Fairfield, CT and Establishing GHIN Handicap

[sarena1594]

I apologize if this question doesn't belong on this thread.  I'm about to graduate college and move to the Fairfield County, CT area for work.  I want to establish an official GHIN, but I'm not sure what options there are to do that.  Should I just try to register at a course in the area or are there other options?  If it's best to register at a course, should I choose the course I expect to play most often?

[bkuehn1952]

2 hours ago, sarena1594 said:

I want to establish an official GHIN, but I'm not sure what options there are to do that.  Should I just try to register at a course in the area or are there other options?  If it's best to register at a course, should I choose the course I expect to play most often?

http://www.csgalinks.org/index.php/Handicapping/detail/C6/how_do_i_get_a_handicap

Almost all score posting is now down via the internet so proximity to a course or having the handicap at a certain course is largely irrelevant. My decision is guided by the cost and ease of entering the data.  There may be other factors that you want to consider. 

 

[Club Rat]

12 hours ago, sarena1594 said:

 I want to establish an official GHIN,

If you plan to play in local events, yes you would most likely need an official handicap.

If your only interested in tracking or measuring your scores as a means of personal improvement, there are many online and golf app's for maintaining a record of scores.

[DaveP043]

@bkuehn1952 has given you the source for the information you need, assuming you want an official USGA handicap.  I'd recommend that you sign up at the course you intend to play most often, as opposed to the CSGA or other online options.  I just think that having some in-person contact is a better choice.  No matter where you join, there will be online posting options.  If you change courses, or move someplace else in the country, your Ghin number and records will move with you.  

If you're just going to use the scores for personal evaluation, there are free online sources, like @Club Rat mentions.  I'd suggest that you go with the official handicap from the start.  Many of us who started playing just for fun have found that we love competition, and if you have an official handicap, you'll be ready for that whenever you want.

[boogielicious]

13 hours ago, sarena1594 said:

I apologize if this question doesn't belong on this thread.  I'm about to graduate college and move to the Fairfield County, CT area for work.  I want to establish an official GHIN, but I'm not sure what options there are to do that.  Should I just try to register at a course in the area or are there other options?  If it's best to register at a course, should I choose the course I expect to play most often?

That is what I do. I play a few many times but went with the one that had to lowest fee, $40. I post all my scores on the GHIN website or using the app on my iPhone. It is easy. The app has been down lately, but was supposed to be fixed Thursday. 

[DaveP043]

4 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

That is what I do. I play a few many times but went with the one that had to lowest fee, $40. I post all my scores on the GHIN website or using the app on my iPhone. It is easy. The app has been down lately, but was supposed to be fixed Thursday. 

I checked, and the app is back working.  Sadly, they seem to have eliminated some of the long-term records (i.e. last 12 month scores) that could be accessed before.  

[sarena1594]

Thanks for the advice everyone!  @DaveP043I think you're right....it'll be better for me to just register at a club in the area.  Not sure if I'll be competing this year, but I know at some point in the next five years I'll want to join a league.  Looking forward to seeing what my real handicap is. The 20 HC I have listed is an estimate.

[DrvFrShow]

I was in a league last year, not in one this year, and dropped my membership since I'm not competing and just playing for fun. Most courses will require you join their league club to get a handicap, at least they do in my area. It doesn't mean you have to play in the league, just join it. Also stores like Dick's, Golf Galaxy, etc., have "clubs" registered where you can pay the fee - I think it's $30 and get a GHIN number. All scores will be "Away", but then does that really matter to you at this stage?

[sarena1594]

14 minutes ago, DrvFrShow said:

I was in a league last year, not in one this year, and dropped my membership since I'm not competing and just playing for fun. Most courses will require you join their league club to get a handicap, at least they do in my area. It doesn't mean you have to play in the league, just join it. Also stores like Dick's, Golf Galaxy, etc., have "clubs" registered where you can pay the fee - I think it's $30 and get a GHIN number. All scores will be "Away", but then does that really matter to you at this stage?

That's a good alternative if they make me join a league just to get the handicap.  Hopefully I won't run into that option, as there are so many clubs in the area to choose from, but good to know that I have a backup plan.

[DrvFrShow]

Note: Playing for fun doesn't mean I don't want to improve. I know what I shoot. Keeping a handicap isn't going to tell me that I'm getting better. See what a handicap also does is eliminate those blow up holes from your reported score because people sandbag. For example, last year I shot a reported 94 in my last round, but had a 14 on one of the holes (don't ask, I sliced 4 provisional balls). I had to report an X8 for that hole. I really scored a 100 for the round because of that one hole. 

[DaveP043]

3 hours ago, DrvFrShow said:

 See what a handicap also does is eliminate those blow up holes from your reported score because people sandbag. 

I'm wondering just what this means, particularly the bold part.  If you mean that the Equitable Stroke Control system is intended to minimize sandbagging, I'm not sure that's correct.  The rules of golf aren't intended to defeat cheating, and that's what sandbagging is to me.  Cheaters will find a way to cheat, it doesn't matter what the rules are.

Historically, golf has been played at match play since its inception.  Counting all your strokes for a round came along much later in the evolution of golf.   In match play, blow-up holes are generally losing holes,  no matter how high the eventual total score on the hole.  The first handicap systems were developed to allow a fair and even match between players of different abilities.  Although I can't find a reference, my long-time impression was that ESC was designed to minimize the effect of a single blow-up hole per round on the overall handicap.  Allowing a player 3 or 4 extra handicap strokes during a round,  based on individual bad holes in previous rounds, during match play where those 3 or 4 strokes influence 3 or 4 different holes seemed unfair, so the ESC system was developed.

 

[iacas]

On May 7, 2016 at 9:10 AM, DaveP043 said:

I checked, and the app is back working.  Sadly, they seem to have eliminated some of the long-term records (i.e. last 12 month scores) that could be accessed before.  

Yep, they got rid of some data trimming. Normally the app and data went up about 10-15% per year. Last year it grew 75%. That's why it was down, and they pared some data to get it working again.

(Never mind the obvious: TST stores more data than a database of golf handicaps… so…).