Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024 - 14

RULES PRIMER
More with Less
Recent World Handicap System revisions
are a boon to the game.
In
2020, the USGA and the R&A presented the World
Handicap System (WHS) and almost immediately
began to review the Rules of Handicapping and Course Rating
System, monitor the program's effects, collect data from posted
scores, analyze the results and then make small tweaks to the
program. On Jan. 16, 2024, golf's governing bodies implemented
changes to the system that are designed to benefit golfers
around the world.
The latest revisions include three major changes to the Rules
of Handicapping and Course Rating System that golfers of all
ages may encounter this season. (A fourth change primarily
affects club handicap committees.)
Treatment of Nine-Hole Scores
The treatment of nine-hole scores may affect most golfers, as
the governing bodies have promoted playing more nine-hole
rounds in recent times, and numbers show that golfers have
done so. Until the 2024 revision, a U.S. golfer could play seven
holes and post a nine-hole score (using net par for the two
unplayed holes to create a nine-hole differential), and that score
was typically combined with another (previous or subsequent)
nine-hole score to create an 18-hole differential.
The new rule change requires a golfer to play nine holes (from
tees with a published nine-hole course and slope rating) to create
a nine-hole score differential, and that score is combined
with an expected score differential (see sidebar), which is based
on the player's handicap index at the time the round was played,
to create an 18-hole score differential. This expected score differential
created from the golfer's index and data derived from
the nine-hole round played under the current conditions is
much more reflective of a golfer's current performance.
" It's a better representation of how a player plays over 18 holes
versus just a nine-hole round, " says Stacy Sazama, MGA member
services director. " We can play nine holes and score better
than playing an entire 18-hole round-because, as we know,
many things can change on that back nine. "
Formerly, golfers who played, for instance, a nine-hole round
in April and didn't play another until October, created an artificial
18-hole differential due to how, where and under what
conditions they were playing those disparate nine-hole rounds.
14
MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2024
" These changes will
make it easier for
golfers to establish
a handicap index by
accepting scores
from more courses. "
-Stacy Sazama
This new revision mitigates that. And according to Sazama, it
could affect a number of golfers.
" The nine-hole score is very popular with golfers these
days. Especially in Minnesota where we have a lot of nine-hole
leagues, " she says. " It's going to allow a player's handicap index
to change faster and be more responsive. "
Treatment of Scores When 10 to 17 Holes Are Played
Golfers familiar with using the GHIN app hole-by-hole posting
option are ahead of the game with the second change-
Treatment of Scores When 10 to 17 Holes Are Played. In the
past, when a golfer played only 10-13 holes, the scores on those
holes were discarded and a nine-hole differential was created.
If they played 14-17 (perhaps getting injured or rained out
before the 18th
hole), net par was used to create an 18-hole score
differential.
Those practices are now gone. With the revision, when
a golfer with a handicap index plays 10-17 holes, a score differential
is created based on the holes played and the player's
mngolf.org
* BY JOSEPH OBERLE *
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2024

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