Acceptable Scores for Handicap Purposes
- All 9 hole and 18 hole individual competition rounds in Medal, Stableford, Par/Bogey and Maximum Score formats must be submitted for handicap purposes, subject to the competition being played to the Rules of Golf on a measured course with a current Course Rating and Slope Rating.
- Scores from team competitions and match play are not acceptable in GB&I, although from April 2024 some scores from 4 ball better-ball count in the calculation of Handicap Index subject to certain triggers being met.
- Players are required to register their intention to submit a score from General Play (casual rounds) by signing in on the My England Golf app before commencing the round.
- See the Terms of Competition, Appendix J for more information about Acceptable Scores
Minimum Number of Holes
Scores can be be accepted for handicap purposes when a round is not fully completed if there is a valid reason why some holes are not played, such as:
- Fading light or bad weather
- Player injury or illness
- A hole being declared out of play for maintenance or reconstruction
- When a competition has been arranged over less than 18 holes.
9 Hole Scores
- All 9 holes must be played to submit a 9 hole score.
- 9 hole scores are scaled up to an equivalent 18 hole score by an automated calculation that applies an average Expected Score based on the Handicap Index of the player against any holes not played.
18 Hole Scores
- 10 or more holes must be played to submit an 18 hole score. Omitted holes need not be consecutive and may occur at any point in the round, though there must be a complete submission on one of the 9 holes of the course.
- The score is scaled up to an equivalent 18 hole score by an automated calculation that applies an average Expected Score based on the Handicap Index of the player against any holes not played.
Adjusted Gross Scores
- For handicap purposes a big score on any hole is reduced to Net Double Bogey.
- Holes started, but not completed are also recorded as Net Double Bogey.
- The player's Course Handicap (not Playing Handicap) is used when determining Net Double Bogey.
- The adjusted scores for each hole and scores for any holes not played are summed to give the Adjusted Gross Score for the round
Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC)
- The Playing Conditions Calculation determines if course and weather conditions on the day differed from normal to the extent that they significantly impacted players’ performance
- It is calculated using all scores submitted on the course that day, as long as 8 or more golfers with a Handicap Index of less than 36 and a fully developed Scoring Record played
- It is factored in to the Score Differential calculation and can increase the Score Differential by 1 in easy conditions or decrease it by 1, 2 or 3 in difficult conditions
Videos
You can view more about Acceptable Scores in the following videos:
Acceptable Scores: Overview
Net Double Bogey
PCC Calculation
