We just turn up and play. We check our handicaps on the scorecard and run through the app to see the damage we’ve done during our round the following day.
Outside of pre-registering and returning a scorecard, our interactions with the World Handicap System may not go too much further than grumbling about the number that’s won this week’s Stableford.
But did you know that, just like the Rules of Golf, players have got certain responsibilities for handicapping when they play a round?
Appendix A of the Rules of Handicapping may not be your idea of bedtime reading, but there are 10 key things listed there that all players need to carry out in order to comply with regulations.
Most of these you’ll do just by playing golf in the right way, but there may be a couple of these golf handicap rules that surprise you…
Player responsibilities under the Rules of Handicapping
1. Act with integrity by following the Rules of Handicapping. Don’t use the rules, or circumvent them, “for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage”.
2. Have only one handicap index from a single scoring record, which is managed by your home club.
3. Ensure each golf club where you are a member knows of “all other golf clubs that they are a member of” and which you have designated to be your home club.
4. Before you play your round, “in an authorised format of play” of course, make sure you know your current handicap index, tell your handicap or competition committee of any problems with that number, and hand in any “outstanding scores yet to be submitted or posted” to your scoring record. You also need to make sure you’re aware where you are either giving or receiving strokes during a round.
5. Attempt to the make the best score possible at each hole.
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6. Where you can, make sure all your acceptable scores are submitted for handicap purposes. That includes scores from “outside the player’s home jurisdiction”. You need to do that before midnight on the day you played and in the “correct chronological order”.
7. Submit acceptable scores to provide “reasonable evidence of… demonstrated ability”.
8. Gone to a new club? Make sure you give your new golfing home full details of your previous playing history, your handicap index, memberships, and “any other information relevant” to your playing ability.
9. Play by the Rules of Golf.
10. Certify the scores of fellow players – also known as: mark, make sure their scores are correct, and sign their cards.
Frequently Asked Questions about the World Handicap System
What is the World Handicap System?
Also known colloquially as WHS, the system was developed by the R&A and USGA together with existing handicapping bodies around the world.
Designed to be unified, it aims to provide a “single, consistent measure of playing ability that calculates a golfer’s handicap in the same way regardless of their location in the world”.
It is now used by more than 120 national associations. With the Rules of Golf, Rules of Handicapping and Rules of Amateur Status under a single set of regulations, WHS brought handicapping under the same umbrella.
What are the benefits?
The R&A, on their website, say the benefits of WHS are:
- Consistency of calculation around the world;
- Portability of handicaps from course to course and country to country;
- As the world becomes a smaller place with a much greater frequency of international play, the development of a single handicap system facilitates easier administration of international events;
- The potential for National Associations to focus attention on other areas.
How does the World Handicap System work?
Your Handicap Index is worked out from the lowest scoring differentials in your record. A full record is considered to be one that contains at least 20 scores.
The index is then calculated by averaging the best eight of those 20.
Having obtained a Handicap Index, that is converted into a Course Handicap which takes into account the difficulty of the course and the tees from which you are playing.
Working out that number requires considering a number of factors, including Course Rating, Slope Rating and Bogey Rating.
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In competitions only, depending on the format, an allowance can then be applied that changes the Course Handicap.
But this Playing Handicap, which aims to provide equity, does not affect the Score Differential produced for your handicap record.
How can I get a Handicap Index?
Join a golf club, or an independent golfer scheme (such as iGolf in England or OpenPlay in Scotland) and submit a minimum of 54 holes.
That can be done using any combination of 9- and 18-hole scores.
Who runs the World Handicap System?
It is governed by both the R&A and USGA. They, with the help of governing bodies across the world, set the rules and regulations.
The administration of the scheme, as well as the responsibility for ensuring it runs as it should, is the responsibility of national associations.
They are issued licences to run WHS, which actually gives them considerable authority at local level.
Is the World Handicap System the same in all countries?
No. National Associations have discretion to alter small parts of the system depending on the golfing culture of their countries.
For example, in the United States, ‘most likely score’ allows players to pick up and add a score to handicap in certain conditions and formats but is not applicable in GB&I.
The aim is for the system to maintain its key principles – such as Course Rating and Slope – but allow for some flexibility in formats.
How often is the World Handicap System updated?
Just like the Rules of Golf, the Rules of Handicapping are reviewed and updated on a four-year cycle. The most recent came into effect at the start of 2024.These 2024 World Handicap System changes were applied in Great Britain & Ireland in April 2024.
Now have your say
Do you follow all the player responsibilities in the Rules of Handicapping? Were there any of the 10 that surprised you? Why not let me know on X.
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