Do golf handicaps undervalue this key skill differentiator?

Thanks to the World Handicap System, golfers of all abilities have the opportunity to compete against each other on a relatively level playing field. While the system isn’t perfect, it makes golf the only game in the world in which a recreational player could play against a Tour player and actually have a chance to win.

But according to Peter Kostis, there’s one glaring flaw in the handicap system that he’d like to see rectified.

In the latest episode of “Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers,” a GOLF production, Kostis laid out his case.

“Let’s take a 12-handicap,” Kostis said. “Not all 12-handicappers are the same. If you take a 12-handicapper who cannot hit the ball 200 yards — if the hole is 401, they’re not gonna get there. And so they’re limited. They have to rely on a great short game, but they’re never gonna be able to get down to a lower handicap just from the length.

“Now you take a 12-handicap who hits it 300 — obviously, that person, if they can hit it 300 they must have a sh—y short game, or can’t putt or whatever,” he continued. “But on a given day, they’re gonna be able to chip and putt, they can find a chipping stroke, they can find a putting stroke, and with their 300-yard distance capabilities, they can play to a 4-handicap.”

Kostis said he thinks there has to be a way to incorporate max driving distance into a handicap calculation.

“There’s gotta be a way — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — there’s gotta be a way of constructing a new handicap system that takes into consideration how far you can hit the ball,” he said.

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Gary McCord agreed.

“It should be swing speed for the handicap,” he said.

According to Kostis and McCord, another problem with the current handicap system is that is doesn’t go low enough for elite players.

“[Jon] Rahm is a plus 7.6,” McCord said.

“That’s garbage,” Kostis responded.

“So he gives me 8, and literally I have no chance,” McCord said.

“There’s gotta be a new way of using today’s statistical approach to everything, to organize a handicap system that is fairer for everybody concerned,” Kostis said.

For more from the entertaining duo, check out the full episode of Kostis & McCord: Off Their Rockers, a GOLF production, below.