The WHS Mixed Tee Handicap Calculator has been updated to include 9-hole Scrambles
You can download a copy by clicking on the download button below:
Getting to Grips with the Rules of Golf and Handicapping
Explaining Rules of Golf and Rules of Handicapping for everyone
Information and comments on handicapping and the World Handicap System
The WHS Mixed Tee Handicap Calculator has been updated to include 9-hole Scrambles
You can download a copy by clicking on the download button below:
One of the features of the WHS was to have all tees rated for both genders, so allowing players to play from a set of tees that best suited their playing ability or choice.
In the beginning, to ensure that all 1800 courses in England were rated as quickly as possible before the WHS was introduced, England Golf prioritised rating a club’s existing tees and retained the maximum limit of 6100yds for the length of a course for women.
With this programme now completed, rating teams may have more time to be able to look at requests for other courses to be rated especially now that more clubs are adopting gender-free tees.
England Golf have, therefore, taken a more relaxed view and as part of the ongoing development process, are giving clubs the option to ask for longer tee sets to be rated for women if they can demonstrate a need for it.
It is doubtful if a county would turn down a request for a longer course to be rated if their rating team has the time to carry it out.
There will be a cost to carry this rating out.
In the short term, your club can be issued a provisional rating which is based upon yardage and the obstacle values on one of the other rated sets of courses. That would be for two years, by which time the county would have to find time to come and formally rate. So, there is a quick fix if you feel like it is needed in the short term.
Within those two years, that tee would have to see some usage. If your club was given a provisional rating and then, in two years’ time, there’s only been a dozen rounds of golf played on that course, it’s probably very unlikely your county would see fit to formally rate a course that’s seen so little use and it could also be seen as an unnecessary additional cost to your club.
At the end of each day, the playing conditions calculation takes place automatically to determine if scores made at the course were significantly higher or lower than the expected scores of the players who made them, primarily due to weather and/or course set up.
If scores were abnormally low or high, a PCC adjustment between -1 and +3 will be applied in the calculation of Score Differentials™ of everyone who played that day. A negative (-) adjustment means the course played easier than expected and a positive (+) adjustment means the course played more difficult than expected. A PCC of 0 means the course played as expected, which will be the case on most days.
The PCC:
Date published: 22 Aug 2022
Since the launch of the World Handicap System in November 2020, England Golf has received feedback from golfers, clubs and counties on a wide range of topics.
One of the most talked about aspects of WHS has been the Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) and its lack of movement compared to the old Competition Scratch Score (CSS).
England Golf have been analysing this very carefully across GB&I and have presented this to The R&A to help with their own research and that of other countries on this topic. As a result of this work, we can report that a change will be made to the algorithm that calculates PCC.
Statement from The R&A/USGA
Analysis of scoring data provided from 24 countries around the world indicates that a change to the rounding method used within the current PCC algorithm would increase the instance of an adjustment for abnormal conditions by an average of 5%.
For example, in countries where an adjustment for PCC only occurs on average 10% of the time on eligible days, this change will increase the average to about 15%.
This small change, recently approved by the Handicap Operations Committee, is in response to feedback from national associations that the current PCC algorithm is too conservative.
While this may feel like a small change, we expect the impact to be significant in highlighting days where a player’s performance was significantly different from that expected by the system.
Please note that there will be no change to the visibility of the calculation. This is an algorithm built within the WHS and is not available to clubs.
This change will not be made retrospectively and will take place on or around Monday 22 August 2022.
We were informed, by England Golf, in August 2022, that a World Handicap System scheme has launched allowing golfers across the UK to submit their scores online via a Mobile Scoring App when playing outside their respective countries.
A pilot scheme allowing golfers in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales to put in scores when playing across their respective countries has gone live.
Nearly two years after its launch, players across the Home Nations, in GB&I, can finally submit their scores via their jurisdiction’s App on a Mobile Device.
The project, being shepherded by England Golf and Scottish Golf on behalf of the R&A and USGA, means you should now be able to easily submit scores from rounds played and submitted in one country to your WHS record.
