CigarStone
For once, knowledge is making me poor!
I am leaving tomorrow to go on a 4 day go trip with old friends and a dilemma arose a couple days ago which reminded me that 95% of amateur golfers don't really know what handicap means. The dilemma was that the host was going to allow me to play form the senior tees (because I'm old) with the same handicap as I would from the white tees and I it took a while for me to explain why that wasn't fair.
I thought I might help others understand the mystery around golf handicap.
COURSE RATING AND SLOPE RATING:
Since course rating and slope rating factor into a lot of other discussions, I will explain those first. Simply put, the course rating is a representation of the difficulty of a particular course for a scratch golfer (someone who averages par), and the slope rating is a representation of the difficulty for a bogey golfer. 113 is the low end average slope rating so the higher you go above 113, the more difficult that course is for bogey golfers. The bigger the difference between par and course rating is a representation of how difficult a course is for scratch golfers. I honestly don't know where the 113 came from as a reference but it all works. For example, a par 72 course with a course rating of 68.1 is a very easy course for a scratch golfer and conversely, a par 70 course with a course rating of 74.2 is a very difficult course for a scratch player. Keep in mind that, on average, a scratch golfer would shoot 8 strokes different, against par, on these two course, for example he may shoot 4 under par on the easy course and 4 over par on the difficult course.
HANDICAP INDEX:
Every golfer who plays in USGA events must have a handicap index which is a way to rate golfers of differing ability. For example, most people think their handicap is the difference between what they shoot and par and that is not true (look at the example above). A golfer who averages 76 on his home course of 5800 yards and par 72 is a very different golfer than a player who averages 76 at Firestone South where the par is 70 and the length is 7400 yards. The formula for calculating handicap index is as follows.................. (your 18 hole score minus the course rating), (times 113 (average slope rating), (divided by the slope rating of the course you played). If you shot 85 on a simple course...........(85 - 64.7) x 113 / 116 your differential for that day = 19.8 . Your index is calculated by taking the 10 best of the last 20 rounds you played and averaging the differential.
If you average 85 on a course with a CR of 64.7 and a SR of 116 you are 20 handicap, if you average 85 on a course with a CR of 74.2 and a SR of 131, you are a 9 handicap.
Additionally, these discussions are all based on playing by USGA rules. So when you hear a guy say he is a 3 handicap because he shot 39 on the front nine, in his weekly league where the roll the ball everywhere, and give four foot putts, just know how big of a difference there is between that and a real 3 handicap golfer.
So to find your "course handicap" for the course you are playing on any given day, (to equate you to the other golfers), you multiply your index by the slope rating and divide by 113, then you add the course rating and subtract par. You do this for all golfers and it will give you the handicap for each golfer for that course. Don't worry, it's all done on an app.
To show how extreme this can be, If I play Firestone south from the championship tees (which is something like 7600 yards) I get 15 strokes on that course, the course I will play this weekend, which is a simple resort course (which is around 5900 yards), I will get 1 stroke.
HOLE HANDICAPPING:
Most people think that the number one handicap hole on the score card represents the hardest hole on the course and that is not true. The hole by hole handicapping is done for the simple purpose of betting and the #1 handicap hole is the hole which creates the biggest delta between scratch golfers and bogey golfers. In reality, the #1 handicap hole is often a very easy hole for a scratch golfer but may have a long carry over water, trouble such as OB, sand traps, or simply distance that makes the hole hard for a bogey golfer to score well.
THE GUYS YOU SEE ON TV:
To give you an idea how good the guys are that you see on TV, I qualified to play in the 1998 US Amateur qualifier and to do that you had to have a "certified" 1.7 handicap index or better. Certified meaning that a class "A" PGA pro had to attest to my handicap being real. At the dinner the night before the event, they told us that qualifying to play in this event meant that we were in the top 1000th of 1% of all amateur golfers. At that time, I was a 1.2 index and Tiger Woods was a + 9.7 meaning he would typically beat me by 11 strokes if we played together. The top players in the world are, far and away, the greatest professionals at their sport.
