AusGolf - Handicaps
Handicaps - Explaining Australia's New Handicap System
by Selwyn Berg
Update September 2011
Well it didn’t take too long after Golf Australia’s move to the USGA method of handicap calculation in April 2010 for the outcry to commence.
Exactly as predicted by GA’s own statistician, ‘better’ golfers were no longer winning their Club competitions.
Because the new system gave everyone a handicap that pretty much reflected their AVERAGE score, it became much more likely that one of the more erratic ‘high markers’ who were capable perhaps of playing 8 or 10 shots better (or worse) than their average would win, rather than the steady single figure player who usually only deviated by 2 or 4 shots – and on a ‘day out’ might finish 6 up.
So, what did GA do? Return, perhaps to the best handicapping system in the world – using the Aussie-invented CCR – the system under which a player's handicap was much more representative of his ABILITY because it was reduced by perhaps 1 or 2 shots when he bettered it, but was only ever increased by 0.1 shot when he played poorly?
No, GA has now adopted a modification of the US system – making us unique in the world once again, but without all the benefits of our previous Aussie system.
After 21 September 2011:
Your exact handicap will be the average of the best 8 differentials of your 20 most recent valid scores, the result of which is multiplied by 0.93
(for definitions see below)
Additionally, your handicap is not permitted to go up by more than 4 shots from the best handicap you held over any rolling 12 months, and Golflink will limit any score that goes into a player's record at no more than 40 over the CR for men, 50 over for women.
The new calculation, statistically, restores some equity between high and low markers and addresses many of the concerns that were ringing out loud and clear from the clubs.
But since the original purpose of the change was to bring us into line with the world that uses the USGA system, I simply ask “why this?”
Previously
"From 9 April 2010 the method used to calculate your Australian Men's or Women's Handicap can be explained in one sentence:
Your exact handicap will be the average of the best 10 differentials (differential = gross score - AMCR/AWCR) of your 20 most recent valid scores, the result of which is multiplied by 0.96.” GolfLink.
AMCR = Australian Men’s Course Rating
AWCR = Australian Women’s Course Rating
When looking at GolfLink, ‘differential’ is the handicap you actually ‘played to’ for the round (taking into account the Course Rating which may be slightly higher or lower than the course Par).
The 0.96 factor is described as ‘a bonus for excellence’ so that higher handicap players calculate a handicap that is reduced below their average ‘played to’ more so than better (low hcp) golfers.
i.e 0.96 x 27 = 25.9 (plays off 26, effectively losing a shot) whereas 0.96 x 4 = 3.8( still plays off 4)>
“This is a much more straight forward process than the current incremental calculation system, and is the first step of several on the way to full adoption of the USGA's handicap system.” Claims Golf Australia.
Yes, it’s simple to use, but let me confess up front. I’m a huge fan of the old Australian handicapping system, whereby Calculated Course Rating was used to compare each player’s score with the scores of all the other golfers on that course on that day, thereby taking into account the relative difficulty of both course and weather conditions – thus a player who won his club competition with a nett 73 (ie did NOT even better his handicap) on a dreadful wet and windy day would still expect his handicap to be reduced, because everyone else played worse resulting in a CCR of perhaps 75. In effect, he DID play better than his handicap after allowing for course and weather.
Under the new system, the Course Rating does not take into account extreme conditions on the day, difficult pin placements, nor the performance of other players. Any time you score higher than the Course Rating (or earn fewer than 36 points) you will be deemed to have played worse than your handicap (even though you may win the daily event).
Conversely, on an easy day, when you score 37 Stableford points, but fail to win a ball because the winner had 48 and the CCR was well below the course Par your old handicap may have increased by 0.1. Under the new system, you have beaten your handicap and your card will most likely be amongst your ‘best ten’, tending to reduce your handicap.
I thought our “world first” Calculated Course Rating system was fairer, as it used the overall performance of the field to determine how well you played, thus allowing for both course toughness and playing conditions (weather etc) on the day.
The second, and probably the more important thing I don’t like about the new calculation method is that it allows more rapid increases in handicap, and, overall, more volatility.
Proponents of the new system have criticized the old method which quickly reduced the handicap of a player who had a ‘day out’ with a great score. I’m not sure that was too much of a problem. Anyone who wins their club comp with 45 points is clearly able to play (albeit once off) 9 or so shots better than their old handicap – so an immediate reduction (probably by about 3) seems reasonable. Enjoy your win, and then if you simply cannot repeat the performance over the next 30 rounds you will be back where you started (increase hcp by 0.1 per round x 30 rounds).