It’s been one of the weaknesses since the system launched in November 2020 that players have had to go through a convoluted process if they wanted to, for example, have general play scores from Scottish courses count towards their English handicaps.
But, Richard Flint, England Golf’s chief operating officer, said the ability to automatically transfer scores is now possible across the home nations – and the governing body is hoping to soon add more countries across the world.
“We feel we’re in a good place with WHS, but there’s more that can be done,” “Interoperability is another thing we’re conscious of and we’re really pleased with Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, that we now have that in place across borders in terms of handicap lookup and submitting scores through GB&I.
“That’s been the test case for the rest of the world and so we’re really eager that we can take that on and have that interoperability with the rest of the world because then it is truly a worldwide handicap system.”
But how many of you had the experience when you tried to submit your score of being presented with a blank screen, suggesting nothing had changed.
If you’re a member of an English club, for example, and have played a round in Scotland and want it to count towards your handicap, what do you have to do?
A score has to be entered by the host venue into the WHS platform. Scores still cannot be posted by the MyEG App when played outside England.
Although software companies have been given the specification to develop a link, they are only at a testing stage for Mobile Devices.
This is not ideal, but it’s probably less of a nuisance than what you had to do before, where you had to tell your own club you were going to put in a score, then tell the host club, give your card to that club when the round was over so that you knew the PCC, if one was applied, take a copy of that card and return it to your own club, who would finally submit the score to the WHS platform.
In time, you should be able to enter your scores into your Mobile App and in the club computer at the course you are playing, in the same way that you would do at your home Club when playing a competition or putting in a general play score.
The GB&I Golfing governing bodies have introduced new regulations for the returning of General Play Scores for the purpose of “Safeguarding Handicap Integrity”.
These regulations stipulate a maximum distance that the player can be from the club when a round is pre-registered, and a score is returned using a mobile device. They are also stipulating a minimum duration between pre-registration and score submission.
These distance/time limits are as follows for the different home unions:
“Pre-Registration” equals “Sign-In”.
Stroke Indexes are designed to allow for handicap Match Play games. In Strokeplay between players of unequal handicaps, it is simple to determine a winner – deduct each player’s handicap from the gross score and you get the net score and lowest net score wins.
But in Match Play, when the competition is to win individual holes, on which holes should the handicap be applied? This is where we need Stroke Index, For example:
With a difference in Playing Handicaps between Tony and John, Tony has to give John 4 shots during the round – but on which holes? The answer is on the stroke index 1, 2, 3 and 4 holes.
Stroke index is also used in other competitions, prime among them Stableford competitions. Here points are earned on each hole in relation to each golfer’s net par for the hole. To work out the net par for each hole you need the stroke index. For example:
If Sarah has a playing handicap of 10, she will get one extra shot on the holes with stroke index 1 to 10 inclusive. Ann, with a playing handicap of 19 will get two extra shots on SI 1 and one extra shot on each of the other 17.
Although The ‘Handicap Stroke Index’ was designed for Match Play, because it is also used widely for Stableford, Par and Bogey competitions in these forms of stroke play competition the need to have a uniform and balanced distribution of strokes is less compelling. There is therefore a strong case for the Index in such competitions to be aligned to the ranking of holes in terms of playing difficulty irrespective of hole number.
For this reason, some clubs have two sets of stroke index, one for Match Play and one for Stableford. The Stableford ranking is more a straightforward ranking of the difficulty of each hole.
The recommended procedure for the allocation of stroke index values in the Rules of Handicapping under the World Handicap System (WHS) has changed from the recommendations found in the previous USGA and CONGU Handicap Systems.
For the WHS a simple, consistent and data-based approach is used that can be applied to any course in the world, regardless of the number or type of players at the course.
Because stroke allocation is used in match play, but also in certain forms of stroke play such as four-ball stroke play and Stableford. It was not preferred to maintain a separate stroke index table for both Match Play and Stroke Play for a number of reasons, keeping things simple was the primary factor.
The conclusion was to base the stroke index table on overall hole difficulty relative to par as a starting point, then use the procedures that work well to provide equity in match play, including placing odds and evens on different sides, avoiding consecutive low stroke index holes, and avoiding low stroke index holes at the beginning or end of a nine. It was also a recommendation to have separate stroke index tables for women and men, but not have multiple stroke index tables per gender as that can lead to players selecting tees in order to gain an advantage, especially if trying to maximize strokes between partners in team events.
