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The post How the World Handicap System stays steady even when conditions aren’t appeared first on Golf.

April has been called the cruelest month. For golfers, though, it’s the coolest month. It means the active season for handicap posting is fully underway. On April 1, a cluster of states kicks goes live. By April 15, the whole country is posting.

Of course, “underway” doesn’t always mean “ideal.” In early April, some courses are still rounding into shape after winter, and plenty of regions are still at the mercy of unpredictable spring weather. Which makes it a perfect time to brush up on one of the quietly important features of the World Handicap System: the Playing Conditions Calculation, or PCC — a mechanism designed specifically for days when conditions are anything but normal.

Introduced when the WHS launched in 2020 and refined in 2024, the PCC is a tool implemented by the USGA to adjust score differentials if a course played significantly harder or easier than normal — whether due to weather, wind, firm or soft conditions, or an unusually tough setup. The goal is to keep your Handicap Index accurate no matter what Mother Nature or the superintendent throws at the field. And the effort required on your end is pretty much zilch. The adjustment happens automatically. All you have to do is post your score.

How to use Playing Conditions Calculation

Here’s how it works. Each night at midnight, if at least eight scores have been posted by players with a Handicap Index of 36.0 or below on that specific course and date, the PCC kicks in. It compares actual scores against what those players would be expected to shoot based on their ability. If scoring was abnormally high or low, the system adjusts.

That adjustment can range from -1.0 (conditions played easier than normal) to +3.0 (significantly harder), with 0.0 being the most common outcome by design — the WHS built the PCC to be conservative. If a PCC adjustment is applied to your round, you’ll typically see a “^” symbol next to that score in your record.

The result is a kind of consistency in a game when conditions can be anything but. It means that a brutal day into a 30-mph wind doesn’t disproportionately affect your index, and that a perfect morning on a spongy, receptive course doesn’t, either.

If you don’t already have a Handicap Index, you can get one here.

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A couple of years ago, I was invited to play in a competitive golf event in Georgia. I hadn’t played in a tournament setting for quite a while, and to be completely honest, when I signed up, I didn’t fully grasp what I had agreed to do.

As part of the preparation, they asked me to send over my Handicap ID (e.g., GHIN number) so they could check my Handicap Index. Well … at that point, I didn’t have one — and hadn’t in quite some time.

The good news? I had just come back from a golf trip to Ireland with my son and had plenty of scores to enter. I found the process of establishing a handicap to be surprisingly simple — and I’m really glad I went through it.

Here’s how it works, and why I think it’s a great idea for any golfer.

1. It’s never too early to start

If you’re new to golf, the idea of having a handicap might feel a bit intimidating. But you don’t need to be playing full 18-hole rounds regularly to get started. Even if you’re just playing nine holes occasionally — or not finishing every hole — you can still begin building your handicap. It’s also a great way to track your progress. And when the time comes to try out a friendly tournament, you’ll already have the scores you need.

2. The GHIN app makes it easy

The USGA’s GHIN app (Golf Handicap Information Network) is incredibly intuitive. It’s designed so that anyone — without any training — can use it right away. The app lets you start tracking your handicap, and it also provides useful info during and after your rounds to help you improve.

3. You don’t have to belong to a country club

This is a big one. Anyone can get a handicap. Even if you’re not a member of a country club or have a course that you play regularly.  Simply go to usga.org/getahandicap and sign up in minutes; you’ll also become a member of the Allied Golf Association (AGA) that serves your local area.

4. Posting scores is simple

After you’ve signed up, download the USGA GHIN app from your app store, which allows you to begin posting scores immediately. You can post nine- or 18-hole scores easily. I prefer to enter my scores hole-by-hole because it gives great feedback — like, how I’m doing on par-3s, -4s and -5s. The app also automatically adjusts for any blow-up holes, factoring in your individual handicap to set a max score per hole.

5. It provides great feedback

One of the coolest updates to the app is the GPS functionality. It’s helpful on my home course but especially valuable when I’m playing somewhere new. It shows hole layouts, hazard yardages and distances to the front, middle and back of each green.

