hi could someone help me here,i joined a nine hole golf club and put 3 9 hole cards in to get my handicap,unlucky for me i played really well and ended up getting a 14 handicap,this is not a true reflexion of my game,im shooting 94 98 100 on par 72s,but the pro at the shop says it cant be changed so theres no point me entering any comps because ive no chance,plus to add to that ive got a really competitive friend who always wants to play to handicap,although i beat him on the card hes always winning by about 8 or 9 shots with his 26 handicap,please could someone advise because its driving me mad.

Jason, as you only put in three nine hole scores then I would assume that your handicap of 14 is for nine holes only and 28 for 18 holes.

Just done a search on this course and at 4300 from the back tees only makes it a glorified pitch and putt. You will certainly improve your short game there, but a waste of time completely for getting a handicap that you could take almost anywhere.

hi thanks for the reply,yes i know i shouldnt have chose this course to do my handicap,but they say they cant change it and when they do a 18 hole comp im still off 14 when really im about 24,been playing on alot of 18 holes lately and been shooting around 91 because my puttings shocking at the min,i really need to change this handicap if i can somehow.

Why?  Play more, post scores and it will surely adjust itself?  Please correct me if I am wrong!

hi tony yes i thought of that,but then got told i would need to be doing bad rounds in the comp every week,and its virtually impossible to shoot that bad on this course,plus ive heard it only only goes up by 0.1 if you do a bad round but can come down 2 or 3 if you do a good round,so would take about 3 years of bad cards to get to about 23-24 were i think i am thanks anyway.

Cards for initial handicap award must be over a minimum of 3 x 18-hole rounds. Whoever told you otherwise needs to read the CONGU handicap booklet.

hi yes we was that desperate to enter in the comps he said he would work it out for us if we just put 3 cards in,all the pros and the lads up there are sound guys,suppose its just my fault for putting 3 good cards in then failing to live up to the 14 handicap,just wish there was some way of getting it changed to my proper handicap,so i can then shut my moaning mate up

Don't accept it - they are so wrong. Don't trust pros with handicap issues.

what do you suggest then james thanks for the help

???? confused.com

what is the sss for the 9 holes, and what scores did you post on your 3 cards?

John says it is only 2150 yds for the 9.

What distances are the par 3's and 4's, i'm assuming no par 5.

I would have thought that you should have been required to post 3 x 18 hole cards with all 3 cards signed by a member.

im just wondering now if theres anyway of changing the handicap somehow,it did get calculated correctly with the cards i put in,but if id of known it couldnt be changed then i would of put some of the bad cards in when i first started there ,then i would of had a fighting chance

What are the requirements for obtaining a CONGU® Handicap ?

Having satisfied the requirements for membership of a Club, CONGU® requires that to get a handicap a player must submit cards from at least three rounds, marked by a person approved by the Club. The rounds must be played at that Club over 18 holes of, preferably, a measured course.

The above is an extract off thecongu website.

From the information you have provided us with confirms that you do not have a valid congu handicap. 

The following is an extract from the English Golf Union referring to 9 Hole Qualifying competitions.

22.11 A Qualifying Competition over Nine-Holes shall not be part of an 18 hole Qualifying Competition.
22.12 Scores returned over Nine-Holes shall not be used for the allotment of handicaps.
22.13 Supplementary Scores over Nine-Holes shall not be used for handicap purposes.
Note: A Category 1 player may participate in a Nine-Hole Qualifying Competition and his score should be recorded in his Player Handicap Record. No adjustment in handicap shall be applied i.e. his score must be disregarded for handicap purposes.

22.12 thereby confirms that a handicap can not be calculated over 9 holes, this is substantiated by CONGU requiring 3 rounds of 18 holes before you qualify for a handicap. 

I suggest that you approach your club pro or handicap secretary and inform him that your handicap has not been allocated correctly and you require it to be corrected without delay and without argument.  Failure to accept your request will mean that you will have no alternative but to contact the English Golf Union directly and ask them to correct the error.  it sounds like he may have genuinely misunderstood changes to the handicapping system regarding the introduction of 9 hole qualifying competitions can be taken into account to alter a players handicap, but not for category 1 players (0.1 - 5.4).  If your club have made a mistake then they have to fix the error regardless of the consequences, because the EGU will force them to nullify your present invalid handicap.  Do not allow yourself to be bullied into keeping your present mark.

Golf is governed by RULES, Rules are meant to be adhered too, Laws are there to be broken, that is why Football has Laws of the Game.

Have you handed in 3 x 18 hole cards at any time previously that have been signed by a fellow member as they could be eligible for calculating your handicap.

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for me as devils advocate...and dont take it the wrong way jason, theres no malice intended here...you put 3 cards in and the cards said you played to 14...so you are capable of it? I accept 18 holes are different to 9 but still....  I cant see a pro, especially if they ae good guys intentionally shafting you...did they factor in that you may have had a bad back 9?...granted it was a good day but ive had many where my handicap has flown down and ive beleived im good at this darn game only to have a 95 the next day..to put bad cards in would be to manipulate a handicap..if youve played to 14 handicap, or have gone 5-6 over on a front 9 then are you not capable fo playing to it again??

Gavin

are you implying that jason should accept his handicap as being correct and not pursue for it to be calculated correctly.