From worldwide research, in match play, the stroke index order is not really important in producing equitable results as long as the strokes are spread out, consecutive low strokes are avoided, and low strokes at the beginning or end of each nine are avoided. So, applying the triad concept of using three-hole clusters (with the lowest stroke hole on each nine in the middle of the nine), spreading out low stroke holes, and avoiding consecutive low stroke holes produces a simple but effective method for allocation.
As stroke index values are also used in stroke play or Stableford play, it was important to generate an allocation based on overall difficulty, which is where the Course Rating data is used. Using Course Rating data, which factors in both effective playing length and obstacle ratings, provides a consistent method regardless of the makeup of players at the course. While the stroke index values are ultimately adjusted to accommodate the recommended procedures for match play, they are generally consistent with the order of difficulty as ranked using Course Rating data. Stroke Indexes also play a part in Handicap Index Calculation, because it is used to determine the maximum score that can be recorded for a player on each hole.
Since the maximum hole score allowed for handicap purposes is based on a net double bogey, which is tied to the stroke index value, it is important to have the holes ranked in a general order of difficulty.
As with the previous Handicap Systems, stroke index allocation is a recommendation and courses are free to use whichever method they choose. There is no recommendation for a course to run a new allocation solely due to the move to the WHS. However, for courses that are looking to run a new allocation, the new WHS method produces consistent and acceptable values without the need to find specific players and collect hundreds of scores from a common tee.
For more information on Stroke Index Allocation under the World Handicap System Click Here.
Following the introduction of the WHS it is becoming more prevalent that clubs are allowing mixed competitions and play from different tees, according to a player’s playing ability or designated non-gender tees within the same competition. One of the intentions of the WHS was to encourage Mixed Tee events, seeing them as the future of golf competitions.
In such cases additional adjustments to playing handicaps are required to make play equitable.
Where players are playing from tees that have been allocated CRs, an adjustment MUST be applied to the handicaps of players playing the course with the higher CR. These adjustments are calculated differently depending on whether the format is Medal Strokeplay or Stableford (and Par/Bogey), 18-hole or 9-hole Competitions.
Many of you, however, are still having concerns as to how and why these adjustments are necessary.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to the number of strokes, in Medal Play, or the number of points, in Stableford or Par/Bogey Competitions, that you are required to score to play to your Course Handicap.
A frequent question that is asked is, “When players are competing from different tees, why do we have to make a second adjustment (Handicap Adjustment)?”
Now there are a number of reasons for it, which players are not always aware of. Namely:
As you will know from the performance of professional golfers in both Europe and the USA, the best ladies cannot return scores that compare with the best men. As there is no compensation allowed in professional golf, ladies and men do not (generally) compete in mixed events for a single prize, or if they did the winner would only be a man. It could be argued that a club running a competition without making the adjustment for any difference in the Course Ratings is introducing a Condition of Competition that is, at best outside the spirit of, and at worst contrary to, Rule of Golf 3.3b (which does not allow a player to declare a handicap higher than that to which they are entitled). The argument being that if an upward adjustment is not applied to the player on the harder course (higher Course Rating) those on the easier course are effectively playing off too high a handicap, contrary to Rule of Golf 3,3b
To provide equity, then, when competitors are playing from 2 or more different sets of tees, adjustments MUST be made to the Playing Handicaps of some players.
NOTE: These adjustments are used solely to determine competition results and do not affect the player’s Scoring Record or Handicap Index calculation.
On another point, following the introduction of the World Handicap System, many players, also, question the adjustment where players are competing from different sets of tees, or men and women are competing from the same set of tees considering the tees have been allocated a Course Rating and a Slope Rating for both genders.
This can be a difficult concept to understand, and I hope that what follows may help you to understand the position better.
So, we need to define what the Slope Rating does, as many players think the different Slope Ratings automatically take care of the difference in the two sets of tees.
