The following information are the original emails sent to the Membership from the Handicap Committee. All future communication from the Handicap Committee will be posted here.
Dear Members,
We are very proud to announce that the newly developed
Handicap Committee met for the first time last week. Members on this Committee
are Denny DelBane, Craig Kasper, Don Micale and Joanne Montz. We discussed
several important topics with one key goal in mind:
Maintain fun and fair handicap
competitions in order to maximize participation, camaraderie and fair
competition.
In order to achieve this goal, the
Committee will meet and update the Membership regularly. Communications such as
this email are intended to keep our Membership apprised of the Committee’s
goals and practices, as well as educate everyone on the correct use of the
handicap system. Before the season begins, the Committee will send several
emails to the Membership, each discussing a different topic. These emails will
include topics such as when to post a score, using Equitable Stroke Control
(ESC), posting scores when playing different formats or less than 18 holes, and
what score to post when you pick up before finishing a hole or skip a hole
completely.
The Handicap Committee is very
excited for the value this will add to our Club. We hope that every Member will
use the Committee as a resource for education, and in turn, help us in
maintaining fun and fair handicap competitions.
Sincerely,
The StoneWater Handicap Committee
Dear Members,
As mentioned in our last email from
the Handicap Committee, we will be sending out regular emails with information
that educates our Members on the Handicap System. Let’s call this email…
Handicap 101
The purpose of the USGA Handicap
System is to make golf more enjoyable and equitable for all players regardless
of ability. There are two very important premises that underlie the Handicap
System:
1) Each
player will put forth every effort to make the best possible score on every
hole in every round, and
2) The
player will post every acceptable round via the handicap computer in the Golf
Shop or the GHIN online system.
Let’s take a look at Premise #1…
Joe
is playing in a tournament. In fact, he’s playing so well that going into the
17th hole, he has an 8 shot
lead! Joe knows that even if he double bogeys the last two holes, he’ll still
win with strokes to spare. If he
makes pars, like he has been all day, his handicap will go way down once he posts this phenomenal score.
Standing on the 17th tee, he contemplates hitting his ball into the water, but because he wants to
maintain an accurate handicap that will not only affect him but also the other golfers he plays with, he
reconsiders and hits the ball on the green. Joe goes on to make two pars and wins the tournament by 8 strokes! He
then proudly posts his score on the
handicap computer.
Premise #2…
We’ll
go into more detail on what defines an “acceptable” round in the next email, Handicap
102, but know that it has nothing to do with how well you play.
Sincerely,
The StoneWater Handicap Committee
Dear Members,
In our last email, Handicap 101, we discussed one of the
two very important premises that underlie the handicap system – that each
player will put forth every effort to make the best possible score on every
hole in every round. In this email, Handicap
102, we’ll take a look at the second premise…
Handicap 102
The player will post every acceptable round via the handicap computer
in the Golf Shop or the GHIN online system.
So, what defines an acceptable
round?
Shirley holds a 15 handicap at
StoneWater, so an “acceptable” round by her standards would be anything in the
high 80s or lower. For handicap purposes, however, an “acceptable” round is any
round of golf that is played under a recognized USGA format when the player
plays his or her own ball throughout the round, and the round is not declared
as a practice round. Here are a couple
of examples:
Late
one afternoon, Shirley is approaching the first tee. She just had a lesson and
really wants to play a couple
balls so she can practice what she learned. She tells herself that the ensuing
9 holes will be a practice round and even
writes “practice round” on the scorecard. In doing this, Shirley does not have to post her score.
Any player may declare a round a practice round prior to teeing off on the first hole, and the subsequent score cannot
be posted (whether it’s good or bad).
On
a beautiful weekend in June, Shirley plays in a really fun two-day, two-person
team event at StoneWater
with all her friends and many other members. The front nine on the first day is
a Best Ball Stroke Play Competition,
where only the best score between Shirley and her partner will count toward the team score. The back nine
on the first day is a Best Ball Match Play Competition.
This is much like the morning competition, but a player or team may pick up on
a hole before finishing if they
have already won or lost that hole. On the second day, the front nine is a Scramble where both players
tee off, select the best shot, play from there, select the best shot again, and repeat this process until
the ball is holed. The back nine on the second day is Alternate Shot. In this format, Shirley would tee off, and
then her partner hits the second shot.
Shirley would hit the third shot, and she and her partner would continue to
alternate until the ball is in the
hole. What scores can Shirley post for her handicap? Since she did not play her
own ball on every shot in either
format on Day Two, Shirley cannot post either of those scores. She did, however, play her own ball on
every shot on Day One, so she can post her 18 hole score from that day.
“But,” you ask, “Shirley may not
have finished every hole in the match play portion of her first round. How can
she post a score if she didn’t finish a hole?” The answer to that question will
come in our next email, Handicap 201.
Stay tuned as we graduate to the next level…
Sincerely,
The StoneWater Handicap Committee
Dear
Members,
In our last email, Handicap
102, we discussed that the player will post every acceptable round via the
handicap computer in the Golf Shop or the GHIN online system. In this email, Handicap 201, we’ll go into more detail
on what to do when you skip a hole, don’t finish a hole, or don’t finish a
round and what score to post in the handicap system…
Handicap 201
A score should be posted anytime you play an acceptable
round. If you play between 7 and 12 holes, you should post a 9-hole score for
the 9 which you completely finished. If you play between 13 and 18 holes, you
should post an 18-hole score. So, how do you post a 9-hole score if you only
finish 7 holes, or how do you post an 18-hole score if you only finish 13
holes? Let’s look at an example:
Thomas is a 10 handicap, so he
receives one handicap stroke on the holes with handicap allocations of 1
through 10 (note the red dots on the scorecard below). If Thomas does not play
an entire hole, he takes par plus his handicap on that hole and writes an “x”
before the score to show that he didn’t play the hole. Thomas’s scorecard is
below. You can see he did not play the last 3 holes.
