Handicap

Process is TBD. Information below is from 2023 and subject to change. 

 

If you already have a GAP GHIN Account:

  • Work with our Co-Presidents and Handicap lead, Shari Beers via the chapter email LPGAAmateursLehighValley@gmail.com to activate or inactivate your account.
  • Annual account fees are $30 per member and will be invoiced to members by June 1
  • GHIN account holders that are not LPGA Amateurs member will be inactivated on May 1

To setup a new GAP GHIN Account:

  • TBD

Handicaps 101

What are the LPGA Amateur requirements for handicaps?

Any member interested in playing in the LPGA Amateur Championship series (match cup, par 3 challenge, stroke play, or competitive scramble team) must enter two (2) 18-hole rounds of four (4) 9-hole rounds into GolfNet or USGA/WHS before the championship season begins.

So, You Want to Establish a Handicap Index … What’s Next?

All LPGA Amateurs Lehigh Valley members can obtain an official USGA/WHS Handicap Index through the Philadelphia Area Golf association (https://gapgolf.org/). Every member is encouraged to obtain a Handicap Index (also known as a GHIN account).

Depending on the types of events you want to play, you have a few account options:

1. You can setup an account with the USGA ($60/year) for access to all amateur tournaments and score keeping/handicap index. Details are available via the Golf Association of Philadelphia website. Click "Join" to get started.

2. You can setup an account through a local golf course (typically $40-50/year) for access to all USGA amateur events and possibly other discounts/course events. You can do this through the link above and select a specific course.

3. The Chapter's Handicap Chair can setup a Chapter account which provides score keeping and handicap index only. This is $30/year and does not allow you to participate in the amateur tournaments. 

I just enter my scores, right?

Yes, assuming you played the hole to completion, taking the necessary number of strokes to hole out. This eliminates double-par rules and “gimmies”, requiring you to enter your true score for each hole.

Play 9, Post 9! GHIN accepts 9-hole and 18-hole scores. Be sure to include all rounds.

Which scores can’t be tracked?

Those rounds where you played alone cannot be tracked. The USGA “peer review” rule, enacted 1/1/2016, requires you play with a fellow competitor, caddie, opponent, tournament marker, or friend riding along in the cart for the round to be considered not playing alone.

During winter months in some states, scores are not posted. This is referred to as the inactive season, which in Pennsylvania lasts from November 1-March 31, New Jersey November 15-March 31, and Delaware November 15-March 31.

So, what happens if you take a winter vacation to a warmer climate? It is likely that the course played (e.g., Arizona) was in its active season, so the round must be posted even if the home course (PA, NJ, DE) is inactive. A state-by-state list of inactive season information is available on USGA.com.

I already have a GHIN #. How do I add it to the Chapter GHIN account?

If you are an existing GHIN user and want to change your Club to the Lehigh Valley Chapter, send your GHIN member number to LPGAAmateursLehighValley@gmail.com and we will make the change for you. The 2023 USGA fees for a GHIN account are $60/year. Since our Chapter is defined as a "non-real estate club", our Chapter GHIN members will pay $30/year in 2023. 

What is a Digital Profile?

A new requirement for 2023 is the advent of Digital Profiles in the GHIN system. This means that every golfer who wishes to post a score using either the GHIN Mobile App or GHIN.com needs to first create a profile. If a golfer does not set up this GHIN Digital Profile, the only posting option is through the score posting kiosk at a golf course. 

  • Go to GHIN.com or to the mobile app to create this profile, with one important distinction - to be able to create a profile, the golfer’s email address must be on file with GHIN.
  • If your email address is not on file, and you are a member of the Chapter GHIN account, send an email to LPGAAmateursLehighValley.com to make the update. 

 

 How does the WHS differ from the old USGA handicap index?

 

USGA

WHS

1. Fewer scores count toward your Index

Under the old USGA system, 10 of your past 20 rounds contributed to your Handicap Index.

With the WHS, that number falls to eight of your past 20. The reduction allows for greater responsiveness to good scores and rewards more consistent play.

2. Your Index updates in your sleep

A new Index was generated on the first and 15th of each month

A new Index is calculated daily (or at least any day after a golfer posts a new score). This is meant to create a more responsive handicap and keeps players from having to wait up to two weeks for new scores to have an impact.

3. Welcome to the net-double-bogey world

To safeguard against (cough) sandbagging (cough), the USGA system employed Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) to cap the maximum score on any hole. ESC was calculated on a sliding scale, depending on your course handicap (10-19 could take no more than a 7 on any hole, 20-29 took a max of 8, etc.).

The WHS also has a maximum, but it uses net double bogey as the universal standard. This provides consistency in its application and is a nod to handicap systems used in other parts of the world, particularly those that use Stableford scoring, where net double bogey is the equivalent of zero points.

4. Your Index will weather the storm

N/A

A “playing conditions calculation” (PCC) that adjusts how your score impacts your Index depending on the average of all scores posted at that course that day. Say 20 mile-per-hour winds cause you to shoot in the high 80s when you normally post 78s and 79s. The WHS algorithm accounts for this to keep the score from negatively affecting your Index, particularly if all scores that day were high.

5. How many shots you’re getting will change

Previously, your course handicap represented the number of strokes you got based on your Handicap Index in relation to course rating

Now course handicaps reflect the strokes you get in relation to par, a more intuitive measure for most golfers. Note that course-handicap values from tee to tee will vary more under the new system. Golfers playing forward tees will get fewer strokes than before, and those playing back tees will get more. This might affect matches in which you’re playing from one tee and your opponent is playing from another. It’s possible you’ll receive or have to give more strokes than in the past. But if you’re playing the same tees, the difference in the shots you’re giving/getting from an opponent should be minimal.