Handicap Reduction Query

[redvet]

Playing in Stroke Play Comp last weekend I shot my best gross first nine holes only dropping 2 shots of my 13 handicap. I fared much worse on the back nine with 11 dropped shots including a horrific 9 at the par 5 12th hole and a 6 at the par 4 14th. After all this I managed to finish level with net 72 in joint 6th place.
Looking at the results sheet I found my playing handicap had been adjusted as a consequence of this round from 12.7 to 12.4, presumably on the basis that nothing over double bogey counts for handicap card purposes. Is my thinking correct on this point ?

[iacas]

Playing in Stroke Play Comp last weekend I shot my best gross first nine holes only dropping 2 shots of my 13 handicap. I fared much worse on the back nine with 11 dropped shots including a horrific 9 at the par 5 12th hole and a 6 at the par 4 14th. After all this I managed to finish level with net 72 in joint 6th place.

Probably. That's an awful small change, though - are you sure it was done

solely on the basis of you score? What's the course rating and slope?

[gas_can]

Playing in Stroke Play Comp last weekend I shot my best gross first nine holes only dropping 2 shots of my 13 handicap. I fared much worse on the back nine with 11 dropped shots including a horrific 9 at the par 5 12th hole and a 6 at the par 4 14th. After all this I managed to finish level with net 72 in joint 6th place.

redvet,

The UK system's "cutting" policy as I understand it is that for each stroke where your net differential is below your handicap, your handicap should be cut .3 points. Your blowup hole probably negated an extra cutting of your handicap. The UK also has a comparable feature to equitable stroke control in the US where blowup holes are negated as you've correctly assumed. The UK's handicapping system is a far better estimation of a players abilities than the US system. Being a 12 handicap in the UK really does mean something, congratulations, and good playing!

[Xt1ncT]

redvet,

gas_can

You are pretty much correct. But, it depends on your handicap. If you are as low as you are you'd move 0.1 per shot under the Standard Scratch Score of the day. Not the par of the course. For a 12 handicapper I think it is the 0.3 per stroke under the SSS and for someone off about 24 it's 0.4 per stroke under the SSS. When getting your handicap in the UK they do not count anything over a double bogey for handicap purposes.

[redvet]

This is a thanks to all who responsed. I think the cut was OK, two other players received similar treatment on the day but I suspect that my handicap sec is watching me closely because I had been in dispute with his predecessor over an issue which was eventually resolved by support for me from the EGU. I am really proud of my handicap, I am now 74 years young and still have the urge to score low and experience satisfaction from good results. We don't have course/slope ratings here in UK but my course is reckoned to play 2/3 strokes more difficult than its par of 72, CSS on the day of the competition was 72.