13 holes played?

[gblackwell]

Yesterday, I played 13 holes of golf. However, on two of the holes, I got frustrated with my poor play and picked up before finishing the hole. I recorded my most likely score if I had finished the hole. For the six holes I never started, I recorded par plus any strokes given by my course handicap. I of course applied ESC to all scores. 

Question: Do I have an 9 or an 18-hole score to post for handicap purposes?

-Greg

[DaveP043]

If you play 13 holes, you should post an 18 hole score.  It sounds like you did the right thing with the holes you didn't finish, as well as the holes you never got to play.

[Martyn W]

3 hours ago, gblackwell said:

Yesterday, I played 13 holes of golf. However, on two of the holes, I got frustrated with my poor play and picked up before finishing the hole. I recorded my most likely score if I had finished the hole. For the six holes I never started, I recorded par plus any strokes given by my course handicap. I of course applied ESC to all scores. 

Question: Do I have an 9 or an 18-hole score to post for handicap purposes?

-Greg

You did it by the book - 18 holes (assuming you weren't playing alone ;) )

 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Martyn W

[iacas]

7 hours ago, gblackwell said:

For the six holes I never started,

Did you play 12 holes, or 13?

[gblackwell]

9 hours ago, iacas said:

Did you play 12 holes, or 13?

Whoops, bad math there. I left after 13, leaving 5 holes not started.

I should have been more direct in my question: Under this handicap rule 5-1a (see below) what does it mean to "play" a hole? Does picking up and recording your most likely score count? Seems like there are some problems on the edges with that interpretation. I'm more inclined to think I only played 11 holes, as picking up and not finishing the hole is arguably not "under the Rules of Golf." But I'm just not sure, hence the question.

 

5-1

...

a. Scores To Post

To post a 9-hole score, the player must play 7 to 12 holes, and at least 7 holes must be played under the Rules of Golf. To post an 18-hole score, the player must play at least 13 holes under the Rules of Golf. (See Decisions 5-1a/3 through 5-1a/5.)

[DaveP043]

Good on you for going to the actual rules to look things up for yourself, that's not as common as many of us would hope.  I'll refer you to Section 4-1, which talks about Unfinished Holes.  It says:

Quote

There is no limit to the number of unfinished holes a player may have in a round, provided that failure to finish is not for the purpose of handicap manipulation.

Based on that sentence, and what you said in your original post,  I'd say that you treated the two holes that you picked up correctly, and that they count as holes played.  In fact, in match play you might have putts on many or even most of the holes, and still be required to post an 18 hole score.

[MacDutch]

I don't get it. The two holes, where the ball was picked up. Does someone gets an ESC score, or an other score?

[DaveP043]

26 minutes ago, MacDutch said:

I don't get it. The two holes, where the ball was picked up. Does someone gets an ESC score, or an other score?

In the USGA system, for handicap purposes only the player records the  "most likely score",  limited by the ESC maximum score.  The same would apply in match play, when a putt (or a hole) was conceded.  I'm pretty sure that under the CONGU system, its primarily stroke play competitions that count toward handicap, so I don't think this situation wouldn't occur.

[MacDutch]

But the most likely score on a par 3, when someone has a playing handicap of 36, would be a double bogey, yes? The ESC score would be a 9. So you pick up your ball after lets say 7 strokes because you are sick of the way you play that hole and write a 5 for handicap purposes? 

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, MacDutch said:

But the most likely score on a par 3, when someone has a playing handicap of 36, would be a double bogey, yes? The ESC score would be a 9. So you pick up your ball after lets say 7 strokes because you are sick of the way you play that hole and write a 5 for handicap purposes? 

If you had already taken 7, and weren't on the green yet, your most likely score would be 10 or more.  ESC would limit that.  "Most likely score" means if you actually HAD finished, what would you have made, considering the shots you've already taken.

[MacDutch]

4 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

If you had already taken 7, and weren't on the green yet, your most likely score would be 10 or more.  ESC would limit that.  "Most likely score" means if you actually HAD finished, what would you have made, considering the shots you've already taken.

Thanks, took some time, but now I get it.

[gblackwell]

Thanks, Dave. Looks like 18 hole score is the correct answer based on 4-1. That makes sense. The "edge cases" I was concerned about are all covered by "provided that failure to finish is not for the purpose of handicap manipulation" provision.