The Handicap on holes

[5iron]

Handicaps for holes are not based on level of difficulty for the hole. And another thing is that the front nine has all even handicapped holes and the back has all odd handicapped holes. With the exception of me being wrong and mixing these up with odd and even for which nine. And i think for a nine hole golf course i guess you wouldnt have an 18 handicapped hole( let alone anything over 9), and if one of the nines is difficult i think golf digest said the back nine, but im not sure, then the odds and evens would get jumbled or something, or atleast one of them would. I think Golf Digest said that holes have handicaps for helping match play, no matter it was in the new Golf Digest with Phil Mickelson on the cover. Sorry if i didnt make any sense because i read it and i got lost. Thanks -

[utahgolf]

By having a holes "handicap", you are indeed ranking the holes difficulty from 1-18. With 1 being the hardest 'ranked' hole on the golf course and 18 being the easiest. It is used mainly for stroke play and match play events, to see what holes players will receive strokes according to their handicap at that point in time.

Example:

If I am a 6 handicap, I will receive strokes on the holes ranked 1-6 in difficultly, no matter what side they are on.

[goatster]

the handicap is based on hardest to easiest holes.

9 hole courses usually have all odd numbers on the front as there is no back nine 1 &10 are the same hole.so 1 is the hardest hole and 3 is the second hardest.this may differ if a course has drastically different tee boxes for the back nine then it may change up the handicap.i have never seen it but i imagine it is possible.

atleast this is how i understand it.

[PhillyEagle]

Originally Posted by goatster

the handicap is based on hardest to easiest holes.

9 hole courses usually have all odd numbers on the front as there is no back nine 1 &10 are the same hole.so 1 is the hardest hole and 3 is the second hardest.this may differ if a course has drastically different tee boxes for the back nine then it may change up the handicap.i have never seen it but i imagine it is possible.

atleast this is how i understand it.

Wow I never even noticed that, I just looked at a score card and saw that was true. Learn something new every day.

[Augster]

Hole handicaps are mainly used in match play. If you are a 10 you get 1 shot on each of the 10 hardest holes, 1-10. If you are a 27, you get a shot on all 18, and two shots on the hardest, 1-9.

Hole handicaps are set up for the "average player". Thusly, you will see many par 5's listed with low handicap numbers. This is because your "average player" has trouble hitting the ball long. Or straight for that matter.

Your better players eat up the par 5's and try to survive the long par 3's.

Because most betting has a wager for the front, a wager for the back, and an overall, you will see the odd holes on the front and the even holes on the back. This makes the betting a bit more even. If you were a 6 handicap and they just ranked the holes regardless of where they were at, you may have something like 5 stroke holes on the front and 1 stroke hole on the back if one nine is significantly tougher than the other.

The betting then, most all of the time, the guy getting 6 shots (5 front, 1 back) would win the front, and lose the back almost every day. By having the hole handicaps evenly spaced between front and back, thusly having the 6 getting 3 and 3, it makes the matches a little more fair and unpredictable.

Lastly, if you are getting shots and you have a choice between medal and match, always take match play. If you are giving shots, always push for medal. Giving/getting strokes is much more dis/advantageous in match play than medal.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by utahgolf

By having a holes "handicap", you are indeed ranking the holes difficulty from 1-18. With 1 being the hardest 'ranked' hole on the golf course and 18 being the easiest. It is used mainly for stroke play and match play events, to see what holes players will receive strokes according to their handicap at that point in time.

Example:

If I am a 6 handicap, I will receive strokes on the holes ranked 1-6 in difficultly, no matter what side they are on.

Not true. Look at it more carefully. They are normally ranked by the likelihood of a bogey golfer needing a stroke to tie a scratch golfer. Look at a lot of courses. They often have par 5 holes ranked as some of the lower handicap holes, usually 8 or lower. That is because with more strokes required to negotiate the hole, the bogey golfer has more chances to screw up a shot. The scratch golfer is less likely to make that kind of an error. On my home course, the number 2, 5, 7 and 8 handicap holes are the four par 5 holes. Yet they are far from the most difficult holes.The 200 yard par 3 13th is the #14 handicap, and it is far more difficult a hole to play. But it is almost as difficult for the par golfer as it is for the bogey golfer (i.e. both will make bogey there almost as often), thus it is less likely that the bogey golfer will need a stroke there.

This from the USGA Handicap Manual:

a. Basis of Allocation Allocate strokes based on play of the course from the tee markers used most often by the majority of club members.
Allocate the first stroke to the hole on the first nine on which the higher-handicapped player most needs a stroke as an equalizer and the second stroke to the hole on the second nine on which the higher-handicapped player most needs a stroke as an equalizer. Alternate in this manner for the full 18 holes.
Generally the longer the hole, the greater the need for the higher-handicapped player to receive a stroke.

That is how the USGA recommends that the handicapping be structured. Not all courses follow the procedure as recommended, which is why you see a lot of disparity from course to course, but when it's done correctly, the holes are rated as I stated above. Also, when possible, the first and tenth holes are never supposed to be the #1 or the #2 handicap hole, so that in the event of a tied match going to a playoff, the higher handicap player is less likely to get a stroke on the first playoff hole.

[papperlapub]

Hi,

Everybody is right here. It USED to be true, that the holes are ranked from most difficult to easiest. Now they tend to change it so it gets more equal between the scratch golfer and the boegey golfer, exactly as said before.

I personally like it a lot more the traditional way !!!!

[trumb1mj]

has an article on this. They say that handicap is not only based on difficulty. Handicaps are mostly manifested for match play. Anyone else read this?

[slickpitt]

Handicaps on the score card at my local course seemsto hold up as hardest to easiest. I never noticed the front nine being all odd and back being even... call me captain observant.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by trumb1mj

has an article on this. They say that handicap is not only based on difficulty. Handicaps are mostly manifested for match play. Anyone else read this?

I didn't read the article, but you're right... individual hole handicaps are really only useful for match play. In stroke play, you just take your course handicap and adjust your final stroke total by that amount. It doesn't matter where the strokes are given. But in match play, getting or giving a stroke can be crucial in deciding who wins a certain hole, and ultimately the match. Having those strokes allotted as equitably as possible is the fairest way to apply the handicaps.

[sacm3bill]

Note that another use for the hole handicaps are for calculating an estimated score for unplayed holes. (You can submit an 18-hole score if 13 or more holes are played, and a 9 hole score if 7 or more holes are played.) To estimate the score to use for the unplayed holes, you take the par for each hole and add the number of strokes you get on that hole (based on your course handicap as described above.)

And in case it wasn't made clear earlier, your course handicap is not the same thing as your handicap index. Your handicap index is used in conjunction with the particular course's slope to determine your handicap for that course.