This is a myth. The Slope Rating is used to convert your Handicap Index to a Course Handicap, which allows you to receive the number of strokes you need to play to the level of a scratch golfer for a particular set of tees. In other words, it is the number of strokes you need to play to the Course Rating for that particular set of tees, i.e., what score you need to Play to your Handicap from that particular set of tees.
With Stableford, Par/Bogey Competitions it will be the number of points you need to play to your handicap for the particular set of tees you are playing.
James and John are playing against each other. They each have a 15.8 Handicap Index.
John plays from the White tees which has a Course Rating of 68.5, a Slope Rating of 121 and Par of 70. If you were to look at a handicap table, you would find that John’s Course Handicap is 17.
James plays from the Yellow tees, which has a Course Rating of 64.6, a Slope Rating of 107 and a Par of 69. James’s Course Handicap is 15.
So, what do they each need to score to ‘play to their handicap’?
To find this number we can use what is called a target score, which is the Course Rating added to their Course Handicap. In our example the target scores would be as follows:
For Medal, Gross Score & Maximum Score (18 hole)
John’s Target Score = 68.5 + 17 = 86
James’ Target Score = 64.6 + 15 = 80
For Stableford, Par/Bogey Competitions where point count is used:
John’s Target Point Score = 36 – (68.5 – 70) = 37.5 (Rounded to 38)
James’ Target Point Score = 36 – (64.6 – 69) = 40.4 (Rounded to 40)
For Medal, Gross Score & Maximum Score (18 hole)
If John scores 86 playing exactly to his handicap his Net will be 69.
If James scores 80, again playing to his handicap, his Net will be 65.
James wins every time.
This is because the course rating is 3.9 (rounded to 4) strokes different from the White tees to the Yellow tees. So, if players compete from different tees a second adjustment needs to be made to equalise their handicaps by adding the difference in the Course Rating to John’s handicap or subtracting the difference in Course Ratings to James’s handicap.
In equity they should both end up with the same Net score if they play to their handicaps.
To adjust ‘off the lower rating’ you would give John a Course Handicap of 21 (17+4), which will now produce the following results: Table 16
Name | Gross Score | Course Handicap | Net Score |
---|---|---|---|
John | 86 | 21 (17+4) | 65 |
James | 80 | 15 | 65 |
Or adjust using ‘off Higher Course Rating’, and give James a Course Handicap of 11 (15-4), which will now produce the following results:
Name | Gross Score | Course Handicap | Net Score |
---|---|---|---|
John | 86 | 17 | 65 |
James | 80 | 11 | 65 |
For Stableford, Par/Bogey Competitions where point count is used (18-holes):
Name | Stableford Points | Points to Play to Handicap | Score |
---|---|---|---|
John | 38 | 38 | 38 |
James | 40 | 40 | 40 |
James wins every time
This is because the points required to play to handicap is 1.9 (rounded to 2) points different from the White tees to the Yellow tees. So, if players compete from different tees a second adjustment needs to be made to equalise their handicaps by adding the difference in the Points Required to Play to Handicap to John’s handicap or subtracting the difference in Points Required to Play to Handicap to James’s handicap.
Name | Stableford Points | Adding Adjustment for Difference in Points to Play to Handicap | Net Score |
---|---|---|---|
John | 38 | +2 | 40 |
James | 40 | 0 | 40 |
Name | Stableford Points | Subtracting Adjustment for Difference in Points to Play to Handicap | Net Score |
---|---|---|---|
John | 38 | 0 | 38 |
James | 40 | -2 | 38 |
Adjustments for 9-Hole Competitions are different because the calculation takes into account (Course Rating – Par), which in GB&I it does not for 18-hole Competitions.
Medal, Gross Score and Maximum Score (9-Holes)
A player competing from a set of tees with a higher Par receives additional strokes equal to the difference in Pars
Stableford and Par/Bogey (9-holes)
No adjustment is required. It is accounted for in the calculation of a 9-hole Course Handicap.
In the illustrations above, we have reached our desired goal, where both players have scored to their Course Handicap and their net scores result in a tie.
