Hello,

wonder if any of you gents could help me. Me and 3 other chaps are off to Portugal in 3 weeks. We are not members of any golf clubs but play regularly. Will the printable handicap certificate from this site be valid in these countries? Has anybody used them?

Thanks a million,

 

Mark

Take a copy by all means Mark....

 

But in the times I have been there to play, I have never once been asked to provide a certificate. 

 

Your green fee is more important than a handicap certificate, as David has said.

Mark ive just come back from Portugal, played 5 rounds and never got asked once. Also a playing partner of mine rang the courses to inform them he couldnt meet the handicap requirement and they said as long as he showed good course etiquette and kept upto the speed of play they didnt mind.

As for the handicap cert i'm also not a member of a club but are a member of the English Golf Union which handicap are accepted

This is pretty much my stock answer I give as I get asked this a lot.  JP's reply is spot on though.

 

You will generally find the handicap provided will be accepted for general play but best to check first by phone or fax. The handicap provided is not official and would be unlikely to be accepted in a club competition. The only way in the UK to get an officially approved handicap is by joining a club.  That said for general play you will more than likely find that the certificate will be accepted, I always advise to phone or fax the club before hand to check. I know of a lot of members who have had their handicap certificate accepted at courses in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.
 

 

I have been asked for a certificate on the algarve and produced the hand written one in the back of my club diary.  Before i was a club member i used a certificate from the EGU associate membership scheme in Cyprus and Portugal and have not had a problem.  I've also seen some truly shocking forgerys of certificates that again were not questioned!

This is where the Golfshake handicap certificate slightly differs to club certificates in that the certificate will show the last 10 rounds played and how you scored etc.