Handicapping Master Thread

[dagolfer]

I do not have any means of really calculating my handicap. All i can tell you is that my last three 18 hole rounds have been 83, 81, 86. The front 9 at the course i play most frequently i shoot high 30's and held a 43 average all season last yr during high school matches. So why number would u say is best for my handicap? This summer i will be able to use my clubs computer to keep track of it for me so it will be an actual handicap but i just need a number right now.

[spitz20]

i would say you are between 12-15 handi

[meenman]

Without knowing course ratings it is really hard to say. I have seen my course handicap vary greatly between the easy and tough courses I play.

[Rexx]

Here's how it's calculated: http://www.ehow.com/how_15107_calcul...-handicap.html
Here's an online calculator that will do it for you: http://www.csgnetwork.com/golfhcapcalc.html

You'll need each course's slope and course ratings which you can get off the scorecard (or the course's website if it has one).

[Shindig]

We need some more information; the course rating and slope rating. These tell us how difficult the course is. Shooting an 85 from the junior tees is very different from the same score from a U.S. Open course's tournament tees.

[Gebus]

Download Scorecard 2, you support Erik and it does all the calculations you need.

[double_j]

Impossible to respond without knowing the course info. Like others have said, get some software (or free calculators on the internet) and you can figure it out yourself.

That said, assuming that you're playing from what I consider to be a 'normal' course (par 72, slope somewhere in the 120's), then those scores would probably translate to somewhere around the low teens.

[James_Black]

this is what I use since I don't have an official handicap any more (local course turned into a muni)

http://golf.about.com/od/handicaps/l...dicapincal.htm

you'll need to know the rating and slope of the course (is at the top of the scorecard)

try put in 5+ scores to get an accurate result

[rjfan91]

  dagolfer said:

I do not have any means of really calculating my handicap. All i can tell you is that my last three 18 hole rounds have been 83, 81, 86. The front 9 at the course i play most frequently i shoot high 30's and held a 43 average all season last yr during high school matches. So why number would u say is best for my handicap? This summer i will be able to use my clubs computer to keep track of it for me so it will be an actual handicap but i just need a number right now.

I'm guessing math.

[Lefty-Golfer]

you would need slope and rating to know for sure...that being said my guess is you would HC between 9 and 11, influenced by the slope and rating of the course you are playing.

[Clambake]

  rjfan91 said:

I'm guessing math.

That's the best post of the day!

[j_moo]

  rjfan91 said:

I'm guessing math.

Simple algebra to be exact.

Yahoo Golf has a handicap tracker. That's what I use.

[shades9323]

What site(s) can I go to for an official handicap? Are there any that include stat tracking?

[Dewdman42]

I'm looking for the same information and some clarification about how "official" handicaps are handled by clubs. Basically I can see there are tons of free and commercial online sites for tracking stats. Some of the commercial ones claim to provide official USGA handicap handling, including they can print a card. But some in this thread seem to say that the only credible online service that would track your handicap would be the GHIN site. So do pretty much all golf clubs use GHIN to track handicaps for their members, thus interconnecting them all with the GHIN network? If so, that would make sense then that the only service which can credibly track your official handicap would either be the GHIN itself, or perhaps an online service of some kind which in turn actually uses GHIN to track the handicaps...or something like that...

Anyway, I don't belong to a golf club at this time, I'm on the move too much. But I do occasionally have the opportunity to play in a tourney and I'd love to have an official handicap tracked. Without joining a local club, is the only other alternative to join GHIN or are there other alternatives?

Some of the golf stat sites provide a lot of nice stat tracking, which somehow I doubt GHIN does. Would prefer to pay one of the stat tracking sites *IF* the handicap they are tracking is entered into the GHIN network by them or somehow made completely and absolutely official for use in various club tourneys...

any help?

[mdbuschsr]

To date, I have posted my score (via oobgolf) to track my handicap as best I can, for every round I play. I have noticed a bit of a trend though. When I play with my wife and son (read: 5.5 - 6 hour round) I score much higher, like 10-15 strokes. Makes for a rapidly rising HC.

There is just no way to get into a rhythm. I understand those of you that track HC for tourney purposes, but that's just not me. I track my HC for my benefit. Other than fighting the mental battle and keeping a "real" handicap, is there any reason to keep those scores?

I know when I play alone or with my normal group of friends I shoot low 90's high 80's. When I play with the wife and son it's more like high 90's low 100's. Should I keep tracking my HC with them just to watch my mental game or drop those score to see my real game improvement?

[Shripe]

As a non-handicapper (likely not for a good while), I can only try to remember what I've heard. I think you can consider certain rounds, if declared as such when you start, "practice" rounds that will not apply. Please, someone else correct me if I'm wrong. :)

[Bullitt5339]

If you just play with them occasionally, or less than half the time you play golf then posting those scores towards your handicap will not affect it that much.

[Bigacito]

You could make the rounds you play with your family practice rounds. I try to play at least one practice round a month. And to be a practice round you don't have to change much. Sometimes I will take extra shots in the fairways and not putt as much, sometimes I just put an emphasis on using certain clubs more than i normally would, like using my long irons instead of fairway woods. Or sometimes I will just try things that I would not normally do in a handicapped round, like going for long carries over water that I have know are bad risk/reward options. The point is that if I decide it is a practice round first, I dont count it in my handicap.