What is the criteria for "off-season round" not counting toward handicap?

[RoyalMustang]

Here in Texas, we can play year-round. It doesn't mean the conditions are good year round.  In the last 3 weeks, I have played in 34 degree temps with 20 mph winds, 40 degree temps with 30mph winds, 60 degree temps but with mud in the fairways, and all rounds with greens that are as hard as the oak desk I am typing off of. 

 

Should I just put a pause on my scores counting toward handicap until spring? Or just let my cap go up naturally in the winter? I figure the course is playing 3 to 5 strokes harder right now. Hitting off soft mud in the fairway on a pitch shot is incredibly difficult, it turns out. 

 

Plus, the tips at 7100 yards play about 7800 in sub 45 degree temps. The ball just dies! 

 

If so, should I use spring grass growing again as my "ok to post scores" marker? 

[DaveLeeNC]

Your area (probably state-wide) association will decide if there is going to be a 'off-season' WRT posting scores (and they will define when that is). Here is a link to the details of who/when regarding handicap inactive seasons. In Texas you are year-round. 

 

Handicap Active and Inactive Season Schedule (usga.org)

 

dave

 

ps. My experience here in NC was a natural rise of 2 strokes when coming off a 5'ish index in the summer. I am old now and there is nothing predictable about my golf game these days. 

[davep043]

21 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

Should I just put a pause on my scores counting toward handicap until spring? Or just let my cap go up naturally in the winter? I figure the course is playing 3 to 5 strokes harder right now. Hitting off soft mud in the fairway on a pitch shot is incredibly difficult, it turns out. 

You should follow the Rules in effect where you play your golf.  Don't make up your own criteria, if each player did that we'd have chaos.  If your handicap goes up in the winter, as does mine in Virginia, as @DaveLeeNC experiences in NC, its a normal occurrence.

[MelloYello]

Trust me, you'll want those 2 extra strokes come tournament time! 

 

😁

[RoyalMustang]

31 minutes ago, DaveLeeNC said:

Your area (probably state-wide) association will decide if there is going to be a 'off-season' WRT posting scores (and they will define when that is). Here is a link to the details of who/when regarding handicap inactive seasons. In Texas you are year-round. 

 

Handicap Active and Inactive Season Schedule (usga.org)

 

dave

 

ps. My experience here in NC was a natural rise of 2 strokes when coming off a 5'ish index in the summer. I am old now and there is nothing predictable about my golf game these days. 

 

That makes sense: I can obviously game my handicap up that way, but if those are the rules, those are the rules. I just play in freezing conditions and after downpours: I will go from a 5 to a 12 in no time! 

 

When I submit, I see an option for "practice or wintertime round", which is why I asked

[juggernaut0629]

I post everything. I don’t care what season. I also don’t roll the ball. Play it as it lies. 

[DaveLeeNC]

25 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

When I submit, I see an option for "practice or wintertime round", which is why I asked

 

Where are you seeing that? I don't see it on Ghin or the terminal at our club in NC. dave

[RoyalMustang]

11 minutes ago, DaveLeeNC said:

 

Where are you seeing that? I don't see it on Ghin or the terminal at our club in NC. dave

 

It's on The Grint, which is where I post my scores. 

[Mr. Bean]

1 hour ago, davep043 said:

You should follow the Rules in effect where you play your golf.  Don't make up your own criteria, if each player did that we'd have chaos.  

 

Well.... people over there form their own Committees and decide which LRs they have in effect and that has not created chaos. Or has it..? 🤔

[davep043]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

Well.... people over there form their own Committees and decide which LRs they have in effect and that has not created chaos. Or has it..? 🤔

Don't fan the flames, its tough enough to get people to comply with any kinds of rules without you encouraging them!  😁

[Mike412]

If you use your handicap to play in tournaments you’re only hurting yourself by not counting them.

 

That’s why I’ve always found it odd when people lie about their handicap. Ironically, that’s usually the ones that accuse someone that keeps an honest handicap of sandbagging.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Mike412

[Krt22]

Don't over think it, just post everything

[RoyalMustang]

43 minutes ago, Mike412 said:

If you use your handicap to play in tournaments you’re only hurting yourself by not counting them.

 

That’s why I’ve always found it odd when people lie about their handicap. Ironically, that’s usually the ones that accuse someone that keeps an honest handicap of sandbagging.

