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Handicap question

bahester

bahester

Follow me: @bahester
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
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Location
Raleigh, NC | Hillsboro, OR
Handicap
GHIN 9.6
Recently I've just been using a free program online to get a rough estimate of my handicap, but I'm looking to establish a real USGA handicap now. I did a little reading on some posts on here and I'm just a tad bit confused. Can I just register on USGA.org and pay the 30$ a year for a handicap? I'm not a member of any club since I'm a college student, I usually play different courses all the time. Will it just pick a club close to me to have my handicap registered to? Also, will I be able to input scores online or do I have to go to the actual clubhouse to input them? Thanks, sorry if these seem like dumb questions.
 
bahester said:
Recently I've just been using a free program online to get a rough estimate of my handicap, but I'm looking to establish a real USGA handicap now. I did a little reading on some posts on here and I'm just a tad bit confused. Can I just register on USGA.org and pay the 30$ a year for a handicap? I'm not a member of any club since I'm a college student, I usually play different courses all the time. Will it just pick a club close to me to have my handicap registered to? Also, will I be able to input scores online or do I have to go to the actual clubhouse to input them? Thanks, sorry if these seem like dumb questions.
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You need to be a club member. The reason is that posted scores need to be subject to peer review.

http://www.usga.org/handicapping/get_handicap/Getting-A-Handicap/
 
bahester said:
Ah, okay. Unfortunate, guess I'll keep using a program online. Anyone know of a pretty good one to use? I'm not sure the one I've currently been using (Clickitgolf) is worth much.
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If you are planning to use the index to play in any events, you will need an official index. I've never used any unofficial ones, so I can't help there. I'm sure others can make a good recommendation.
 
Oobgolf seems to work for me
 
THere are a lot of THPers using OOBgolf.. we have a group on there although I don't think all who THPers who are on Oobgolf are part of the group.
 
White Rhino said:
THere are a lot of THPers using OOBgolf.. we have a group on there although I don't think all who THPers who are on Oobgolf are part of the group.
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Awesome, signing up right now.
 
White Rhino said:
THere are a lot of THPers using OOBgolf.. we have a group on there although I don't think all who THPers who are on Oobgolf are part of the group.
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How do I join bro?
 
bahester said:
Awesome, signing up right now.
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Be sure to join the THP group, like WR said not everyone thinks to join, it is fun to keep up with how others are doing.
 
Joined, bahester is the name.
 
bahester said:
Recently I've just been using a free program online to get a rough estimate of my handicap, but I'm looking to establish a real USGA handicap now. I did a little reading on some posts on here and I'm just a tad bit confused. Can I just register on USGA.org and pay the 30$ a year for a handicap? I'm not a member of any club since I'm a college student, I usually play different courses all the time. Will it just pick a club close to me to have my handicap registered to? Also, will I be able to input scores online or do I have to go to the actual clubhouse to input them? Thanks, sorry if these seem like dumb questions.
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The word 'club' can be a little misleading to some. In essence, you just need to go to a course that manages handicaps, pay them some money ($30-40), and then you are in a 'club'. Depending on the club, you can just report your scores online from that point on. You don't need to be a member at a course to do it. That said, depending on your needs, the online sites typically use the same exact formulas to calculate.
 
Hawk said:
The word 'club' can be a little misleading to some. In essence, you just need to go to a course that manages handicaps, pay them some money ($30-40), and then you are in a 'club'. Depending on the club, you can just report your scores online from that point on. You don't need to be a member at a course to do it. That said, depending on your needs, the online sites typically use the same exact formulas to calculate.
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Thanks Hawk. That actually cleared up a lot. I thought I actually had to be a member of a club. That helps a lot. I think for now I'll just use the OOB site. Thanks for that info.
 
No problem. I looked into it last year, but didn't really see the point for my needs. I wasn't planning on using it anywhere official, so didn't see the need to spend the money.
 
I was going to say the same thing that Hawk said. Sometimes there are other incentives for joining one of these clubs. Around here, I join the local club, get my indexing and also become a NCGA member, which offers discounts on many courses (including many of the Monterey Peninsula courses). So the extra $40 actually adds a lot of value, just something to consider.
 
TheHeez said:
I was going to say the same thing that Hawk said. Sometimes there are other incentives for joining one of these clubs. Around here, I join the local club, get my indexing and also become a NCGA member, which offers discounts on many courses (including many of the Monterey Peninsula courses). So the extra $40 actually adds a lot of value, just something to consider.
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That's a good point. The CDGA has a newsletter and some other benefits too.
 
My home course is semi-private...all the members get GHIN service and official USGA handicaps....but the daily fee players can pay like $30-40 a year and get the same GHIN service from the club....they will even put in all your traveling scores if you bring the scorecard back and turn in in......most public courses have something like this...just ask where you play most...might be worth it.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
My home course is semi-private...all the members get GHIN service and official USGA handicaps....but the daily fee players can pay like $30-40 a year and get the same GHIN service from the club....they will even put in all your traveling scores if you bring the scorecard back and turn in in......most public courses have something like this...just ask where you play most...might be worth it.
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Many public courses permit their "members" to post all scores online, it is a choice made by the golf club whether to permit members to post online or not. If there are many public courses in your area, you can ask around and pay the $30 to which ever club allows you to post scores online. It doesn't have to be the club where you play most of your rounds. (if posting scores is all you want of a "membership")
 
White Rhino said:
THere are a lot of THPers using OOBgolf.. we have a group on there although I don't think all who THPers who are on Oobgolf are part of the group.
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I just signed up on that and copied over my scores from the yahoo handicap tracker which dropped my handicap by 5. Anyone know why that would be?
 
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