In some jurisdictions it is recommended that the adjustment be made to the smaller group of players. Example: A tournament has 48 players; 40 are playing from the harder rated tees and 8 are playing from the easier rated tees. An adjustment is made to the course handicap of the 8 players playing the easier rated tees and no adjustment needs to be made to the larger group of players.
Nowhere in the above example has the word par been mentioned. Players often try to throw par into the mix when trying to figure if scores are equal. Par is of little relevance in the handicap system and is a poor indicator of predicting score. For example, one course may be 5500 yards long and have a par of 72 and another may be 7200 yards long and have a par of 72. It is highly unlikely that scores on these two courses would be equal for any level of golfer.
In the example, we have used both Course Rating and Slope Rating. The point is that Slope Rating by itself has little meaning within the Handicap System. There must be a Course Rating standard to connect to the Slope Rating in order for there to be any meaning. If there is one thing to remember from all of this, it is that the Slope Rating is used to convert your Handicap Index to a Course Handicap for a particular set of tees, which allows you to receive the number of strokes you need to play to the level of a scratch golfer for that particular set of tees.
WHS states quite clearly that each set of players should play a course for which the Course Rating (CR) has been allocated for them, whenever possible. Normally this will mean that the men play from the Men’s Tees using the Men’s CR and the ladies from the Ladies’ Tees using the Ladies’ CR. Even then a handicap adjustment must be applied if the Ladies’ and Men’s CRs are different.
Which card to use in Mixed Foursomes and Four-Ball formats?
How do Handicap Allowances and any other adjustments get applied in an 18-hole mixed/multi-tee event?
To make competitions from tees with different Course Ratings fair, an adjustment to players’ Course Handicap must be made. An upward adjustment in handicap for players playing from tees with higher Course Ratings (Option 1) or a decrease in handicap for player playing from tees with lower Course Ratings (Option 2) can be applied.
As a Rule of Thumb, when golfers compete from tees that have different Course Ratings, either add OR subtract strokes…
In this two-player competition, Roy plays from the White tees and Tom plays from the Yellow. In a simple situation where you just have two players, the RULES OF HANDICAPPING recommend adjusting the Course Handicap of the player playing from the tees with a higher Course Rating. In this case, John is playing from the White tees with the higher Course Rating of 71.3, so you would add the difference in Course Rating (rounded to nearest whole number) to John’s Course Handicap of 12.
White Course Rating – Yellow Course Rating = Difference in Course Rating
71.3 – 68.7 = 2.6 rounded to 3
Item | Roy | Tom |
---|---|---|
Tee | White | Yellow |
Handicap Index | 11.2 | 16.7 |
Slope Rating | 125 | 116 |
Course Rating | 71.3 | 68.7 |
Course Handicap | 12 | 17 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 1) | +3 | 0 |
Playing Handicap (Option 1) | 15 | 17 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 2) | 0 | -3 |
Playing Handicap (Option 2) | 12 | 14 |
In this three-player competition, Roy plays from the White tees, Tom plays from Yellow and Jane plays from Red tees. In a simple situation where you just have two players, the RULES OF HANDICAPPING recommend adjusting the Course Handicap of the players playing from the tees with higher Course Ratings. In this case, Jane and John playing from the White and Red tees with the higher Course Rating of 72.7 and 71.3, so you would add the differences in Course Ratings (rounded to nearest whole number) to Jane and John’s Course Handicap of 12 and 17.
Red Course Rating – White Course Rating = Difference in Course Rating
72.7 – 71.3 = 1.4 (Rounded to 1)
Red Course Rating – Yellow Course Rating = Difference in Course Rating
72.7 – 68.7 = 4
Item | Roy | Tom | Jane |
---|---|---|---|
Tee | White | Yellow | Red |
Handicap Index | 11.2 | 16.7 | 21.2 |
Slope Rating | 125 | 116 | 126 |
Course Rating | 71.3 | 68.7 | 72.7 |
Course Handicap | 12 | 17 | 24 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 1) | +1 | 0 | _4 |
Playing Handicap (Option 1) | 13 | 17 | 28 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 2) | -3 | -4 | 0 |
Playing Handicap (Option 2) | 9 | 13 | 24 |
In a Competition situation where you have many players, you can determine what the most efficient route to adjust handicaps would be: adjusting handicaps of player playing from higher Course Ratings or lowering the handicaps of players playing from tees with lower Course Ratings. The effect is the same.
