2nd November 2021 marked the 1st anniversary of the World Handicap System going live in Great Britain and Ireland.
Here are some facts and figures about the first year of the WHS in England:
Courses and Tees
- 16,000 tee sets have been registered and given a Course Rating and Slope Rating
- There is about a 50/50 split of 9 hole and 18 hole rated courses, although 94% of scores submitted are from 18 hole courses.
- The average course lengths are 5891 yards (men's tees) and 5333 yards (women's tees)
Scores Returned
- 6.75 million scores returned (1 million more than in 2019 under CONGU)
- 4.9 million Competition Scores (5592 by Mapperley members)
- 1.8 million General Play Scores (1285 by Mapperley members)
Handicaps
- Average Handicap Index: 17.0 Men (16.7 at Mapperley)
- Average Handicap Index: 27.2 Women (25.8 at Mapperley)
- These are similar to the averages under CONGU
Click to view the Handicap Change Report to see how Mapperley members' handicaps have changed during the year to 31st December 2021.
iGolf
iGolf, which enables golfers who are not club members to obtain an official handicap, was launched in July 2021 and by February 2022 had:
- 12, 000 members
- 60% with handicaps
- 94% have never been a club member
- 340 have subsequently joined clubs
- Average age (men): 41 (58 for club members)
- Average age (women): 46 (64 for club members)
Submitting of General Play Scores at Mapperley will not be available until 31st March while Winter Rules are in place.
The My England Golf app is the preferred method for submitting General Play Scores for handicap purposes at Mapperley - and you can use it for rounds played at other courses in England too.
You must register your intent to submit a score with the app before the start of the round and your score will need to be verified through the My EG app by a playing partner who holds a WHS Handicap Index. This can be a member of any affiliated golf club or an iGolf subscriber.
Click to view a short video overview of the app . . . . .
. . . . and click for further guidance on:
Note:
Your device must be set to allow the app to use Location Services so that it can find golf courses in close proximity. If you cannot locate nearby courses, try opening Google Maps to make sure the device has identified your location. It may also be worth re-installing the latest version of the app.
The app cannot be used for submitting competition scores - you should use the PSI screen or the HowDidiDo app for competitions.
Under the Rules of Handicapping, when a player registers their intention to return a score (for a Competition or from General Play), that score MUST be returned promptly after play by the method the Committee has specified. ‘No returns’, as they were previously known, are not permitted; other than for valid reasons.
Click to see a full explanation of Player and Committee responsibilities in relation to returning of scores.
With the golf course due to reopen on 29 March, now is the time to dust down the clubs and your knowledge of the World Handicap System ahead of the new season.
Click to view the handy Player Reference Guide
. . . and you can find more information on the Rules of Handicapping pages
Single Tee Competitions
You can look up your handicap in Individual, better-ball and texas scambles formats in the Handicap Calculator page.
Multi-Tee Competitions
In competitions where more than one set of tees are in use, adjustments are made to some players' handicaps.
If you have Excel installed on your device, you can look up handicaps for both single tee and multi-tee competitions, as well as for foursomes and greensomes, by downloading this Excel Handicap Calculator file.
Tip for iPad & iPhone users: when the file opens in 'Safari', tap the "share" button (the box with an arrow pointing upwards) and save it to a folder on your device from where you will be able to open it in Excel). While it is possible to view the file in 'Numbers', this is not recommended because much of the "conditional formatting" is lost.
