Handicaps & Course Rating | Oregon Golf Association

Handicap Hub: Come to the Dark Side - Round 1

07/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Dir., Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Come to the Dark Side – Round 1 You may have read the title and immediately assumed that this edition of the Handicap Hub is going to be about what many truly consider to be the Dark Side of Handicapping – the dreaded S-word – Sandbagging. Unfortunately, that could be a 10-part series or a bad reality show and nobody needs that. But because the scandalous subject of sandbagging is so darn entertaining, I will endeavor to delight and amuse you with at least one future article. For now, the Dark Side...

06/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Dir., Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives The Yin and Yang of Handicapping Do you find it annoying when someone says “What do you want first: the good news or the bad news?” Not sure about you, but since I already know there’s going to be some bad news delivered, it pretty much sours any pleasant feelings that will occur from the good news. It doesn’t necessarily matter what order it comes in. But since we’re talking about golf here, how bad can the bad news really be (Barring say, a rotator cuff injury that keeps you off the course for 6...

05/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely and Gretchen Yoder, OGA Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Myth-Busters Round 2: Course Rating Part 2 of our Myth Busting series highlights a few fun factoids regarding a subject matter that seems to be cloaked in complexity: USGA Course Rating. While the system contains puzzling procedures like “transition zones” and “forced vs. choice lay-ups,” we still like to say here at the OGA that “It ain’t Rocket Surgery!” Let’s mitigate some myths about how courses are rated, what the real significance of Slope Rating is, and why it’s perfectly fine...

05/09/19 —

Golf’s new World Handicap System, which is designed to bring the game of golf under a single set of Rules for handicapping and provide a more consistent measure of players’ ability between different regions of the world, remains on track for implementation starting in 2020. Education has begun with events being held in Singapore, South Africa, Great Britain and Ireland, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Continental Europe, Canada, the Caribbean and the USA. A secure resource portal, accessible via whs.com, has also been launched to provide national associations with a library of materials that they...

04/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Myth-Busters Round 1: Handicapping I’m afraid snarky rules folks can be a bit like the Grammar Police (hello – guilty here!) as it seems like we’re constantly correcting a myriad of misconceptions. And advising golfers as to why the use of the precise word is central to accurately applying a rule: “must” vs. “may” is an obvious example. To be fair, it’s quite easy to misinterpret the Handicap System, considering all the policies, procedures and formulas to keep straight. So let’s indulge in a...

03/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives I have to admit that I do appreciate a great handicapping question (which is fortunate, since my days are peppered with them). I especially enjoy ones that I’ve not heard before, as it gets the wheels churning and clears out the cobwebs. Since the season just began, I thought I’d start this article off with a brand new query that has been popping up, no doubt due to reasonable confusion between Maximum Score (Rules of Golf) and Equitable Stroke Control (Handicap System). Questions have come in...

02/15/19 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Though you may be striving to interpret the current weather forecast in addition to the new Rules of Golf, the season will still start on Friday, March 1. Rolling around like clockwork, we can at least take comfort in a date on the calendar that represents a familiar beginning. While the onset of the season will see business-as-usual in the handicapping realm, big changes are brewing with both the tech side (GHIN products and services) and the impending launch of the World Handicap System (...

11/30/18 —

With change comes, well, more change. USGA and R&A have spent the last several years modernizing the Rules of Golf, going into effect January 2019, to better fit into today’s world. The change in Rules brought on a change in the USGA Course Rating System . The first thing to note is that the Course or Club needs to publish Local Rules stating how Penalty Areas will be invoked, defining Out of Bounds and Course Boundaries, relief options and more. Some Courses may have different rules in play for regular days play vs. “Elite Play” (Amateur, Club Championship, Invitational, etc.). Without...

11/21/18 —

Dec. 1 is the start of the offseason for score posting in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The OGA inactive season comprises the months of December, January, and February, and local rounds cannot be posted during this period no matter the weather or course conditions. If you are traveling and playing in Sunbelt states during our off-season, where score posting season is year-round, those scores should be posted via the OGA website or the GHIN Mobile App . Do you need to see if where you're playing has year-round score posting season? Visit the USGA website to see if you can post your score...

11/15/18 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives I sometimes wish I had kept a tally of all the questions I’ve received over my 24-plus years at the Handicapping helm of the OGA, but if I had taken time to log them I wouldn’t have time to actually answer them. Still, it would be interesting – perhaps only to me – to have a detailed report of not only how many times a particular question was asked (indicating an especially confusing, yet oft-used rule that needs more attention and explanation), but even when those one-off, unexpected questions...

Handicap Hub: Come to the Dark Side - Round 1

Handicap Hub: The Yin and Yang of Handicapping

Handicap Hub: Myth-Busters Round Two - Course Rating

World Handicapping On Track for 2020

Handicap Hub: Myth-Busters Round One - Handicapping

Handicap Hub: Take It to the Max

Handicap Hub: New Season, Old System (For A While Anyway)

USGA Course Rating Changes With New Rules of Golf

December Marks Beginning of OGA Score Posting Offseason

Handicap Hub: You Don't Know What You Don't Know

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