instant handicap update

There was talk around my club house today that we will soon, in a week or two, have instant updates of our handicap. So if I post a round today, tomorrow I will be using the new number, if it changes. Is this a USGA thing or something my course is doing? I'm not sure how it would work in tourney situations where there are team limits on the max/min handicap. You need time to set the teams, if players can change on Friday before a Saturday start it would be chaos.

Handicaps don't change that much from round to round anyway unless one has an outlier round. Say for example you normally shoot an 84. Then you turn in a round of 71. That will affect your HC by a couple of points. If you turn in an 80 it probably won't that much. If you turn in an 88 it won't at all.

We use GHIN in AZ as well.  I don't see the trend handicap using their website, but I can see it on my phone using their iOS app and the trend handicap updates immediately upon posting a score via the app.

I can see the "trending" handicap in the GHIN computer at my club.

Currently we use GHIN and it updates on the 1st and 15th. As others have said, you can see where your trending but we never use that number. I'm assuming the course is going to different software but no one with any knowledge was working the weekend.

From the USGA Handicap Manual

Trend Handicap

A " trend handicap" is an estimate of a handicap. It may include un-reviewed scores posted since the previous revision. The trend is not a Handicap Index, ( See local handicap ). A Trend Handicap must be identified by the letter "L" to indicate it is a local handicap.

Local Handicap

A " local handicap " is either a handicap that is above the maximum Handicap Index limit (Section 3-4), a handicap that is revised more frequently than allowed (Section 8-3) or a handicap based on a player's temporary disability. A local handicap is not a Handicap Index, and it must be identified by the letter "L" to indicate that it is for local use only. A local handicap is expressed as a number taken to one decimal place and is used to convert to a Course Handicap (e.g., 41.5L). (See handicap type , trend handicap, and Section 3-3 .)

A club may elect to use the Local Handicap (or Trend) for club play.  If you went to another club for a net competition, the handicap index published on either the 1st or 15th would be the appropriate number to use.

Our club-without-real-estate uses the Local Handicap of each member for our tournaments as it is most current but many organizations use solely the index published twice a month.