Handicaps will be updated based on the score cards submitted either directly to the handicap chairman or placed in the IGA scorecard box at the golf course. The handicap chairman will keep handicaps current and published bi-weekly on our notice board at Brunssum. Handicaps will also be posted on www.eHandicap.net. Our club identifier is ‘IGA’ together with your IGA membership number.

As a new feature this year we will be introducing a method to allow individual members to enter their own scores for handicap calculations. Watch for further news on how this scheme will be implemented on the Web page and bulletin board, mails etc.

It is part of the Etiquette of Golf to record all rounds (9/18 holes) of golf towards the establishment of a handicap except those played on courses with more than three temporary tees and/or greens. This includes rounds played on courses other than Brunssum. Associate members should regularly provide their Brunssum handicap to the IGA. Scorecards, after being entered in the database, will be retained. Each member is issued a Membership Card containing name and USPGA handicap index, which identifies you as a member of the IGA and should be sufficient to allow play on most courses.

It is your responsibility to ensure your handicap is kept current. You accomplish this by turning in all scorecards and ensuring you have turned in at least four cards during the last 12 months. Failure to do this will result in your handicap going lapse. If your handicap has lapsed you will play from scratch until you have established a new handicap. For new members joining the IGA, you must declare your previous handicap held at any club or association. If you did not have an established handicap, you will play from scratch until you have turned in five scorecards to establish a handicap here. From then on it will be an average of your lowest ten of your last twenty scores. To keep the handicap system fair for all, the handicap chairman in conjunction with either the committee president or vice-president may make adjustments to your handicap. This will result from your playing ability as well as your scorecards.

Here is an explanation of the above Handicap Information. This is a shortened version. For a more detailed explanation of terms go to About.com:Golf.

Rating = Course Rating. The USGA course rating is a numerical value given to each set of tees at a particular golf course to approximate the number of strokes it should take a scratch golfer to get around the course.

A course rating of 74.8, for example, means that scratch golfers are expected to post an average score of 74.8 from that set of tees on that course.

A course rating of 74.8 is pretty stiff, but there are no hard-and-fast parameters for how high or low course rating can go. Most course ratings will range from the upper 60s to the mid 70s.

Each course is rated for each set of tees, and most have separate ratings for some of the tees for women. For example, the forward tees might be rated 67.5 for men and 71.5 for women.

The course rating system developed by the USGA is used throughout much of the world.

Slope = Slope Rating. USGA Slope Rating is a number ranging from 55 to 155 that represents the difficulty of a course for bogey golfers relative to the USGA Course Rating (which represents the difficulty for scratch golfers).

Slope rating is not expressed in strokes, but, rather, is a ratio. The higher the slope, the more difficult the course plays for bogey golfers. A slope rating of 113 is considered average.

Slope rating plays an important role in figuring handicap indexes and also is used to figure course handicaps.

Hcap = USGA Handicap Index. A USGA Handicap Index is a numeral, to one decimal place, that represents a golfer's potential for scoring. A handicap index of 14.5, for example, indicates that a golfer will, on his or her best days, shoot somewhere around 14 or 15 strokes over par.

Handicap Index is not an average of a golfer's scores, but rather an estimate of what the golfer might shoot on his or her best days.

Gross = Gross Score. "Gross," or "gross score," refers to the total number of strokes taken during your round of golf, plus any penalty strokes. In other words, your total score without adjustments. Add up the numbers on your scorecard at the end of the round, and that's your gross score.

Adj = Adjusted gross score. Adjusted gross score is a golfer's stroke total for a round after accounting for the maximum per-hole scores allowed by the USGA's Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) guidelines.

To determine the ESC limits for your round, you must first know your course handicap. Once you've determined your course handicap, you can check the chart down below (which should also be available at golf courses) to determine the ESC limits.

Diff = Handicap Differential. Handicap differential is a numeral used in calculating handicap index. That numeral, to one decimal place, represents a golfer's score in relation to USGA Course Rating adjusted to take into account Slope Rating.

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Golf Handicap Calculation - Step 1
A minimum of five scores and a maximum of 20 is required to get started. For each score, the USGA Course Rating and Slope Rating for the courses played are also required. Using those figures, calculate the handicap differential for each round entered using this formula:

(Score - Course Rating) x 113 / Slope Rating

For example, let's use the first line from the above chart. The score is 99, the course rating 70.2, the slope 128. The formula would be (99 - 70.2) x 113 / 128 which equals 25.425. To one decimal place, and the result is a differential of 25.4.

Differentials are calculated for each round entered.

(Note: The number 113 represents the slope rating of a golf course of average difficulty, as set by the USGA.)

If a course has no Slope Rating then 113 is used.

Golf Handicap Calculation - Step 2
Figure out how many differentials are being used. Not every differential that results from Step 1 will be used in the next step. If only five rounds are entered, only the lowest differential will be used. If 20 rounds are entered, only the 10 lowest differentials are used. The chart below shows how many differentials are used based on the number of rounds entered.

Golf Handicap Calculation - Step 3
Get an average of the differentials used by adding them together and dividing by the number used (i.e., if five differentials are used, add them up and divide by five).

Multiply the result by .96 (96-percent). Drop all the digits after the tenths (do not round off) and the result is handicap index.