New USGA Handicap System Revisions

New USGA Handicap System Revisions

I got an interesting email from the USGA yesterday with some changes to the handicap system. The significant ones are below with some commentary

Inclusion of Shorter-Length Golf Courses Within the Course Rating System: The overall length requirements for Course Rating in the WHS will be significantly reduced. A set of tees on an 18-hole course may be as short as 1,500 yards [1,370 meters] to be eligible for a Course Rating and Slope Rating®, and a set of tees on a 9-hole course may be as short as 750 yards [685 meters]. This change is intended to expand the WHS to thousands of shorter length courses, including par-3 courses, and enable more golfers to obtain and use a Handicap Index.

– USGA

As the popularity of short courses increases, this is a needed change. A 1,500 yard 18-hole course is just over 83 yards a hole.

Short courses have a number of advantages, including speed of play, a smaller land footprint and (usually) fewer resources used.

I have played a number of really excellent short courses in recent years, including The Bootlegger at Forest Dunes and The Cradle at Pinehurst. Both Boyne Golf in Northern Michigan and St. Johns Resort in Southeast Michigan are adding short courses for next year.

Use of an Expected Score for a Hole Not Played: Improvements have been made to the method used to handle holes not played, which will now be based on a player’s expected score rather than a score of net par. This new method will produce a 9-hole or 18-hole Score Differential that more accurately reflects a player’s ability. As golfers across the world are playing more 9-hole rounds, an expected score can also be used to convert a 9-hole round into an 18-hole Score Differential. For some countries, this means that 9-hole scores will be considered in the calculation of a player’s Handicap Index immediately after the day of play, rather than waiting to combine with another 9-hole score.

– USGA

This is another excellent adaptation to realities and gives nine hole courses their due. “There’s always time for nine,” has been a rallying cry for some years.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve played some excellent nine hole courses, including Maple Brook in Charlotte (a Tom Bendleow design), The Mullet Lake Golf Club (another Bendleow) and the fabulous Elk Rapids (a nine hole Donald Ross).

In my busier times, nine holes often makes more sense, and I’ll play the front of the back at Washtenaw Golf Club (course link). On both Washtenaw and nearby Green Oaks, quirks in the routing also easily allow twelve holes.

In many ways, I believe twelve is the perfect number of holes

I think this change also opens the door for courses set up as less than 18 holes. The St. John’s short course will be seven holes; the Bootlegger is ten holes.

Playing Conditions Calculation Adjustments Made More Frequent: The Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC) has been modified to increase the likelihood of an adjustment for abnormal playing conditions. National associations were given discretion, beginning in July 2022, to introduce this revision in their computation platforms, which will be complete by April 1, 2024.

USGA

This makes a lot of sense to me as well, particularly on those rounds where the course is being aerated.

I can also see it applying in situations where large portions of a course are flooded, suffer a massive course failure (a local course had its irrigation system vandalized a couple of years ago and went through a summer of dead fairways) or are victim of the disturbingly increasing number of greens or fairways vandalism.

Enhanced Guidance on Conducting a Handicap Review: The role of the Handicap Committee is vital to the success of the WHS and the Rules recommend that a Handicap Review is conducted regularly, or at least once a year to ensure a Handicap Index® remains reflective of a player’s ability. New reporting tools have been developed that national associations can incorporate into their handicapping software to assist Committees in conducting the review process effectively and consistently.

USGA

My reaction to this is: where are these committees of which you speak?

I guess those committee people exist at private clubs, but I seriously doubt they exist at any of the public courses I have played in recent years. I go to a random course. I play. If I played a serious round with another person or two, I enter my score in my GHIN app. And that’s it.

Who, exactly, is checking this? These courses don’t know me from Adam.

This part I think is a reflection of the USGA’s general blindness to the public course golfers that comprise most of the country’s players. I believe the organization has for too long been too focused on a dwindling population of private club members. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the USGA should replace a couple of those private club millionaire board members with some folk who represent the rest of us: a truck driver, teacher or other average Joe or Jill.