The other part of the equation is the PCC. It seems they do it automatically now. What I wonder is when it is applied. Overnight once the scores are analyzed.
GHIN 9-Hole Differential
The problem with that is that you will come up with a different handicap than someone who shoots the exact same scores and does it by the book. Either everyone does it the same way or it's pointless.
I like the way my leagues give you a handicap based upon your play in that league...
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- #54
the barriers to neutrality that this post suggests are FAR too wide.
No two scores are the same let alone conditions or execution. Not to mention the fact that if I play the majority of my golf in 9s, it's COMPLETELY different by design than someone who plays only 18s.
No outcome on made up scores will be balanced. Never.
I think you missed my point. You could post your scores by the book, and post them the way you say you will, and come up with two different answers. That makes the entire exercise pointless. Unless everyone uses one method.
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- #56
Define "one" method?
Like, people all post only nine hole scores and have the other half made up for them?
Et Tu Brute?
Well-known member
If you want an actual USGA Handicap, post your scores the way their system tell you to post them. Then you have a real USGA Handicap.
But if you want to just make up stuff and post whatever you think makes sense, nobody in the world is going to stop you. You'll just join the millions of other vanity 'cappers out there claiming to have a USGA Handicap when they actually don't. There's no enforcement so go ahead and do whatever makes you happy.,
But if you want to just make up stuff and post whatever you think makes sense, nobody in the world is going to stop you. You'll just join the millions of other vanity 'cappers out there claiming to have a USGA Handicap when they actually don't. There's no enforcement so go ahead and do whatever makes you happy.,
Isn't that now what you're supposed to do - at least on the 9/18 portion. However, aren't you also still supposed to not post solo scores so this whole thing is goofy. No matter what we do, the score will be what the score is and there will always be people who have a day and play below their handicap or above their handicap.
Go in knowing that it's not perfect and life is what it is. I'm going in and posting what I score and I feel like I'm going to be pretty close overall. I can't help these rules make it nearly impossible to be really accurate.
Go in knowing that it's not perfect and life is what it is. I'm going in and posting what I score and I feel like I'm going to be pretty close overall. I can't help these rules make it nearly impossible to be really accurate.
How many times do people lose their groove (or find it) at the turn? It's a regular thing for me. So, made up numbers that don't factor that in are just kinda useless and not actually an accurate barometer for my skill level. Which... isn't that the point of a handicap?
Most everyone I know submits solo rounds into the GHIN system. I used to play a lot of rounds with just my daughter when she was under age 7 to 12 and those rounds are allowed but not solo rounds??
Et Tu Brute?
Well-known member
That assertion makes no sense at all. It is a totally arbitrary system with a very clearly laid out (for the most part) set of rules. If you do it like the rules say, then you handicap is as accurate as it can possibly be. The fact that their arbitrary system is not the one you would have designed means nothing to nobody except you.
What you really mean is their system makes it impossible to get the numbers you would rather have. So why not calculate your own handicap for your own purposes rather than claiming to follow a system you have no intention of complying with?
It will be interesting to see if PCC is factored in more this season. Last year it was factored only for 4 rounds out of 87 for me and I played about 25 rounds on some really nasty cold days with winds gusting to 35+ mph.
Et Tu Brute?
Well-known member
I would estimate maybe 2% of handicaps on GHIN are legit, the rest are anywhere from fudging the rules a little to flat-out making up numbers and typing them in to get a desired handicap. With no enforcement, it's never going to be otherwise.
I agree on fudging the rules for most golfers with things like gimmies, breakfast ball on the 1st tee, moving balls out of divots, using rangefinders with slope function engaged, etc.
I'd still guess way more than 2% are legit, at least at my two home clubs these last 14 years. I'd guess 10-15% vanity handicaps and maybe 20-25% sandbaggers at my club. Most of the sandbaggers simply don't record their lowest rounds. That doesn't mean that the majority have handicaps that travel well as most of the golfers at my home club play 80% of their rounds at home.
Et Tu Brute?
Well-known member
But I thought you said almost everyone you know posts solo rounds?
If you don't follow the handicap system rules, that's not a legit handicap. Doesn't matter if you combine 9-hole scores, post solo rounds, play breakfast balls, whatever. It's mix and match, following some rules but not others.
That's why I say something like 98% of handicaps are non-legit one way or another.
That's bad wording on my part. I should have said that the guys I know or have known who play a good chunk of their rounds solo post those rounds. I used to play 30% or more of my rounds solo and posted those, but for most of those years, posting solo rounds was allowed by the USGA. Today, I only know one golfer who plays solo more than once or twice a year. Maybe that's a function of playing almost all my current golf at private clubs with empty nesters and retired guys. In those solo rounds of my past, I snuck in late in the day after work and kid duties were over.
Of the 8-10 golfers I play 80% of my golf with, all but one have legit handicaps(he sandbags by not recording a handful of low scores each year), and all but a few have caps that travel well. My regular playing buddies don't do breakfast balls, take mulligans, use slope function rangefinders, move balls out of divots, etc., and, for a vast majority of their rounds, don't lower their scores by taking gimmies. Most of our rounds are men's leagues/tournaments or money games where the group does not allow breaking the rules. Gimmies are sometimes given during money matches but rarely over 15" and for those bad putters, almost never.
Many other members at my club, certainly more than half, play the same way.My group of golf buddies is a small sample size, and I get your point about how legitimate most indexes are. For 30 years, I played mostly at public and muni courses, and a much greater percentage didn't play by or really even have an in-depth knowledge of the rules of golf.
I’ve been hit with the PCC 4 times now. I guess everyone else sucked those days. One was a +3.
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My wife has never played, but has to get a GHIN handicap to participate in the Sunday Funday, a couples golf outing held regularly in our 55+ community. She's going to need to get in X number of 9-hole rounds in order to establish a handicap (not sure how many at this point). I'll be playing with her, so God only knows how the 9-hole scores will affect my handicap.
JohnnyO3478
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My handicap is gonna be going up. My three 9 hole scores were a +3 (10.6 differential), +5 (10 differential) and +2 (9.7 differential). My handicap is trending up 
.
The part I don't get is that the +3 and +2 rounds I had, the second 9 are easier and consistently shoot 1 or 2 over for that side.
This seems to me it's only going to inflate handicaps, but I by no means am an I expert of this stuff.
.The part I don't get is that the +3 and +2 rounds I had, the second 9 are easier and consistently shoot 1 or 2 over for that side.
This seems to me it's only going to inflate handicaps, but I by no means am an I expert of this stuff.
So this definitely keeps your cap from rising as much if you play poorly. You can be trending in the totally wrong direction and it still adjust back towards your current cap when it fills.
And, conversely, if you play well, it keeps your cap from going down as much too. I’ve been getting hit by the PCC more than playing 9 hole rounds.