6. You’ll be prepared when an invite comes

Most tournaments require a current handicap, so getting started now means you’ll be ready when the opportunity arises. Tracking your handicap over time also gives you a sense of your progress — and when you might want to get a refresher lesson. Watching that number trend down (hopefully!) is both satisfying and motivating.

Start the sign-up process here.

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The post How many strokes should you get from a U.S. Open winner? We asked one appeared first on Golf.

Let’s say you’re a scratch golfer and you’re paired in a match against a U.S. Open winner in his prime. How many strokes do you think you should get?

Wyndham Clark says he’d give you “four to six.”

For Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champ, this is not a far-fetched hypothetical. Unlike many Tour pros, the 31-year-old, three-time Tour winner enjoys what the hard-bitten two-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange once dismissed as “jolly golf.” That is, Clark likes playing golf for fun, with non-professionals, something he does in the offseason when he takes buddies’ trips with longtime friends.

Some of Clark’s pals are former collegiate players and mini-tour veterans. They’re good at golf. But they’re not that good, or they wouldn’t need their day jobs. Which doesn’t mean that Clark goes easy on them.

Over time, he says, he’s found that giving four to six shots is the fairest way to go.

Wouldn’t it be easier, you might ask, if Clark simply kept a handicap? Actually, he has one. The Tour keeps it for him. According to the numbers, Clark says that he’s a plus-9, which he claims makes him a “reverse sandbagger.” (Do you have a handicap? If not, you can get one here.)

All of this, and more, came up in conversation in advance of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, in Monterey, Calif., where Clark sat down to chat with Destination Golf, GOLF.com’s new weekly golf and travel podcast. Clark was getting ready to defend his title at Pebble Beach. But he was also busy promoting a partnership with the bourbon brand Blade and Bow and a deal that involves him playing jolly golf. The gist is this: Blade and Bow is holding a sweepstakes. The winner will get to play a round with Clark at a high-end private club that has yet to be disclosed, followed by drinks at the bar.

Clark competes for a living. But he recognizes that jolly golf is the lifeblood of the game. To hear him discuss its virtues, you can listen to the entire interview here, in which Clark also goes deep on the travel rigors of Tour life, his favorite buddies’ trip destination and why, no matter where he goes, he always packs a gizmo called a grounding mat.

Listen and subscribe to Destination GOLF wherever you get your podcasts: APPLE | SPOTIFY | IHEART | AMAZON

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Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series in which we’re sharing improvements, learnings and takeaways from amateur golfers just like you — including some of the speed bumps and challenges they faced along the way.

Ask anyone who’s shaved a good amount of strokes off their golf handicap how they did it, and they’ll likely reply with something similar to this: “With a consistent plan.”

Problem is, most amateur golfers don’t have the time to consistently practice on their game, meaning it takes a little more time to see the positive gains that they’re hoping for — but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach your goals.

The key to practicing on limited time and still accelerate the progress is simple: Become efficient.

Instruction

In order to do so, it requires having the knowledge to focus on the most important areas of the game that will actually make a difference in your scores, eventually lowering your golf handicap.

So instead of beating 75 balls at the range trying to work on everything, it’s more effective to use that bucket on just one or two areas — which, when improved upon, can lead to lower scores much more quickly.

GOLF Teacher to Watch Todd Casabella can help. So take a look below to see what you can start working on beginning today.

2 important focus areas for lowering your golf handicap

“Regardless of your current golf handicap, there are two aspects of the game that you can never be too good at and that are proven to lower your scores — lag-putting and consistency off the tee,” Casabella says.

Here’s how Casabella says you can begin your journey toward better golf.

Lag-putting

Eliminating three-putting is the lowest hanging fruit for improving your scores. The biggest problem I see is when golfers don’t get the feel for the speed of the greens before they go out to play, and just drop a few balls to hit towards random holes.

If you do this, you’re not intentional in your practice and are worried more about making the putt than observing how the ball’s rolling. So before teeing off, make sure to get the feel for the speed. Here’s a simple drill to help.

1. Go to the edge of the green and place two tees 10 steps apart. Ideally, the tees would have some uphill and downhill slope.

2. Using three balls, putt to one of the tees. Then turn and putt back to the other tee.

3. Once you’re able to roll six balls within one foot of each tee, three to one tee and three to the other, you know you are dialed in.

