Effective January 1, 2020, USGA initiated the new World Handicapping System. It has been a learning situation for all of us. To keep up with the times, WNHGA is proud to announce that we have acquired our own Golf Genius software for our Association. We no longer need to have assistance from different clubs in our area. We have been working on this for a couple of years. Having Golf Genius will allow us to run our events using this software for setting up and scoring ourselves.
Popping Scorecards
Popping Scorecards According to WNHGA Rules Pops are the small dots or checks place on the scorecard that should add up the player’s handicap allowance (handicap strokes) for a specified game. Once the appropriate handicap has been determined for the course to be played, pops can be distributed as described in the following examples.
In each case, start the process by dividing the nine-hole handicap by nine.
- Player 1:
Handicap of 18 divided by nine equals two. Each hole is given two pops. - Player 2:
Handicap of 6 is not enough pops to divide by nine. Give one pop to six holes in the order of the handicap stroke allocation on the scorecard (six holes in order of difficulty). - Player 3:
Handicap of 14 divided by nine equals one pop for each of the nine holes, with a remainder of five pops. The remaining five pops are to be given in the order of the handicap stroke allocation (as above). - Player 4:
Handicap of 35 divided by nine equals three with a remainder of eight pops. Start by giving three pops to all nine holes. In this example, please note you cannot give more pops than par. When awarding the remaining eight pops, once you come to the par 3 at hole #3, even though there are pops remaining to be allocated, you must stop. You cannot skip over the par 3 and continue on to hole #5. The player will have to play to a 32 no matter how many strokes remain.
When calculating the pops for 18 holes, follow the handicapped holes as they are shown on the scorecard but alternate from the font nine to the back nine as the handicap numbers occur on the scorecard.
(WNHGA would like to thank Mace Meadow Fairway Ladies for the above explanation)
Frequently Asked Questions
If a 9 hole member has an 18 hole GHIN number as well as her 9hole GHIN, what needs to be done before the end of the year?
The 9 hole member should notify the proshop that she wants to inactivate her 18 hole GHIN. This should be done as soon as possible to ensure she is not charged $39 directly from NCGA through the proshop.
Why can’t ladies keep their 18 hole GHIN and their 9 hole GHIN?
USGA decided that they would not support two GHINs for any golfer in the United States. They have mandated that only one GHIN may be assigned to any player effective January 1st, 2018. For ladies who have an 18 hole GHIN, which they purchased directly through NCGA, they should have been posting all their 18 hole rounds and 9 hole rounds to that number. In addition, as a 9 hole member, they should have been posting all their 9 hole rounds to their 9 hole GHIN. Therefore, all the history of posted rounds should be contained under both GHINs. Because the 9 hole handicap chair monitors the 9 hole GHIN for their members, WNHGA felt it would be simpler to have members close down their 18 hole GHINs and maintain their 9 hole GHIN until the data and the number is transferred in the system. When posting 9 hole rounds to an 18 hole GHIN, the data from two 9 holes is combined to make an 18. This is likely the way the 18 hole index will continue to be calculated in the future, the 9 hole index will likely be the 18 hole index divided in half. As long as this is done the same way for all our golfers then the use of the index for tournaments and comptition will remain equitable.
Why can’t we keep our 9 hole GHIN?
USGA is no longer allowing members to have two GHINs. The association number for 18 hole members is 56; the association number of 9 hole members is 31. Unfortunately there are duplicate GHINs in the two different association numbers. Since USGA is mandating one association going forward they need to provide new numbers to all 31 association members (9 holers).
What happens to all our data and history?
USGA is planning to transfer up to 5 years of historical data for each 9 hole GHIN record on a club by club basis. Since this is being handled manually by one individual at USGA the exact date and amount of time it will take is still up in the air. Sue Ilg is working directly with USGA to manage this process and will let the club handicap chair know about a week prior to their club’s data transfer. At that point, members should hold on to any score cards and post the rounds after the new numbers have been assigned.
What will the reports look like with the new GHIN?
USGA has not been able to confirm exactly how the reports will be handled but as of November 30th, Sue Ilg was able to ensure they will be able to have an identifiable code for 9 hole ladies. With this confirmation we expect that we will be able to pull similar reports to what we currently are able to do. It has not been confirmed but we anticipate that ladies will be able to see an 18 hole index and a 9 hole index (most likely the 18 hole index divided by 2).
What is the roster update schedule and billing cycle for 2018 – For both WGANC and PWGA
First Quarter
Rosters should be updated by December 31st, 2017 in time for the first billing cycle by WGANC which will be sent to clubs on or about January 15th, 2018. The bill will come to the handicap chair from WGANC. The handicap chair should verify the accuracy of the bill and then send it to their club Treasurer for payment. Payment will be made to NCGA but sent to WGANC for processing.
