EGA 2012 Handicap system .....

[Gerald]

In the Mainland of Europe we have the EGA Handicap system, in the UK and Ireland there is the CONGU handicap system, in the rest of the world the USA system is used.

Which is best ......

Hard to tell ...... I would say I lke the USA system, as it gives the best info on the current level of play, while in the EGA system it is possible to achieve a great level of play and a low handicap and when you have less time and play only 4 qualifying rounds per year to maintain an active handicap and it only raises 0.1 if you play no matter how many strokes above your handicap.

So if you are let's say actually play handicap 15 in the EGA system, and your card says you have an active hc 10 ...... you will have to play about 50 bad qualifing scores before your handicap matches your level of play.

Most golfers play their EGA handicap (which actually represents mostly their best level of play) only a few times per year..... kinda sucks......... and on the other hand there are many SANDBAGGERS who mislead the system, by playing as less qualifying cards as possible to win many social rounds.

The EGA system uses the Slope Ratings, while the almost identical CONGU system doesn't use Slope Ratings.

The EGA handicap system, will be updated before the start of 2012 and I have heard some rumours on adapting the USA system...... but I cannot find any info on being more than rumours.

I know this is a USA forum, but there are many European members as well ......

Anyone heard something more ?

How exactly works the USA handicap system ?

[ghalfaire]

Here is one of the more simple explanations I have seen on the USGA handicap system calculations.

http://www.cincigolf.com/ngn3.htm

There is a lot more to it in the details like Equitable Stroke Control, how to score unfinished rounds, etc.  But this is the basics.  If you are interested in the details go to www.usga.org.

If you meant how does it work in accomplishing the goals of allowing players of different skills to compete fairly,I am not sure.  It works well for players with handicap indexes that are not too far apart (7-8 strokes) but not so well with larger differentials in Index.  I can tell you that your index can go down very quickly with 2 or 3 good rounds, but it takes time to have it go the other way since only the best 10 rounds of the last 20 are used in calculations of the index.  So it is not necessarily a good indicator of your present state of play.