Become consistent on tee shots

In my opinion, being consistent off the tee is the No. 1 skill in golf.

When you’ve got the ability to hit your first shot to a safe position, it doesn’t just make the game more fun, it also allows you more chances to score low. Plus, a good tee shot builds up your confidence.

Many amateurs have no idea how to hit a draw or a fade with the driver, which is totally fine. Many of them just tell me, “I want to hit it straight,” but as the great Ben Hogan said, “You only hit a straight ball by accident!”

Since the tee shot is the hardest shot in golf, you want to make sure you’ve got a predictable curve. So if you tend to slice it and still want to land it in the fairway, it means aiming left and then actually hitting it left — not aiming toward the fairway. When you do this, your natural left-to-right curve happens, helping you keep the ball in play more often.

By simply improving on these two areas, you can easily master two important parts of the game — and quickly start shaving strokes off your golf handicap.

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The Masters is over and the federal tax deadline has arrived. But it’s not all gloomy news on this Monday morning. As of today, golf season is fully and officially underway. 

With every region of the country having kicked into swing, you can now post a score to your Handicap Index no matter where you are in the United States. (Don’t have a handicap? You can get one here.)

And no matter what you shoot, your index will be more accurate than ever, thanks to updates to the World Handicap System (WHS) that went into effect on Jan. 1. In case they slipped your mind, here’s a refresher on those tweaks.

9-hole rounds now count

Nine-hole rounds are a fun, fast way to get your golf fix. But in many countries, the United States included, it used to be that you couldn’t count a single nine-hole round toward your handicap index. You had to wait to play another nine, and then combine those two scores into an 18-hole total. 

Not anymore.

Under the updated WHS, you can post a nine-hole score immediately, and the system will automatically translate that into an 18-hole tally that combines your score for the holes you completed with your “expected score” on the rest — an “expected score” being what a player of your ability would be expected to shoot on a course of standard difficulty.

Rounds of 10-17 holes count, too

Every now and then it happens: due to weather, darkness or a sudden, unexpected obligation, your round gets interrupted and you wind up playing somewhere between 10 and 17 holes. The new system has a better way to handle those scores, too. For starters, you no longer have to finish 13 holes to make it official. Prior to this year, if you didn’t get through 13, your scores on 10, 11 and 12 didn’t count. Now, they do. What’s more, instead of using net par to calculate an 18-hole score, as the system used to do, the updated WHS will add your Score Differential from holes played to your expected Score Differential for holes not played. There’s some math involved here, but you don’t have to crunch the numbers to account for the holes you don’t get to. The WHS will do that for you, in a manner that’s more accurate than it was before.

So do short courses!

For years, short courses got short shrift. Because many had not been assigned a course and slope rating, scores on them could not be posted toward your handicap. That, too, has changed. Under the new system, the length requirement for inclusion in the WHS has been substantially reduced, with courses as short as 750 yards for nine holes and 1,500 yards for 18 holes brought into the fold. 

To prepare for this change, the USGA — with help from its allied golf associations around the country — has been busy rating short courses from coast to coast. As of this spring, roughly half of those courses have been rated. Plans call for the rest to be rated by the end of the year.

More accurate adjustments for abnormal conditions

This just in: unusual conditions, like high winds, standing water and ground under repair can affect your score. The old WHS accounted for such variables. But the governing bodies wanted to make that accounting system more precise, and they have. The updated WHS is now more sensitive to abnormal conditions, and the adjustments it makes are now more accurate.

Additional guidance for handicap committees

Most of us don’t play golf for a living. But a lot of us play in handicapped events. The new WHS provides increased guidance to handicap committees that oversee those competitions, giving them new tools to help account for outlier scores and other inconsistencies. Think of it as a greater guarantee of a level playing field.

Still don’t have a handicap yet? Register for your own Handicap Index here.

The post 5 reasons your handicap will be more accurate than ever this year appeared first on Golf.

The post Which state has the lowest handicap index? The highest? Here’s a complete list appeared first on Golf.

The post Which state has the lowest handicap index? The highest? Here’s a complete list appeared first on Golf.

Mississippi, according to one measure, has some serious sticks. 

And at the bottom of that list?

