Season officially begins on Tuesday, March 1.
(This is the first day for accepting scores)
Season officially ends Tuesday, November 15.
(This is the final day for accepting scores)
All revisions will take place on the 1st and 15th of every month during the active season. The 2011 handicap revision dates are as follow:
|
REVISION |
DATE |
|
Season Opener |
March 1 |
|
1 |
March 15 |
|
2 |
April 1 |
|
3 |
April 15 |
|
4 |
May 1 |
|
5 |
May 15 |
|
6 |
June 1 |
|
7 |
June 15 |
|
8 |
July 1 |
|
9 |
July 15 |
|
10 |
August 1 |
|
11 |
August 15 |
|
12 |
September 1 |
|
13 |
September 15 |
|
14 |
October 1 |
|
15 |
October 15 |
|
16 |
November 1 |
|
Final |
November 15 |
|
Off Season |
December 1 |
|
Off Season |
December 15 |
To clarify, while the Handicap Index will revise year round, the season for posting scores will be March 1 to November 15. Any rounds played in the region during the months of November through February are NOT to be posted for handicap purposes. However, if rounds are played in areas of the country that are in season, they are to be posted.
Season Ends November 15, 2011
Annual Club dues shall be made in two (2) payments. Statements are mailed on or before April 15 and September 15 of each year and are due within thirty (30) days. Dues shall not be prorated for any part of the year, provided, however, that dues for the current year shall be waived in the case of a new application effective after September 14TH of such year.
To: Authorized Golf Association
From: Mary Kate Kemp
Subject: USGA University –“Welcome to the Handicap Committee”
What is USGA University?
USGA University is an online training tool that will afford an educational outreach for you to use as a potential communication tool to train new club Handicap Chairpersons, Handicap Committees or new association personnel.
From the USGA perspective, this online training tool is an interactive way to provide quality training to a large audience spread across vast distances. It allows the user the flexibility to learn, and also maintains the goal of having the USGA Handicap System™ taught consistently throughout the country.
If you would like to offer this course to any of your association member clubs please submit an e-mail with the following information – Participant’s name, e-mail address and your association name, and once the clubs are registered they will be contacted with the access information and password.
There is no cost involved in viewing “Welcome to the Handicap Committee” on USGA University. You just need to register with the Handicap Department prior to logging on. Please write to Jo Vargas (jvargas@usga.org) or myself (mkkemp@usga.org) to register.
Thank you.
Please note: This course is not being made available to the general public, so only authorized golf associations and its selected participants will be able to view Welcome to the Handicap Committee.
Remember, you must register and obtain a password to access USGA University.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Here’s how to access USGA University
Go to: http://www.epathlearning.com/USGA/learnerLogin/login.html
Enter your email address: For example: jsmith@aol.com
Your password: Call the USGA Handicap Department to register – (908) 234-2300
Sincerely,
USGA Handicap Department
United States Golf Association
P.O. Box 708, 77 Liberty Corner Road
Far Hills, NJ 07931
(908) 234-2300
FAX (908) 234-1513
www.usga.org
Allocation of Handicap Strokes
In general, the handicap stroke allocation that appears on the scorecard indicates the ranking of holes in which a higher handicapped player most needs a stroke(s) in order to obtain a half in a singles or four-ball match play event. A common misconception is that the handicap stroke allocation is a ranking of the degree of difficulty of holes on the course, but it is not. A handicap stroke should be an equalizer and should be available on a hole where it would most likely be needed by a higher handicapped player.
The USGA has two recommendations for determining the allocation of strokes based on a match play format outlined Section 17-2 of “The USGA Handicap System” manual, the comparison method and the regression method. Each method uses scores collected by the Handicap Committee to develop a mathematical relationship between high and low handicap players, not necessarily in relation to the difficulty of the hole or par of the hole. In other words, a hole may be a difficult for both the high and low handicap players, meaning it would not rank numerically low for handicap stroke allocation. These methods look for the disparity in scores versus Course Handicap to determine lowest to highest ranking. Since no mathematical formula can evaluate the varying conditions from course to course, it is important for the Handicap Committee to review the results and customize the rankings to their golf course using the suggestions provided in Section 17-1 of “The USGA Handicap System” manual.
Good judgment is of prime importance because no formula can cover conditions on every golf course.
For stroke play competitions in which the allocation of handicap strokes is relevant (e.g., Four-Ball, Best-Ball-of-Four, Skins, and Stableford competitions) the Handicap Committee may decide to develop an allocation table that ranks holes according to their difficulty in relation to par. (See Section 17-5.)
The procedure for determining the allocation of handicap strokes can be found in Section 17 of “The USGA Handicap Booklet.
