WHY GOLFERS NEED OFFICIAL HANDICAPS

In my role as league director I have witnessed the need for official GHIN handicaps. Best guesses at handicaps don't hold up well under tournament pressure. Most people overestimate how well they play and end up suffering because of it.

And then there are the sandbaggers, who game the system with much higher handicaps than their execellent golf skills warrant.

The former far outnumber the latter. Golf is a hard game. Competitive golf can be harder.

This last weekend, Sept. 9, two teams in the Texas Golf League were eliminated. Neither team has any players with a GHIN handicap produced by the USGA's system. Teams from Sagemont Church and BHP Billiton were eliminated because neither teams' members were properly handicapped. The other teams who have been in the league are employing the GHIN handicap system to determine their handicaps and they competed better in the league because our league uses handicaps to determine Stableford quotas and to figure net scores for best-ball and other competitions. Having an official handicap that is truly pegged to your ability is a very good thing and increase people's enjoyment of the league.

For instance, I noted that
Morris Murphy, a 6-handicap, scored 4 strokes over his handicap
David Moore, a 17-handicap, scored 9 strokes over his handicap
Bob Wirt, a 15-handicap, scored 9 strokes over his handcap
Mike Hutchinson, a 24-handicap, scored 10 strokes over his hcp
BJ Dorsett, a 13-handicap, scored 18 strokes over his handicap
Sean Tedford, a 6-handicap, was even with his handicap.

Simon Duncombe was 17 over his estimate of his handicap

Roger Fritz was 10 strokes and 1 stroke over his handicap in the two tourneys he played in.

Anton Strydom was 10 strokes over

Nathan Buchanan was 13 strokes over

Ian was the closest, with 4 strokes over.

Now granted, handicaps are meant to be aspirational targets, and the USGA conceives that a person will shoot to his handicap only 1 time in 6-8 rounds of golf.

Nonetheless, Sagemont gave up 40 strokes above their stated handicaps. That served to help the other teams whose scores more closely reflected their handicap.

Essentially, I want all team members to start helping themselves be more competitive. It is good for them and for the level of competition in the league.

For that reason I ask all golfer to enroll in the GHIN handicap system, a service of the USGA and the Texas Golf Association.