World Handicap System

chrisd

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There is another board with all the playing handicap percentages? I've not seen this yet at any club I've been to. Thankfully, for competitions, my club has your course and playing handicap already printed on the card, otherwise I'd imagine there'd be a lot of mistakes made by club golfers.

There has been one at mine for quite a few weeks now
 

Old Skier

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You are absolutely right of course.... just look at the App, and go play.

Until I get my wife moaning at me when a lower score goes in her "best 8" and her HI goes up! :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: No one said "soft cap" for several days till Louise raised it!

Adoption of any new system depends on:
1) Acceptance of requirement
2) Clear path for adoption
3) Credibility of solution

Golf auths had a tough job with WHS, and should have done better on all of these 3.

The authorities eventually, or at least under EG did a very good job IMO, where it fell down is the lack of some clubs explaining and giving out the necessary info, and it was all there, plus the attitude of some members.
 

clubchamp98

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Is it such a bad thing if your handicap more quickly responds to changes both ways in your performance? The CONGU system was quick in only one direction.

Par isn't a good measure, by the way. Better to look at the relationship between course rating and gross score.
That’s why I said I am not sure yet.
A bad spell puts you up quite a bit then your playing off a cap higher than your capable of.
That’s why my club and others are seeing a raft of 58s ( there’s been two at my club) 60/61/62.
This was a very very rare thing for anyone to shoot but now it happens every week .
The players are not improving that much so I can only put it down to the handicap system.!

The course hasn’t changed much for years so for me par is a very good indicator!
Slope is 129 par 72. it’s not extremely difficult but it’s not easy.
 

Banchory Buddha

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The bit about formula and algorithms is the bit I can’t understand what people are concerned about. Know your HI, walk to board, CH, move to next board and all the % worked out for you.
Except for viewers in Scotland. The board is meaningless except in matchplay, because they didn't tell us that the exact decimal point would be used in CH also before converting to PH, so every club ordered the standard boards which just confuses everyone
 

D-S

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I would still have liked CR-Par as part of the formula as much as to bring us into line with the rest of the world as anything else. I know you can do the maths yourself but it nice to have the number of shots that required to play to your handicap on your card. Especially as you possibly already have a different amount of shots for each tee/course you play, something that was new to us anyway and this additional jump at the initial implementation would have given a benefit.
 

clubchamp98

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I would still have liked CR-Par as part of the formula as much as to bring us into line with the rest of the world as anything else. I know you can do the maths yourself but it nice to have the number of shots that required to play to your handicap on your card. Especially as you possibly already have a different amount of shots for each tee/course you play, something that was new to us anyway and this additional jump at the initial implementation would have given a benefit.
Yes in a world system one would think it’s the same everywhere.
Or should be.
The less working out by the golfer the better.
 

D-S

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I once played Golf National in Paris and the CR was I think around 77 off the tees I played. This was before WHS so wasn’t able to take slope into account but it would have been nice to know I had 10 shots not 5 and believe me I needed my shot on SI’s 6-10. I know I can do the maths which I did anyway but having a shot on a hole or not makes a psychological change.
 

wjemather

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Except for viewers in Scotland. The board is meaningless except in matchplay, because they didn't tell us that the exact decimal point would be used in CH also before converting to PH, so every club ordered the standard boards which just confuses everyone
Really? It was in CONGU's guidance (and emphasised in bold type).
"G6.2a Playing Handicap Calculation.​
...For GB&I, England, Wales and Ireland will be using the Rounded Course Handicap, whilst Scotland will be using the full calculated Course Handicap."​
 

IanM

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Really? It was in CONGU's guidance (and emphasised in bold type). "G6.2a Playing Handicap Calculation.
...For GB&I, England, Wales and Ireland will be using the Rounded Course Handicap, whilst Scotland will be using the full calculated Course Handicap."​

I tell my team that including something deep in the blurb doesn't absolve you from your comms/engagement obligations. I wish Golf Authorities thought the same.
 