Second Quarter
Rosters should be updated by March 31st 2018. WGANC will send a bill for any new members added between January 2nd and March 31st to the handicap chair. The handicap chair should verify the accuracy of the bill and then send it to their club Treasurer for payment. Payment should be made to NCGA and sent to WGANC for processing.
Third Quarter
Rosters should be updated by June 30th, 2018. WGANC will send a bill for any new members added between April 1st and June 30th to the handicap chair. The handicap chair should verify the accuracy of the bill and then send i to their club Treasurer for payment. Oayment should be made to NCGA and sent to WGANC for processing.
Fourth Quarter
Rosters should be updated by October 31st, 2018. WGANC will send a bill for any new members added between July 1st and September 30th to the handicap chair. The handicap chair should verify the accuracy of the bill and then send i to their club Treasurer for payment. Oayment should be made to NCGA and sent to WGANC for processing.
How much will our 9 hole WNHGA/PWGA members be paying for their GHIN?
NCGA will charge $39 per GHIN and this will be billed through WGANC.
How will the dues payment be done if a lady from the 18-holers wants to come over to the 9-hole group?
Between now and December 31st – treat her as a new 9 hole member. Her 18 hole GHIN should be inactivated by the Proshop. She should be given a new 9 hole number and added to your 9 hole club roster. She wll appear on your Quarter 1 billing along with all members on your current roster and will be charged $39 through WGANC.
After Jan 1st, AND UNTIL YOUR CLUB 9 HOLE NUMBERS HAVE BEEN CHANGED BY USGA – have her keep her 18 hole GHIN and continue to post her 9 hole scores since she will have paid $39 for her number for 2018. Once the club data is transferred then we anticipate that you can simply move her into your club roster with her current 18 hole GHIN and not have to pay and additional $39 GHIN fee.
How will the new GHIN system handle the restriction on the maximum handicap index of 40.4 currently ‘imposed’ for 18-hole players? Will that imply the maximum index allowed is 20.2 for 9-hole players? How will WNHGA handle the current 9-hole ladies who have a handicap index higher than those maximums?
WNHGA has in the past and will in the future include everyone, no matter what their index is. As far as tournaments are concerned, we have always topped the pops or strokes to be no higher than par. Which means, if the club course is a pr 36, then we would not let you go above 36 pops. That is our only restriction on handicaps. As far as what our new indexes will look like, they will be the same as they are now, just basically doubled (approximately). GHIN has not changed the way they report indexes. The limit of 40.4 is for tournaments, plus they are thinking of raising this number due to the aging of the population.
What happens if a woman has only been posting 18 hole rounds to her 18 hole GHIN and 9 hole rounds to her 9 hole GHIN?
Per USGA rules, the woman should have been posting all scores to both GHINs. Unless she manually prints out the data from 18 hole GHIN and has entered by the handicap chair manually into her 9 hole GHIN, the data will be lost when she closes out her 18 hole GHIN.
I’m playing in a fun game and we give mulligans and take an occasional ‘hand shot’ from a bunker, can I post my score?
If you are playing in a WNHGA sanctioned tournament (Team Play, TOC, Open Days), you may not take a mulligan, hand shot, or gimmee. The USGA does not recognize or sanction those actions. In all WNHGA events, you must play by the USGA Rules of Golf.
However, according to the NCGA and Rules Gurus, Gail Rogers and Ryan Gregg, if you are playing in an invitational or casual game and you take a mulligan or a ‘hand shot’, you must score that hole as par plus ‘pops’ AND as long as you play 7 of the 9 holes using USGA Rules (no mulligans or ‘hand shots’ or gimmees), you must post your score.
If you are posting an 18-hole score, you must play 13 of the 18 holes using USGA Rules in order to post.
Note: if you are posting two nine-hole scores (for a nine hole handicap), then each nine holes posted must have seven holes played using USGA Rules.
What if I take one mulligan on each hole?
You cannot post because you did not play 7 of 9 holes according to the rules.
I’m a beginning golfer. What if I pick up? Do I take my maximum (in my case 10)? May I still post?
As long as you have started the hole, you can post a score no matter how many times you pick up. The key is this: if you pick up, you give yourself ‘your most likely’ scroe that does not exceed your maximum.
You can do this for all nine holes and still post your score.
Then when do I take ‘par plus pops’?
On any hole where you did not ‘start’ the hole or when you did not follow the USGA Rules on that hole, you score ‘par plus pops’. Again, you can take ‘par plus pops’ on only 2 of 9 in a 9-hole round or 5 of 18 holes on an 18-hole round in order to post.