Handicap Calculator

[MmmBaker]

which one?

I don't belong to a private golf club that I play regularly. I prefer playing a variety of courses in my area throughout the season. This will be the first season where I try and calculate an official index or handicap for myself. I know there are a few handicap calculators online, but I'm interested to know which ones the WRX community uses and where I can find them. Thanks, guys.

[bigred90gt]

If you want an official index, you do not have to join a club in the traditional sense. I'm like you in that I like to play a variety of courses, and choose not to tie myself to 1 for the majority of my rounds. I found a local public course, which happens to be one that I do frequent, that offers the handicap service. I do not have to go to the course to enter my scores. I'm in Texas, so I go to the TXGA website, enter my last name and GHIN number, and post my scores online. when I play there, I post them onsite at their computer. I think it was $35/year, and it gives you a GHIN number, and after the required minimum number of rounds (and the next revision date) you get an official USGA index.

If this is not a route you choose to take, you can use Stracka.com. they have "golf clubs" that are set-up through the USGA and approved for handicap purposes, and it's free. You have to join one that is, I believe, within 50 miles of your place of residence. They are online "clubs", and not a physical golf club. I believe they hold events as required by the USGA. I'm not sure if participation in any of the events is required or not, you would have to check into that.

If you dont want an official index that can be used for tournament play, I think they also have a place that you can enter your scores, course slope and rating, and it will calculate it for you. they also have a stat tracker that you can use. it has been a couple of years since I used it, so I'm not sure if it has changed any.

[atlanta golfer]

I do exactly what bigred does. I pay $35 per year (which includes a bimonthly magazine) for the GSGA (Georgia) handicap service. I do this through a public course / driving range near me. But I enter all my scores on the internet. They added a nice feature this year - link to the USGA site which does all the course lookups for you, so you no longer have to keep the scorecard in order to remember the slope and rating.

Although there are lots of other ways to do it, this is the only "official" site recognized by USGA and is required for most tournament play.

Also provides the ability for any other player to look you up to view your handicap index.

Of course, you can "cheat" using this system, same as any other system.

[johnnylongball]

Try stracka.com. Does that same thing for free.

[EnglishBob]

If all you want is an unofficial number, I use a spreadhseet, that does all the calculations for you (esc etc) and will even keep a record of the rounds you play. Let me know if you would like a copy.

You do need to enable macro's in Excel for it to work.

[Newby]

[quote name='MmmBaker' date='18 March 2010 - 03:47 PM' timestamp='1268927242' post='2325003']
I don't belong to a private golf club that I play regularly. I prefer playing a variety of courses in my area throughout the season. This will be the first season where I try and calculate an official index or handicap for myself. I know there are a few handicap calculators online, but I'm interested to know which ones the WRX community uses and where I can find them. Thanks, guys.
[/quote]

The above replies assum you are in the US.
If you are not the rules may well be quite different.
What country are you in? I can advise on most.

[Asleep]

Try your local muni or other public play courses. Most will offer the GHIN hdcp for the $35.00.

[Sawgrass]

If you think you might want to play in a tournament it might be necessary, or at least worth it, to get an offical handicap as opposed to just figuring it out yourself. I believe that some tournaments require a certain level of "official" status for your handicap, so to be safe (if you're in the U.S.) I'd be sure to get one that is USGA endorsed.

BTW, even if you don't intend to play in tournaments I think you might enjoy watching your handicap change. It's as objective a view of your changing potential as you will find, and monitoring yourself can be fun.

[lespaulist]

I run a website called handicapplus.com that tracks your handicap, graphs your progress, tracks FIR/GIR/Putts/Sand Saves and a bunch of other stats.

It's open to anyone and completely free. I don't make a dime off of the site. I started it help with handicapping the guys in our golf trip to cut down on some sandbagging. The index generated is not an official index.

Let me know if you have any questions about the site. Hopefully some people on here will find it useful.

[MmmBaker]

Thanks very much to all of you for your suggestions. I definitely appreciate it.

[tfro]

[quote name='johnnylongball' date='18 March 2010 - 11:33 AM' timestamp='1268930023' post='2325103']
Try stracka.com. Does that same thing for free.
[/quote]


It WAS free, it now requires a premium membership to get a USGA index.