US Handicaps - The Good, The Bad and the Bizarre

Handicaps in the US are administered quite differently from in the UK. They are administered by the USGA, and the key difference between the calculating your handicap in the UK and the US is that you need a maths degree to figure out what your handicap is in the US system (see my earlier post on calculating US Handicaps). That is not meant to be necessarily a negative comment, as basic computing packages and spreadsheets can make this task a lot easier, although not as easy as the UK where your handicap is adjusted on the back of your most recent competition round (see this post on UK Handicaps).

One of the most obvious differences between UK and US handicaps is that in the US, only the last 20 scores can possibly affect a playing handicap. Any score from more than 20 rounds ago is discounted in the calculation. This means that handicaps can move up and down much more quickly than in the UK. It also means (as I am currently finding) that even after a good score, the playing handicap can increase as the 20^th round before it was even better, and has been bumped out of the equation to make way for this most recent round.

Another big difference, and is possibly a good indicator of the differences in culture between UK and US club golfers, is that all scores on measured courses should be submitted for handicapping. This includes matchplay games, whereas is the UK combining matchplay and strokeplay is strictly against the rules. There is also the utterly bizarre concept of ‘most likely’ scores being entered on a US card. For example, I’m playing in a fourball match, and on a par 4 and my partner sinks a massive putt for a 3. I’m 20 feet away in 2 shots, however I don’t need to putt as my partner has already got a 3, so I would put a 4 on my card as a 4 was my most likely score. To me, this is a ridiculous affair, and is un-golf-like. The number on your card should be the number you reach when the ball nestles in the cup, not what might have happened.

Other differences are that Course Ratings (the US equivalent of the Standard Scratch Score, although the USGA will shudder if they read that) are not always whole numbers, they are rounded to 0.1. The Slope Rating is another difference in the US, and although daunting to most golfers who don’t understand it, is a good way of allowing for the relative difficulty of a course dependant on the handicap of the player. In the UK, everyone plays against the same Standard Scratch Score, and there are some, more difficult course, where a high handicapper has no chance of playing to their handicap.

The formula for Course Ratings seems to be very prescriptive based on hazards amongst other things, and doesn’t seem to be too well adapted for links golf, which may not have many hazards in the traditional sense, but offers a different challenge to golfers.

Another major difference in the US handicapping system is that there is no consideration given to the conditions on the day. The score required to play to a handicap will be the same on a cold day, with pouring rain, strong winds and difficult pin positions, as it will be on a benign day with no wind and easy pin positions. If you play in an area that has the same weather for 12 months of the year then this isn’t a problem, however I’ve played courses in the UK that have seen all four seasons in the space of a round, never mind a day.

Finally, there are many arbitrary numbers involved in calculating a US Handicap. I can see why they are used, but to someone without a statistical background, they must appear to have been picked out of thin air. Some of the constants involved are

- 0.96. The number the average of the best 10 rounds are multiplied by. This is meant to be a “bonus for excellence”, I think it’s a load of nonsense.

- 220 and 160. The number that the Effective Length of a course is divided by when calculating the Course Rating and Bogey Rating

- 40.9 and 50.7. The number added after dividing by the constants above, to achieve the Course Rating and Bogey Rating

- 5.381. The constant required when multiplying the difference between the Course Rating and the Bogey Rating, to achieve the Slope Rating

- 113. The Slope Rating of an average course, used in the handicap differential calculation.

In my view, the US system is a combination of the good, the bad, and the utterly bizarre, and it’s been quite an eye-opener researching it.