HANDICAPS

It is the goal of the Handicap Committee that all handicaps accurately reflect the playing abilities of our members. To meet this goal, we need the help of all members. We are requesting that all scorecards for rounds played at Callippe be turned in. The handicap committee will review these cards, and make corrections as necessary.

If there are any questions about handicaps, posting, etc., please contact the Handicap Director through the website.

Posting Scores:

Home Scores: You must post all rounds played, and we request that you submit a scorecard in the box attached to the computer stand. The scorecard should clearly (key word, as it saves our eyes) show your full name (first and last), GHIN number, tees played, course handicap, gross score and score adjusted for Equitable Stroke Control (ESC – see more below). Also, be sure that your math is correct! The submitted scorecard is the deciding factor in resolving any discrepancies, so be sure that it is correct. If you post a home score on the Internet, please try to put the scorecard in the box within a day or two of posting.

Tournaments: Do NOT post your score for tournament rounds, we will post for you.

Away Scores: You should not submit a scorecard for away scores posted at the course played. If you are unable to post at that course, and post instead at Callippe, you should then put the away scorecard in the box.

Errors:

The following is a list of the most common mistakes in posting scores. Please take a look at the list, remember these items, and carefully review your scorecard before posting your score. The handicap committee will notify you when any of these errors appear on your scorecard or in the posting of your score.

ESC - Not adjusting per Equitable Stroke Control – see below
FTP - Failure To Post, card in the box
PE - Posting Errors (posting a score different than scorecard)
ME - Math Errors (score posted matched card, but card has math errors)

Equitable Stroke Control (ESC): ESC is a procedure used by the USGA in the calculation of handicaps that eliminates very bad holes from impacting handicaps to a disproportionate degree. ESC sets the maximum number that a player can post on any hole, depending on the player's course handicap (not their index). That table is shown below. One caveat: if your index is around one of the break points, such as 9.5, 10.1, 19.8, 20.2, etc., you should be very careful to check your course handicap before applying ESC. A 19.8 index may be a 19 handicap at one course (with a maximum per hole score of 7) and a 21 handicap at another course (with a maximum per hole score of 8), depending on the Slope Rating of the course. Most courses should have the Slope table that shows index ranges and corresponding handicaps, so be sure to check.
For example: you are a 16 handicap, playing with your regular group or in a tournament, and on the 15th at Callippe, you dump a couple of approaches in the water, then compound the error with a three-putt, end up with a smooth 10 on the hole, and including the 10, shoot an 87. For purposes of the tournament, or for any bets you might have with your friends, you must put the 10 on the scorecard. However, when you post the round on the computer, you have to adjust your score down, because the most strokes you can take for posting purposes as a 16 handicap is 7 on any one hole. Therefore, you should post an 84, reducing the 10 to a 7, and the 87 to an 84.

Callippe Golf Club Local Index Policy

The USGA has done studies on the odds of a golfer shooting a score better than their handicap and has published tables for these occurrences. Callippe Golf Club will track these exceptional scores shot in Callippe Golf Club and other tournaments. These include home tournaments, away tournaments, all rounds played in the summer long match play, and any other score posted as a “T” score in the GHIN network. An exceptional score is defined as any score where the odds of shooting that tournament score are 25:1 or greater.

Tournament scores are reviewed at the beginning of each new handicap period. If a member has two or more exceptional tournament scores within the prior six month period, a “local index” will be calculated for that member. This local index will be the average differential (gross score minus course rating) of the two lowest exceptional scores multiplied by 0.96. If this computed local index is at least 1.0 lower than the member’s published NCGA index, this will become that member’s “local index” to be used in Callippe Golf Club tournaments. This is done so that handicaps used in Callippe Golf Club tournaments “appropriately reflect a member’s potential ability” (USGA wording).

The local index will be dropped in either of the following conditions:

• The member no longer has two or more exceptional tournament scores in the six-month period immediately prior to the current handicap period. .
• The NCGA index drops to less than 1.0 greater than the local index

The NCGA also conducts an annual review of all net scores recorded in NCGA handicap events for the past three years. If a golfer outperforms their handicap by a wide margin in these events, then the NCGA institutes a maximum handicap level at which this golfer can participate in NCGA events. This maximum handicap is communicated in writing to the golfer and to the local golf club. Any maximum handicap level assigned to an individual by the NCGA will also be utilized as that individual’s maximum handicap level for participation in Callippe Golf Club tournaments.