Calculating Golf Handicaps from Spreadsheets
Many golfers don’t understand the difference between their USGA Index and their course handicap. If you play in a league run by a golf club, then you probably don’t have to worry about it. But if you play in a league with a mish mash of people that somehow ended up together, like the one I play in, and they belong to different clubs, then calculating handicaps becomes interesting.
For years the league was mostly an honor system. Before each round you’d ask your opponent, “What’s your handicap?” and then you’d figure who was getting strokes on what holes. Well after some complaints, I decided to become the “Handicap Police.” You should have heard the howling when I first produced the spreadsheet that calculated a person’s Course Handicap for the course we play on!
The prevailing comment was, “Hey, at my club I’m a 20, why am I only an 18 here?” The answer lies in the slope differential between the two courses as defined by the USGA. Yes, at their course they were a 20, but the slope there was 128 while the slope of the course our league plays on is much less - therefore their course handicap is less. Even after explaining it many times, some people still don’t get it!
Now things have settled down, and I update the spreadsheet with everyone’s most recent USGA Index and share it with the league via eXpresso. It’s nice because it’s located in one place, and I don’t give anyone edit rights. Just can’t trust some of the guys not to mess it up!
If you would like a copy of my spreadsheet, please let me know, and I’ll share it with you via eXpresso. It’s actually very simple. Heck, if you let me know the name of the course you play on and what state you are in, I’ll even set it up for you.
I reference the following Web addresses:
- USGA Indexes (It’s all public info. All you need is a name and a state)
- Course ratings and slopes
- The schedule for when my association updates Indexes
- The Index to Course conversion table.
Oh, one last thing. The USGA made a change this year. When you look up handicaps online, they no longer show the dates you played on the Score History. Something about “privacy”. (i.e. They don’t want people playing hooky to get caught by the boss!! LOL)
Kevin Dewhurst
VP Sales, Eastern Region
kdewhurst at expressocorp dot com
PS: If you are interested in multi-user subscriptions to eXpresso for your company, please send me an email.
I am thinking of starting to play golf. Do you have any recommendation for a crash course regarding the rules? It took me some time to learn American football, and baseball I haven’t learned yet…
All the Best,
Martin Lindeskog - American in Spirit.
Gothenburg, Sweden.
P.S. Don’t you think Annika Sörenstam is a great role model?
Hi Martin,
The best place to get to know the rules is at this link. There are lots of good examples of rulings, updates and decisions published here.
http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/rules.html
Yes, Anika sure seems like a class act, at least in the public eye, who knows what happens in one’s personal life.
Hope this helps!
Kevin
Kevin,
Thanks for the link! What’s your favorite golf place? Have you played in Europe, e.g. Spain? I bet that Alanya in Turkey with its great climate will be the next hot place after they have built several new golf courses.