for that. I think it will be a huge improvement as currently players are getting cuts when playing outside handicap too often and other players aren't going up when they should. It may take some time but hopefully the smoothing of the handicap will result in something more accurate.

 

[AmandaJR]

This certainly sounds true if some of that has been going on.

Mind you Annual Reviews are more of an art than a science.

True. A major influence on things not being strictly to the rules "cut, cut, cut" has moved on so that's also going to improve things. When your buffer is 1 then any lift to the CSS is hugely advantageous.

 

[PJ87]

Lots of people on here who know a lot about this

My handicap sec told me that we will be getting an app from golf England where we can enter a handicap for any round to update your index so long as you stick to the rules of golf

Is this true?

 

[jim8flog]

Lots of people on here who know a lot about this

My handicap sec told me that we will be getting an app from golf England where we can enter a handicap for any round to update your index so long as you stick to the rules of golf

Is this true?

You are allowed to use any round provided it is played in accordance with the Rules of Golf at your home or any other club but it must be preregistered as per submitting a Supplementary Score at present.

 

[PJ87]

You are allowed to use any round provided it is played in accordance with the Rules of Golf at your home or any other club but it must be preregistered as per submitting a Supplementary Score at present.

I like the idea of that, thanks for that