Handicaps in plain words

Quick answer. A handicap is a head start. Each golfer brings a number, called a handicap index. Back9Ops turns it into a whole number of strokes for the tees you chose, applies the Handicap percentage you picked on Event settings, and gives those strokes out on the hardest holes first. Net score is gross score minus those strokes. Nobody does the maths. You choose the percentage and check the numbers.

Who can do this: an Admin or an Organizer picks the Handicap setting and the tees. Only an Admin can press Refresh handicaps. Everyone with the link can read the board and the working.

Before you start

Make sure the event has its tees chosen, because the same handicap index is worth a different number of strokes on a different tee. Set up your event in four steps covers that. Decide the percentage before the day. Many groups play at 90% or 80% so the best golfer in the group is not outgunned. Lower is stingier.

The steps

1. See what each golfer brought. On the event page find the Field box and press Manage Field. Under Registered Players, the HCP column shows each golfer's handicap, such as 18.2. A dash means none is on file.
2. Bring the numbers up to date. Admins press Refresh handicaps and then Update handicaps. Build the field walks through it. The number each golfer had when they joined the field is kept until you refresh.
3. Check the tees. On Event settings, look at Tee Set. A golfer on harder tees gets more strokes from the same index.
4. Pick the percentage. On Event settings, find Handicap and choose Full (100%), 95%, 90%, 85%, 80% or Scratch. Scratch means nobody gets strokes. Press Save Changes. Stroke play: gross and net shows what the board does with it.
5. Know where golfers see the working. On the leaderboard the HCP column is the number of strokes that golfer is getting. On a golfer's own scorecard, on the Card view, the bottom line reads, for example, Net (Gross - HCP 19). Under it is a small note, "Show how this was calculated: course handicap uses your index, tee slope/rating, and 100% allowance." Below that is a box called How was this calculated? Tap it to open it. It has five parts: Plain Summary, Input Data, Calculation, Adjustments and Timing. Adjustments shows the percentage, such as "Allowance applied: 100%".
6. Know which holes get the strokes. Every hole on the scorecard carries a stroke index, written SI, such as "Par 4 · SI 7". SI 1 is the hardest hole on the course and SI 18 is the easiest. A golfer with 5 strokes gets one on each of the five hardest holes, SI 1 to 5. A golfer with 19 strokes gets one on every hole and a second on SI 1.

What you should see

Here is our practice event, played from the White tees. Those tees are rated 70.6 with a slope of 125, and the course is par 72. The formula is the index times the slope divided by 113, plus the rating minus par, times the percentage, rounded once at the end.

• Bob Hendricks, index 18.2. 18.2 times 125 divided by 113 is 20.1. Add 70.6 minus 72, which is minus 1.4, and you get 18.7. On Full (100%) that rounds to 19 strokes. On 80% it is 15.0, so 15 strokes.
• Dave Prentiss, index 5.6. 5.6 times 125 divided by 113 is 6.2. Minus 1.4 is 4.8, which rounds to 5 strokes.

Dave shoots 77 and Bob shoots 90. Dave's net is 77 minus 5, which is 72. Bob's net is 90 minus 19, which is 71. Bob wins on net and Dave wins on gross. Nobody typed anything. That is the whole point of a handicap.

Part way through a round, only the holes played get strokes. A golfer standing on the ninth tee is not marked down for strokes they have not had a chance to use. On the leaderboard, under the Gross and Net buttons, open How this is calculated. Its Adjustments part says "Only completed holes are adjusted for partial rounds".

If it goes wrong

• A golfer says their number is wrong. Check the HCP column on Manage Field first. If it is the old number, an Admin presses Refresh handicaps. If the number is right, check Tee Set on Event settings. The same index on different tees is a different number of strokes.
• A golfer's HCP shows a dash. They have no handicap on file. Add their Handicap index under Players in the left menu, then come back and press Refresh handicaps.
• Nobody seems to get strokes. The Handicap setting is Scratch. The Field page says so: "This event is played at scratch — handicaps are shown for reference but do not affect scoring or the leaderboard." Choose a percentage and press Save Changes.
• The strokes look too generous. Look at the percentage. Full (100%) gives every stroke. You can change it after scores are in, and the board re-figures at once.
• A golfer asks why they got a stroke on one hole and not another. Strokes go on the hardest holes first, by the SI printed on the scorecard. Show them the hole's SI and their stroke count.
• The scorecard has no Net line or no How was this calculated? box. Those only show when the event counts handicaps, so on Scratch they are not there. The Net line also needs the golfer to have a handicap, so a golfer with a dash in HCP will not see one.
• The Refresh handicaps button is missing. Only Admins see it. An Organizer asks an Admin to press it.

Director's tip

Read your handicap rule out at the first tee. Something like "We are playing at 90%, and strokes go on the hardest holes first." Then if anyone asks, you can point at the SI on the scorecard. It ends the argument before it starts.

Related

• Stroke play: gross and net
• Build the field
• Skins
• Wolf
• Set up your event in four steps

Still stuck?

Email support@back9ops.com and tell us the event's name, the Handicap setting, the golfer, and the number of strokes you expected.