Handicap

Throughout the year, one topic of discussion that never leaves the lunch table on any given weekday and especially after a Saturday game lunch is one's handicap

Many reasons are cited for an increase (never decrease) - Slump tia, jadi ATM lah, sakit tangan lapas mengangkat barang and others that are as strange as ambuyat in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

A few of us have had our handicap chop and rightly so. Hj Shahbudin is down to 15 at one stage after winning a couple of tournaments. Myself went down to 8 and Mohamad also down to 16 after winning a major.

While others cannot stop kuyanyang siang malam & pagi petang kan minta naik handicap but our Handicap Secretary Hj Samuil didnt even bat an eyelid.

So what I can propose to improve the calculation for the 2011 season is as follows which is based on current USGA practice:

1. Keep scores from your last five rounds (18 holes).

2. From your scorecards, note the rating and slope for the course that you played for each of those scores (based on which tee box played)

3. Subtract the course rating from the score you earned on that course.

4. Multiply that number by 113.

5. Divide that number by the slope of the course. This number is the differential.

6. Take the lowest of your five differentials and multiply it by 0.96, and you have your handicap.

With this methodology, it is hope that at least the group can have a defined process and procedure to increase or decrease handicaps in the future. Apa fikiran?