\t\t\t\tMatch play handicaps can feel unjust, with the lower handicapper giving up shots on holes they themselves find toughest. But, as the experts explain, the logic behind stroke allocation is designed to produce closer contests \u2013\u00a0 and give everyone a fair shot.<\/p>\n
When golfers think about how handicaps work in match play, the system can feel counterintuitive.<\/p>\n
Take this letter, recently sent to TG from a reader:<\/p>\n
One of my biggest concerns surrounding the game we love is that high handicappers have more chance in match play competitions than others.<\/p>\n
For example, I play off 12 and my opponent plays off 18, hence he receives six shots. These are on holes stroke index one to six, which, according to my handicap, I cannot par. Why can\u2019t he have shots on stroke index 13 to 18? These are the holes I am supposed to par, unlike him.<\/p>\n
I have to ask, doesn\u2019t common sense apply in golf?<\/p>\n
Paul Flockton, Saltburn-by-the-Sea GC<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an understandable question. On the surface, it seems odd that a higher-handicap player receives strokes on holes where the stroke index suggests both players should both be making bogey.<\/p>\n
But match play handicaps aren\u2019t about envisioning which holes each player can or cannot par. They\u2019re about making the entire match competitive.<\/p>\n
The USGA explains it like this:<\/p>\n
\u201cBy stroking off the low ball, the higher handicap player(s) receive their handicap strokes on the holes where they need them most \u2013 resulting in more holes tied compared to holes won or lost. If players used full Playing Handicaps in match play, the better player would have the advantage on the more difficult holes (because he or she would also be getting strokes) and the other player(s) would have an advantage on the easier holes.\u201d<\/p>\n
By stroking off the lowest handicap and allocating shots on the toughest holes, the USGA insist the system produces more halved holes and tighter matches, which makes for better contests.<\/p>\n
Sarah Barter, head of handicapping and course rating at England Golf, reminds us that\u00a0match play is about player versus player, not player versus course:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that at the core of match play it is the lowest score that wins the hole, so all you need to do is be lower than your opponent \u2013 whether that\u2019s birdie, par, or triple bogey!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the World Handicap System, handicap strokes are allocated to equalize the difference in ability between players, not to reflect which holes an individual golfer expects to par.<\/p>\n
\u201cAppendix C of the Rules of Handicapping requires that strokes be given on the holes with the lowest Stroke Index numbers because these represent the holes where the scoring gap between a lower- and higher-handicap player is statistically greatest.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiving strokes on easier holes (Stroke Index 13\u201318, in this case) would over-compensate the higher-handicap player, as the relative difference in performance on those holes is smaller. Therefore, the higher-handicap player correctly receives strokes on Stroke Index 1\u20136, even if the lower-handicap player does not expect to par those holes.\u201d<\/p>\n
In simple terms, the system isn\u2019t judging what you should score on an individual hole. It\u2019s using long-term data to identify where the better player is most likely to gain an advantage \u2013 and then neutralizing it to level the playing field. <\/p>\n
Giving shots on the so-called \u201ceasier\u201d holes would actually had the higher-handicap player a bigger edge. Statistically, an 18-handicapper is perfectly capable of making par on those holes. Their handicap is what it is because they typically have some bad holes where they score double-bogey or worse. And those bigger numbers are more likely to come on the tougher holes, meaning you might be able to give them a shot and still secure a half or win the hole.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about fairness over 18 holes of the match. And that\u2019s exactly what match play handicaps are meant to achieve.<\/p>\n
So while it might feel wrong in the moment, match play handicaps aren\u2019t broken. They\u2019re just quietly doing their job of keeping the fight fair until \u2013 hopefully \u2013 the final green.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Match play handicaps can feel unjust, with the lower handicapper giving up shots on holes they themselves find…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-453555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}