New handicap system isn’t rocket science — it’s harder!

For the first time in almost half a century, I will no longer be a singlefigure handicap golfer come the start of next month. Currently off eight, my playing handicap at my local club will shoot up to 10 or 11 on November 2, a mark I haven’t seen since I was aged, well, 10 or 11.

If you haven’t heard, a new handicap system is coming into operation on that day and boy, will you see some furrowed brows. Forget, for a moment, the NHS. This is the time for all golfers to spend some time contemplating the WHS.

If you thought the rules set to protect the National Health Service were confusing, you’re in for a treat when you digest the online 46-page toolkit — yes, 46 pages! — regarding the World Handicap System.

Summing it all up was a neat little device on the r&A website designed to calculate your new handicap. Put in a couple of details and hey, presto. Except, when I put in the par figure for my home course my handicap was 11, and when I didn’t, it was 10. That really helps clear the mind, doesn’t it?

To be fair, it is all well-intentioned. If you’ve ever played abroad and thought a course was much easier or harder than reflected by your handicap, the change is designed to marry up the six different systems in operation around the world to solve that puzzle.

Your handicap index, as it is now known, is calculated from the best eight rounds from your last 20 scores. That will then translate into a course handicap, which will be different depending on the tees you’re playing from and the venue.

To know how each course’s rating is calculated, you enter the world of slope ratings and bogey ratings and believe me, it is a path down which you don’t want to travel. Leave it to the geeks. There will be notices posted at every club that will work out your course handicap for you.

For the amateurs who play a significant percentage of their golf outside their home course, the changes will be welcomed. It’s obviously simplistic to take an eight handicap at a straightforward inland course and think it translates to playing off the same mark at, say, royal Birkdale. This more nuanced approach will make the necessary adjustments.

The reason I’ll get a couple of extra shots at my home course is that it has a high slope rating, meaning it is more difficult than your average track.

Why introduce this in the middle of a pandemic is a valid question. But when we’ve grown accustomed to the changes, it ought to make sense.

In the meantime, you can always take refuge in the cheerful conclusion reached by our handicap chairman: ‘Do not become overwhelmed by all the information, the calculations and the formulae: remember, the computer will do it all for you.’