Handicap and SSS

[Ash1974]

I have been doing my handicap on Today's Golfer based on the SSS that I was told by the Club Head Pro at Celtic Manor for the Roman Road Course, thing is I have added the last 3 rounds with PAR 70 SSS 73 and it has seen my handicap drop a few shots, so after thinking about this I have decided to go based on what the SSS is on the card 70 so I have updated my cards online to SSS 70 and recalculated handicap and it has come out 17 dead.

I am much happier about this as if the SSS is 73 why is it not on the card? although my playing club handicap (CONGU) is 13.4 which was worked out off 3 cards and based on SSS of 73 at the Celtic Manor I am gonna stick with the card SSS for the course and not what I have been told.

Thoughts?

[wubskis]

In the UK I was under the impression that you had to go off the SSS, in your case 73.

For the record, I'm not sure, so don't rely on my information. I'm sure someone at your club can set you straight?

[Ash1974]

  wubskis said:

In the UK I was under the impression that you

Oh I will check then, don't see why the SSS is 70 on the card yet they say it is 73? I guess I will have to ask that question as well

[Mr Eagle]

What tees were you playing off Ash ? this could explain the difference. ie Yellows SSS 69
Whites SSS 71 Championship SSS 73

[Ash1974]

  Mr Eagle said:

What tees were you playing off Ash ? this could explain the difference. ie Yellows SSS 69

Mr Eagle,

Roman Road is a Par 70 with Yellows having an SSS 70 and Whites SSS 71 on the card , now when I put my 3 cards in (all off yellows) for my CONGU handicap they took the lowest of the 3 cards (86) and took 3 shots off for the SSS of 73 leaving me a CONGU handicap of 13, now I questioned it at the time as I play around a 16-17 handicap but I thought 13 was harsh! I am going to have to ask why the SSS 73 is not on the card and make my mind up based on what the answer is I guess.

[Mr Eagle]

So what was the outcome?

[Ignorant]

Ash1974: Why are U bothered about SSS in the first place? Aren't U supposed to use CONGU in the UK? Then U only need to look at the precalculated table for U'r slope and keep on rolling.

[luckyluke699]

Ignorant: The CONGU system we use in the UK does not have a slope system like in the US. A set of tees is given a SSS (Standard scratch score) as a means of comparison, and your handicap is calculated based against that score instead.

It is explained very well here... http://www.mygolfexperience.com/golf...f-handicap.asp

Basically, if par is 70 and SSS is 68 for a set of tees (so slightly easier than average course) then you should shoot your handicap over the SSS figure for those tees, not par (or at least that's my udnerstanding of it). so if you are a 10 handicap under CONGU, you should shoot 78 on these 68 SSS par 70 tees... hopefully that all makes sense?

[McIlroy_man]

You cant change your handicap based on what you believe to be the SSS. Your playing handicap has been worked out to be 13.4 from a SS of 73. They must have a reason for working the handicaps out to a SS of 73 instead of 70.
Were these competitions that you played in? if so then the CSS could have been 73 based on other scores handed in. Very rarely in competition play does the CSS remain the same as the SSS

[Ignorant]

  luckyluke699 said:

Ignorant: The CONGU system we use in the UK does not have a slope system like in the US. A set of tees is given a SSS (Standard scratch score) as a means of comparison, and your handicap is calculated based against that score instead.

Ok, so in Britain one is using a totally different CONGU system from the rest of Europe. I did not know that. Rest of Europe uses slope values calculated from Course Rating and Slope instead of SSS's. The latter was dsicarded some 10 years ago.

[Ash1974]

I have no update yet sorry, too much snow over here to even think about going up the Golf Club over the last few weeks, I will ask though and let you know.

Ignorant, I guess that UK is working different to the rest of Europe as the pro explained how he got the handicap using the SSS (as per lucky's explanation)

Don't worry I will stick my handicap back to the SSS value if that is confirmed by the club as being the correct SSS

[Ash1974]

  Ash1974 said:

I have no update yet sorry, too much snow over here to even think about going up the Golf Club over the last few weeks, I will ask though and let you know.

OK I mailed the question as have not seen the chap I needed to at the club, I asked why the SSS was 73 but shows as an 70 on the card and how my CONGU handicap of 13 was reached, this is the reply.

>>>> Thanks for your email Apologies for any confusion I may have caused in my explanation. In essence, your handicap is the lowest of 3 cards against the SSS, which as you point out is 70 from the yellow tees. Your best card is a gross 86, but this must reduced by 3 shots as you are not allowed anything worse than a double bogey on each hole. Therefore, Your 8 on the par 4 4th hole becomes a 6 Your 7 on the par 4 9th hole becomes a 6 Due to this, your score is reduced by 3 shots giving you an adjusted score of 83, hence a handicap of 13. I hope this clarifies things, I think I may have been trying to explain that sometimes a CSS can go up by up to 3 shots, but unfortunately your handicap is calculated against the SSS >>>> So that means my handicap of 17 off the SSS of 70 on Today's Golfer Score Tracker is correct :) I knew I had a bad front 9 on that 86 but did not realise I had a 8 on a par 4 and a 7 on a par 4, jeez!