Dear Linda,
I am pleased to inform you that my son aged 14 years old is playing fantastic golf and has a certified handicap of 6 from the Boys tee (or Ladies tee).
In some invitation or club tournaments there is no category of Boys and thus then he plays from championship tees and finishing the game at or about 9 or so . I feel to be fair to him he needs to have a Handicap certificate certifying his handicap from Boys Tee off and similarly a handicap certificate from Championship Tee off .
Request please advise if this is possible (and logical)? For men to have two certificates is not possible but what about the situation in which a boy tees off from two different tees, which surely changes his certified handicap by a couple of strokes and he should be given the advantage accordingly?
Kind regards,
Lou from India
Dear Lou,
I’m happy to hear that your son is doing so well.
Unlike the Rules of Golf, which are the same for everyone, the rules governing handicaps are different from country to country. I am unfamiliar with the handicap rules in India, so I’m sorry to say that I am unable to answer your question.
If your son lived in the United States, the answer would be “no.” A player in the U.S. has what is known as a Handicap Index. This is a number that is taken to one decimal place (e.g., 12.7) and represents a player’s potential ability (based on a percentage of the average of the best ten scores of the last 20 in relation to the difficulty of each course). The Handicap Index converts to a Course Handicap at each course. The Course Handicap will be higher or lower than the player’s Handicap Index, depending on the difficulty of the course from the set of tees that the player uses.
For example, if your son’s Handicap Index were 6.5, his Course Handicap from the forward (boys’) tees on a particular course might be 6. If he were to play from the standard (men’s) tees on the same course, his Course Handicap might be 9. Since the course is judged to be more difficult from the longer distances, his Course Handicap would increase accordingly. (There are tables and formulas to calculate these numbers.)
It would surprise me to learn that a player’s handicap is not adjusted in some way for play from different tees. My suggestion would be to talk to your club professional, a member of your club’s handicap committee, or an official from the governing body for handicaps in your corner of the world. I would be interested to know what you learn.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