In the above three-player example, if we chose to lower the handicaps of players playing the two sets of tees with the lower Course Ratings (Yellow and Red), then John’s playing handicap would remain at 12, Tom’s would lower to 14 and Dave’s would lower to 15.
In this two-player competition, John plays from the Yellow tees and Jane plays from the Yellow. In a simple situation where you just have two players, the RULES OF HANDICAPPING recommend adjusting the Course Handicap of the player playing from the tees with a higher Course Rating. In this case, Jane is playing from the Yellow tees with the higher Course Rating of 72.8, so you would add the difference in Course Rating (rounded to nearest whole number) to Jane’s Course Handicap of 18.
Yellow Course Rating for Women – Yellow Course Rating for Men = Difference in Course Rating:
72.8 – 68.7 = 4.1 (Rounded to 4)
Item | John | Jane |
---|---|---|
Tee | Yellow | Yellow |
Handicap Index | 11.2 | 16.7 |
Slope Rating | 116 | 119 |
Course Rating | 68.7 | 72.8 |
Course Handicap | 11 | 22 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 1) | 0 | +4 |
Playing Handicap (Option 1) | 11 | 26 |
Handicap Adjustment (Option 2) | -4 | 0 |
Playing Handicap (Option 2) | 7 | 22 |
If you have a Competition with, say, 100 players and 88 play from the White tees (like John) and 12 play from the Yellow tees (like Tom), it may be less work for a Competition Committee to adjust the 12 players’ handicaps than the 88 playing from the White tees. In such a case, the RULES OF HANDICAPPING say you can adjust the 12 Yellow tee players’ Course Handicaps downward by 3 strokes. The effect being the same.
A player competing from a set of tees with a higher Par receives additional strokes equal to the difference in Pars:
Playing Handicap = [ Course Handicap X Handicap Allowance ] + Difference in Pars Table 24
Tees | Men's Tees | Men's Par | Women's Tees | Women's Par | Women's Extra Strokes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front 9 | White | 34 | Red | 35 | +1 |
Front 9 | Yellow | 34 | Red | 35 | +1 |
Front 9 | Blue | 33 | Red | 35 | +2 |
Back 9 | White | 36 | Red | 37 | +1 |
Back 9 | Yellow | 36 | Red | 37 | +1 |
Back 9 | Blue | 36 | Red | 37 | +1 |
No adjustment is required. It is accounted for in the calculation of 9-hole Course Handicaps.
To summarise…
If your competition includes two sets of tees or women and men competing from the same tee which has different Course Ratings, either add strokes to the players playing from the higher Course Rating (increase their handicaps) OR subtract strokes from the golfers playing from the lower Course Rating (decrease their handicaps).
If your event includes more than two sets of tees or includes players playing from more than two different Course Ratings, then keep the Course Handicap for the players playing from the lowest Course Rating and add strokes, or increase handicaps for players playing from higher Course Ratings. Alternatively, keep the Course Handicap for the players playing from the highest Course Rating and subtract strokes, or decrease handicaps for players playing from lower Course Ratings.
This article was intended to explain why Handicap Adjustments are necessary in Mixed Tee Events and provide a few illustrative examples.
You can download a document that helps in the understanding of Mixed Tee Handicap Allowances by clicking on the Download Button below:
It has not been possible to cover all competition formats here, without making the article too long.
However, you can download a document that provides details on all Handicap Calculations by clicking on the download button below.
CONGU have published an update to the Rules of Handicapping as Applied to GB&I.
This revision replaces the advice for Mixed Foursomes regarding the non-application of Adjustments for different Tees so they use the same approach as for any other mixed tee
foursomes and Adjustments are applied when there are differences in Course Ratings/Par between courses being played
You can download a copy of the Revised Publication by clicking on the download button below:
This post may be a little academic at this time of a Third Lockdown and Golf Courses being closed in England, Wales and Ireland (Scotland remaining open), but I have received a number of emails over the last few weeks concerning the WHS and Winter Handicaps, Winter Tees, Winter Courses and Winter Rules.
