How the new handicapping system works
‘IT MAKES GOLF MORE FUN, ESPECIALLY FOR THE OLDER PLAYERS’
System leads to a more accurate handicap.
Mellett Hendrikse Director of Golf at Randpark
Much as in cricket’s Duckworth/Lewis method of calculating targets in rain-affected games, there are few people who would claim to totally understand golf’s new handicapping protocol, but the adoption by South African clubs of the new World Handicap System proposed by the R&A and the USGA has generally gone smoothly, according to Johannesburg golf clubs.
Introduced on September 3, the new system is based on course ratings and a Slope calculation. Instead of golfers now having just one handicap that they use for every one of their rounds of golf, every tee on every hole of every course will have an individual rating, which will determine the handicap index of the player. The new system is more flexible and accurate, meaning handicaps that used to be rounded off to the closest whole number now have one decimal place.
As confusing as it may be, the general consensus among local clubs is that their members were sent plenty of correspondence beforehand enabling them to fully get to grips with the change.
“There were many e-mails sent out explaining the new ranking of the course and how this system provides better stats for the handicappers. It’s a great system because it gives the golfer an option of which tee to play off, they don’t always have to play off the same tee. So there’s more player involvement and therefore more understanding of what they are meant to be doing in terms of their handicap.
“Some of our members are still coming to grips with the new calculation, but there has been more than enough information given out. Nobody really wants to know how exactly the calculation works, except maybe for the accountants or IT guys. So far so good though,” Barry Steen, the golf and events manager at Glendowative er Golf Club, says.
By taking into account factors like the landing areas of a hole, how long it is, the size of the fairways, whether there are doglegs or it’s just straight, for the Slope calculation the new system is much more focused and accurate. As Wikus Botes, the director of golf at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington, points out, playing a different course can have as much as a 40% difference in your handicap.
“If you look at our West Course, the Slope rating is a lot lower than for the East Course, which is traditionally the harder of the two. But for women, the East Course is even more difficult in rel- terms – a woman could play off a 13 on the West Course but that would probably be an 18 or a 19 on East.
“But it makes golf more fun, especially for the older players, and there’s no longer any embarrassment attached to playing off the ladies tees, in fact they’re not even called that now, they’re called the forward tees. There are still some teething problems and some confusion, and if the system is offline then players can’t check the course handicaps,” Botes says.
While there will obviously be some resistance to change, Mellett Hendrikse, the director of golf at Randpark Golf Club, says the new system has been greeted with a wide degree of approval.
“A lot of our members think this is a good thing, it’s a lot fairer with courses now rated on their actual differences, not just in terms of distance. Now things like how much water there is, the width of the fairways, the elevation and the lie of the land, this system now accounts for all of that and the course is rated accordingly.
“It leads to a much more accurate handicap, whether it goes lower or higher. As with most changes, there was initial unhappiness but now there is acceptance. At Randpark, a 12-handicapper is now most likely a 14 from the club tees, so it makes it more friendly, especially since we have a lot of golf days. For those who took the time to read the correspondence, and we had a couple of seminars, it’s not complicated,” Hendrikse says.