Golf Handicaps in the UK are administered by a group called CONGU, and clubs administer their players handicaps based on the rules of the CONGU system.
Each course is given a Standard Scratch Score (SSS), which is normally very close to the par of the course. However for example, some par 70 golf courses are harder than others, so there may well be 2 courses, both with a par of 70, but one of them has a SSS of 68 while the other has an SSS of 72.When a competition is played, a Competition Scratch Score (CSS) is calculated, by looking at the percentage of players that score SSS + 2 or better, as a percentage of the whole field. The aim of this is to take account of easy or difficult playing conditions. However, it doesn’t take into account the field overall having a good or bad day, it presumes that any changes to overall scoring is a direct effect of the conditions.
If you shoot a net score below the CSS of the day, then your handicap will be cut a certain amount for each shot under the CSS. If your net score is equal to, or slightly above the CSS of the day (the buffer zone), your handicap doesn’t change. If your net score is above your buffer zone limit then your handicap will go up by 0.1.The amount your handicap is reduced by, and how many shots are in your buffer zone, depend on your handicap, as the table below illustrates;
The closer you get to scratch, the harder it is to get cut. From my current point of 3.2, I would have to shoot 17 consecutive rounds of level par (on the basis that the CSS remains the same as the SSS) to reach scratch.
There are several things wrong with the UK handicapping system, a few of them I’ll detail below;
- Because the CSS is calculated based on the results of all competitors in the competition, you don’t know for certain what your handicap is adjusted to until the results are published.
- There are boundaries between handicap categories, and the system can be quite uneven close to these boundaries. I know of several people who rarely get lower than 5.2, but never higher than 5.9. They can cope easily with a buffer zone of 2 above the CSS, and a reduction of 0.2 per shot below the CSS, but struggle when this buffer zone is reduced to 1 and they only get reduced by 0.1 per shot below the CSS.
- Only competition rounds are included, a lot of golfers submit only 3 or so competition cards per year. This means that their handicap doesn’t reflect their current playing ability. This doesn’t affect me so much as I’ll play in every competition going, however there are a lot of people who don’t play in many, if any competitions. This point deserves its own topic, which I’ll be writing about in the next week or so.
- The system rewards inconsistency. Imagine two 7 handicappers, playing 2 rounds where the CSS in both rounds is 71. Player A scores 75 net 68 (handicap reduced by 0.6) and 85 net 78 (increased by 0.1). Player B scores 78 net 71 (no change), and 79 net 72 (no change). Player B has scored better, and more consistently, over the two rounds, and their handicap has remained the same. Player A has scored worse than Player B but has had their handicap reduced by 0.5.
The system in the UK is definitely not ideal, however it’s unlikely to change dramatically in the near future so I suppose everyone will just have to continue with the status quo. As we’ll see shortly, other handicapping systems aren’t ideal either, and there doesn’t seem to be a global group that can come up with a solution suitable for everyone.
More information about the UK handicapping system can be found at the CONGU website.
There are several things wrong with the UK handicapping system, a few of them I’ll detail below;
- Because the CSS is calculated based on the results of all competitors in the competition, you don’t know for certain what your handicap is adjusted to until the results are published.
- There are boundaries between handicap categories, and the system can be quite uneven close to these boundaries. I know of several people who rarely get lower than 5.2, but never higher than 5.9. They can cope easily with a buffer zone of 2 above the CSS, and a reduction of 0.2 per shot below the CSS, but struggle when this buffer zone is reduced to 1 and they only get reduced by 0.1 per shot below the CSS.
- Only competition rounds are included, a lot of golfers submit only 3 or so competition cards per year. This means that their handicap doesn’t reflect their current playing ability. This doesn’t affect me so much as I’ll play in every competition going, however there are a lot of people who don’t play in many, if any competitions. This point deserves its own topic, which I’ll be writing about in the next week or so.
- The system rewards inconsistency. Imagine two 7 handicappers, playing 2 rounds where the CSS in both rounds is 71. Player A scores 75 net 68 (handicap reduced by 0.6) and 85 net 78 (increased by 0.1). Player B scores 78 net 71 (no change), and 79 net 72 (no change). Player B has scored better, and more consistently, over the two rounds, and their handicap has remained the same. Player A has scored worse than Player B but has had their handicap reduced by 0.5.
The system in the UK is definitely not ideal, however it’s unlikely to change dramatically in the near future so I suppose everyone will just have to continue with the status quo. As we’ll see shortly, other handicapping systems aren’t ideal either, and there doesn’t seem to be a global group that can come up with a solution suitable for everyone.
More information about the UK handicapping system can be found at the CONGU website.
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