Did you know scores from fourball betterball (best ball) formats such as stroke play, Stableford, and Par/Bogey can be used for handicap purposes as part of the World Handicap System in Great Britain & Ireland?
It only applies to competition scores and not general play, and only if a stringent set of criteria are met.
But the next time you’re destroying the field in a pairs’ event you might see a swingeing cut coming to your handicap!
What are the fourball betterball handicap rules?
These new rules were brought in following changes to the World Handicap System in Great Britain & Ireland in April 2024.
Now, when a fourball betterball score from a competition is returned to the WHS portal by club software, it looks for some specific benchmarks. These are:
- A pair must have scored at least 42 points or six under par.
- One of the pair must have scored on a minimum of nine holes.
- That player’s round will then be upscaled – with points for their unplayed holes added based on their playing partner’s score.
- That will be 0 points if there is no score, one point if their partner has scored a point on a hole, and 1.5 points added where their partner has scored two or more points on a hole.
- If the total score of that player is then 36 or more points, a score differential will be calculated and the score will be added to the player’s record. If it does not, it will not be acceptable for handicap purposes.
The score may, or may not, count as one of the player’s best eight. Scores that do not meet the criteria will still be added to records but will not be used in calculations.
Players won’t be required to try and work out whether their scores are acceptable following the conclusion of a round.
Why can fourball betterball score count?
There is the obvious aim of taking away motivation from players to manipulate the system but it also gives more opportunities for golfers who may not submit lots of individual scores to play rounds that count for handicap purposes.
While fourball betterball scores and match play scores already count towards WHS in other handicapping jurisdictions, most notably the USA, NCG understands handicap chiefs in GB&I were reluctant to employ a method using most likely score – fearing it was too open to an individual golfer’s interpretation.
Most likely score allows players to add shots to their tally, depending on how far away their ball lies from the cup, if they have a valid reason for not completing a hole.
In fourball betterball, that can be because their partner has already holed out and they cannot better that score.
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With club golfers on this side of the pond very likely unwilling to accept such an arrangement, chiefs instead turned to a scaled method to have an impact.
What has been the impact?
That largely depends on who you consult. In a short, and very unscientific poll on X, I asked golfers whether the changes had made any difference to way fourball betterball competitions were being run, or to how they were being won.
More than half of respondents said there had been no change in their opinion, a third didn’t even realise fourball betterball scores could count for handicap, and only 12% said they had noticed any difference.
The changes were hugely popular with club committees when they were first unveiled by the home associations and, when asked by NCG, England Golf said the inclusion of fourball betterball scores had been positively received by golfers, as shared in their workshops.
But within a background of record scores submitted, the governing body said it currently “not in a position” to share stats on how many scores had met the criteria and had been added to WHS records since its introduction, the impact on wider handicaps, or if it had contributed to more scores being put in.
Now have your say
What do you think of these fourball betterball rules in GB&I? Will they help beef up security for pairs’ events? What do you think about 4 ball better ball handicap rules generally? Let me know with a comment on X.
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