 

Tournaments I play in are flighted; if you are sandbagging, you will get bumped up after enough good performances. The cap really isn't an issue: you just need an active one to participate. I am in the right group as I have been everywhere from 2nd out of 15 to 14th out of 15 in the last 4 tournaments! 

[Mike412]

2 minutes ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

Tournaments I play in are flighted; if you are sandbagging, you will get bumped up after enough good performances. The cap really isn't an issue: you just need an active one to participate. I am in the right group as I have been everywhere from 2nd out of 15 to 14th out of 15 in the last 4 tournaments! 

Those definitely help!

[davep043]

2 hours ago, Krt22 said:

Don't over think it, just post everything

.....that's required to be posted based on the time of year and the area in which you play.

[Krt22]

5 minutes ago, davep043 said:

.....that's required to be posted based on the time of year and the area in which you play.

Correct. In his case that part is straight forward 😃 

[davep043]

5 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Correct. In his case that part is straight forward 😃 

I agree, but sometimes people just read a single post without taking the time to read them all.  

[bobfoster]

11 hours ago, davep043 said:

You should follow the Rules in effect where you play your golf.  Don't make up your own criteria, if each player did that we'd have chaos.  If your handicap goes up in the winter, as does mine in Virginia, as @DaveLeeNC experiences in NC, its a normal occurrence.

^^^ This. 

 

Seasons are merely one of many variables in golf. A handicap doesn't assume the conditions are always perfect. It assumes that over time, and multiple rounds, a number roughly reflecting a golfer's ability will emerge. It is by no means a perfect system, but it is the best we have - and (IMO) mostly works. 

 

It is slightly arbitrary. The USGA sets the RoG, but there's a lot of leeway for Committees/courses to establish winter rules/local rules. On any given single round, you may be advantaged or disadvantaged. But over time and many rounds, a 10 cap is probably going to beat a 20 cap by around ten strokes. 

 

Point is, as arbitrary as the rules can seem, keeping a legitimate cap means playing by the rules established by whatever course you are playing on any given day (or season). Courses (with limitations) can establish local rules based on weather conditions (and several other variables). Individual golfers cannot. 

 

You can't choose to post - or not post - scores based on criteria you made up yourself on the fly. 

[Augster]

Classic. “It’s under 45 degrees. I shouldn’t post that.” Lol. 
 

I wear shorts at 40 degrees and sunny. Play golf in a snowstorm sometime. It’s really hard to find your ball. AND it’s a postable round due to the time of year. 
 

Just follow the posting guidelines. Everything takes care of itself that way. 
 

Also, it’s not gaming the handicap system. It’s posting by the handicap rules. One either has a legitimate handicap, or they don’t.
 

It’s one of many reasons the system throws out terrible rounds and doesn’t use an average of all rounds. 

[bcjim]

Agree with just follow the rules especially in a place like TX.  Some states, however,  really should have an off season. Here along the Potomac,  MD has a *4 month* long off season while VA has no off season. 

[jvincent]

The one that always comes up for us in the Great White North is people who don't post rounds when they travel in the off season.

 

All it means is that you usually start the season with a lower index than you probably should.

 

My pre-season travel is going to flush 13 scores out of my calculation.

[davep043]

2 hours ago, bcjim said:

Agree with just follow the rules especially in a place like TX.  Some states, however,  really should have an off season. Here along the Potomac,  MD has a *4 month* long off season while VA has no off season. 

I'm with you, my home club is about 10 miles from the border with Maryland.  But making any kind of rule means drawing lines of one kind or another.  I don't think it would be demonstrably better to draw a line between Richmond and DC, rather than at the state border, it would still be arbitrary to a certain extent.

28 minutes ago, jvincent said:

The one that always comes up for us in the Great White North is people who don't post rounds when they travel in the off season.

 

All it means is that you usually start the season with a lower index than you probably should.

 

My pre-season travel is going to flush 13 scores out of my calculation.

And this too is a problem with people either not knowing or not following the rules.  You post based on the acceptable format and posting season where you are playing.  The one unusual variation is based on acceptable format of play. 

[ChipNRun]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:52 AM, davep043 said:

You should follow the Rules in effect where you play your golf.  Don't make up your own criteria, if each player did that we'd have chaos.

 

As per dp, the USGA has a web listing of the State Golf Handicap Seasons for the USA.

 

You will find most of your year-round HDCP posting in southern tier states, plus California and Hawaii. Other states have seasonal bands. In our area we have an interesting splitout.