A nearby state — that has access to year-round play, and a schedule swing on the PGA Tour.

The ranking comes via a listing of the average handicap index by states and territories, which was recently released by the USGA — and it at least makes for a conversation starter. How does your state rank? How do your relatives’ states rank? Where does the state where you take your buddies’ trip rank?

And then there’s the top — and bottom.

According to the USGA’s list, the state with the lowest average handicap index is Mississippi, at 11.6. Rounding out the top 10 are Arkansas (12.8), Louisiana (12.9), Oklahoma (13.0), Alabama (13.1), Washington, D.C. (13.2), Tennessee (13.5), North Dakota (13.5), Texas (13.8) and Georgia (14.3). And the 12 states with the highest average handicap index?

According to the USGA, Florida is 52nd, at 20.0, followed by Delaware (19.6), Wyoming (19.2), Maine (18.7), Idaho (18.7), Alaska (18.6), Montana (18.3), New Hampshire (18.3), Arizona (18.1), Vermont (17.7) and Washington (17.7).

Below is the complete list:

52. Florida (20.0)

51. Delaware (19.6)

50. Wyoming (19.2)

49. Maine (18.7)

48. Idaho (18.7)

47. Alaska (18.6)

46. Montana (18.3)

45. New Hampshire (18.3)

44. Arizona (18.1)

43. Vermont (17.7)

42. Washington (17.7)

41. Colorado (17.7)

40. Connecticut (17.6)

39. Nevada (17.4)

38. Rhode Island (17.4)

37. Oregon (17.2)

36. South Dakota (17.1)

35. California (17.1)

34. New Jersey (17.1)

33. Puerto Rico (16.9)

32. New York (16.9)

31. Massachusetts (16.8)

30. Maryland (16.7)

29. New Mexico (16.7)

28. South Carolina (16.7)

27. Michigan (16.5)

26. Minnesota (16.5)

25. Hawaii (16.5)

24. Wisconsin (16.4)

23. Nebraska (16.2)

22. Pennsylvania (16.1)

21. Virginia (15.8)

20. North Carolina (15.8)

19. Illinois (15.7)

18. Ohio (15.5)

17. Utah (15.1)

16. Missouri (15.1)

15. Indiana (15.1)

14. Iowa (14.9)

13. West Virginia (14.7)

12. Kansas (14.5)

11. Kentucky (14.4)

10. Georgia (14.3)

9. Texas (13.8)

8. North Dakota (13.5)

7. Tennessee (13.5)

6. Washington, D.C. (13.2)

5. Alabama (13.1)

4. Oklahoma (13.0)

3. Louisiana (12.9)

2. Arkansas (12.8)

1. Mississippi (11.6)

The ranking comes while the world handicap system is set to update this year. GOLF’s Josh Sens recently detailed the changes in a story published last Thursday, and you can click here to read that piece, or continue to scroll. 

***

Happy (almost) New Year!

Now that we’ve got your attention, an important reminder: Though your golf game might not get more accurate in 2024, your handicap will.

On Jan. 1, the World Handicap System, which was established in 2020 to unify golfers around the globe through a standard measure of playing ability, will be updated. 

Lifestyle

The changes, implemented by the USGA and R&A, are meant to create a system that more accurately reflects how the game is played today.

And how is the game played today?

Increasingly, in nine-hole rounds, on shorter courses. 

The updated system will accommodate that new reality.

Here’s a refresher on the changes.

Posting scores for 9-hole rounds

If you’re like a lot of golfers, you play a lot of nine-hole rounds. And no wonder. They’re fun. They’re fast. They fit nicely with your go-go lifestyle. Problem is, in many countries, the United States included, a single nine-hole round can’t be counted toward your handicap index. Under the current system, you have to wait until you play another nine, and then combine those two scores into an 18-hole total.

As of the new year, that will change. Rather than make you wait until you play another nine on another day, and maybe even on another course (factors that can introduce all kinds of variables), the updated system will allow you to post your score immediately, which it will use to produce an 18-hole tally that combines your score for the holes you completed with your “expected score” on the rest — your expected score being what a player of your ability would be expected to shoot on a course of standard difficulty.

