Sweet 16.9L

Big news. I finally registered for an official handicap. I have long played with an unofficial handicap index, but since breaking 90 a couple of times this season, I decided I'm good enough at golf to start recording my scores in a public fashion. The process was surprisingly simple. I paid $25 at my local course and got an email with a login name and password for a Maryland State Golf Association account, which allowed me to sign in and post scores. I posted 15 rounds since the end of April, including various local and away courses. Using 6 of these 15 scores, the MSGA website generated a "trend handicap" of... drum roll please... 16.9L! The L stands for "local handicap" which could mean a lot of different things, but in my case it means my number is a trend handicap. Honestly, I thought my handicap would be in the 20s, since I mostly shoot in the 90s, but my local course is considered a tough course for the ladies, so this helps bring my number down.

My handicap is not official yet. If you look up my name in the MSGA player lookup, you would find "NH" next to my name, which means "no handicap." Official handicaps are calculated using the lowest 10 of a golfer's most recent 20 rounds, so I will need to post 5 more rounds. If I want a lower handicap index, I better make them good ones!

My Unofficial Handicap Index

One of these days I will get an official handicap. In golf, a handicap is what enables golfers of various skill levels to compete on an equal basis. Most people think it’s the average number of strokes above par that you take to finish a round. But it’s a bit more complicated than that. It involves course ratings and slope ratings, as well as your scores on at least 5 of your past rounds.

To get an official USGA handicap, you can apply through a golf club or association licensed to give out handicap indexes.

To really level the playing field, though, I think other factors should come into play aside from getting an extra stroke allowance. For a match to be truly fair, my opponent would need to have some of these items on my "unofficial" handicap index:

- long hair that won’t stay put under a hat

- a bunion on at least one foot

- the kind of blood that mosquitoes like

- a bad case of hydrophobia (fear of hitting over water)

- a worse case of sciophobia (fear of hitting over my own shadow)

- golf shoes without cleats

and last but not least…

- a need to pee after every third hole