• Missouri: March 1 - November 14
• Illinois: April 1 - October 31

If you live in Illinois and play some January rounds in Florida, you can post the scores. They will show up as an A (away) on your score summary.

 

Also see Snowbirds Posting "Away" Scores.

[davep043]

19 minutes ago, ChipNRun said:

As per dp, the USGA has a web listing of the State Golf Handicap Seasons for the USA.

Another follow-up, if you're playing a course in the area's "off season", you will not be allowed to post the score through GHIN.  If you try, you get a message that tells you that your date is outside of the active handicap season.  Well, yes, you CAN post it manually, but don't do that.

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

Live and play in DFW area, we post year round....and yes, generically handicap goes up a couple strokes during the winter.

[golfinbrad]

3 hours ago, davep043 said:

Another follow-up, if you're playing a course in the area's "off season", you will not be allowed to post the score through GHIN.  If you try, you get a message that tells you that your date is outside of the active handicap season.  Well, yes, you CAN post it manually, but don't do that.

This.  I live in PA, so we have an off season.  Most courses in my area use temporary tees, especially on par 3s.  My home course par 3 tees are significantly shorter during the winter, so it is not like playing how the course was rated.  I do not post any rounds during the winter.  However, if we head south or west and play, I will enter those.

[Augster]

10 hours ago, golfinbrad said:

This.  I live in PA, so we have an off season.  Most courses in my area use temporary tees, especially on par 3s.  My home course par 3 tees are significantly shorter during the winter, so it is not like playing how the course was rated.  I do not post any rounds during the winter.  However, if we head south or west and play, I will enter those.

If the change is over 100 yards, but less than 300 yards, total, from any set of tees, you can manually adjust the CR and Slope to what they should be on the shorter course. 
 

But if you only have 4 par 3’s, and where they have you teeing from is less than 25 yards per hole, there won’t even be an adjustment. 

[davep043]

6 hours ago, Augster said:

If the change is over 100 yards, but less than 300 yards, total, from any set of tees, you can manually adjust the CR and Slope to what they should be on the shorter course. 
 

But if you only have 4 par 3’s, and where they have you teeing from is less than 25 yards per hole, there won’t even be an adjustment.

Its important to note that the chart is intended to be used by the Club with the approval of the Authorized Association, its not intended to be used by individual golfers.

[Augster]

16 hours ago, davep043 said:

Its important to note that the chart is intended to be used by the Club with the approval of the Authorized Association, its not intended to be used by individual golfers.

While that may be true, the same adjustment will be made. The chart certainly shows that any temporary total yardage difference, from a rated set of tees, of less than 100 yards, won’t be adjusted at all. 
 

In an above example, if a course moves the 4 par-3 tees up to not ruin the good boxes, and the total difference is say, 85 yards less than the rated yardage, no adjustment is necessary. Post as-is. 

[bladehunter]

On 2/14/2023 at 9:28 AM, RoyalMustang said:

Here in Texas, we can play year-round. It doesn't mean the conditions are good year round.  In the last 3 weeks, I have played in 34 degree temps with 20 mph winds, 40 degree temps with 30mph winds, 60 degree temps but with mud in the fairways, and all rounds with greens that are as hard as the oak desk I am typing off of. 

 

Should I just put a pause on my scores counting toward handicap until spring? Or just let my cap go up naturally in the winter? I figure the course is playing 3 to 5 strokes harder right now. Hitting off soft mud in the fairway on a pitch shot is incredibly difficult, it turns out. 

 

Plus, the tips at 7100 yards play about 7800 in sub 45 degree temps. The ball just dies! 

 

If so, should I use spring grass growing again as my "ok to post scores" marker? 

Op.  I am in the same boat as you. It’s been unusually cold in SC almost every Saturday morning. And that unfortunately is when I get to play.  First out with the dogfight.  So I’m averaging temps less than 45 for the whole 18.  Plenty of rounds under 40.  And usually wind. I’ve  posted them all. And handicap is way up.   Feels like cheating.  Especially after I played yesterday in 79 degree temps and realized how far the ball is traveling in good weather. And how good I’m hitting it.  I basically have 3 shots in my pocket at the moment for the upcoming season.  And it’s not likely to change much until maybe mid summer because I’m not playing enough rounds to knock off the winter ones. 
 

this is the first year where it’s worked out this way.  I used to get to play more in the afternoons and it wasn’t near the issue. I feel like I have a handicap for my worst self and I’ll be bringing my best self to play in any of the associations net events. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by bladehunter