Handicap Review Tool - Questions and Answerslast updated September 27, 2024
The following reports/information may be helpful to a golf club:
Handicap Index history
Most improved golfer
Capped golfer
A follow-up opportunity with these golfers is to ensure they are properly following the Rules of Handicapping - for example, posting all acceptable scores for handicap purposes and adjusting hole scores for net double bogey and most likely score as appropriate.
Exceptional score reduction
Consider whether the player had multiple ESRs or a single ESR of -2, and whether the score type was Home (H), Away (A), or Competition (C).
If there is a high frequency of ESRs at your course(s), evaluate daily course set-up to ensure it is consistent with each Course Rating™ and Slope Rating® issued by your Allied Golf Association.
Note: Phase 2 of the USGA Handicap Review tool will provide the ability to perform a Handicap Review analysis on every player within your golf club.
The Handicap Committee of an authorized golf club can run a Handicap Review on any active player within its roster. The Handicap Committee then determines whether to apply any recommended adjustment to the player’s Handicap Index.
If a player is a member of more than one golf club, the Handicap Committee at their home club should be responsible for making any adjustments to their Handicap Index. Regardless of which club applied an adjustment, it is recommended that each club of which the player is a member is made aware of the decision and reasoning.
Once a recommendation is applied, the player’s Handicap Index will immediately reflect the adjustment. The method is consistent with “resetting the Handicap Index” from Rule 7.1a(ii) of the Rules of Handicapping. The adjustment value is applied to each of the most recent 20 Score Differentials™ in the player’s scoring record to achieve the Handicap Index determined to better reflect the player’s demonstrated ability. This will allow for the Handicap Index to be updated as new scores are posted, i.e. the adjustment will not apply to subsequent scores.
If an adjustment reduces a player’s Handicap Index, then the adjusted Handicap Index resets the Low Handicap Index to the adjusted Handicap Index, unless a lower Handicap Index is still eligible.
If an adjustment increases a player’s Handicap Index, then the Handicap Committee should consider resetting the player’s Low Handicap Index to the same value as the adjusted Handicap Index. This is to avoid the player receiving a cap unnecessarily, such as when there’s been minimal upward movement after the adjustment.
For GHIN Admin Portal users, once a Committee adjustment has been applied, it can be removed within the ‘Score Maintenance’ tab. Click ‘Edit’ for the first score with the Committee adjustment, then click ‘Remove Score Differentials’. The user must then click ‘Special Update’ within the ‘Handicap Management’ tab to remove the adjustment, or “M”, and recalculate the Handicap Index.
If a Handicap Review is run on a player and a recommended Handicap Index adjustment is returned, then the Handicap Committee can choose to apply the adjustment or not. Another option is to adjust the Handicap Index by a different value – for example, if the recommendation is to decrease the Handicap Index by 1.0 stroke the Handicap Committee may decrease by 1.5 strokes.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Handicap Committee has the ability to apply a Handicap Index adjustment. With the GHIN Admin Portal, this can be accomplished by going to the ‘Handicap Management’ tab within a player’s profile and clicking “Modify H.I.”.
As stated in Rule 7.1a(i) of the Rules of Handicapping, the Handicap Committee should consider all available evidence before making any adjustment to a player’s Handicap Index. Below are examples that might prompt the Handicap Committee to use a different adjustment value than what is recommended:
Whether the player’s scoring potential has been affected by a temporary or permanent injury, illness or disability which is significant enough to impact the player’s ability to play with or against all other players on a fair and equitable basis.
Any Handicap Index previously held by the player.
Whether the player’s ability is rapidly improving or declining.
Whether the player's performance is significantly different in one format of play compared to another – for example, between organized competitions and general play.
Where it has been determined that a player’s actions are for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage.
More information can be found in Appendix D of the Rules of Handicapping.
The USGA Handicap Review tool utilizes Expected Score and Player Equations intrinsic to the World Handicap System™. A high or low flag is triggered when the Score Differential, compared to an Expected Score, is outside of a tolerance that allows for a normal variance in scores for a player with a given Handicap Index – because we all have good and bad days on the golf course. Frequency of play is also considered, so the more scores in a player’s record during the Handicap Review period, the more high/low flags that are needed to result in a recommended Handicap Index adjustment.
