USGA Handicap

[zenkar]

So i play at 3 public county courses in my area.. should i get it at one of the courses or online? i have never done a handicap thing before so im totally lost here. any and all help is welcome all i know is that i pay 25$ for it but dont know anything else LOL sorry for newbie questions

[Bravo]

Well if they offer handicapping services for an annual $25 fee, I would sign up. Then you obviously start posting scores after each round. Your handicap is determined by the 10 lowest of your most recent 20 rounds of play.

You should ascertain for absolute certain that the handicapping system is connected and operated through GHIN.com - which is the de facto U.S. golf handicapping system. One reason you want to insure that the local handicapping service is operated through GHIN, is because you can post scores online there. Because you play several different courses, you only need to know the Course Rating and Slope of the course you played and you can either enter the score at the course when you are done, or you can do it at home on the internet...

The odds that these courses are connected to GHIN are very high but you need to confirm it first.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by FKA Pa Jayhawk

If you play competitively you likely need an official handicap. Your local course can set you up for around $25 a year.

I use this, although it is not "official", it is accurate to the USGA and the people I play with accept it from me. Although it is unlikely I could use it in an official tournament. It is $19 one time fee for up to 10 golfers, I can update daily, and don't have to worry that the scores were entered incorrectly. It works on Excel, and they have a 30 day trial I believe.
http://www.djicomputer.com/HandicapManager.htm

Just pasting the response on the other thread in case someone is looking here through a search.

[ezra76]

http://www.golfserveadvantage.com/ap...p?u=ezra76&f=y

That's my scoring record and handicap through Golfserve if it will open for you. I can print an official card if I want to. It is USGA official and I can use it for tournaments if I so choose. Like I said it's $29.95 a year and comes with a Golf magazine subscription. A couple of guys on here pointed me in this direction when I was asking the same questions at the beginning of the year. I'm very pleased with the service.

[zenkar]

ok i joined golfserv.. so i have to basically message locals to go play with them?

[ezra76]

Yeah. You aren't in New England by chance? I sent messages to a few guys and got 2 responses from people wanting to play. It started off with not too many people in my area but is growing fast. I hope you enjoy it. It really makes my day to have a decent round and see that trend index drop.

[zenkar]

just checked my discussion forum.. not much going on at all...
seems really dead in my area... err 14 day money back though so i dont know. and i see someone posted about golfserv not being in GHIN or somthing. is it better to just email people in my area?


New jersey area (metro new york)

[Eracer]

I also use Golfserve. Beware though - while they do provide a USGA handicap, they are not GHIN certified. I don't think that means much unless you are participating in a tournament that requires it. It did prevent me from playing Muirfield when I went to Scotland. The Muirfield Committee required a GHIN handicap. But they were the only one that had a problem with my Golfserve card. All the others (St. Andrews, Carnoustie, etc.) were fine with it.

[ezra76]

What does GHIN stand for anyway? Gross handicap index?

Zenkar - I apologize if I have recommended a service that is not what you were looking for. This GHIN thing is news to me. I generally just use the service and stats as a personal yardstick of improvement and keeping tabs on areas I need to concentrate more on.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by ezra76

What does GHIN stand for anyway? Gross handicap index?

Golf Handicap and Information Network®
http://www.ghin.com/

[ezra76]

From what I see on that site the GHIN claims to be the largest handicap computation service, largest but not sole. They are affiliated with the USGA as a service provider. Am I mistaken, or does this mean that GHIN is just a service a club chooses to use, but not the only and required choice? I'll have to ask some questions over at Golfserve before next year. I will probably want to do a few tournaments when I join the course over near my new place.

[Eracer]

I'm not an authority on the subject, but my understanding is that GHIN is the recognized authority that certifies whether a handicapping service meets USGA requirements, thus validating the service in the eyes of tournament and club committees.