Handicap Review Tool - Questions and Answerslast updated April 3, 2025
The key enhancement is that a Handicap Committee can now run a Handicap Review across its club’s roster with the click of a single button.
When a club-wide review is run, only home club players are eligible for a recommended adjustment. Non-home club players are still eligible for an individual review.
A player must have a full scoring record (20 scores) to be eligible for a recommended adjustment.
An upgraded Details Modal is available for any player that receives a review.
The Handicap Committee has 14 days from the time of the review to apply or deny a recommended adjustment, after which the recommendation will expire.
The Handicap Committee of an authorized golf club can either run a club-wide Handicap Review or an individual 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.
When a club-wide review is run, only players who have that club identified as their home club will be eligible for a recommended Handicap Index adjustment. However, an individual review can be run by any club of which the player is a member. Only the club that initiated the review has the ability to apply or deny the recommended adjustment. However, if no action is taken within 14 days of the review, then the status will change from “pending” to “expired”. At this point, any club of which the player is a member will be able to run a new handicap review.
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 players 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.
The USGA Handicap Review Tool is used to identify players who are scoring above or below their expected scoring range more often than anticipated or have other abnormalities within their scoring record over a defined period of 12 months. In these instances, a recommended adjustment to the player’s Handicap Index is provided to the club’s Handicap Committee.
The tool utilizes Expected Score and Player Equations intrinsic to the World Handicap System™. A high or low flag is triggered when the Score Differential™ is outside of a tolerance that allows for a normal variance in expected 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
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 the number of flagged scores (based on the current Handicap Index) compared to the total number of scores within the review period to determine if a recommended adjustment would apply from the table. 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.
A maximum adjustment of 5 strokes to the Handicap Index will be offered to the Handicap Committee for action. This recommended adjustment may be upward or downward. For any recommendation of +/- 3 or greater, the club should consider all available information about the player and contact their Allied Golf Association for counsel before applying the adjustment. The AGA can review the scoring record for any potential errors or other anomalies.
The Handicap Committee has 14 days to decide. After this timeframe, the status of the recommended adjustment would change from pending to expired. At that time, any club of which the player is a member would have the ability to run a new Handicap Review on the player.
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 it by 1.5 strokes at their discretion.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Handicap Committee can manually adjust a Handicap Index using a different approach. 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.”. For an adjustment other than the recommended one from the handicap review process, this is the only way to apply an adjustment.
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”, “denied”, or “expired”.
The USGA Handicap Review Tool considers frequency of play within the process. However, players who post 56 or more scores during the review period are treated the same in the analysis. In situations where a player has posted a significantly high number of scores in the review period, such as 100 or more, and the percentage of flagged scores is low, the Handicap Committee may consider denying the adjustment if there are no other indications that the player needs an adjustment. If the recommendation is to adjust the Handicap Index by more than one stroke, then the Handicap Committee might consider adjusting by a lesser value (for example, the recommendation is -2, but the Committee chooses to adjust by -1.0). Before making a decision, the Handicap Committee should consider other available information, including data points for “Played to Handicap Index” and “Competition Factor”. For clubs using the GHIN Admin Portal, a Handicap Index adjustment can be made 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.
Once a recommendation is applied, the player's Handicap Index will be updated immediately to reflect the adjustment. This aligns with the "resetting the Handicap Index" method outlined in Rule 7.1a(ii) of the Rules of Handicapping. The adjustment is applied to the 20 most recent Score Differentials™ in the player's scoring record at the time of the adjustment, ensuring the Handicap Index accurately represents 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.
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.
A Handicap Index adjustment should only be removed by the golf club that applied it.
The USGA recommends that the Handicap Committee at an authorized golf club run a club-wide Handicap Review once every 365 days. In 2026, this 365-day timeframe is planned to become an additional requirement for Club Authorization.
While it may be appropriate to run additional club-wide reviews during the season, such as leading up to a club competition, it is not recommended to run it on a frequent basis. More specifically, a club should not be running club-wide review more than once every three months.
In general, it is a best practice to plan a club-wide review during the club’s peak season, such as when its members are posting the most scores for handicap purposes. This timing will vary geographically, but for many states it will likely be in the June or July timeframe.
A club has the discretion to run an individual review on a player when appropriate such as due to a request or information available to the Handicap Committee.
While the volume of handicap administration activity at the time the review is run as well as your internet connection speed can impact the timing, most club-wide reviews should complete in less than three minutes. Larger clubs with more than 500 members should contact their local Allied Golf Association if longer review times are experienced.
The following circumstances will result in a player being ineligible for a recommended Handicap Index adjustment:
- The player has fewer than 20 scores and does not have a Low Handicap Index.
- When they have a currently adjusted Handicap Index, e.g., 14.3M.
- When a club-wide review is run, and the player has a different home club.
While no recommended adjustment will be returned, other results of the handicap review will be available such as number of scores in the review period, number/percentage of low flags, number/percentage of high flags, Handicap Index during review period, percentage of rounds played to Handicap Index, and Competition Factor. The Handicap Committee is encouraged to collect as much information as possible from the player under review, any other clubs of which the player is a member, and their local Allied Golf Association before adjusting the Handicap Index.
The following circumstances will result in a player being excluded from handicap review:
- They do not have a Handicap Index. This could be because the player has not posted enough scores to establish a Handicap Index or their club’s status is “unauthorized.” In either case, their Handicap Index will be listed as NH.
- Their Handicap Index has been withdrawn by the golf club’s Handicap Committee, which is displayed as WD.
In these circumstances, the handicap review analysis does not run, thus no handicap review information will be available to the Handicap Committee.
If a club runs a handicap review on a player who then moves to another club, the status of any recommended adjustment would change from pending to expired. At that time, the new club or any club of which the player is a member would have the ability to run a new Handicap Review on the player.
Note: If a recommended adjustment is applied prior to a player changing clubs, the adjustment to the Handicap Index and corresponding Score Differentials will remain.
If the player’s membership with the club that ran the handicap review goes inactive, then the status of the recommended adjustment would change from pending to expired.
If the player is a member at more than one club and the membership remains active with the club that ran the Handicap Review, then the status of the recommended adjustment would not be affected.
If an adjustment reduces a player’s Handicap Index, then it may reset the Low Handicap Index to that same value.
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.
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 new adjustment will be combined with any existing ESR or Committee Adjustment, making them cumulative. For instance, if the 11th-20th Score Differentials in a player's scoring record have an ESR of -1 and a recommended adjustment of -1 is subsequently applied, those 10 Score Differentials will have a total adjustment of -2.
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.
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 is 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.
It is an added safeguard – The handicap review process gives a Handicap Committee the ability to ensure the Handicap Index of its members 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 local Allied Golf Association for support or feedback on the USGA Handicap Review Tool.