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Handicap calculation question?

SuperStroke
skywalker

skywalker

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14.6
I have been playing golf for close to three years and have never known my handicap. I have assumed that I was around 20. Recently I purchased a Bushnell Yardage Pro XGC and have been logging my scores into the device as I play and when I get home I have synced my device with iGOLF.com. Yesterday I finally had enough rounds that it calculated my handicap and I was astonished that it told me I was an 8.5. My average score is around 93 and I guess my question is this a trustworthy source for finding out my handicap?
 
If you shoot 93 on average then Yes, you are a 20-21 HCP depending on a par 72 course. That GPS is very wrong there.
 
I doubt it. It depends on the course rating/slope. If you shoot around a 93 you would have to be playing incredibly difficult courses, (high slope rating), for your handicap to be 8.5 (may not even be possible as course ratings only go up to 155). There are lots of websites that allow you to track your scores and get a recreational handicap #. For tournament purposes only USGA GHIN handicaps are usually accepted but if you are just curious these websites will work good.
 
Alot of people including myself use Fairwayfiles, but GHIN and OOB are good too.
 
That does not sound right at all. How many scores are used in this calculation? If there are only a few scores then some low scores could skew the results. If the system is accurate, only lower scores are used, the higher half of your scores are discarded in the calculation. It is not an average of scores, course ratings, course slope, and score are used to compute a differential. Those differentials of the lowest scores are averaged then 96% of THAT average is your handicap index. Use the index to look up your course handicap for the course you play, handicap can be different for different courses or different tees at the same facility.
 
I believe the USGA system takes the rolling best 10 of your last 20 rounds, then multiples the average score over par by 0.96.

So for example, if your best 10 rounds of your last 20 were all 93's, then your handicap would be 21 x 0.96 = 20.2

Hope that helps.
 
We recently added someone new to GHIN at our course. After 5 rounds he established a handicap based on only the best one of the five. Maybe that's what happened here? It will be a better average after 20 scores are entered.
 
Thanks for all the responses everyone. I will check out the other sources that have been suggested. I love the Bushnell GPS device I am using. Hopefully as I play more rounds my handicap calculation will make more sense. Right now am at the minimum # for getting a handicap calculation, maybe the sample size is too small. That said I do not feel that I am as good as the 8.5 handicap suggests.
 
Range finders are good for finding yardage....not calculatiing handicaps.
 
Take your average score minus the course rating X 113 divided by the slope. Your actual handicap will be your 10 best of the last 20 using this formula.
 
Should have added...If you only have 7-8 rounds it is using your two best to calculate handicap, so it is very possible you show a 8.5. You can't get a true picture until you get 20 rounds in. To get your final handicap index do as Radical says...Take your average differential of your 10 best rounds out of 20 x .96.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
Range finders are good for finding yardage....not calculatiing handicaps.
Click to expand...


The GPS does not calculate the handicap. The iGolf website does after my scores are downloaded from my GPS to the website. The website has all the course info used for the handicap calculation.

Thanks for the response.
 
Of the 10 scores I had a couple in the low 80's, one was at a fairly difficult course. Those score could have skewed the data.

I appreciate all the responses!
 
skywalker said:
Of the 10 scores I had a couple in the low 80's, one was at a fairly difficult course. Those score could have skewed the data.

I appreciate all the responses!
Click to expand...

That would definitely be the case. Remember that handicap is your potential based on your best 10 scores out of your last 20, not your average. At least that's the case in the USA. I know Canadians have said theirs is an average of all scores.
 
KellyBo said:
That would definitely be the case. Remember that handicap is your potential based on your best 10 scores out of your last 20, not your average. At least that's the case in the USA. I know Canadians have said theirs is an average of all scores.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the help!
 
Titleistforlife said:
Should have added...If you only have 7-8 rounds it is using your two best to calculate handicap, so it is very possible you show a 8.5. You can't get a true picture until you get 20 rounds in. To get your final handicap index do as Radical says...Take your average differential of your 10 best rounds out of 20 x .96.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info! Much appreciated!
 
BulldogsGolf said:
If you shoot 93 on average then Yes, you are a 20-21 HCP depending on a par 72 course. That GPS is very wrong there.
Click to expand...
Radical said:
I believe the USGA system takes the rolling best 10 of your last 20 rounds, then multiples the average score over par by 0.96.

So for example, if your best 10 rounds of your last 20 were all 93's, then your handicap would be 21 x 0.96 = 20.2

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...



Handicap is not average. Better check that out. As was mentioned before, depending on the course you play averaging 93 could give you a much higher or much lower handicap than 20 or 21. It only takes into account 10 of your last 20 scores, plus the difficulty of the course is figured in as well.
 
True...It is not an average, but if you only have a few rounds in, the average of those rounds using the formula would be a truer picturer of what the handicap is right now without waiting for 20 rounds. In my opinion your true handicap index doesn't show up until you hit 20 rounds.

The other thing that I use the formula for is seeing how I stacked up on a course. For example...THis spring I played the Stadium Course at Sawgrass from the Whites and shot a 80. 80-71.5 (course rating from White) = 8.5 x 113 = 960.5 / 133 (slope from white) = 7.22 . I check it out on every out of town course I play and it lets me see how I played the course from the tees I chose.
 
oh yea...

oh yea...

I know, I know...I beat Tiger at Sawgrass!!!!! :clapp::banana:
 
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