Posting scores for rounds of 10-17 holes

Yeah, we know: Playing 10 to 17 holes is a lot less common than playing nine. But it happens, usually when darkness or weather intervenes. The new system will have a better way of handling those rounds, too. For starters, you won’t have to play 13 holes to make it official; under the current system, if you don’t make it through 13, your scores on holes 10, 11 and 12 don’t count. What’s more, instead of using net par to calculate an 18-hole score, as the system currently does, the updated WHS will add the player’s score differential from holes played to the player’s expected score differential for holes not played. It is, in short, a more accurate way of accounting for the holes you didn’t get to.

Posting scores for rounds on short courses

Par-3 and executive courses are all the rage these days. But because many of these courses had not previously been assigned a course rating and slope rating, the scores you posted on them could not be counted toward your handicap, either. On Jan. 1, that, too, will change. Under the new system, the length requirements for inclusion in the WHS will be significantly reduced, with courses as short as 750 yards for nine holes and 1,500 yards for 18 holes brought into the fold.

As you can probably imagine, this is not a change that has happened overnight. To prepare for it, the USGA — with help from its allied golf associations around the country — has been busy dispatching raters to short courses from coast to coast. That work is still in progress. As it stands, a little more than one-third of eligible short courses have been assigned course and slope ratings. Plans call for half of them to be rated by the spring of 2024, and the rest completed by the end of the year.

Handicap adjustments based on abnormal conditions

Golf is played in variable conditions. That’s one of the beauties of the game. But it also makes it tricky on handicapping. The current WHS makes automatic adjustments for abnormal course conditions (things like high winds and standing water and ground under repair). But it could be more precise. As of Jan. 1, the updated system will be more sensitive to abnormal conditions, and thus better able to accurately adjust for them. 

Additional guidance for handicap committees

Last but not least (well, actually, it is the least relevant to the non-tournament rounds of golf most of us play), the updated system will provide additional guidance to handicap committees conducting handicap reviews, with new tools to help sort through the potential headache of outlier scores and other inconsistencies.  

The post Which state has the lowest handicap index? The highest? Here’s a complete list appeared first on Golf.

The post How your handicap will change in 2024 appeared first on Golf.

The post How your handicap will change in 2024 appeared first on Golf.

Happy (almost) New Year!

Now that we’ve got your attention, an important reminder: though your golf game might not get more accurate in 2024, your handicap will.

On Jan. 1, the World Handicap System, which was established in 2020 to unify golfers around the globe through a standard measure of playing ability, will be updated.  (Don’t have a handicap yet? You can register for one here.)

The changes, implemented by the USGA and R&A, are meant to create a system that more accurately reflects how the game is played today.

And how is the game played today?

Increasingly, in 9-hole rounds, on shorter courses. 

The updated system will accommodate that new reality.

Here’s a refresher on the changes.

Posting scores for 9-hole rounds

If you’re like a lot of golfers, you play a lot of 9-hole rounds. And no wonder. They’re fun. They’re fast. The fit nicely with your go-go lifestyle. Problem is, in many countries, the United States included, a single 9-hole round can’t be counted toward your handicap index. Under the current system, you have to wait until you play another 9, and then combine those two scores into an 18-hole total.

As of the new year, that will change. Rather than make you wait until you play another 9 on another day, and maybe even on another course (factors that can introduce all kinds of variables), the updated system will allow you to post your score immediately, which it will use to produce an 18-hole tally that combines your score for the holes you completed with your “expected score” on the rest — your expected score being what a player of your ability would be expected to shoot on a course of standard difficulty.

Posting scores for rounds of 10-17 holes

Yeah, we know. Playing 10 to 17 holes is a lot less common than playing 9. But it happens, usually when darkness or weather intervenes. The new system will have a better way of handling those rounds, too. For starters, you won’t have to play 13 holes to make it official; under the current system, if you don’t make it through 13, your scores on holes 10, 11 and 12 don’t count. What’s more, instead of using net par to calculate an 18-hole score, as the system currently does, the updated WHS will add the player’s Score Differential from holes played to the player’s expected Score Differential for holes not played. It is, in short, a more accurate way of accounting for the holes you didn’t get to.