Hole
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
Out
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
In
|
Total
|
Par
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
35
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
36
|
71
|
Handicap
|
1
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
15
|
17
|
11
|
13
|
3
|
14
|
16
|
10
|
2
|
18
|
8
|
6
|
12
|
4
|
|||
Thomas
|
5˙
|
5˙
|
3˙
|
6˙
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
6˙
|
40
|
4
|
4
|
4˙
|
6˙
|
4
|
5˙
|
x-5˙
|
x-3
|
x-6˙
|
41
|
81
|
The way Thomas recorded his scores on the last 3 holes would
be the same way he should record his score if he skips a hole in the middle of
his round.
On a different day, Thomas gets to
the 13th hole and hits an amazing drive over the marsh. He gets a
phone call from his wife saying she’s about to deliver their first child! So,
Thomas casually finishes his round, posts his score, and then goes to the
hospital. While at the hospital, he thinks about how he would have posted his
score if he had left after his drive on the 13th hole. Thomas knows
that for any hole that he begins but does not finish, he should record the
score he most likely would have received. Given that Thomas hit an amazing
drive over the marsh and that he’s a 10 handicap, he probably would have made
par on that hole. Since he started the 13th hole, he could post an
18-hole score, taking par plus his handicap for holes 14 through 18. Thomas’s
scorecard would look like this:
Hole
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
Out
|
10
|
11
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
In
|
Total
|
Par
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
35
|
4
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
36
|
71
|
Handicap
|
1
|
7
|
9
|
5
|
15
|
17
|
11
|
13
|
3
|
14
|
16
|
10
|
2
|
18
|
8
|
6
|
12
|
4
|
|||
Thomas
|
5˙
|
6˙
|
3˙
|
6˙
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
6˙
|
42
|
3
|
4
|
8˙
|
5˙
|
x-4
|
x-5˙
|
x-5˙
|
x-3
|
x-6˙
|
43
|
85
|
Before Thomas could post this score,
he’d have to adjust for Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). Whenever a score is
posted in the handicap system, all players must adjust for ESC. ESC is a
mandatory procedure that reduces high hole scores for handicap purposes in
order to make handicaps more representative of a player's potential ability. ESC is used when a player's actual or most likely score exceeds a maximum number, based on the table below, for
the player's Course Handicap from the tees played. In Thomas’s case, he’d only have
to reduce his score on Hole #12 from an 8 to a 7. His total adjusted score, and
the score that he would post, would
be 84.
| COURSE HANDICAP | MAXIMUM NUMBER ON ANY HOLE |
| 9 or less | Double Bogey |
| 10 through 19 | 7 |
| 20 through 29 | 8 |
| 30 through 39 | 9 |
| 40 or more | 10 |
If you have questions about following any of these procedures
while you’re playing, please mark the skipped or unfinished holes on the
scorecard and bring it to the Golf Shop when you finish your round. They will
help you determine the proper score so that you may post it in the handicap
system.
In our first few emails, we’ve answered some of the most
common handicap questions. In our next email, Handicap 301, we will include answers to YOUR questions! Please
submit your questions to Eric Wolk, PGA, at ewolk@stonewatergolf.com no later than Sunday, March 15th. Your
question could be in our next email!
Sincerely,
The StoneWater Handicap Committee
In our first few emails, we’ve answered some of the most common handicap questions. In this email, we will include answers to YOUR questions!
Handicap 301
Question #1: Will players’ scores for tournaments and league play be entered by the Golf Shop after scorecards are turned in?Answer: No, per the USGA, the player is responsible for posting all of their own scores. Also, see Question #5 below.
Question #2: What is the maximum score I can take on any hole?
Answer: There is no set maximum you can take on any hole for scoring purposes, unless there is a specific rule for league play or in a tournament. However, before you enter your score in the handicap system, you must account for Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). Using the table below, you would reduce any hole score that exceeds your maximum allowable strokes.
Question #3: I know I have a course handicap of 24. How do I determine on which holes I receive my 24 strokes?
Answer: Each hole is designated a handicap allocation on the scorecard (in the red squares on the scorecard below).
Question #4: What happens in the event that weather conditions force players to not finish a round?
Answer: If the round can continue play on the same day, players need to finish their round and post that score. If the round or the player cannot continue on the same day, the player must take par plus his or her handicap for the unfinished holes. For example, a golfer who has a course handicap of 18 will receive one handicap stroke on every hole. This golfer would take a bogey on every unfinished hole. A player can only implement this procedure and post an 18 hole score for completing a minimum of 13 holes, or the player can post a 9 hole score for completing 7-12 holes. Keep in mind that once the player starts a hole (hits a tee shot), the player must take the score he or she would most likely receive based on the shots played on that hole up to that point. If a player hit a tee shot on their 13th hole, that player will be able to post an 18 hole score.
Question #5: I know I don’t have to post if I declare the round a “practice round,” but what defines a practice round, and at what other times should I not post a score?
Answer: Any round played in accordance with the Rules of Golf needs to be posted. A practice round is one example of a round when you don’t play the majority of the round in accordance with the Rules of Golf (i.e. – you play a second ball, you move the ball to play from a different position, you drop a ball instead of taking stroke and distance, etc.). Other examples for when you don’t have to post a score are when you play a scramble, shamble, or alternate shot format. In these formats, you are not playing in accordance with the Rules of Golf because you don’t play your own ball for the entire hole.
The Handicap Committee will continue to send regular communication to the Membership throughout the season on a variety of topics and procedures. We look forward to seeing you at the Club and on the course very soon!
Sincerely,
The StoneWater Handicap Committee
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