A handicapp is what you are capable of playing to on your best day, so if you can do it once for 9 holes you can do it again. You should just keep plugging away, anybody who plays to there handicap more than a few times a year is a bandit, unless they are new to the game and rapidly improving.

Forget about you friend the truth of the matter is you beat him in stroke play, your handicap is 12 shots lower you are therefore a much much better golfer. Let him have the money you still get to go haome after every round knowing you are mcuh better than he will ever be.

Do you think Tiger Woods gets upset when he plays in pro-Ams and gets beat by amatuers with dodgy handicaps.

colin, I think it should always be calculated correctly...rules are there for a reason...however as much as this is about missing congu rules i think if youve said to a pro you are happy for a handicap calcualted this way and you have agreed it is correct to then say after the event because your not playing to it it is unfair and rules werent followed is a bit naff....we have to take a bit of responsibility..and if it was calculated at 14 i cant see it going up to 26, even if its only 9 holes......i agree with garys commnets.  if youve played to it...(and he has for 9 holes 3 times??) then to want it changing now isnt right in my opinion anyway...i was offered 16 by my club after rejoining as it was still active via congu rules...but i was playing to 11 on scoretracker so told them and this is now my handicap..i struggle to play to it there but i can play to it.....if it was off 1 card you could question consistency but not off 3...just my opinion

also jason your worst points were 36 and your best 41 in your last 3 18 holes?? i would suggest you are a much lower handicapper than 26 on this basis alone/..."golf is not a game of perfect"

jason, play your mate in a stableford or matchplay off 3/4 handicaps and see if you get closer to him.

To be honest, if you are GOOD mates you should be playing each other of scratch and forget the handicap as it is only there for club comps.

Don't play for who's supplying the drinks money unless it is off scratch,

As i said earlier, contact your club, and tell them to fix their errorbecause you must have paid for this service.  it is irrelevant whether they are nice blokes or not, they will have more respect for you if you get it changed.  Golf is about playing fairly and doing what is right, for you to be provided with false information and be allocated a handicap by inappropriate means clearly challenges the integrity of golf. 

Gary

That is utter tosh. Are you really suggesting that a single 9-hole score is a true reflection of your playing ability? I bet that most of the players using this site have had a front nine or a back nine which, if doubled would give a handicap way below the actual one. I think all of us can remember a front nine or back nine which made us think "I've cracked it", only to be brought back down to earth. 

To extend your argument, if you had 2 pars and a birdie on 3 consecutive holes, would your playing ability be a handicap of +6?

hi thanks everyone for your comments,going to see the pro tomorrow because im not happy with this handicap,if i remember correctly i put 1 9 hole card in then 1 18 hole card in e.g 2 9 holers,i went to regent park 2 week ago and shot 94 then went last week shot 91 then went horwich today 9 hole course and did 2 rounds and ended up with 90, so if i put them 3 cards in what would i really be thanks everyone

Several points here.

You mention the proshop staff. They are not authorised to administer or award handicaps. Only a club affiliated to the National Union can appoint a handicap committee to do this.

If the 9-hole course is, as mentioned in another post, 2150 yards, then the SSS will be based on 4300 yards which means the SSS is likely to be 61. Did the proshop assess the initial handicap award against SSS 61 or against the par of the 18 holes. I suspect the latter.

You need to find out what committee exists - there must be one if it is an affiliated club - and talk to them.

You can't just put in 3 casual cards from here, there and anywhere for handicap. As I said in my last posting, you need to find out who is on your committee and establish the procedure for gaining a handicap. The minimum is 3 cards over 18 holes and most clubs will insist that they are marked by a handicap holding member. Can you tell us the name of this 9-hole course - I am starting to wonder if it is an affiliated club authorised to issue handicaps.

James I would guess it's Douglas Valley Golf Club

http://www.chillidipgolf.com/course

James

I think your the one talking tosh mate, for handicapping purposes worst case is double bogey. so after being 7 over through 9 I can't see him having the 9 worst holes of his life and double bogying everyone.

Were not talking about a medal score here, he may drop off and have 3 or 4 really bad holes getting 12's on each of them but it would not make a blind bit of diference worst case is double bogey for the calculation.Even if he had shot a 95 on the back 9 worst case is 18 over for his handicap so max hanicap he could of recieved is 25 anyway.

If most of us had to put our 3 cards in now we would be of much much lower handicaps than we are.

The double bogey rule applies only to the cards submitted for initial handicap allocation. There must be a minimum of 3 cards submitted over 18 holes, then, after the adjustment, the best is gauged against Standard Scratch Score.

Why do you think CONGU is so specific about the method of allocation? You would be just as well asking players what they think their handicap should be.

Unfortunately some clubs (well 3 to 4 from 2nd hand stories I've heard) seem to be applying there own rules.  I've a buddy who's just joined a club and they have issued a handicap 2 shots below what using the CONGU specifications provide. 

Where is the rhyme and reason in that ?  plus they potentially deter someone from competing in club comps for fair of coming last off an unrealistic handicap!

Yaes James that was my point, his initial handicap of 14 may have been a fluke but there is a good chance in the form he was in by CONGU rules applying only double bogeys to his original scorecard a handicap of 14 is no that unlickely.

I'm glad you agree, seen as before I was talking tosh.