Single digit handicapper and I didn't know it

[deasy55]

Same here. Only official 18 hole competition scores count. And our handicap goes up .1 after a poor competition, whereas under the USGA system it is merely forgotten about (put in the worst 10 of the last 20 rounds).

Originally Posted by Zwick

In Switzerland you have to play in tournaments to change your handicap. You can't just enter your own scores.

(I guess that's a reason why I can easily beat my american/canadian relatives (handicaps 7-15).)

[PockyStick]

Congrats!  It is what it is... no need to be modest

[iacas]

Originally Posted by deasy55

Same here. Only official 18 hole competition scores count. And our handicap goes up .1 after a poor competition, whereas under the USGA system it is merely forgotten about (put in the worst 10 of the last 20 rounds).

Not entirely true. Tournament rounds can be given more weight - good or bad - at the handicap committee's discretion.

[deasy55]

That system of yours is confusing

Originally Posted by iacas

Not entirely true. Tournament rounds can be given more weight - good or bad - at the handicap committee's discretion.

[cody west]

Originally Posted by Steel

I only enter 18 hole scores or I'd be scratch, shoot even par on a lot of 9's

your supposed to enter 9 holes scores too...its part of the combined scores. your not supposed to be able to shoot your handicap every time you play, they say your supposed to beat your hcp 1 out of 5 times

[luu5]

Originally Posted by Zwick

In Switzerland you have to play in tournaments to change your handicap. You can't just enter your own scores.

(I guess that's a reason why I can easily beat my american/canadian relatives (handicaps 7-15).)

Switzerland is using EGA system, which is much like CONGU and USGA HC combined. EGA gives National Association a possibility to allow Extra Day Score (EDS) to be used also when calculating the HC. This would allow players with HC 4.5 or higher to enter those scores. Lower than 4.5 requires official competition rounds.

Looks like Switzerland is more strict than some other EGA countries.

[luu5]

Originally Posted by iacas

Not entirely true. Tournament rounds can be given more weight - good or bad - at the handicap committee's discretion.

Same EGA. CSA can and should be applied to scores after the competition.

[dbuck]

Trackster,

Find out if the course you frequent participates in the GHIN handicap system. (a service of USGA).  If so, the course may allow you to participate for a modest fee ie $20-30 annually. Once set up you go to the GHIN site and enter your scores. Most participating courses are on the site and you follow the prompts and enter your scores. The site will combine 9 hole rounds and use the slope etc to give you an index which is revised every 15-30 days. My course is on the site to the extent that I merely select which nine and which tees I played enter the ESC score and it does the rest.

As someone else mentioned, you don't necessarily score to your handicap consistently--it is meant to be an indication of your potential rather than your pure scoring history.

[dbuck]

P.S.  congrats on your handicap!

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Steel

I only enter 18 hole scores or I'd be scratch, shoot even par on a lot of 9's

[mdl]

Surprise handicap happened to me too.  I'd never bothered to calculate my own handicap, and don't have an official one.  When people asked I estimated somewhere between 12 and 15, depending on how'd I'd been playing.  I finally downloaded an app for my phone to keep track of my handicap and some very basic stats (app called, aptly enough, Handicap!).

I've only entered 10 scores at 6 different courses in since I started keeping track. Those scores are 82, 82, 90, 98, 88, 81, 82, 92, 85, 84.  The courses range from somewhat easy to quite hard (only 2 of the scores, the 85 and 98, from difficult courses... played WELL worse than average for me on a hard course that day, lost 5 balls!).

End result, I was surprised to get back a handicap of 9.8!  I don't really call myself a single digit handicapper, and I know if I started playing tournaments I'd feel more among players of my own skill level playing in the 10-15 flight rather than the 0-10 or 5-10 flight, but it was a nice ego boost nonetheless!