Playing To Handicap

Hi All,

I have a quick question.

If someone has a playing handicap of, say, 20.  Should he be playing to this handicap every time he plays, or is it (as I believe) an indication of the top level of his ability.

In other words, should you only cut your handicap if you play better than your playing handicap (shooting 36+ stableford points).

Thanks in advance

Si

There is a "buffer zone" that, depending on your handicap, you can score within without your handicap being adjusted.  I believe for 20+ it is -0 to +5 strokes from the SSS. 

You also need to bear in mind that strokes and stableford are independent.  You can score 40 stableford but still be above your stroke play handicap; two or three card wrecker holes can do that.  If you net par 14 holes (28 points), net eagle 2 holes (8 points) and net triple bogey the other two (blobs), you'll get 36 points but still have two strokes more than your handicap. 

I believe that stableford favours high handicappers because generally the cause of the high handicap is inconsistency.  Stableford allows you to have a couple of nightmare holes without wrecking your card.  At the first High Handicap comp in Tamworth, I carded 99 (on my handicap of 27 this was net one under) but had 41 points.  The reason was two 8's and a 9 on my card. 

This also depends on which tees your playing from. My handicap is calculated from playing off the White tees in medal format so if I play within 4-5 shots of my handicap I am happy.

However off the yellows I would expect to play or shoot under my handicap because of different tee positions, length of hole & different stress levels.

John.

Anything higher than a net double bogey is rounded down Stu.  I've received unexpected cuts before and that has been th reason. 

John,

Don't the WHITE and YELLOW Tees have different SSS?

TheLyth

yes normally they do ( in fact I have never seen a course where they are the same)

Dave,

The SSS off the yellows is 69 & off the whites is 71 so 2 shots isn't a huge difference especially when the course is playing 325 yards longer.

John.

John,

So you are saying that you find your course easier off the Yellow than the White. That is because of its Set-Up and also because you don't have a Card in your pocket.

TheLyth

David,

"However off the yellows I would expect to play or shoot under my handicap because of different tee positions, length of hole & different stress levels."

you are correct.

John.

John,

That is one of my Pet Peeves, but being off a low Hcp I sometimes get round it. That is Having to play off Yellow all the time and only getting to play off the Whites in Comps. Different course etc.

TheLyth

We play off the whites at my club all the time.

David,

you can only go off the Whites in general play if you have a handicap of 5 or under. Mind you saying that they have introduced a stableford comp for the year where in the week you can pay £2 to enter & you can play off the whites. At the end of the year the person with the 4 best % scores can win up to £200.

John

I've not really got a grasp on all of this yet but my understanding was that te SSS is a guide and your handicapp can be affected by the net scores of everyone on the day for example if conditions were extremely difficult and you had a really good round but everyone else had a shoker this would have an effect on the SSS for the day am I right in thinking this or am I way off the mark.

Oh and just to chip in on the white and yellow tee thing our club plays almost the same off the yellows but you get 2 extra par fives so par is 69 off whites and 71 off yellows but SSS remains the same at 68 easy to shoot par off the yellows but when it comes to handicapping difficult to get a change as basically you have to play the 2 longer par 5 holes as you would off the whites and play for a 4.

You don't really want to get a grasp of it, Gary, as it is a load of ridiculous nonsense. The CSS can change with the conditions, either up or down.

Gary,

What you have described is CSS, not SSS.  SSS is based on course length and difficulty and is, in theory, what a scratch golfer would go round in.  It is far too simplified in my opinion, but it will give you a fair idea of how difficult one course is in comparison to another

Cheers guys just a couple more question about CSS

Is it calculated for a competition overall or for each day? Also does it affect scores or just handicapp adjustements? for example if a comp runs for the weekend and it is 25 degrees with a wind speed of 0.1 mph on Saturday and hailing with a gail force wind in your face on every hole on Sunday do the scores scored Sunday get a different CSS meaning someone could win the comp playing on the Sunday but actually take more shots than the lowest scorer on the Satrurday or would it just affect the handicapp adjustments

Your scenario only backs up what I said earlier. both the CSS and the SSS is a joke as handicaps and results are never adjusted to conform to this rule. Likewise when you play away at a harder club your handicap is never adjusted, so that alone mkes a mockery of the system. I might add that in my opinion the lower the SSS does not make the couse any easier than one with an SSS 0f 72, sometimes more difficult, especially for the better player.

I take my handicap as being my 'Best' golf.

Normally, over the course of ten rounds of golf I would say that seven rounds would be above my handicap (and buffer zone), so my handicap would go up 0.1 each time.

Twice my score would be above my handicap but within my buffer zone, so no change to my handicap.

Then for one round I would shoot under my handicap and have my handicap lowered.

As for the white tees, I play off them all the time at my course.

The 'Competition Scratch Score' is used to take into account the varied conditions on the day.  Every competitior who is a Category 4 golfer has their score ignored.  The CSS is calculated on the scores entered by the Cat 1, 2 and 3 golfers.  So if everyone scores badly the CSS will be high for the day.

Stuart, having read what you put your handicap should not have moved, unless you were playing a competition and the CSS was two shots higher than the SSS.

Russ

Gary,

The CSS would be worked out for each day of the Comp. But even that has a flaw and the guys who play on the coast will tell you that the two conditions you describe can be had on the SAME day.

In the olden days the SSS was adjusted for conditions, today the CSS is achieved by working with the scores returned. It is not a perfect system and is difficult to work out unless you have the Computer Software that most Golf Clubs now use.

TheLyth

Chris,

I think going on experience that it will more than likley come out at 17.

John.

Colin,

My home club,Aylesbury Vale, has the same sss off the whites and yellows.