To Post or Not To Post

Some of the following information is provided from The USGA’s Handicap Survival Kit for the Handicap Chairman and The USGA Handicap System to help you understanding when to post. Instructions for posting both 18 hole scores and 9 hole scores will be located at each course, and is also posted on the web page.

The USGA Handicap System is based upon the potential ability of a player rather than the average of all of his scores. The USGA’s Handicap Research Team tells us that the average player is expected to play to his Course Handicap or better only about 25 percent of the time, average three strokes higher than his handicap, and have his best score in 20 be only two strokes better than his handicap.

Here are the basic guidelines. Generally, you should post all scores no matter where you play. But there are a few specific rules to follow in particular cases:

“Post your score when you play at least 13 holes on 18 hole course and 7 holes when playing a 9 hole round. On the holes you didn’t play, record a par plus any handicap strokes you would have received for that hole.“
Post a nine hole score using the new option on the FGA computer at the course where you played. The scores will be transferred to your home course if the course that you are playing at is not your home course. Thus, all of your league scores that you play each week can now be posted as soon as you finish.
“If a player starts but does not complete a hole or is conceded a stroke, he shall record for handicap purposes the score he or she most likely would have made. The most likely score consists of the number of strokes already taken plus, in his or her best judgment, the number of strokes that the player would need to complete the hole from the position more than half the time. The most likely score should be preceded by an “X”. If this score is higher than your maximum number that you are allowed by ESC system, then you need to adjust your score to the maximum. “There is no limit to the number of unfinished holes a player may have in a round provided that failure to finish is not for the purposes of handicap manipulation.” Examples are available in the handicap book.

Example 1. A and B are partners in a four-ball stroke-play competition. On a hole on which neither player receives a handicap stroke, a lies two, 18 feet from the hole. B lies two, 25 feet from the hole. B holes his putt for a three. A picks up his ball because he cannot better B’s score.

Example 2: A and B are playing a match. On a hole on which neither receives a handicap stroke, A has holed out in 4; B has a 30-foot putt for 5. B has lost the hole, and picks up. He records X-6 on the scorecard because 6 are his mostly score.

Example 3: A and B are playing a match. One a hole on which Player A receives a handicap stroke, A is one foot from the hole, lying 5. B is 10 feet from the hole, lying 3. B putts and misses. They both concede a half. Player A records X-6 and Player B records X-5 because those are the scores they most likely would have made.

“If you play a mulligan, you aren’t playing a hole under the Rules of Golf, so treat it as a hole not played and record par plus any handicap strokes you would have received.”
“Sunbelt & Hawaii scores shall always be posted even if your home club is out of season, since there’s never an off season in those warm sunny areas.”
Don’t record scores played in a scramble or on an 18-hole course that is less than 3000 yards or when on temporary greens where you didn’t play 13 for 18 hole course for 7 for 9 hole round .
If you play in one of the postable tournaments in Fairbanks area. Remember to post your score with the type being a “T”. Make sure that the tournament coordinator isn’t posting the scores. Some of the postable tournaments are Flowline Invitational, FGA’s Senior Tournament, Golden Days Tournament, Interior Pro-Am Tournament, and all Club Championships. If you forgot to post a score for any of these last year, you can still enter your score this year but make sure that you show last year’s date.