Acceptable Scores for Handicap Purposes
- All 9 hole and 18 hole Singles Competition Rounds in Authorised Formats must be submitted for handicap purposes, subject to the competition being played to the Rules of Golf and over the measured length of the course [ 2 ]
- Scores from team competitions and match play will not be acceptable in England initially, although this may change based on feedback from other jurisdictions that include those formats
- The recommendation from England Golf is that scores from regular organised social events (Swindles and roll-ups) in authorised formats are submitted
Pre-registration
- Players are required to register their intention to submit a score from general (non-competition) play before commencing the round [ 3 ]
- Scores submitted from general play are called Social Scores and are similar to the current Supplementary Scores
Minimum Number of Holes
- Scores may be submitted over 9 holes or 18 holes.
- All 9 holes must be played to submit a 9 hole score. It is anticipated that two 9 holes scores will be combined to produce one 18 hole score on the Scoring Record (awaiting claification from CONGU/England Golf)
- An 18 hole score will count as long as 10 or more holes have been completed. Holes not played are recorded as Net Par or (Net Par + 1), depending on the number not played. [ 4 ]
Adjusted Gross Score
- For handicap purposes a big score on any hole is reduced to Net Double Bogey, using the player’s Course Handicap. Holes started, but not completed are also recorded as Net Double Bogey [ 5 ]
Score Differential
- The Adjusted Gross Scores is compared with the Course Rating and is “de-sloped” to give the Score Differential for the round, which is added to the player’s Scoring Record [ 6 ]
Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC)
- Determines if course and weather conditions on the day differed from normal to the extent that they significantly impacted players’ performance
- Calculated using all scores submitted on the course that day, as long as 8 or more golfers with a Handicap Index of less than 36 and a fully developed Scoring Record played
- It is conservative in nature and can increase the Adjusted Gross Score by 1 in easy conditions or decrease it by 1, 2 or 3 in difficult conditions [ 8 ]
9 Hole Scores
A 9 hole Score Differential is calculated as
= [ 113 / 9 hole Slope Rating ] x [ 9 hole Adjusted Gross Score – 9 hole Course Rating – (0.5 x PCC) ]