Is There a Golf Handicap Season?

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

I just started keeping a true handicap and was curious if there is a season to the handicap. The reason I ask is because during the late fall/winter the fairways die out here, the greens get a lot firmer as they get frozen and it's not always a true testament to your game. Sure you get my length on your drive, but you also get unlucky rolls. I've even hit greens where the ball bounces of it as if you hit it onto concrete.

Do you count those rounds?

[clearwaterms]

I do not keep an official handicap, so I can not comment on this personally.

However, I have spoken to one of the pro's that I took a lesson from and he said he would often times only keep score between memorial day and labor day. He took the golf before and after as practice rounds. Take that as you will.

[RemyM]

I just started keeping a true handicap and was curious if there is a season to the handicap. The reason I ask is because during the late fall/winter the fairways die out here, the greens get a lot firmer as they get frozen and it's not always a true testament to your game. Sure you get my length on your drive, but you also get unlucky rolls. I've even hit greens where the ball bounces of it as if you hit it onto concrete.

Depending on where you play there can be an inactive season. Here is the schedule, note the schedule applies to the course you are playing at the time, not where your handicap originates from. So if you travel to say Florida to play in February you would have to post that score even if your home course is in an inactive season.

http://www.usga.org/handicapping/edu...sion-Schedule/

[WUTiger]

The Missouri Golf Association has a 2009 season that runs from March 9 to Oct. 29. This was posted on web site of the service which tracks my handicap. I'm not sure if the service cuts off in October or not.

[gogolfing]

I live on Vancouver Island, and we can typically play all year round (similar climate to Seattle), but come November-March, we don't post because of winter rules. We can put them in the computer but they get reset once winter rules are over.

[Dub]

I post every round.....year round.

I know that I'm lucky in that aspect, though, as our courses simply have turf go dormant but the playability isn't impacted too badly.

I wish, in fact, that I'd been more careful of how I played my home course this winter. I'd cut off doglegs and drive very aggresively. I was eating up some great distance. There wasn't much fear of the rough. All you had to consider was the wind.

Now the rough is strong....and a missed fairway is usually a dangerous affair. It was so bad in my last round on Monday....I was missing fairways virtually every hole.....had to drop back to 3-wood. Only hit 8 fairways (but was 100% with 3-wood).

Yes the course winters up and browns out.....January, February and March....but some real magic happens the first two weeks of April every year.

[alf174]

Golf Association of Michigan (GAM), licensed by the USGA, states March 29 to November 8 is the "active season" (acceptable score posting dates) for Michigan. And "All Scores Made in an area where the authorized golf association has declared an "active" season must be posted".