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GOLFER
INDEX
FOR
JAN. 1,
2010
INDEX  
MARCH  1,
 2010
INDEX   
FEBR. 1,
2010
GOLF
ROUNDS
IN 2010
GEORGE N.
20.8
21.9
20.8
4
PAUL M.
12.9
13.5
13.4
4
MITS  F.
9.4
12.4
10.0
25
GARY  H.
10.1
9.5
10.1
5
YOSH  H.  
13.4
13.4
13.2
8
JACK  I.
20.7
22
21.4
9
HIROJI  K.
24.2
25.5
25.5
10
DAVID  K.
16.3
16.5
16.6
4
JOHN K.
15.9
15.6
15.6
7
 
 
 
 
 
BRADD M.
28.7
28.7
28.7
0
LORIN  M.
25.4
25.4
25.4
0
RICH  M.
16.7
17
16.3
13
 
 
 
 
 
GARY  N.
23.1
23.1
23.1
0
KEITH  I.
13.3
13.2
13.3
2
TOM  U.
5.6
6.5
6.0
10
ERIC  Y.
14
14.6
14.0
1
GEORGE  Y.
17.3
17.2
17.2
2
TERUO  Y.
18.0
18.0
18.0
0
CRAIG T.
12.7
14.3
14.3
1
TROY H.
9.8
9.4
9.4
0
JACOB I.
14.7
14.7
14.7
0
JOANNE I.
 37.6
 37.6
 37.6
 0
.
        
EMI N.
40.4
40.4
40.4
0
HUBERT N.
 27.3
 27.3
 27.3
 0
MICHELLE N.
 30.2
 30.2
 30.2
 0
THOMAS N.
 16.8
 16.8
 16.8
 0
GLENN T.
 12.4
 12.2
 12.3
 3
MARC T.
 23.1
 23.1
 23.1
 0
JEAN Y.
 37.0
 37.1
 37.0
 1
RICHARD O.
 27.8
 27.8
 27.8
 0
STEVEN S.
 19.1
 19.1
 19.1
 1
         
         
         
         
Our next golf outing: Friday at 10:00 am
Southbay Nikkei Golf Club
Southbay Nikkei Golf Club

Playing to Your Handicap  

To acquire a better understanding of the USGA Handicap System™, wouldn't it be nice to know what "Playing to Your
Handicap" means and whether you should do this every time? The system is built around the USGA Course Rating™,
which impacts us all even though its definition ties to a "scratch" golfer. When you are given handicap strokes, you
receive the number of strokes necessary to play down to the level of a scratch golfer. If the scratch golfer is supposed
to shoot the USGA Course Rating, then those handicap strokes relate to the USGA Course Rating as well.

We use the phrase "target score" in regard to playing to your Handicap. How is a target score determined? First, go
through the normal process of converting a Handicap Index to a Course Handicap™. Then add that Course Handicap to
the USGA Course Rating. For example, a player with a USGA Handicap Index of 16.3 decides to play a course with a
USGA Course Rating of 68.9 and a Slope Rating of 129. That player converts the 16.3 to a Course Handicap of 19
(using Course Handicap Tables or "Conversion Charts"), then adds 19 to 68.9, for a total of 88 (rounded). If the player
shoots 88, that player has played to his or her handicap.

So playing to your handicap is not exclusively a matter of whether you have hit the ball well or the number of putts you
had, but a measurable quantity. It is NOT how your net score relates to par.

How often should a player do this? Recognize that your worst scores are not truly utilized in the calculation of a
Handicap Index; only the best 10 handicap differentials are utilized and the worst 10 are disregarded. Then the best ten
are averaged. Including all of the handicap formulas, the resulting probability is that playing to your handicap happens
only once out of four to five rounds. The USGA isn't out to discourage you, but in order to try and maintain a semblance
of equitable competition for players with differing skills in varying formats; we have determined this as the best choice
for our formula. If we used all scores, those players with higher handicaps would see their values increase significantly,
while those with lower values would not increase as much. This would tip the balance of the system heavily toward
higher handicap players. We believe there should be an incentive toward improving one's game.

We can't all be scratch golfers, but we can set a target to strive for to play to our handicap - and we can determine what
that means. And don't get discouraged if you only play to your handicap 20-25 percent of the time.


Please join us for  

golf on Fridays.  We

normally play every

Friday starting at

10:00 am.   Contact:

(just click on it)

SBNGC handicap
chairman/webmaster