A 14-hole competition? Your club can make it count for handicap
A new clause has been added to World Handicap System rules allowing competitions over a “non-standard number of holes” to be used for handicapping purposes
A competition over 14 holes that counts towards your handicap? It’s now possible under changes to the World Handicap System.
Alterations to the Rules of Handicapping – specifically a new clause added to Rule 3.2 – allows events to be held over a “non-standard number of holes”.
We all know 9-hole rounds can count, but if your committee wants to hold a competition over 10 holes, 12, 14, or any number up to the standard 18-holes, they will be able do it and your score can still be added to your WHS record.
To do that, those rounds will be scaled up to 18 using the Expected Score method. These changes came into effect in Great Britain & Ireland at the start of April 2024.
WHS Changes 2024: Why might clubs hold competitions over a non-standard number of holes?
Why would committees do this? A Wales Golf guidance document for clubs, explaining the 2024 World Handicap System changes, said they are being “implemented to enhance the accuracy, fairness, and overall experience of the handicap system”.
For those clubs with courses with fewer than 18 holes, it will allow them to stage counting competitions over their layout without always necessarily having to route in a standard number of holes.
It could also allow clubs flexibility to play events over the winter months, when darkness becomes an issue and when course conditions permit, that are still meaningful from a handicap perspective.
This clause will be added to Rule 3.2 in addition to the acceptable reasons for not playing a hole.
Have your say
WHS Changes 2024: What do you think? Should rounds like this be allowed to count for the World Handicap System? Would you want to play a WHS qualifying competition round over 13 holes, for example, that could alter your WHS index? Let me know your thoughts with a comment on X.
WHS Changes 2024
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
