What is the World Handicap System; what does it mean for you?

By Rahul Banerji

For the past few weeks now, the acronym WHS – the World Handicap System – has been registering on and off. For a while, I let it slide, but with the Indian Golf Union involved too, it seemed a good time to take a closer look.

So far, the IGU has tweeted a set of info-graphics/notices related to WHS. Its website also offers suggestions on how to sign up, fees of existing members/new signups, a notice on likely timelines and a guide to the process.

So what is WHS exactly?

In essence, WHS is an effort to unite existing handicapping systems around the world and bring them under one umbrella. It is based on the USGA’s Course and Slope Rating System and brings the six handicapping systems currently in use around the world under one roof.

Level playing field

The idea presumably, is to provide for a level playing field for golfers regardless of how their present level of golf is being determined now.

Within this uniformity, national golf associations will have “the discretion to tailor the system to fit their own golfing culture” according to an explanatory note posted by the USGA.

It then adds, “For example, the WHS will offer a broad range of formats that are acceptable for handicap purposes, with some form of corroboration, and handicapping authorities and National Associations will have discretion to select from that range to both support their local golfing culture as well as encouraging golfers to post as many scores as possible.”

According to the ruling deities of golf, WHS goes into operation in two days time, January 1, 2020.

And how does this affect you and me, particularly when golf already has a single set of playing rules, similarly for equipment and laws to determine amateur status? Do golfers in India even need to sign up at all?

Once again, the IGU has little to say on the matter. Some searching though provided a few answers. Essentially, existing records will stay and be used to calculate a WHS handicap.

For others, there is a minimum of 54 holes (three 18-hole rounds, six nine-hole rounds or a combination of the two), making for an easy entry to the world of handicapping. The maximum permissible handicap is 54, regardless of gender.

For further clarifications, I am posting both the relevant info-graphics created by the R&A and USGA, and a live link to the USGA website section that deals with the transition to WHS.

Also, posted immediately below is the IGU notice on the migration process for current/existing members besides new sign-ups to WHS.

World Handicap System Home FAQs (courtesy USGA)

The way golfers around the world will calculate their handicaps is set to be transformed by a new system developed by the USGA and The R&A, with key features designed to provide all golfers with a consistent measure of playing ability.

The new World Handicap System, to be implemented in 2020, follows an extensive review of systems administered by six existing handicapping authorities: Golf Australia, the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) in Great Britain and Ireland, the European Golf Association (EGA), the South African Golf Association (SAGA), the Argentine Golf Association (AAG) and the USGA.

The new system will feature the following: 

• Flexibility in formats of play, allowing both competitive and recreational rounds to count for handicap purposes and ensuring that a golfer’s handicap is more reflective of potential ability

• A minimal number of scores needed to obtain a new handicap; a recommendation that the number of scores needed to obtain a new handicap be 54 holes from any combination of 18-hole and 9-hole rounds, but with some discretion available for national or regional associations to set a different minimum within their own jurisdiction

• A consistent handicap that is portable from course to course and country to country through worldwide use of the USGA Course and Slope Rating System, already successfully used in more than 80 countries

• An average-based calculation of a handicap, taken from the best eight out of the last 20 scores and factoring in memory of demonstrated ability for better responsiveness and control

• A calculation that considers the impact that abnormal course and weather conditions might have on a player’s performance each day  

• Daily handicap revisions, taking account of the course and weather conditions calculation

• A limit of Net Double Bogey on the maximum hole score (for handicapping purposes only).  Example: A Course Handicap of 18 receives one stroke per hole for 18 holes; the player’s max score is triple bogey on any hole, which equals a Net Double Bogey.

• A maximum handicap limit of 54.0, regardless of gender, to encourage more golfers to measure and track their performance to increase their enjoyment of the game

‘Important step’

Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA, commented, “For some time, we’ve heard golfers say, ‘I’m not good enough to have a handicap,’ or ‘I don’t play enough to have a handicap.’ We want to make the right decisions now to encourage a more welcoming and social game.

“We’re excited to be taking another important step – along with modernising golf’s Rules – to provide a pathway into the sport, making golf easier to understand and more approachable and enjoyable for everyone to play.”

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are working with our partners and national associations to make golf more modern, more accessible and more enjoyable as a sport and the new World Handicap System represents a huge opportunity in this regard. 

“We want to make it more attractive to golfers to obtain a handicap and strip away some of the complexity and variation which can be off-putting for newcomers. Having a handicap, which is easier to understand and is truly portable around the world, can make golf much more enjoyable.”

‘Transportability’

The tenets of the new system focus on three main objectives: to encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain and maintain a handicap; to enable golfers of differing abilities, genders and nationalities to transport their handicap to any course globally and compete on a fair basis; and to indicate with sufficient accuracy the score a golfer is reasonably capable of achieving on any course around the world, playing under normal conditions.

The announcement is the latest step in a multi-year collaboration between The USGA and The R&A, as well as national and regional golf associations around the world to introduce one set of Rules of Handicapping, aimed to support modernizing, growing and improving accessibility of the sport.

Also read: Rule changes will continue to be debated for some time