The most common problem has been where Clubs have not rated their Winter Tees, because of their temporary nature, but wish to run competitions on these courses.
Added to this is is the fact that Club Handicap Software will not offer the option for winter handicaps under the WHS.
It is the intention of the national federations that there is a 12-month handicapping season. WHS allows for the return of scores less than 18 holes, when a club designates some unplayable, for example due to wet conditions or lack of light. Handicap Software Systems have guidelines allowing for shortened holes and winter tees. PCC (the new equivalent to CSS) is designed to account for daily playing conditions and handicaps are calculated against this, not the course rating (the new equivalent to SSS) or par.
Your Club will still be able organise non-qualifying competitions and process these through your Handicap Software for publication.
The World Handicap System states that acceptable scores for handicap purposes should be posted throughout the year.
However, this is not really feasible when winter courses are in play, especially courses which are not sand-based; the advice is that when course conditions are poor then it is not reasonable to be submitting qualifying (Acceptable) scores.
Regardless of the season, acceptable scores can only be submitted on a rated course (which would include a temporary rating where necessary).
If a Club does not have such a course, for whatever reason and a common one now is that Winter Tees have not been rated, then clearly such scores cannot be submitted.
Appendix G of the Rules of Handicapping is solely for when there are temporary adjustments to a course for reasons such as emergency maintenance on a tee etc. and does not include a winter course.
So, if a club wants to offer Acceptable Scores during the winter period when winter tees are in use, then the course being played needs to have a rating, whether that is a full rating or a temporary rating.
A Club must apply for this rating and it is up to the appropriate County to provide this service (albeit at their convenience – they are all volunteers!).
Whilst the aim is to allow submission of Acceptable Scores all year, a level of realism is required on courses that are clearly sub-standard due to weather conditions (as they would have been in previous years).
This situation may not just be for winter, it would not be unreasonable, even in the Summer playing season, that a club could prevent the return of Acceptable scores (competition and social/General Play) if the course is not in a good condition – examples of this could be when the greens have been hollow-tined or heavily top dressed.
Until a Course Rating has been issued a Club may only run Non-acceptable Competitions.
To sum up:
Acceptable Scores – Winter Competitions
To run Competitions and want scores to be acceptable for Handicap Purposes:
If a Club cannot run Competitions that are acceptable for Handicap Purposes, it can still run Non-acceptable Competitions that can be set up using Club Software or Manually to record Scores and Winners.
The following procedure is quite permissible, and several Clubs are following similar ones.
Non-Acceptable Scores – Winter Competitions
To run Competitions where scores are not acceptable for Handicap Purposes, but where results can be processed, a neutral slope of 113 and a Course rating equal to the Par of the holes being played can be used.
This will mean a Chart to generate the Course Handicap is not required (i.e., your Course Handicap is your rounded Handicap Index). The scores cannot be Acceptable for handicap purposes, but it does allow non-qualifying competitions to be run during this period (lockdown notwithstanding).
Guidance on the Preferred Lies Period
Preferred Lies – Model Local Rules E-2 and E-3.
In England, Wales and Scotland the Preferred Lies Period runs from 1st October to 30th April while in Ireland, the Preferred Lies period is from November 1st to April 30th.
Clubs can run competitions where scores are acceptable for handicapping purposes during this period when both Model Local Rule E-2 and E-3 are in force.
It is recommended that a Local Rule permitting preferred lies in the general area outside of the preferred lies period should be used only in extreme circumstances where scores will not be accepted for handicapping purpose (WHS Guidance document Appendix H).
The purpose of preferred lies as described in Model Local Rule E-3 is to protect areas of the course cut to fairway height or less. This Model Local Rule allows players to lift, clean and place the ball within six inches in the General Area cut to fairway height. It is recommended that the ball should be marked before lifting. The ball must be placed in the relief area within six inches of the reference point.
However, it is not recommended that this Rule is routinely adopted for the General Area as a whole because it could give a player an unfair advantage by offering her/him free relief from an unplayable lie, e.g., a ball located behind a tree or under a bush.
