Australian handicapping changes: Q&A
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Today we address some of the questions Aussie Golfer has been asked concerning the new handicapping system. The system will be introduced across Australia over the next few months.
More handicapping changes Q&A
1. When the new system is introduced, will a person’s handicap be assessed on his/her previous 20 games from date of introduction or will it be based on his/her next 20 games from date of introduction?
Upon introduction your new handicap will be based on your previous 20 rounds already in the system. Of these 20, your 10 best rounds will be used to calculate your new handicap based on the method outlined here.
2. I am interested in your thoughts if you think peoples handicap’s will go up with this new system, go down or do you will stay about the same?
Golf Australia have said that they would not introduce the new system if all handicaps will stay the same. Some will change significantly when introduced but it will be a far better representation of their golfing ability as a trend over the past 20 rounds. In general, there will be some go up, some go down and some that stay the same!
3. Why do you multiply by .96? Is this number the course rating?
This mysterious 0.96 multiplication is a little complicated but it essentially negates a small advantage a golfer with a high handicap has over a golfer with a low handicap under the new system. All the mathematical details are outlined further here if you are that way inclined. The course rating is an altogether different fish. All course ratings will be changed in a few years but for the time being, your current Australian Course Rating (ACR) will be used.
4. How often does your handicap update? Every 20 rounds?
No. For the moment your handicap will be recalculated immediately after every round. When a new round is entered, the previous 21st round will be excluded from the new handicap calculation. This will change in the future with updates becoming less frequent to enable the handicap to be adjusted according to your score trend rather than “one-off” good or bad rounds.
5. Has that April date (first or thirtieth) been confirmed as yet or are we still in the dark?
We’re still in the dark.
For more information click on the other links below or see Golf Australia Handicapping.
More handicapping changes Q&A
Will Australian courses have a slope rating when the new handicap system commences?
Nope. Not yet. Slope ratings will be introduced over the coming few years once all courses have been re-rated.
what happens when you join a club and as a new member you do not have 10 -20 cards? How oftern do they calculate your handicap once you hve handed your x3 cards in? They started me on 40 and over the last 2 months it has gone down every week and now is sitting on 33?
thx Lorna
When you have less than 20 cards the handicap system takes a smaller number of your lowest scores as outlined below.
3 to 6 Lowest 1
7 or 8 Lowest 2
9 or 10 Lowest 3
11 or 12 Lowest 4
13 or 14 Lowest 5
15 or 16 Lowest 6
17 Lowest 7
18 Lowest 8
19 Lowest 9
20 Lowest 10
e.g. If you only have 7 cards, it takes you lowest 2 scores.
If you take the lowest 2 , do you divide by 2 , multiplied by 0.96 ?
I believe so, yes.
What happens when you enter NCR or DSQ
Good question:
1) In the case of NCR, the score will be deemed to be the equivalent of the worst score previously entered in the golfers last 19 rounds of golf.
2) In the case of a DQ. The score will be entered as if the golfer did not DQ!
This is probably the worst thing about the new system as contains some loopholes which some golfers will probably exploit in the Australian golf environment – which is a little different to the US one.