Should rounds with gimmies ever be submitted for handicaps? For most of you, it’s a resounding ‘No’.
In our big World Handicap System survey, nearly 80% of respondents dismissed any suggestion that rounds with pick-up putts should be submitted.
Only 3% thought they should.
A total of 3,390 of you answered a series of questions around WHS in a survey that was shared across our daily email newsletter and social media channels.
It gave us interesting insights into how club golfers perceive the system. We’ve already revealed your wider feelings about the World Handicap System, and what you think about rolling back to the old CONGU system.
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Asked the question, ‘Should rounds with gimmies be submitted?’, just 3% of you said ‘yes’, 16% said ‘yes, with agreement’, while 79.2% said ‘no’ and 1.9% of you were ‘unsure’.
With Most Likely Score embedded in other parts of the World Handicap System universe, there has inevitably been speculation as to whether it may become part of GB&I handicapping in the future.
But if club golfers have their say, it looks unlikely.
In an environment where every score is expected to be submitted, gimmies are almost universally seen in match play and fourball formats.
In the UK, though, it’s a very mixed approach in social golf.
When we asked you how often you use gimmies in casual rounds, only 5% of you admitted to employing them all the time.
The biggest single answer was ‘never’ with 28%. Just over 21% of you said you only rarely used gimmes in casual rounds, meaning nearly half of you almost always hole out – even in a game that isn’t a competition or general play score.
Around 28% of you said gimmies were sometimes used, while nearly 18% said they were often used in casual rounds.
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The next review of the Rules of Handicapping is in 2028 and there is no suggestion of any changes coming to the way rounds are submitted.
But whatever happens with WHS in the future, our survey shows one thing is very clear: most club golfers believe a score should only count for handicap if the ball finds the bottom of the hole.
Now have your say on gimmies
Do you feel the same as our survey respondents? Do gimmies have any place in rounds that are submitted? Do you use them when you’re not putting a card in? Let us know in the comments, email me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com, or get in touch on X.
