Handicap change dependant onSSS

If my handicap is 17.4 based on a course Par 72 with an SSS of 70 would a handicap change if I went to a different course if it had a different par with a different SSS?

Your handicap stays the same but if the sss is high then you may struggle . Also if the sss is low then you may find it easy in comparison to your course. I believe. Dave CAC handed Geordie.

Ryan,

When you read Forums like this, you can pick up opinions from its members. Over in the US they use a totally different system from here in the UK. They use 'Course Ratings' where the number of shots you recieve changes from course to course.

Here in the UK, our system is SSS based and that is set by length of course with ajustments made for difficulty by the local authority (EGU).

You then have a 'target score' for different courses and that seems to be lost with some people. That score is SSS + your Hcp and is in no relation to Par. On a Par 72 (SSS 70) course you should score lower than on a Par 72 (SSS 74).

Your handicap is worked out using the SSS (well really the CSS) for your course. at my course the par is 71 but SSS is 75 and CSS can be higher or lower.

As your handicap is based on SSS/CSS then it should be transferable to any other course in relation to the SSS.

My handicap is based on playing a tough course but I get 4 extra shots compared to par to do it in to play to my handicap.

At a club where the course isn't as tough then the SSS will be lower so I will have fewer shots on the course to play to my handicap but if the course is easier then that works out correctly.

The slope system in the USA (and Oz/NZ) means the handicap is worked out on your own course but every course us rated in terms of difficulty compared to each other and when you arrive there will be a chart up on a wall somewhere for you to look up your handicap and it will tell you your handicap for that course.

Two different ways but ultimately they are designed to make us all equal at any course.

Judy,

A strange fact that I have come across here in Leeds is that lower Hcp players can play to their Hcp at Moor Allerton and Moortown, but struggle at Roundhay????

For the unknowing people Roundhay can be classed as a P'n'P compared to the other two.

I haven't played Roundhay for a few years and then it was before I had learnt to play so I can't really judge. I do remember that I was awful there. I find Moor Allerton really difficult. So many different elevations to judge and I get knackered with all the hills. It was after playing there that I invested in a electric trolley! I wonder what the SSS is at Roundhay - If I remember rightly it is a 9 hole course with two different tees for each hole...