The World Handicap System is now in place for nearly all golf clubs across the world following a collaboration between the major golf associations with the principle aim to ensure that handicaps are comparable across the world to ensure fairness of competition.
The new system is very detailed and complicated with new terms such as:
Handicap Index
Course Handicap
Playing Handicap
Maximum Hole Score
Slope Rating
Course Rating
Soft Cap
Hard Cap
Abnormal Weather Adjustments
Handicap Differential.
Basically the system needs to retain a record of a players last eight from 20 handicap differential scores to calculate their handicap index.
Together with the slope rating and course rating this handicap index is used to calculate the playing handicaps for that course on that day.
This system will become the norm for all golf clubs but the question arises locally here in Spain with a multitude of golf societies if they have the need or resources to fully implement the system.
There is a substantial amount of work for the society secretary or handicap secretary.
Many local societies use a platform such as www.societygolfing.co.uk and this has been modified to do the number crunching but the pre-competition work needed to obtain the playing handicap on any given day is still substantial.
I am sure that societies federated to the RFEG (Spanish Golf Federation) will be using this system fully but will the smaller societies operating from local bars be using the system or will they stick with the previous handicap system based on the Congu and EGA methods of calculation?
We will watch this space and provide feedback when known.