There is another Model Local Rule, E-2, that may be adopted which allows balls to be cleaned in the General Area when conditions such as wet ground throughout parts of the course may cause mud to stick to the ball.
The purpose of Model Local Rule E-2 is to allow players to clean the ball in the general area (which would include the Rough) when conditions throughout parts of the course cause mud to stick to the ball. This allows the ball to be cleaned and replaced and should be limited to those parts of the course where needed, not to the whole course. The ball must be marked before lifting and cleaning and must be replaced on its original spot before playing.
During the Preferred Lie period scores may not be returned for handicapping purposes if any of the following local rules or restrictions apply: –
I hope this offers some help and guidance for those of you trying to work through the Winter Period and organise competitive Golf Competitions
England Golf have issued guidelines on Winter Golf, England Golf Winter Golf Checklist which you can read below or download a copy by clicking on the Download Button below:
You can download a copy of this advice by clicking on the link below:
World Handicap System 2020 – WHS Winter Golf • Getting to Grips with the Rules of Golf (my-golf.uk)
Stay safe and well
Best wishes
Tony
Email: tony@my-golf.uk
Blog: www.my-golf.uk
Well Christmas is nearly upon us and the end, I hope, of an extraordinary year.
What had all the promise of an exciting golfing year with the launch of the
World Handicap System proved to be exciting in a way we did not expect.
I feel sorry, not just for the disruption to everyone’s golf but to the year that many Captains of all sections had planned and were looking forward too.
But what I have seen is that many adapted to the unprecedented circumstances and became quite enterprising in adapting their golfing calendar and competitions.
AGMs and Captains’ Drive-ins also had to be adapted, but I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone of you have taken on a position within your club this year and wish you every success for 2021.
Despite the COVID-19 Restrictions it is good to see many of you able to play golf and organise or participate in competitions.
The drive to introduce Gender Neutral Tees and also to encourage more mixed competitions, has , from the number of emails I have received, been taken up worldwide and actually includes many Clubs in England.
This has led to more Mixed-tee Competitions being organised.
However, with the complex nature of calculating Mixed-tee Playing Handicaps under the World Handicap System, many have struggled with the new Handicap Calculations.
CONGU have come to the rescue and produced a WHS Mixed-Tee Handicap Calculator, set out in a Microsoft Office Excel Spreadsheet for everyone to use it covers:
To read more about the WHS Mixed-tee calculator, how to use it and Download your own copy click on the link below:
World Handicap System Mixed-Tee Calculator
Enjoy your golf
Stay Safe
Tony
PS England Golf have updated their recommendations on Play Safe for those of you who, unfortunately, find yourselves in Tier 4. Follow the link below:
A reader commented on my mention of Stableford and Maximum Score formats relating to England Golf and not other jurisdictions.
I must thank him for bringing it to my attention and hope I have not caused any confusion for anyone.
The reason I mentioned that my comments related to England is that, although I do try and advise on all jurisdictions (worldwide) I do concentrate on England and have to remember that some of my readers are from other countries and I could easily confuse them if I don’t qualify some of my points.
Although the WHS is supposed to be worldwide, not all of its features have been adopted by some Countries.
My comments therefore on Stableford and Maximum Score formats do also apply to Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
However, unlike England, Scotland and Wales, it is Ireland’s intention to trial the inclusion of some match play events into handicapping and to also include some Four Ball Better-Ball scores in situations where the returned scores are better than a target expectation for this format of play.
Where scores returned in match play or four-ball formats are Acceptable Scores there is a need for calculating a ‘Most Likely Score’ when a player starts a hole but does not hole out.
So in Ireland, when using a ‘Most Likely Score’ a player must still bear in mind the score that would be recorded compared to a Net Double Bogey against their Course Handicap.,
NOTE: This will not be in use for the rest of GB&I, although it is part of the WHS and in use in the rest of the world.
Something, no doubt, England Golf will review that situation in the future.
Golf Ireland will issue details of the inclusion of match play and 4BBB in due course, but at the moment these formats are not acceptable in England or Scotland.
Hope this clears things up.
Sorry, however, if I did manage to confuse you.
Tony