Advice from The Good Book, tells us to light a candle, rather than curse the darkness. So before you start castigating the handicappers, learn how to do it yourself. Our Saturday and Wednesday golf handicaps are figured the same way, but with no intermixing of scores. If a player has fewer than 5 scores, the handicap used, is his “index”, tempered by the course slope. The “index” is derived from different sources, e.g. "USGA" index, or maybe an “index” that we have created for him, if he has no other “index”.  If you look at the "Roster"  sheet for the group, notice the shading in the columns to the  right of the “Handicap” column. They are meant to show a furnished “index” number, rather than one we compute. 

We compute the “index” numbers for the rest of the group, (those with more than 4 plays). Those “index “ numbers are in a column to the left of the “handicap” column ( which is titled "Dunes"). To the right of the “Dunes” column, is a column showing the number of plays the player has. The handicap for that particular group is based on those plays. To the right of that column, are the scores of all the golfers in the group. These scores extend to the right in chronological order, newest to oldest, ad infinitum, well almost. The maximum number of scores on which to base a handicap is 20, so says the USGA, so when you register the 21st score, the oldest score is removed.

The number of scores we use, to compile an index average then, is based on 5 to 20 plays. (Remember that, with fewer than 5, we rely on other “index” sources.) The number of scores used, varies with the number of plays according to the following chart:

5 or 6 scores....use lowest 1

7 or 8 scores.......................2

9 or 10 .................................3

11 or 12.................................4

13 or 14................................5

15 or 16................................6

17 .........................................7

18 .........................................8

19 .........................................9

20 .......................................10

So, for example, you can see, that we use the best 10 of the last 20, to compile the “ index” .

Before we do the math, we need some more useful numbers, slopes, course ratings, gross scores, adjusted gross scores, and a “bonus for excellence”. Use the “Equitable Stroke Control“ (ESC) format to get the “Adjusted Gross Score. To review “ESC”; with less than 9 course handicap, use double bogey for max, from 9 to 19 use 7, from 19 to 29 use 8, ...etc. We will furnish the other numbers, as we, DO THE MATH .

example:

1 Adjusted gross score minus USGA course rating; 95 - 71.5 = 23.5

Difference times Standard Slope; 23.5 x 113 = 2655.5

Result divided by USGA Slope Rating; 2655.5 / 125 = 21.244

Handicap Differential (rounded) 21.2

Determine Differentials for each score being used.

2 Total the differentials......................................................................example 103.5

3 Average the differentials. 25.875

4 Multiply the Average by 0.96 (Bonus for Excellence). 24.84

5 Delete digits after tenths, do not round . 24.8

6 USGA HANDICAP INDEX 24.8

7 The last math we do, is to apply the index to any course slope, and get a handicap for that course.

Lets go through a real example, and, DO THE MATH .

Player has 18 scores posted for Timber Pines White Tees, how many do we use? 8 lowest, right? The 8 scores, are 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 83, 84, 85. (We assume the scores are adjusted for ESC.)

Let’s do the first score 79.

79 - 67.2 (Pines Rating) = 11.8

11.8 x 113 (Standard Slope) = 1333.4

1333.4 / 110 (Pines Slope) = 12.1218

12.1218 Rounded = 12.1

In the same fashion, do the other 7, for a total of 8.

We get 12.1, 13.1, 14.2, 15.2, 16.2, 16.2, 17.3, 18.3, right?, and a total of 122.6, right?

When we average the differentials, we get 122.6 / 8 = 15.325

Multiply that by .96 to get = 14.712

Then truncating that figure gives us a Handicap Index = 14.7 (not round, 14.79 still is 14.7)

The last math we do, is to apply the “index” to the course we are playing.

So far, we have an index for a course, rated at a Slope of 113. By using 14.7, and applying the Slope for the course, that we want, (110 for The Pines), we have, 14.7 x 110 / 113 = 14.30973451327433628

Rounded that is... 14 ... and appears in the "Dunes" column on the handicap sheet.

While this handicap is not official, (we don’t have a pro to oversee it, and a committee to approve it), the math is the same. It will differ from your USGA handicap, because we use only the scores posted on Saturday, (or Wednesday using the Dunes numbers). We do not mix the scores, or use any other scores, that you may have posted in the TP computer. Now, you can do your own handicapping with the same process, all you need are the scores, slopes, and course ratings, then DO THE MATH , instead of complaining about the darkness.

Jim D