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World Handicap System — What You Need To Know

World Handicap System

A friend of mine, Connie Norwood, a former LPGA teaching professional, put this together for our club, TPC Summerlin.  I hope this is helpful!

Acceptable Scores

  • A round has to be played By The Rules of Golf and the ‘Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disabilities’.
  • When a player is accompanied by at least 1 other person who must attest the score.

Timetable of Submitting Scores

  • A player should submit their score as soon as possible on day of play, after completion of their round and preferably before midnight (local time).  
  • If score is not submitted on day of play, score will not be included within the daily Playing Conditions Calculation.     
  • If score is subsequently posted to player’s scoring record, the published Playing Conditions Calculation for day should be applied to player’s score differential calculation.

Handicap Calculation

  • Minimum number of scores to establish Handicap Index will be three 18 hole rounds made up of any combination of 9 or 18-hole scores.  
  • A player’s scores should be submitted hole-by-hole.    
  • A new player establishing a Handicap Index will use PAR + 5 as their maximum score per hole.

Course Handicap Calculation

  • An average of players best 8 Score Differentials out of their most recent 20 will be used to calculate Handicap Index.
  • Minimum number of scores to establish a Handicap Index will be three 18 hole rounds made up of any combination of 9 or 18-hole scores.  There will be no time limit on when these scores are submitted.  

Maximum Hole Score for Handicap Purposes (Net Double Bogey)

  • Maximum hole score for each player will be limited to a Net Double Bogey, calculated as follows:

Double Bogey + handicap strokes a player receives (or gives) based on their Course Handicap

 (“or gives” only applies to plus handicap players)

Treatment of Nine-Hole Scores

  • To submit a 9-hole score, player must play 7-13 holes under Rules of Golf.  When 14 or more holes are played, the score submitted qualifies as an 18-hole score.

Maximum Handicap Index

  • The Maximum Handicap Index for men and women will be 54.0.  The higher maximum handicap will encourage novice golfers to get a Handicap Index and learn about the Rules of Handicapping, which will incentivize golfers to improve their games and utilize pace of play provisions such as picking up at the Net Double Bogey maximum score.
  • Clubs will still have the discretion to implement a lower maximum limit for competitions as a term of the competition.  Committee’s will also be able to restrict Course/Playing Handicaps to 54 or a lower number.
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