Handicapping Corner
28 APR 2022
Please enter all your scores.
The purpose of the Handicap System is to make the game of golf more enjoyable by enabling players of differing abilities to compete on an equitable basis. The System provides a fair Course Handicap for each player, regardless of ability, and adjusts a player’s Handicap Factor up or down as the player’s game changes.
A Handicap Factor is a measure of a player’s potential ability and is useful for all forms of play. The System disregards high scores that bear little relation to the player’s potential ability and promotes continuity by making a Handicap Factor continuous from one playing season or year to the next. In Ontario, we use the Golf Canada Handicap System to record scores.
Two basic premises underlie the Handicap System, namely that each player will try to make the best score at every hole in every round, regardless of where the round is played, and that the player will post every acceptable round for peer review. The player and the player’s Handicap Committee have a joint responsibility for adhering to these premises.
Scores should be recorded for the Handicap system during an active season. An “active season” is the period during which the scores made in an area will be accepted for handicap purposes determined by the authorized golf association having jurisdiction in a given area.
In Ontario, the active season is from April 15 to October 31. The active season in Florida is year-round.
Therefore, if a player belonging to a golf club in Ontario plays golf in Florida during January, any scores made in Florida are acceptable and must be entered into the player’s Ontario golf club handicap system. If the player is also a member of a golf club in Florida, scores must be posted to the player’s Florida club.
If you are one of the lucky ones whose winter avoidance program includes golf in warmer climates you should still be posting your scores to the Golf Canada Handicap System. If you did post your scores to the USGA system but not to the Golf Canada Handicap System please let Steve LeBlanc at sleblanc@clublink.ca know your Golf Club name, Location and GHIN ID number and he will be able to have the scores ported over.
Please enter all your scores.
Brian Gore
Handicap Committee