Take all of the formulas and calculations from above and divide by your zip code and you will see why we drink beer when we play golf!
I thought I might help others understand the mystery around golf handicap.
COURSE RATING AND SLOPE RATING:
Since course rating and slope rating factor into a lot of other discussions, I will explain those first. Simply put, the course rating is a representation of the difficulty of a particular course for a scratch golfer (someone who averages par), and the slope rating is a representation of the difficulty for a bogey golfer. 113 is the low end average slope rating so the higher you go above 113, the more difficult that course is for bogey golfers. The bigger the difference between par and course rating is a representation of how difficult a course is for scratch golfers. I honestly don't know where the 113 came from as a reference but it all works. For example, a par 72 course with a course rating of 68.1 is a very easy course for a scratch golfer and conversely, a par 70 course with a course rating of 74.2 is a very difficult course for a scratch player. Keep in mind that, on average, a scratch golfer would shoot 8 strokes different, against par, on these two course, for example he may shoot 4 under par on the easy course and 4 over par on the difficult course.
HANDICAP INDEX:
Every golfer who plays in USGA events must have a handicap index which is a way to rate golfers of differing ability. For example, most people think their handicap is the difference between what they shoot and par and that is not true (look at the example above). A golfer who averages 76 on his home course of 5800 yards and par 72 is a very different golfer than a player who averages 76 at Firestone South where the par is 70 and the length is 7400 yards. The formula for calculating handicap index is as follows.................. (your 18 hole score minus the course rating), (times 113 (average slope rating), (divided by the slope rating of the course you played). If you shot 85 on a simple course...........(85 - 64.7) x 113 / 116 your differential for that day = 19.8 . Your index is calculated by taking the 10 best of the last 20 rounds you played and averaging the differential.
If you average 85 on a course with a CR of 64.7 and a SR of 116 you are 20 handicap, if you average 85 on a course with a CR of 74.2 and a SR of 131, you are a 9 handicap.
Additionally, these discussions are all based on playing by USGA rules. So when you hear a guy say he is a 3 handicap because he shot 39 on the front nine, in his weekly league where the roll the ball everywhere, and give four foot putts, just know how big of a difference there is between that and a real 3 handicap golfer.
So to find your "course handicap" for the course you are playing on any given day, (to equate you to the other golfers), you multiply your index by the slope rating and divide by 113, then you add the course rating and subtract par. You do this for all golfers and it will give you the handicap for each golfer for that course. Don't worry, it's all done on an app.
To show how extreme this can be, If I play Firestone south from the championship tees (which is something like 7600 yards) I get 15 strokes on that course, the course I will play this weekend, which is a simple resort course (which is around 5900 yards), I will get 1 stroke.
HOLE HANDICAPPING:
Most people think that the number one handicap hole on the score card represents the hardest hole on the course and that is not true. The hole by hole handicapping is done for the simple purpose of betting and the #1 handicap hole is the hole which creates the biggest delta between scratch golfers and bogey golfers. In reality, the #1 handicap hole is often a very easy hole for a scratch golfer but may have a long carry over water, trouble such as OB, sand traps, or simply distance that makes the hole hard for a bogey golfer to score well.
THE GUYS YOU SEE ON TV:
To give you an idea how good the guys are that you see on TV, I qualified to play in the 1998 US Amateur qualifier and to do that you had to have a "certified" 1.7 handicap index or better. Certified meaning that a class "A" PGA pro had to attest to my handicap being real. At the dinner the night before the event, they told us that qualifying to play in this event meant that we were in the top 1000th of 1% of all amateur golfers. At that time, I was a 1.2 index and Tiger Woods was a + 9.7 meaning he would typically beat me by 11 strokes if we played together. The top players in the world are, far and away, the greatest professionals at their sport.
Take all of the formulas and calculations from above and divide by your zip code and you will see why we drink beer when we play golf!
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