You are strongly encouraged to bring scorecards of all of your golf rounds to the monthly tournaments, to email them to the Bayou Bogey Handicap Committee or to mail them to Bayou Bogey Golf Club at:
4016 James DriveScorecards must include full player names, the date the round was played and the tees played. Please enter the actual scores for each hole, not the amount of strokes over or under par.
Bayou Bogey Golf Club issues its members a handicap index. Handicaps are calculated on a regular basis using a custom formula based on the old USGA method. A brief explanation of how a handicap index is calculated follows.
The first step to an accurate handicap index is the accurate recording of scores. An important part of this process is Equitable Stroke Control (ESC). ESC limits the maximum score a player may post on any hole depending on the player's course handicap. Below is the ESC table.
| Equitable Stroke Control | |
|---|---|
| Course Handicap | Maximum Score on Any Hole |
| 9 or less | Double Bogey |
| 10 thru 19 | 7 |
| 20 thru 29 | 8 |
| 30 thru 39 | 9 |
| 40 or more | 10 |
For example, a player with a course handicap of 13 may record a maximum score of 7 for any hole regardless of par.
In the case of holes not played, unfinished holes or conceded holes, the players involved are required to record what would be their most likely score for the hole but no greater than ESC allows.
Bayou Bogey strongly encourages its members to return scorecards with individual hole scores as our software will handle any ESC adjustments automatically. If a player can only return a score as a total score, the player must make the ESC adjustments himself.
The second step to an accurate handicap index is the requirement that a player submit ALL acceptable scores to the club. If 13 or more holes are played, an 18-hole score should be submitted. If 7 to 12 holes are played, a 9-hole score should be submitted. Examples of unacceptable scores include when fewer than 7 holes are played, when a majority of holes are not played in accordance with the Rules of Golf or when scores are made on a course without a USGA Course or Slope Rating.
The final step to assigning a handicap index involves computing handicap differentials for each submitted score, then taking 96% of the average of the best handicap differentials.
A handicap differential is computed as follows: Handicap Differential = (Adjusted Gross Score - Course Rating) * 113 / Slope Rating
Once all of the differentials are calculated, the table below is used to determine the number of handicap differentials to be used in the handicap index calculation.
| Handicap Differentials | |
|---|---|
| Number of Acceptable Scores | Differentials to be Used |
| 5 or 6 | Lowest 1 |
| 7 or 8 | Lowest 2 |
| 9 or 10 | Lowest 3 |
| 11 or 12 | Lowest 4 |
| 13 or 14 | Lowest 5 |
| 15 or 16 | Lowest 6 |
| 17 | Lowest 7 |
| 18 | Lowest 8 |
| 19 | Lowest 9 |
| 20 | Lowest 10 |
Next, the handicap differentials to be used are averaged. The average is multiplied by 0.96. All numbers after the tenths' digit are deleted. Do not round off to the nearest tenth. This number is the handicap index and can be used with the Course Rating to determine a Course Handicap.
For example, suppose a player has submitted 11 scores. The total of the lowest 4 handicap differentials is 104.1. The average of these 4 differentials would be 26.025. Multiply this average by 0.96 to get 24.984. Deleting the digits after the tenths digit leaves 24.9. Therefore, 24.9 would be this player's handicap index.
Course Handicap = Handicap Index x (Slope Rating / 113)
To calculate your course handicap, multiply your handicap index by the slope rating of the tees played and then divide by 113. Round the result to the nearest whole number to get your course handicap.