Posting scores for rounds on short courses

Par-3 and executive courses are all the rage these days. But because many of these courses had not previously been assigned a Course Rating and Slope Rating, the scores you posted on them could not be counted toward your handicap, either. On Jan. 1, that, too, will change. Under the new system, the length requirements for inclusion in the WHS will be significantly reduced, with courses as short as 750 yards for 9 holes and 1,500 for 18 holes brought into the fold.

As you can probably imagine, this is not a change that has happened overnight. To prepare for it, the USGA — with help from its allied golf associations around the country — has been busy dispatching raters to short courses from coast to coast. That work is still in progress. As it stands, a little more than one-third of eligible short courses have been assigned Course and Slope Ratings. Plans call for half of them to be rated by the spring of 2024, and the rest completed by the end of the year.

Handicap adjustments based on abnormal conditions

Golf is played in variable conditions. That’s one of the beauties of the game. But it also makes it tricky on handicapping. The current WHS make automatic adjustments for abnormal course conditions (things like high winds and standing water and ground under repair). But it could be more precise. As of Jan. 1, the updated system will be more sensitive to abnormal conditions, and thus better able to accurately adjust for them. 

Additional guidance for handicap committees

Last but not least (well, actually, it is the least relevant to the non-tournament rounds of golf most of us play), the updated system will provide additional guidance to handicap committees conducting handicap reviews, with new tools to help sort through the potential headache of outlier scores and other inconsistencies.  

The post How your handicap will change in 2024 appeared first on Golf.

The post How to negotiate matches with golfers who don’t keep handicaps appeared first on Golf.

The post How to negotiate matches with golfers who don’t keep handicaps appeared first on Golf.

Dan from San Diego writes: My golf buddy, Rich, doesn’t keep a handicap but always wants to play a match. How do you handle someone like that?

Dear Dan:

The World Handicap System was designed to let players of differing abilities compete against one another on a level playing field. 

It was not designed to grapple with the oddities of human nature, which are endless. Quirky birds abound. As the Etiquetteist’s late father was fond of noting, a normal person is someone you don’t know very well.

It has never been difficult to obtain and maintain a handicap, and it’s only gotten easier in recent years. (You can register for one right here.)

Still, many golfers don’t bother with the practice, with only about 17 percent of golfers in the U.S. carrying an official index.

Why? The reasons vary. Laziness, disorganization and an inclination toward dishonesty rank among them. But there are others.

The Etiquetteist has a friend who played competitive golf through college and got burnt out. When he plays these days, he likes to keep it low-key, and he doesn’t keep an index because, he says, he doesn’t want to put any added pressure on himself.

As this same friend readily concedes, the logic of this thinking doesn’t quite hold up. Keeping a handicap doesn’t inherently ramp up the pressure. It all depends on your perspective. But as we’ve already established, the human mind works in mysterieous ways.

There’s nothing you can do about that.

And, sorry to say, there’s not much you can do about your friend, either.

News

If you have the energy and interest, you might try to  convince your pal of the many benefits to keeping a handicap — how doing so, for instance, allows you to measure your progress and grants you access to all kinds of fun events.

But the Etiquetteist wagers that won’t get you very far.

In this case, better to focus on the things you can control, like your own conduct and the positions you put yourself in.

Given you call Rich a “golf buddy,” you have, presumably, played enough rounds together to have a decent handle on his abilities. With a bit of conversation and compromise, the two of you can probably agree on equitable terms for a match. Just be sure not to play for anything that matters to you, whether it’s money, beer, pride or bragging rights. Nothing can go wrong if there’s nothing on the line.

Your other option is to tell Rich that a match isn’t in the cards until he starts plugging in his scores. Or if he’s not quite up to your ability, tell him you’ll play him but only straight up. Maybe that’ll help light a fire under him.

The same guidelines apply if you find yourself paired with a stranger on the first tee who wants a match but, like your buddy, doesn’t have an index. He’s not required to do so, but if he thinks that you’re required to take him up on his offer, well, that’s the definition of insane.

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Raise your hand if this has happened to you. A narrow window opens in your schedule, so you sneak out to play 9 holes.

You quite like it. You’re not alone.

As golf has boomed in recent years, with participation swelling in this country and beyond, 9-hole rounds have grown in popularity, too.

