Handicap certificates

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

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.