[Fourputt]

The way the system is now, it is designed to make it hard to be successful when you aren't playing your best. Even if you aren't having health issues, you have to shoot to your handicap, not just to your average, to have a chance to finish well in a tournament. The system is also designed to reward your success when your handicap is moving down, but not when it's moving up. That means that you won't be competitive when it's moving in the wrong direction, and I know from personal experience that it's hard to take. I went through some injury issues over the last 6 years, and my handicap slowly went from 11 to 18, and during that time I won exactly $0 in club tournaments. But once I was over the difficulties, those fortunes reversed and I won (and still am) more than my fair share. My handicap is down to 12.8 now, and will be lower still when the next revision comes out on Friday. I should be close to stabilizing now, and I expect my results to be more normal as well.

As you recover your game from the surgery, you should experience about the same sort of swings as I did.

I doubt that there has ever been a system that has made everyone happy all the time, or ever will be, but I still think that the GHIN system is adequate until something better comes along.