Hi Linda,
I have a two-part question about posting scores on the GHIN
handicap system.
I play in two golf leagues, and every week we play a
different tournament. I have always posted these scores as home or away. Recently
my one league had a "President's Cup" tournament and we were told to
post the score on the GHIN as a tournament score.
My first question is do we just post "special”
tournaments (e.g., President's Cup and Club Championship) as tournaments, or
should we be posting every week as a tournament score? Secondly, what is
the difference in calculating handicaps, home, away, versus tournaments?
Thank you so much for your help, and all that you do to
explain golf rules.
Lulu from Bayville, New Jersey
Dear readers,
The following answer
only applies to players governed by the USGA Handicap System.
Dear Lulu,
Tournament scores, or T-scores, are used to designate scores
made in special competitions where the Committee in charge of the competition
announces that the scores are to be posted as T-scores. Annual competitions
such as your President’s Cup or a Club Championship would come under this
designation; regular, weekly play days generally would not. Unless you are
instructed to post a round as a T-score, post it as a home or away score,
depending on whether you play at your home club or elsewhere.
There is no difference between home and away scores in the
calculation of your handicap. Tournament scores, or T-scores, are another
story. They remain in your scoring record for 12 months. If you have two
tournament scores whose differentials are at least 3.0 lower than your Handicap
Index, your handicap may be reduced. You would know this if your Index included
an “R,” such as 12.2R. If you would like to read how a reduced handicap is
calculated, visit the USGA website (USGA.org), click on Handicap Manual in the
drop-down menu under Handicapping, click on Section 10, and scroll down to
10-3.
Linda
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