What handicap do I have?

BrianJD

Hi

I don't have a handicap as Im only playing my third round tomorrow. If I wanted to work out my stable ford points what handicap score should I give myself?

If this question doesn't make sense, ignore me I'm an idiot.

Senna

Most of the new male members of my course are given a handicap of no higher than 18. Might be a good idea to work out your points based on 18 (assuming your not in an actual comp). Try and work towards the goal of playing of a true 18.

mike12

Senna wrote: »

Most of the new male members of my course are given a handicap of no higher than 18. Might be a good idea to work out your points based on 18 (assuming your not in an actual comp). Try and work towards the goal of playing of a true 18.

We asked the GUI about doing this and were told the handicap had to be given based on the 3 cards no making it up.

If you joined a club your handicap would be based on your best score out of the 3 cards, but you would discount anything over a double bogie.
So if you shoot 90 nothing over a double on a par 72 then your handicap would be 18. If you shoot 100 then around 27/28.
Mike

Webbs

Senna wrote: »

Most of the new male members of my course are given a handicap of no higher than 18. .

Hope you realise thats against the GUI rules as it has to be as the other poster says determined from your 3 cards.

Russman

Webbs wrote: »

Hope you realise thats against the GUI rules as it has to be as the other poster says determined from your 3 cards.

I think there is a clause allowing the club to issue a lower handicap than that indicated by the 3 cards, if it considers it appropriate.

link_2007

mike12 wrote: »

We asked the GUI about doing this and were told the handicap had to be given based on the 3 cards no making it up.

If you joined a club your handicap would be based on your best score out of the 3 cards, but you would discount anything over a double bogie.
So if you shoot 90 nothing over a double on a par 72 then your handicap would be 18. If you shoot 100 then around 27/28.
Mike

I joined a club for the first time in January and despite none of the three cards I handed in being under 100 shots per round, I was given a handicap of 18. While it can be annoying at times, I don't mind too much because as Senna said, at least I have a clear target now which is to be able to play to 18.

Webbs

Russman wrote: »

I think there is a clause allowing the club to issue a lower handicap than that indicated by the 3 cards, if it considers it appropriate.

Below is from the GUI, clubs arbitrarily allocating 18 are not really following the rules though it happens a lot.
Link_2007 being a case in point, I assume that he cannot play to 18 so is in effect being excluded from being competitive and I assume he pay competition fees each week which is just not fair to him/her.
If link_2007 goes out and shoots a great score off 24 and wins a comp then good luck to them, the h'cap committee can cut further if they think it deserving.
Handicaps are there to make it as level a playing field not because a committee member doesnt want a 24 handicapper winning a competition

In what circumstances can a club allocate a handicap lower than that calculated by Clause 16.3?
A. The Handicap Committee may allot an initial whole number Exact Handicap less than the best adjusted score if it has reason to consider that a lower handicap is more appropriate to the player’s ability. Factors to be considered include:
• Previous playing history and any lower handicap previously held at the Home Club or at any
other club.This is of paramount importance.
• Time of year and prevailing weather conditions when cards submitted.
• Information from peers.
• A handicap held under another handicapping system.

k.p.h

I don't know if a HC Secretary could give out a handicap bigger than 18, you would have to imagine everyone had the potential to break 90 be it beginner or not.

• Information from peers.

"Has arms and legs ..?"
"yeah"
"18 it is so ..!"

alxmorgan

link_2007 wrote: »

I joined a club for the first time in January and despite none of the three cards I handed in being under 100 shots per round, I was given a handicap of 18. While it can be annoying at times, I don't mind too much because as Senna said, at least I have a clear target now which is to be able to play to 18.

My 3 cards were 108, 110 and 113

Was given 18 which I had never played to but a year later I was able to thankfully
Was ok with 18 but no idea how they came to that number

Webbs

k.p.h wrote: »

I don't know if a HC Secretary could give out a handicap bigger than 18, you would have to imagine everyone had the potential to break 90 be it beginner or not.

• Information from peers.

"Has arms and legs ..?"
"yeah"
"18 it is so ..!"

In that case why do handicaps go up to 24+?
Most would have the potential to break 90, most have the potential to break 80 if they put time and effort into it so why not start everyone on a handicap of 10?

Russman

Webbs wrote: »

In that case why do handicaps go up to 24+?
Most would have the potential to break 90, most have the potential to break 80 if they put time and effort into it so why not start everyone on a handicap of 10?

