Handicaps & Course Rating | Oregon Golf Association

USGA Course Rating and 2019 Rules

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...

10/29/18 —

USGA Course Rating is conducted keeping the Rules of Golf in mind. Every time the team of trained Course Raters steps onto a golf course, we have to think about the Rules, how penalties would be applied, and how the Rules might affect a golfer’s play of a hole. With the Rules Modernization, as well as well as the World Handicap System updating in 2020, the international panel of experts all agreed that the USGA Course Rating System was just fine the way it was. Once the new Rules information was finalized, however, it was obvious that Course Rating needed to be updated as well. The change to...

10/15/18 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Course Handicaps Here at the OGA, we earnestly embrace the concept that there is no such thing as a stupid question. But those who preface their query with “I have a quick question” will likely get a response from me of “I might not have a quick answer.” Given the quirks and complexities of the USGA Handicap System, one inquiry often leads to another. And another. (And on top of that might involve other slightly messy things like the Course Rating System and / or the Rules of Golf. Just a...

09/26/18 —

By Gretchen Yoder, Manager of Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Most Interesting Holes Series Archives The 18th (and final!) in our OGA series about the Most Interesting Holes is the 12th hole at Camas Meadows. Camas Meadows’ 12th hole is a par 5 with tees at 566, 536, 508 and 426. We are finishing off the Most Interesting Holes series with a bang! No. 12 is a slight dogleg left with plenty of trouble. Off the tee, trees line the left side of the entire fairway, there are also thick trees on the right side that come into play more on the second shot. With all the trees on this...

09/15/18 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives Handicapping and Tournaments Here at the OGA, we earnestly embrace the concept that there is no such thing as a stupid question. But those who preface their query with “I have a quick question” will likely get a response from me of “I might not have a quick answer.” Given the quirks and complexities of the USGA Handicap System, one inquiry often leads to another. And another. (And on top of that might involve other slightly messy things like the Course Rating System and / or the Rules of Golf...

08/15/18 —

By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives While never really surprised at most folks’ reluctance to embrace math when discussing handicapping (or really any time, for that matter), I’m always a bit surprised why anyone would want to deviate from USGA Handicap Indexes and manufacture other types of handicaps for league play or tournaments. Usually this will come up in phone conversations when I’m asked for recommendations about handicaps for various formats, or otherwise engaged in philosophical discussions regarding sandbagging (it’s...

08/01/18 —

By Gretchen Yoder, Manager of Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Most Interesting Holes Series Archives Seventeenth in our OGA series about the Most Interesting Holes is the 15th hole at Brasada Canyons. Brasada Canyon’s 15th hole is a par 4 with tees at 377, 333, 292 and 260. Take a moment to breath in the beautiful view, and then get to work. If I was ever asked to define the term “risk/reward” I might put up a picture of this golf hole. Each tee has its own set of challenges. Golfers could choose to lay up to nice wide fairway landing zones or hit long shots over the native...

07/15/18 —

Part III: The USGA Handicap System and (vs.?) the Rules of Golf By Kelly Neely, Sr. Director, Handicapping & Course Rating Click Here for Handicap Hub Archives This is article No. 3 in a series of Handicapping Head-Scratchers – procedures within the USGA Handicap System that puzzle and perplex. Looking for clarity? We can help. Forgive me if I’m about to use a poor philosophical analogy, but if the Handicap System and the Rules of Golf are roads, are they in completely different locations, many miles apart? Or are they running parallel; sometimes merging, sometimes veering off from each...

USGA Course Rating and 2019 Rules

December Marks Beginning of OGA Score Posting Offseason

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

How Course Rating is Affected by 2019 Rules Modernization

Handicap Hub: That’s Another Good Question!

Hole No. 12 at Camas Meadows GC - Most Interesting Holes Series

Handicap Hub: That's a Good Question!

Handicap Hub: Real Handicap Indexes vs. Other Creative Calculations

Hole No. 15 at Brasada Canyons GC - Most Interesting Holes Series

Handicap Hub: Handicapping Head-Scratchers Part III

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