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GOLFER
INDEX
NOVEMBER
1, 2008
INDEX  
SEPTEMBER 1,
 2008
INDEX   
OCTOBER 1,
2008
GOLF ROUNDS
IN 2008
 
 
 
 
 
DWIGHT N.
33.9
 
33.9
10
MITS  F.
9.5
9.4
9.6
77
GARY  H.
6.8
8.0
7.6
37
YOSH  H.  
12.4
11.7
11.9
77
JACK  I.
16.3
15.9
16.0
79
HIROJI  K.
18.7
17
17.9
63
DAVID  K.
17.1
17.5
16.9
14
JOHN K.
14
12.7
13.8
39
RUSSELL K.
20.3
20.3
20.3
0
EUGENE K.
20.6
20.7
20.8
21
DAVE M.
6.9
7.1
7.0
23
PAUL M.
14.6
12.5
13.3
35
BRADD M.
28.7
28.7
28.7
0
LORIN  M.
26.2
26.2
26.2
0
RICH  M.
15.3
15.2
14.0
85
BARRY  N.
12.8
12.8
12.8
2
BEN  N.
27.5
27.5
27.5
64
GARY  N.
21.2
21.9
20.8
34
KEITH  I.
12.9
12.8
12.9
42
KOKI N.
12.6
10.4
10.4
21
TOM  U.
3.7
4.4
3.8
70
ERIC  Y.
13.8
13.8
13.8
0
GEORGE  Y.
15.5
15.6
15.5
37
TERUO  Y.
18.0
18.0
18.0
0
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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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.