They’re fun. They’re fast. They’re great for beginners.

There’s just one drawback: In many countries, the United States included, a single 9-hole score can’t be counted toward your handicap index. (Don’t have a handicap yet? You can register for one here.) Under the current system, you have to wait until you play another nine, and then combine those two scores into an 18-hole total. In the interlude between those 9-hole outings — maybe it’s a few days, maybe it’s a month, or more — you may feel that your index is not as up-to-date a snapshot of your play as it could be. You would not be wrong.

Something similar applies if you play a par-3 course or an executive course, which are all the rage these days as well. There are thousands of these shorter layouts around the world, providing golfers with a Goldilocks experience, a sweet spot, in particular, for beginners, families and anyone pressed for time. Good, clean fun, on a smaller footprint.

Again, though, there’s a catch. Because many of these shorter courses have not been assigned a Course Rating or Slope Rating, the scores you post on them can’t be counted toward your handicap, either.

Double bummer.

And yet … all of that is about to change.

On Wednesday, the USGA and the R&A announced the first quadrennial update to the World Handicap System (WHS), which was established in January 2020 as a way to unify millions of golfers around the globe through a standard measure of playing ability.

Under the changes, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2024, the length requirements for Course Rating in the WHS will be significantly reduced, with courses as short as 750 yards for 9 holes and 1,500 yards for 18 holes brought into the fold. If you play one of those newly rated courses, you’ll be able to post the score toward your handicap.

At the same time, the updated system will have an improved method for handling holes not played. If you play only 9 holes (or 10 to 17 holes, for that matter), the system will generate an 18-hole score on the spot. No waiting. That score will be applied toward your handicap index the next day.

Instruction

“When we look at trends and pore over data, and we see things like the popularity of short courses and the number of 9-hole rounds that are being played, you can bet we’re going to do our best to be responsive,” says Steve Edmondson, the USGA’s managing director of handicapping and course rating. “The goal is to be as accurate as possible, and to meet golfers where they are.”

Where golfers are today is not where they were a generation back. Or even where they were just before the pandemic. Since the birth of the WHS, in 2020, more than 100 million rounds have been posted each year, and the governing bodies have been taking stock of them. Among the revelations: While 9-hole rounds have grown increasingly common for golfers of all stripes, they’re especially popular for newbies to the game. Over the past year, 9-hole rounds accounted for more than 45 percent of scores posted by female beginner golfers, and 21 percent of scores posted by male beginner golfers. 

The updated WHS will make it easier for them — and many others — to obtain and maintain a handicap. Let’s say you play 9 holes. Rather than make you wait until you play another 9 on another day, and maybe even on another course (factors that can introduce all kinds of variables), the system will produce an 18-hole tally that combines your score for the holes you completed with your “expected score” on the rest — your expected score being what a player of your ability would be expected to shoot on a course of standard difficulty. In this calculation, more weight will be placed on the holes you played than on the holes you didn’t complete.

While playing 10 to 17 holes is less common than playing 9 (it mostly tends to happen on account of bad weather, darkness or a match ending early), the updated WHS will have a better way of handling that, too. For starters, you won’t have to play 13 holes; under the current system, if you don’t make it through 13, your scores on holes 10, 11 and 12 don’t count. What’s more, instead of using net par to calculate an 18-hole score, as the system currently does, the updated WHS will add the player’s Score Differential from holes played to the player’s expected Score Differential for holes not played.

Instruction

In other words, where the current system is “course dependent,” relying on a player’s Course Handicap and where strokes are received to calculate a score for holes not played, the new system removes the course from consideration. The thinking behind this makes good sense: Because you didn’t play those holes, the course difficulty should have no impact.

We’re starting to get into the weeds here, but the upshot across the board is this: greater accuracy, equity and consistency.

Though the updates take effect on Jan. 1, any handicap adjustments triggered by them will not show up until the middle of the month. The governing bodies have the holidays in mind, and they want to make sure that they’re fully staffed and ready with tech support to respond to any potential glitches. Come mid-January, any 9-hole rounds waiting for their mate will be paired; any short-course score recorded since the start of the new year will show up in the system around that time as well, provided that that short course has been rated

On that note: As of now, roughly a quarter of the short courses in this country have been rated. Plans call for half of them to be rated by the spring of 2024, and the rest completed by the end of the year — all with help from allied golf associations.