The analysis is based on the player’s Handicap Index on the day of the Handicap Review and compares each Score Differential within the review period against the expected Score Differential and normal standard deviation of a player with a given Handicap Index. The following provides more insight into what constitutes a flagged Score Differential, as well as the number of flags to provide a recommended Handicap Index adjustment.
Downward Adjustment
A score which is two standard deviations better than a player’s expected score should occur approximately 2.5% of the time, therefore the criteria for flagging a score is set at two standard deviations from a player’s expected score. The number of low flags and the total number of scores posted is then applied to the table below to determine the recommended adjustment.
Upward Adjustment
A player’s bad scores tend to have a non-normal distribution, so the criteria for triggering a high flag is set at three standard deviations from a player’s expected score. Further, the number of flagged scores needed to trigger an upward adjustment is greater than for downward adjustments. The number of high flags and the total number of scores is then applied to the table below to determine the recommended adjustment.
The Handicap Review process is iterative through a series of calculations. First, it looks at flagged scores and compares them to the current Handicap Index to determine if a recommended adjustment would apply. This value would either be +1 or -1, as the iterative process does not allow the starting point to be +2, -2, etc.
If a recommended adjustment does apply (for example, -1), the process continues to run to look for flagged scores against the new/adjusted Handicap Index. If enough flagged scores remain, then another adjustment of -1 (so cumulatively -2) would be recommended. This process continues until there is no longer enough flagged scores to qualify for a further recommended adjustment. At this point, the final recommendation is presented to the Handicap Committee for action.
The USGA Handicap Review tool analyzes a player’s scoring data over a 12-month period. While it is normal for a player’s ability to fluctuate over that time, it is not necessary to assess this every time a score is posted, i.e., as part of the Handicap Index revision. However, it is appropriate to have a procedure that can be run when there is a concern about a player’s Handicap Index. As it the Handicap Committee’s responsibility to decide whether to apply any recommended Handicap Index adjustment that arises from the Handicap Review procedure, it would be burdensome for this to occur every time a score is posted. As a result, having the Handicap Review procedure run to review players as identified will ensure that it works as designed.
The WHS has included safeguards in the Handicap Index calculation to account for fluctuations in a player’s demonstrated ability. This takes into account the Low Handicap Index and the current scoring record consisting of the most recent 20 scores. A Handicap Review looks at a player’s entire scoring history for the last 365 days. This review may help to reveal scoring abnormities which may not be evident in the normal Handicap Index calculation.
When running the analysis, the Score Differential as calculated by the formula in Rule 5.1 of the Rules of Handicapping is used. This includes any adjustment determined by the playing conditions calculation but does not include a previous Committee adjustment or ESR.
The upward adjustment is applied before the Handicap Index is recalculated. If this results in the player receiving a cap, then the adjusted Handicap Index may not reflect the full amount of the adjustment, i.e. it suppresses the amount of the adjustment.
If a player is capped, the downward adjustment will either reduce or possibly eliminate the cap since the player’s new Handicap Index with the adjustment will be closer to their Low Handicap Index. For example, if a player has a 1 stroke soft cap, a downward adjustment of 1 stroke will reduce the capped value by 0.5, essentially resulting in an overall reduction to the Handicap Index of 0.5.
Yes, a Handicap Review History is available for each player. However, in order to run a new Handicap Review on a player, a previously recommended Handicap Index adjustment must be either “applied” or “denied”.
It is an added safeguard – The Handicap Review process gives a Handicap Committee the ability to ensure the Handicap Index of a player reflects their demonstrated ability.
The analysis is data-driven – The USGA Handicap Review tool uses the player’s handicap data to compare posted scores to expected performance.
There continues to be a human element – A Handicap Index adjustment will be applied only at the discretion of the Handicap Committee, based on any other knowledge or evidence that they have about the player and their ability.
Please contact your Allied Golf Association for support or feedback on the new USGA Handicap Review tool. You may find your AGA at usga.org/aga.