Calculating Handicaps

[EDSGOLF]

Just wanted to get some golfer's opinions about this one. I enter my scores on a website to calculate my handicap, should I just continue adding my new scores or should I delete my previous scores to re-calculate my handicap? Thanks.

[el tigre]

Just wanted to get some golfer's opinions about this one. I enter my scores on a website to calculate my handicap, should I just continue adding my new scores or should I delete my previous scores to re-calculate my handicap? Thanks.

You should never delete previous scores for handicap calculations, but there is an official "season" for handicap calculations. In this area, I believe it is April 15th to October 31st but I'm not certain about it - perhaps someone else can chime in on this?

[Colby]

The OGA has a note on their website that the handicap season is from April 15th to October 31st inclusive. I emailed the QGA, the body responsible for the eastern Ontario area including Ottawa, and they said that they didn't have a handicap season, nor is there a notice of one on their website.

[LobWedge]

Just wanted to get some golfer's opinions about this one. I enter my scores on a website to calculate my handicap, should I just continue adding my new scores or should I delete my previous scores to re-calculate my handicap? Thanks.

Does this website calculate your official RCGA handicap? If so, then it will use the recognized formula which takes in to account the 10 best of your last 20 rounds to calculate your number, regardless of how many scores you have posted.

FYI, for those who don't currently have a registered handicap, you only need to record 5 rounds in order to generate a valid index for tournament play.

[BC MIST]

Does this website calculate your official RCGA handicap? If so, then it will use the recognized formula which takes in to account the 10 best of your last 20 rounds to calculate your number, regardless of how many scores you have posted. FYI, for those who don't currently have a registered handicap, you only need to record 5 rounds in order to generate a valid index for tournament play.

To Calculate your own "handicap factor," the formula is:
(1) (Adjusted score - course rating) X 113 / Slope Rating

(2) Average the best 10 of your last 20 of the above and multiply by .96 and that number is your handicap factor.

You do not have an official RCGA factor unless you are a dues paying member of a golf club that is also a member of your provincial organization (QGA in Ottawa) which makes it an automatic member of the RCGA.

Provincial organizations that have a "Public Player" programme allow you to establish an official handicap factor upon payment of the public player fees. Information about this programme will be available, in English, on the QGA website, on April 6.

Obviously, there is nothing stopping golfers, who want to see where their game stands relative to others, in determining a "handicap," using any method available, however, the handicap is not official. Perhaps golfers, who are members of the Ottawa Golf Tour, or any other similar organization, calculate a handicap for use in the OG tournaments, but again, the handicap is not official. Participating in the multitude of OVGA, QGA and RCGA tournaments, and local club invitational tournaments is not permitted, unless the golfer is a member of a recognized golf club. What tournaments the public player will be allowed to participate in, will be available soon.

[Colby]

Obviously, there is nothing stopping golfers, who want to see where their game stands relative to others, in determining a "handicap," using any method available, however, the handicap is not official. Perhaps golfers, who are members of the Ottawa Golf Tour, or any other similar organization, calculate a handicap for use in the OG tournaments, but again, the handicap is not official. Participating in the multitude of OVGA, QGA and RCGA tournaments, and local club invitational tournaments is not permitted, unless the golfer is a member of a recognized golf club. What tournaments the public player will be allowed to participate in, will be available soon.

For purposes of the OttawaGolf Tour, GStatPro is used to calculate the members unofficial RCGA handicap for purposes of cleaners and net score. GStatPro uses the formula that BC MIST mentions in his posting. The handicap calculated by GStatPro is unofficial for a number of reasons, some of which are that the software is not sanctioned by the RCGA (at least it wasn't last time I checked), the tour member may not be a member of an RCGA affiliated golf club or public player membership program, and the rules for the Tour deviate slightly from the Rules of Golf, those rounds should not be used for an official handicap calculation.

GStatPro is very good, I use it, but so are many others that perform the same function. What you will find with a lot of the online handicapping tools, all of them willgive you and USGA handicap, but very few will produce an RCGA handicap, and they are slightly different.