I think its a couple of things TBH,
1) there's a selfish fear that a new member will be sandbagging and go on to win all around them if they're given too high a handicap. The handicap sec will then have members whining at him about "Joe Bloggs winning when he's only in the place a wet weekend...bla, bla". The last thing you want if you're on committee is your saturday game ruined by listening to whingers
2) probably an element of carrot and stick approach, ie give them a challenging but realistic within a certain timeframe, handicap to start with.
3) Laziness - "ahh he's a beginner, give him 18"

You could just as easily stick to the formula, I reckon the number of exceptions would be very few.


Its not ideal, but over time most handicaps find their own level IMO

PhilipMarlowe

It's often a question of timing. Some people who are new to the game will want a handicap and will submit 3 cards early on in their 'career'. These players are likely to improve rapidly.
Also, when you are presented with 3 cards, you base the handicap on the best one of the 3 (while also looking at the others of course). You might get indications by seeing a few pars and a few disasters etc. The good holes show an innate ability - the bad ones can then be considered an anomaly which is the way most of us assess our game

Being awarded a handicap equal to the best card is actually generous because on more occasions than not, players who already have a handicap don't shoot 36 points.

golfwallah

The rules for allotment of handicaps as followed by the GUI and provided to clubs are set out in section 16 (page 28) of CONGU booklet on the Unified Handicapping System - see link attached:
http://www.englishgolfunion.org/e-brochure/index.html

It's up to club Handicap Secretaries to interpret and apply these rules as best they can.

BrianJD

Thanks for all the replies. Basically I have only ever played 2 rounds before with the best round being 114. Today i broke 100 with a 98 in Castlemartyr Resort Golf Course. It such a brilliant feeling because I really felt I had some great shots. The course was fantastic as well. I'm officially hooked!

Kace

BrianJD wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. Basically I have only ever played 2 rounds before with the best round being 114. Today i broke 100 with a 98 in Castlemartyr Resort Golf Course. It such a brilliant feeling because I really felt I had some great shots. The course was fantastic as well. I'm officially hooked!

You've played 2 rounds and already broke 100 ! Well done.

If I was the handicap secretary at your club I would be 'feeling it appropriate' based upon that scoring to assign you a handicap of 18.

jaggiebunnet

BrianJD wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. Basically I have only ever played 2 rounds before with the best round being 114. Today i broke 100 with a 98 in Castlemartyr Resort Golf Course. It such a brilliant feeling because I really felt I had some great shots. The course was fantastic as well. I'm officially hooked!

jeebus i might as put the clubs in the bin so!! been at it for 9 months and can't break that 100 at all...thought I had it yesterday in Blarney, birdie on the first hole - yes this was going to be my day....but I quickly learned that was going to be the exception to the rule

charlieIRL

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

jeebus i might as put the clubs in the bin so!! been at it for 9 months and can't break that 100 at all...thought I had it yesterday in Blarney, birdie on the first hole - yes this was going to be my day....but I quickly learned that was going to be the exception to the rule

did you enjoy your round? Hit a few shots out of the 100 odd that made you say "nice one" If so then don't worry about a handicap and enjoy this frustrating but rewarding game. Most of us here are out to enjoy the round / different courses. When i stop looking forward to a game....then the clubs will get the bin.

BrianJD

charlieIRL wrote: »

did you enjoy your round? Hit a few shots out of the 100 odd that made you say "nice one" If so then don't worry about a handicap and enjoy this frustrating but rewarding game. Most of us here are out to enjoy the round / different courses. When i stop looking forward to a game....then the clubs will get the bin.

I loved it. As I told the wife, apart from spending time with her, ahem, I never enjoyed something as much as yesterday. The sun was shining and I had several shots which I was very excited about. My youth of hitting my sand iron 10-20 yards on the back garden really showed up when I was just off the green and I had 2 or 3 five irons land and stay on the green which while it might not be impressive for regular players, I loved! I was with a partner who never played in his life and he did very well. We both came off the par 4 18 with five each and we were buzzing. What I liked most was I had no 9 or 10. I had 3 sevens and they were my worst so I was fairly consistent getting it with 1 or 2 of par and I think I had 2 pars. I want to play now!!! Stupid work.

bigtimecharlie

I always considered an 18 h/c for a beginner as an easy way to help with Stableford scoring system, 18 holes with an 18 h/c so increase par on each hole by 1.

The 18 h/c I got for my 3 cards was in no way accurate ( 28 would have been closer) but I had no trouble getting the grasp of Stableford.

Tones69

mike12 wrote: »

We asked the GUI about doing this and were told the handicap had to be given based on the 3 cards no making it up.

If you joined a club your handicap would be based on your best score out of the 3 cards, but you would discount anything over a double bogie.
So if you shoot 90 nothing over a double on a par 72 then your handicap would be 18. If you shoot 100 then around 27/28.
Mike

You would think that wudnt u haha, last summer when i started i handed in 3 cards of something like 108,105,102 and i was given 16!