2024 Changes to the World Handicap System (WHS)

[iacas]

I kinda wish they would rename the PCC the "SCC" for "Scoring Conditions Calculation" or something, as too many people still think it is someone making a judgment call about the weather and how it affects play, or that the weather is the only or at least major/primary factor.

[Carl3]

These par 3 courses will need to get rated. I have played a couple and don't think they had been. I assumed that was universal.

[DaveP043]

51 minutes ago, Carl3 said:

I assumed that was universal.

Currently, a course has a minimum length to be eligible for posting (and rating).  So it WAS universal.

[DaveP043]

I just found that the USGA has released a bunch of new information about the 2024 changes, you can find them here:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/2024-revision.html

A number of FAQ pages, and simplified explanations make it a bit easier to understand, as compared with wading through the actual 2024 Handicapping Rules.

[billchao]

I don’t think the changes will affect me much. I played a 9-hole round for the first time in over a year a couple of weeks ago. It’s currently sitting in purgatory.

[Carl3]

4 hours ago, billchao said:

I don’t think the changes will affect me much. I played a 9-hole round for the first time in over a year a couple of weeks ago. It’s currently sitting in purgatory.

This has gotten me all flustered now as I was thinking of playing four to five 9-hole rounds a week after work next year instead of two 18-hole rounds. I just moved back to Ohio to be near family and want the weekends free for that,

Have worked to get my HI back down over the past four years after a certain instructor strengthened my grip🤣

 

[DaveP043]

27 minutes ago, Carl3 said:

This has gotten me all flustered now as I was thinking of playing four to five 9-hole rounds a week after work next year instead of two 18-hole rounds. I just moved back to Ohio to be near family and want the weekends free for that,

Have worked to get my HI back down over the past four years after a certain instructor strengthened my grip🤣

 

So you'll have 4 or 5 (18 hole) scores posted for handicap each week, as each 9-hole round will be transformed to 18 holes and immediately counted for handicap calculation.  In one way, posting a larger number of scores each week will mean your current Index is really based on your most recent scores, rather than on scores from a couple months back.  A bunch of good scores in a row will mean your handicap goes down pretty quickly.  On the other hand, a good (or bad) 9 will be completed with something like an "average" 9, you'll have a tough time posting a really low (or high) 18.  All in all, my guess is that it'll be a wash for you.

[DaveP043]

Interesting, I just stumbled onto this:

There are big changes coming to the World Handicap System

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The World Handicap System as you know it is about to get a massive overhaul in GB&I. We break down the major changes affecting you in 2024

The USGA isn't the only one with changes in 2024.  In GB&I, they'll begin defining your Course Handicap including the (CR-par) term, which we've been using in the US for 4 years.  Essentially this normalizes all handicaps to par, making it much simpler to play someone from a different tee.  They'll also begin allowing some Fourball (better ball of partner) scores to be posted.  There are a few other small changes, but those are the big ones.  

If I've read this all right, we're (I mean we in the USGA areas) moving towards the rest of the world in our treatment of 9-hole scores.  GB&I is moving towards us in use of the (CR-par) term, and in posting of fourball scores.  I'm not sure what's happening in other jurisdictions, but at least a few of the existing regional differences are being decreased or eliminated.

[iacas]

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/2024-revision/2024-treatment-of-9-hole-scores-FAQ.html

Worth reading that, and they give an example.

[DaveP043]

36 minutes ago, iacas said:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/2024-revision/2024-treatment-of-9-hole-scores-FAQ.html

Worth reading that, and they give an example.

This is something close to what I would have expected.  In the example, a 14.0 Index shoots a Differential of 7.2 for the first 9.  They add the "expected differential" of 8.5 to come up with a 18-hole differential of 15.7.  Take that 8.5 "expected" differential, double it for 18 holes, we come up with a Differential of 17, or about 3 higher than the player's HI.  That's pretty close to the average score for a typical mid-handicap player, 3 over par.  

[StuM]

10 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

This is something close to what I would have expected.  In the example, a 14.0 Index shoots a Differential of 7.2 for the first 9.  They add the "expected differential" of 8.5 to come up with a 18-hole differential of 15.7.  Take that 8.5 "expected" differential, double it for 18 holes, we come up with a Differential of 17, or about 3 higher than the player's HI.  That's pretty close to the average score for a typical mid-handicap player, 3 over par.  

This makes sense to me.  It simply assumes your 2nd 9 would be roughly average (aka "expected differential").  I doubt this will result in any significant swing in HCP, it would be similar to golfing a good 9 this week and an average 9 next week and combining those.  The main difference is the HCP gets updated faster.

[gbogey]

I don’t post a lot of nine hole scores but I’ve been very curious as to how the new USGA system would work for partial scores. First post on Friday.  My differential was 1.8/1.9 (not sure how rounding works) for 9 holes, USGA converted that to 6.1. I’m assuming what this means is that the average differential for me is 8.4-8.6, which makes sense as I’m currently playing to a 5.9 and my average differential is typically 2-3 above my handicap. Initial thoughts are:

Like - not having to wait to match 9 hole scores. In the past I didn’t like posing 9 holes because it was ofter 2-3 months between another 9 hole score.

Dislikes - Not sure it improves handicap accuracy. When I lived in TN and mainly two low slope courses (114 and 118), my average differential was closer to +2 versus my index. Here playing higher slope courses (135+), my average is likely +3 to my index.

Haven’t seen any evidence of increased usage of PCC this year, but to be fair it’s been relatively calm when I’ve played (the wind can be fierce here).

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, gbogey said:

Dislikes - Not sure it improves handicap accuracy. When I lived in TN and mainly two low slope courses (114 and 118), my average differential was closer to +2 versus my index. Here playing higher slope courses (135+), my average is likely +3 to my index.

But… you were on pace to shoot more than 2 below your index, and this ended up at +0.2 over. No?

[gbogey]

I look at it this way - my likely result on the back if I had had time to play was between 38-42, meaning that I would shoot between 76/4.4 and 80/7.6. So the 6.1 corresponds to the midpoint and that seems fair. The concern I have is that given the difficulty of the course, I'm probably more likely to shoot 79 than 78, but in TN playing an easier home course I would more likely shoot 77 than 78 (and going way back to my NJ days where I played a moderate course I would say 78 would have been my most likely score). I'm just saying that based upon my experience, without stats to back it up, the variability of one's scores increases with course difficulty and this new method doesn't take course difficulty into account.

It should also be noted, and this has to do more with statistics and averaging, that if one's playing ability were to improve or decline and you mainly played 9 hole scores, that the change in your handicap would be somewhat muted.

[DaveP043]

I checked a few  hole scores from my club.  For the best players, the "expected differential" was 1.2 higher than the handicap index.  For the higher handicappers it was about HI + 1.8.  It all makes sense to me, the expected score is essentially a bit over net par, and reflects the greater variability of higher handicappers. 

[gbogey]

Is that for 9 holes or 18? Seems pretty tight for 18. 

[DaveP043]

5 minutes ago, gbogey said:

Is that for 9 holes or 18? Seems pretty tight for 18. 

that was for 9 , so +2.5 to +3.5 for 18 holes.  I'm sure that's pretty  close to average for most players.