Handicap scoring

[DJYoshi]

I had three terrible rounds this past week and 1 avg round.
(95) on a 72.8/138
84 on a 72.4/133
87 " "
and yesterday's 75 " "

I'm currently listed as a 4.9....but trending down to a 4.3.... I was figuring That the rounds in the 80's were ok..but the 95 would KILL my HC.
why would I be trending down...if I had more scores in the past 5 rounds that were way above my HC?

[Fourputt]

I had three terrible rounds this past week and 1 avg round.

Because your handicap only uses the lowest 10 of your last 20 scores in the calculation. The odds are good that the 95 will never even be used.

[kpaulhus]

True^.......

[10footer4bird]

you would think that a guy that plays to a 4 would know how that works being as he has obviously been around the game.

[SKMoss]

10foot, never make that assumption. Just because he pays attention to his game doesn't mean he pays attention to the ancillary stuff. I know a lot of good golfers that don't have a clue how a Handicap is calculated.



Unlike handicaps in other sports, the handicap in golf is there to help measure your potential, not you average. As such, the low 10 rounds of the last 20 round are used. To see a bump in a handicap, a new score must bump one of the 10 low scores out of the last 20.



I wrote the handicap system for the old US Air Force base in the Philippines in 1982. With the rudimentary programming tools we had back then it was a chore to get them figured right. And that was long before the Slope system.


Thanks, Steve

[10footer4bird]

10foot, never make that assumption. Just because he pays attention to his game doesn't mean he pays attention to the ancillary stuff. I know a lot of good golfers that don't have a clue how a Handicap is calculated.

I am pretty sure I said "YOU WOULD THINK".

[Big_M]

you would think that a guy that plays to a 4 would know how that works being as he has obviously been around the game.

I agree with you... it is odd when someone who is a 4 needs to ask why an odd high round wouldn't raise his handicap.

As to yoshi... 4putt is correct.

[Doctorfro]

I am always trying to remind people that handicap is based on "potential" and not "average". That's why it's based on your lowest 10 of the last 20.

[SKMoss]

I am pretty sure I said "YOU WOULD THINK".

Sorry 10Foot. Didn't intend to come across strongly enough to warrent the reply. Apologies. I remember when I first moved back to the states when I got out of the Air Force. My brother was carrying a +1 Hcp at the time. He and I went round and round about Hcp calcuation. He swore it was calcuated the same as in bowling (based on actual average). He didn't really pay much attention and if he didn't need the hcp to complete in a lot of tournys, he wouldn't have even bothered. Thanks, Steve

[Jay-Bird]

Blow up scores have NO effect on your handicap.

In fact Your worst 10 rounds out of your last 20 rounds will do nothing to the HCI. Never have, never will.

When figuring your handicap, you take the AVERAGE of the TEN BEST DIFFERENTIALS from the last 20 rounds played.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

So help me understand this better. I play a lot of courses that have a high slope rating like 70.3/135 and rarely play any courses that are 66.3/115.

However, let's say a player B does just the opposite, he plays courses like 66.3/115 and never plays the 70.3/135.

I would think that his handicap would be lower because he's playing a course where he can play out of other fairways, no water, etc vs. the courses where it's all OB, water, and a lot of penalty strokes.

So does the handicap system take that into account?

P.S. I don't keep my handicap myself, I just enter it into the computer and every 15 days it's updated. I let the numbers take care of themselves.

[SKMoss]

Doc,

Thats what the slope ratings are supposed to do. Even the field of players who play on different courses.

[DJYoshi]

you would think that a guy that plays to a 4 would know how that works being as he has obviously been around the game.

I know the basics that hc is based on potential...and your 10 lowest differentials.. but in the past 2 weeks I haven't shot to that potential and had rounds in the 80's and the blow up in the 90's.... but I was still trending downwards.. and I haven't been around the game long... it's my 3rd year of playing.

But thank you everyone for the clarification.

[lumpuckeroo]

I know the basics that hc is based on potential...and your 10 lowest differentials.. but in the past 2 weeks I haven't shot to that potential and had rounds in the 80's and the blow up in the 90's.... but I was still trending downwards.. and I haven't been around the game long... it's my 3rd year of playing.

Even high scores can trend you down, as an example, you might have 7 of your 10 scores in the high 70's but the last three could be in the high 80's. Assuming those 10 don't drop off, you could have a mid 80's round, it would replace one of the high 80's rounds and would lower you handicap or you could have a high 80 on a very difficult course that would replace a mid 80 on an easier course.