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 For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an advocate of carrying an official handicap. I’ve always considered it a badge of honor and a testament to one’s ability. When I stood on the first tee and proclaimed I was a 6 handicap while everyone else stumbled to estimate the score from their latest hackfest, I chuckled at their total disregard for the sanctity of the game’s traditions. But lately, I’ve started to soften my stance. Why do I need a handicap? “Even if I tell you I shoot around 95, how do you know if that is on an easy course or a difficult course?” asked Francis Nee, director of handicap and membership for the Southern California Golf Association. “Those would be two totally different handicap indexes.” As an advocate for all that is handicap holy, she’s right. If I’m on the course doing anything other than going for a leisurely walk, I should have an index. Whether we play for quarters or paychecks, lunch or bragging rights, it only seems fair that we utilize the handicap system to place everyone on a level playing field. Handicaps go back to the origins of the game. The formal system in the U.S. dates to 1904, when the best three scores were used to establish a player’s handicap. The averaging of scores really didn’t change much until the late 1980s when the slope system was instituted. Prior to slope, a player who was a 10 handicap at PGA West and a player who was a 10 at Recreation Park were viewed as equals. Anyone who thinks those are equal 10s would argue that Amy Winehouse and Bar Refaeli are twins. Courses now receive a rating based on various factors. That can result in one par-72 course being rated a 68.9 and another a 73.4 based on difficulty. No matter what your buddy who shoots in the 70s tells you, just because you carry a 10 handicap does not mean that you should shoot 10 over the course rating every time you play. “The average is actually more like 20 to 25 percent,” Nee said. “That’s one of peoples’ biggest misconceptions.” Handicap indexes are calculated by the SCGA based off the lowest 10 scores of your previous 20 rounds. Beginning in January, new handicap indexes will be generated twice a month to make them more representative of a player’s current ability. But I still have issues. The math-a-magicians who created the system might feel that the low 10 of the last 20 is fair, but what about the average golfer who is wildly erratic? If I shoot five really good scores, five mediocre scores and 10 really poor scores, guess what? I’m going to have a low handicap index. Those 10 rounds where I play like I’m experiencing a seizure, I get to enhance the experience by being a low handicap on top of it? “As you are posting a score, you are kicking one out,” said Nee, meaning that if you post a low score and kick out a high one, your index is going to fall. In the end, the answer to these quandaries becomes crystal clear. If you want to be a real golfer, suck it up, get serious, get a handicap and play some competitive golf. Or, zip it and go for a walk. It’s really up to you. |
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