The World Handicap System arrives in Italy: what’s new?
Over the course of the last year, the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) have joined forces to deliver an immense and challenging project. It aimed to unify the 6 different golf handicap systems that exist around the world. The World Handicap System is the result, a combination of rules that will be a point of reference for golfers all over the globe and prevent any confusion or the need for conversion calculations. On 15 December 2020, the new handicap calculation system came into effect in Italy too and in this article we’d like to shed some light on it.
The main provision of the World Handicap System is: the “8/20” average.
From here onwards, Italians will have to calculate their handicap in a completely different way than before. The basic principle on which the World Handicap System is based is that of calculating the average of the best 8 results of your last 20 matches. Please note, however, that it is not the average of Stableford results that are considered, but rather the average of the Score Differentials. This last point is crucial to be able to make the most accurate comparison possible. In fact, the Stableford scores are very inconsistent results and therefore cannot be compared with each other as they are collected on different courses, at different times of the year and with different playing handicaps. Score Differentials, on the other hand, are standardised values, numbers that correlate the player’s result with their handicap, namely how well that player has played on that day with that result. What about people who have played in less than 20 competitions? No problem: there’s a table you can consult for exactly this purpose to get your score. You can find it on page 16-17 of this Reference Guide issued by the Italian Golf Federation.
World Handicap System, the secondary rules
Besides what we have just covered, there are secondary rules to be considered that are just as important. Regardless of the golfer’s handicap, valid results in Italy will be all those achieved in individual matches on 9 and 18-hole courses. A suppression mechanism called the Cap will then count the player’s handicap to a maximum of 5 strokes on an annual basis and will suppress it if the score is greater than or equal to 36. Reductions, on the other hand, will be more marked if the player is able to play 7 strokes better than their handicap index. This will lead to Exceptional Scores. The CBA will be replaced with the PCC, namely a mechanism that will refine the results and take the course conditions on the day they were collected into account. Above all, the concept of the “fractional score” is no more, something that has affected players so much in recent decades. The Course Rating System, on the other hand, will remain in place without change, and is an integral part of the World Handicap System. Italian players’ handicaps will be converted from EGA to WHS, however there is no defined conversion parameter: the new figure will summarise the playing ability of the individual athlete and will only be affected by the results of their latest games.
Ultimately, the World Handicap System is an excellent solution for placing golfers all over the world on a level playing field and we are pleased that it has arrived in Italy too. In this regard, you can find the Italian Golf Federation's official press release here. It is important to remember that our sport is one of the few with such regulations, which allows everyone to enjoy themselves equally. However, if you really want to stand out and get noticed on the green at all times (and not just for your swing), you can trust Chervò and its wonderful Chic&Tech garments. Our new site is online and it’s really worth giving it a visit to see what’s changed. Because Chervò makes a difference. Always.
