Your Thoughts on the World Handicap System

[wacker]

OK, I know this has no doubt been discussed many times, but there is only so much we can talk about when it comes to golf. I live in the UK and most other golfers I have spoken to tend to agree with me.  Unlike the old system we had, we now have a handicap that we should be averaging, rather than the old system when we played to it. In fact, I was once told a person should only play to their handicap a few times a year when playing off of the white tees. In my case this was very true. When the new system was introduced three years ago just about everyone's handicap went up, and from memory mine went up about two shots. I quite like the new system in the fact it is quite reactive. I put in on average three cards a week during the summer months, and my handicap goes up and down like an elevator (lift in England). What I dislike about it is the ridiculous handicaps people can now have. When I started playing golf the maximum was 28, it's now 54. Being given three shots on any hole is just crazy. I would have accepted 36 as a compromise, especially as things get harder as you get older. I know the idea is that golf should be inclusive, but I thought it had something to do with skill as well. Like I said, when I first received my handicap I was given 28. OK, I was in reality playing to about 40, but through practice I was soon playing to my handicap, and it dropped quite quickly. 

 

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

[StuM]

I did not realize a "54" existed as a handicap.  Makes my HCP look a lot better than I thought it was.

I'm not sure playing to your handicap is specific to "White Tees".  I believe your course HCP will change based on the tees you play given the rating & slope for that particular set of tees.  

[wacker]

31 minutes ago, StuM said:

I did not realize a "54" existed as a handicap.  Makes my HCP look a lot better than I thought it was.

I'm not sure playing to your handicap is specific to "White Tees".  I believe your course HCP will change based on the tees you play given the rating & slope for that particular set of tees.  

We enter our score into the computer in the pro shop, although it could be into the phone app. It asks if we played off of the yellows or the whites, as they have a different slope ratings. 

[StuM]

1 minute ago, wacker said:

We enter our score into the computer in the pro shop, although it could be into the phone app. It asks if we played off of the yellows or the whites, as they have a different slope ratings. 

Yes, that is correct.  Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying when you said:

1 hour ago, wacker said:

I was once told a person should only play to their handicap a few times a year when playing off of the white tees

Why would "Playing off the white tees" have any relevance to "a person should only play to thier handicap a few times a year"?  You would have the same challange to beat the HCP no matter which tee box you play since the HCP adjusts to the tee box.

 

 

[mohearn]

8 hours ago, wacker said:

Unlike the old system we had, we now have a handicap that we should be averaging, rather than the old system when we played to it. In fact, 

...

What I dislike about it is the ridiculous handicaps people can now have. When I started playing golf the maximum was 28, it's now 54. Being given three shots on any hole is just crazy. 

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

With the WHS the best 8 of the last 20 rounds are averaged. In talking to folks where I play, many sorta assume its an average of all, and that one bad score will raise an HCP index. It won't, only the the best 8 of last 20 are averaged. 

You're right 54 is high. In the league I play in the highest we have is index of 49, and he's 86 years old, so I don't think you see too many at the extreme end.

In general, from my (admittedly narrow) experience it works pretty good as long as the differences aren't too great. And at the extremes, both plus HCPs and really high HCPs it maybe falls off a bit, but those are really thin slices of the golfing population.

I actually like it, and think it does a good job all-in-all allowing folks of various abilities to have adequately competive matches. Anecdotally, I lost match play last night giving up 6 strokes to my opponent, he won by one hole on the last hole, par vs bogey.  And I won the net score by one, so it really was close!

 

 

[wacker]

On 7/13/2023 at 2:33 PM, StuM said:

Yes, that is correct.  Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying when you said:

Why would "Playing off the white tees" have any relevance to "a person should only play to thier handicap a few times a year"?  You would have the same challange to beat the HCP no matter which tee box you play since the HCP adjusts to the tee box.

 

 

Because playing off of the whites is considerably harder. Anyway, it's not so relevant now, because the system makes allowances for whether or not one plays off of the yellows or the whites.

Edited July 14, 2023 by wacker

[iacas]

14 minutes ago, wacker said:

Because playing off of the whites is considerably harder. Anyway, it's not so relevant now, because the system makes allowances for whether or not one plays off of the yellows or the whites.

That was his point: you can "play to your handicap" from any set of tees. He was asking why you threw in the "playing off the white tees" qualifier.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, wacker said:

Because playing off of the whites is considerably harder. Anyway, it's not so relevant now, because the system makes allowances for whether or not one plays off of the yellows or the whites.

You understand that differential is not the same as the number of strokes over par you shot, right? It’s dependent on course rating and slope.

I have a 19.6 differential on my recent scores on for +24 and a 20.6 differential for +21. So I played better on the more difficult course, despite my raw score being higher.