Posting Your Scores

March 15, 2007, we will begin our “active season” for handicap score posting.  Here are a few reminders from the Handicap Committee.  Your score must be posted when you play an 18-hole round, (13 or more holes), or a 9-hole round (7 or more holes). Scores made in both match play and stroke play, including those made in team competitions, must be posted.  All posted scores must be adjusted for Equitable Stroke Control (ESC), as in the following table.                               

EQUITABLE STROKE CONTROL

Course Handicap

Maximum Number on any hole

9 or less

Double Bogey

10 through 19

7

20 through 29

8

30 through 39

9

40 or more

10

If you start, but do not complete a hole, or you are conceded a stroke, as is common in match play, you should record for handicap purposes the score you most likely would have made.  The most likely score consists of the number of strokes already taken plus, in your best judgement, the number of strokes that you would need to complete the hole from that position more than half the time.  This number may not exceed your ESC limit, and should be preceded by an “X”.

If you do not play a hole or play it other than under the principles of the Rules of Golf, your score for that hole, for handicap purposes, shall be par plus any handicap strokes you are entitled to receive on the hole.  When recording this hole score, precede the score with an “X”. 

A “tournament score” is a score made in a competition organized and conducted by a committee in charge of the competition.  The competition must identify a winner(s) based on a stipulated round(s), and must be played under the principles of the Rules of Golf.  Tournament scores must be posted as tournament scores, by selecting the Tournament Score box on the computer screen.  Nine hole scores are never to be posted as tournament scores.  At Lake Valley Golf Club, we announce in advance which competitions meet the tournament score posting criteria.

A basic premise of the USGA Handicap System is that every player will try to make their best score on each hole in every round played, and will post every acceptable round for peer review.

This system is what makes it possible for golfers of all levels to compete equitably, so please endeavor to adjust and post scores accordingly.