With the new system, and especially if handicaps are only to be recalculated once per fortnight, the player who produces a brilliant 45 points is free to play off the same handicap for several more rounds – and depending upon what old scores drop out of his ‘most recent 20’ his mark may even INCREASE!!!
I reckon it’s ripe for manipulation – go away to a golf school, practice, and then come home and win several events in a row before your handicap catches up with you.
Alternatively, note where your good scores are amongst your 20 most recent, and ensure that before you enter that important event they are getting pretty old – ideally you want all your really good scores in the 16th to 20th positions. Then all you need do is go and play 5 rounds on some tough tracks (Moonah Links?) in rough weather – and even without ‘handbraking’ (ie deliberately playing below ability) you’re almost certain to see quite a jump in your calculated handicap. You’ll now be able to play from this new mark for several rounds – ideal to win that 4-day trip away with your mates!
Even without any deliberate attempt at manipulation, we’re already seeing the effects of this volatility.
Because higher handicappers are almost always more erratic in their scores than low markers, we’re seeing the former 18 marker suddenly get a calculated handicap of 25 just because of the way a few good rounds drop out of his recent 20 and are replaced by poor rounds. The same will almost never happen for a 2 marker.
The new system will be improved when the “US Slope” factor is introduced, perhaps in about 12 months time. Slope will be a more rigorous evaluation of course difficulty than the current CR system, and will include a factor for prevailing weather (but not daily weather). When sufficient Australian courses have been rated for “slope”, then your handicap will be adjusted according to a published table so that you obtain more shots on a high slope course, and fewer on a low slope course. (Slope can range from 55 to 155, with 113 being considered a course of average difficulty.) So on a local/easy track, your handicap for the day may be, say, a 12, while on a monster it could be a 17 or 18.
Finally, Golf Australia intends to introduce an amended version of the US “Equitable Stroke Control” which sets a maximum score per hole when calculating your handicap and is used to minimise the effects of “blowout holes” on your handicap.
Currently, in a stroke round, any hole on which you score more than a nett 2-over par is reduced to a nett double bogey (5 for a par 3, 7 for a par 5) – ie the lowest score for which you receive zero Stableford points. If your handicap is 18, then this would be 6 on a par 3 and 8 on a par 5.
With ESC, all your strokes count in the daily round (assuming it is stroke play). But only the adjusted scores (max nett double bogey) are used to calculate your ‘played to’ differential and thus count towards your handicap.
It’s not yet clear how these scores will be submitted to the GolfLink computer.
More on “Slope”
Whilst Course Rating is based on how difficult each hole is for a “scratch” golfer, the USGA uses “slope” to adjust for a “bogey” golfer.
A scratch golfer is defined by the USGA as a male golfer who hits his drive 250 yards (230m) and can reach a 470-yard (430m) hole in two; or a female golfer who hits her drives 210 yards (190m) and can reach a 400-yard(360m) hole in two (and, of course, plays to scratch).
A bogey golfer, in this use, is defined by the USGA as a male golfer with a handicap index of 17.5 to 22.4, who hits his drives 200 yards (180m) and can reach a 370-yard (340m) hole in two; and a female golfer with a handicap index of 21.5 to 26.4, who hits her drives 150 yards (135m) and can reach a 280-yard (250m) hole in two.
Course raters will visit a course and consider ‘effective playing length’ and ‘obstacle stroke values’ – i.e. the actual length adjusted for upslope or downslope, prevailing wind, type of grass and course altitude; and the difficulty of hazards, narrowness of fairways, length of rough, OOB, speed and contour of greens etc.
The raters will consider this for a scratch golfer and a bogey golfer. Slope, then, is a number representing the relative difficulty of a course for bogey golfers compared to scratch golfers. The calculation that determines slope is: bogey course rating minus scratch course rating x 5.381 for men or 4.24 for women.
For a typical bogey golfer with handicap index of 21, an average course will have a slope of 5.381 x 21 = 113.
If this golfer plays a tougher course, say slope = 145 (max slope is 155 and min is 55) his course handicap will be calculated as 21 x 145/113 = 27. He gets 6 extra shots.
For a low handicap golfer, say handicap index = 3 for a 113 slope course, his course handicap on the tough track will be 3 x 141/113 = 3.8 or 4. He gets one extra shot.
That’s why it’s called ‘slope’ – because the slope of the adjustment graph for a weaker player’s handicap as he tackles more difficult courses is steeper than that for a lower handicap player.
How Do I Get a Handicap?Social and non-club members can received a handicap through the Golf Access Australia program run by Golf Australia. Click here for more information