We’re not quite finished. The WHS updates include two other changes. One is a refinement of the methods used to make handicap adjustments based on abnormal playing conditions (long story short, the new system will be more sensitive, and thus more likely to make such adjustments). The other change will bring additional guidance to handicap committees conducting handicap reviews, with new tools to help sort through the potential headache of outlier scores and other inconsistencies.

You can read more about that and all the other WHS updates here.

Meantime, got time for a quick 9?

Don’t have a handicap yet, what are you waiting for? Register for your own Handicap Index here.

The post Your golf handicap is about to become more accurate. Here’s how appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 things you *need* to know to understand Handicap Indexes appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 things you *need* to know to understand Handicap Indexes appeared first on Golf.

Golf is unlike any other sport. No matter your skill level or experience, you can compete head-to-head with just about anyone. As long as you have a Handicap Index (you can register for one here), the playing field is always level.

Thanks to the World Handicap System, anyone can get a Handicap Index. Jointly governed worldwide by the USGA and R&A, this system allows for golfers of all abilities to compete on a fair basis. All you need to do is sign up and enter your scores. Once that’s done, you’ll get a number — Handicap Index — corresponding to your skill level.

Despite the importance of handicap indexes to the game of golf, though, many players have a fundamental misunderstanding of how the system works. In an effort to correct this, we’ve listed five things you need to know to better understand Handicap Indexes and how they work.

1. Handicap Index measures *current* form

As any avid golfer knows, your game comes and goes. One season, the sport feels easy, while the next, it feels impossible. It’s maddening knowing that your game could abandon you at any time, but it’s a reality of the sport.

With the ebbs and flows of your game being a reality, your Handicap Index does its best to measure your current form by only considering your 20 most recent scores in its calculation.

“We do that because we know that players’ games and their ability levels change over time,” says the USGA’s Managing Director of Handicapping & Course Rating, Steven Edmondson. “A 20-score scoring record, on average, gets replaced once per year.”

2. Only eight scores count

While your 20 most recent scores are considered in the Handicap Index calculation, only your best eight scoring differentials count. This means that each time you tee it up, it is likelier than not that your score won’t count toward your Handicap Index.

“We do that because [Handicap Index] is about your demonstrated ability,” Edmondson says. “We used to call this your potential.”

Next time one of your playing partners has an off day, don’t automatically assume they have a vanity handicap. You won’t shoot your Handicap Index very often.

3. Shooting your Handicap Index isn’t common

Lots of golfers hear a Handicap Index number and automatically assume that’s the score a golfer shoots every time they tee it up. In truth, golfers only shoot their Handicap Index when they have an excellent day on the course.

“[Your Handicap Index] is something that you play to 20 to 25 percent of the time,” Edmondson says. “And that’s where we should be rewarding people. That’s where you should be winning or placing high is when you play to your handicap or better than your handicap. If someone goes out there and plays average, we would all be in the running. But when you look at someone playing to their best potential, we should reward people based on that.”

4. Handicap Index isn’t your average score

One of the biggest misconceptions about your Handicap Index is that it is your average score. For example, when someone hears a golfer is a 4 handicap, they assume they will shoot four over par every time. That is far from the case.

“A big misconception is that [Handicap Index] is an average,” Edmondson says. “Then people get frustrated because they don’t play to that number as often as they’d like. Instead, they should look at it as an aspirational number — when you are playing on your game.”

5. You don’t have to be an avid golfer to get a Handicap Index

Sometimes recreational golfers get intimidated when they hear the term Handicap Index. For lots of weekend warriors, a Handicap Index is something they think only serious golfers should have. But that’s not true!

Even if you only play a handful of times per year, the World Handicap System can calculate an accurate Handicap Index for you. While 20 scores is the typical number for calculating a Handicap Index, it can be calculated with fewer than 20 scores. The chart below shows how.

It might be intimidating to think about getting a Handicap Index, but the system is not reserved for only avid players. As long as you can cobble together a few scores per year, you can get a Handicap Index and compete with golfers of all skill levels.

Want your own Handicap Index? Register here.

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