Swango1980

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For me, I think the old system had it right in this. Under the new system a player can quickly gain 3 or 4 shots with a bad run of form but still be perfectly capable of shooting much less. Where it fell down was when ability was diminishing through age or declining health leaving some players with a slow decline and endless 0.1s. I'm pretty sure there was a means to get an increase in those circumstances - just that it was possibly applied a bit arbitrarily?

You're right though - everything is a balancing act and the new system isn't worse, just following a different ethos. Still getting used to it.
The old system had the continuous review in its latter years. If a player had 7 consecutive 0.1 increases, they'd be flagged on a report . This would hopefully be regularly reviewed by the handicap committee, and they could choose to increase the players handicap to a more appropriate value. There was also the annual review.
 

jim8flog

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Thankfully, for competitions, my club has your course and playing handicap already printed on the card, otherwise I'd imagine there'd be a lot of mistakes made by club golfers.

This is OK provided you did not put in a qualifying score the day before the comp or the card labels have been printed the day of the comp
 

jim8flog

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The old system had the continuous review in its latter years. If a player had 7 consecutive 0.1 increases, they'd be flagged on a report . This would hopefully be regularly reviewed by the handicap committee, and they could choose to increase the players handicap to a more appropriate value. There was also the annual review.

however the continuous review could only be used for 'declining golfers' and had a few catch 22s in it. When I used to do it only about 1 in 10 with 7 in a row got an increase.

Where I am we had a committee of 5 and often it was hard to get an increase over 2 shots despite it being very clear that a player needed a bigger increase.
It also often caused a lot of derision in the groups when somebody heard that a player had been increased by committee. When I had an increase it was investigated by the Captain following complaints by a couple of players. At least now nobody can dispute the numbers as all players records can be seen by all players.
 

Banchory Buddha

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Really? It was in CONGU's guidance (and emphasised in bold type).
"G6.2a Playing Handicap Calculation.​
...For GB&I, England, Wales and Ireland will be using the Rounded Course Handicap, whilst Scotland will be using the full calculated Course Handicap."​
Yes really. Nobody clicked what that meant, it was a new system you see? You'll see every course in Scotland (at least those I've played this year which is quite a few) have done the same as us. Because as you'll appreciate, the noise was loud on the changes, and as Scotland were diverging from the rest, the noise drowned out any message from Scottish Golf (from memory, nothing).
 

Banchory Buddha

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I tell my team that including something deep in the blurb doesn't absolve you from your comms/engagement obligations. I wish Golf Authorities thought the same.
Exactly this. It was possibly *the* most important part of the blurb, "ach lets just put it in the small print". Utter incompetence.
 

rulefan

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That’s why I said I am not sure yet.
A bad spell puts you up quite a bit then your playing off a cap higher than your capable of.
That’s why my club and others are seeing a raft of 58s ( there’s been two at my club) 60/61/62.
This was a very very rare thing for anyone to shoot but now it happens every week .
The players are not improving that much so I can only put it down to the handicap system.!

The course hasn’t changed much for years so for me par is a very good indicator!
Slope is 129 par 72. it’s not extremely difficult but it’s not easy.
Remember, under CONGU everyone had to play the course as if they were scratch players.
 

rulefan

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Except for viewers in Scotland. The board is meaningless except in matchplay, because they didn't tell us that the exact decimal point would be used in CH also before converting to PH, so every club ordered the standard boards which just confuses everyone
I don't know who supplied your boards but certainly the major suppliers knew.
 

Banchory Buddha

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Remember, under CONGU everyone had to play the course as if they were scratch players.
Yup, and I've said for years now there was nothing wrong with the old system, just the course ratings.

Should have sent out a range of mid-handicaps to course rate. Call it the SDS if they like (Standard Duffer Score), but to base course ratings on guys who will take out a 5 iron off the tee on mid-length par 4s was always ludicrous. That was the issue, not the handicap system.
 
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