{"id":280280,"date":"2025-11-24T08:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/280280\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T08:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:17:10","slug":"can-a-3-club-and-putter-competition-count-for-your-handicap-national-club-golfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/280280\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a 3 club and putter competition count for your handicap? – National Club Golfer"},"content":{"rendered":"

You know another year is starting to reach a climax when the competition calendar takes a distinct turn.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been through a relentless diet of medals and Stablefords<\/a>. Everyone\u2019s had their game face on in a battle of the board competitions.<\/p>\n

But as the selection boxes start hitting the shop shelves \u2013 yes, I know this is basically in September now \u2013 something changes.<\/p>\n

A load of novelty events cram the diary. The 3 club and putter could the dictionary definition of this.<\/p>\n

I use 3 clubs merely as an illustrative device \u2013 you can basically insert whatever number you like into the equation. The big thing is the terms of competition limit how many clubs you can use.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not dissing these events, either. Far from it. My club has an annual 2-club and putter and I\u2019m gutted if I miss it. I often score better than when I\u2019ve got a full set at my disposal.<\/p>\n

Maybe everything just becomes a bit clearer when you\u2019re only wielding a 7-iron for pretty much every shot.<\/p>\n

But given I\u2019ve seen 40-odd points regularly winning this event down the years, it begs a question. Can it count for handicap?<\/p>\n

\"world<\/p>\n

Is a 3 club and putter competition an acceptable score? <\/p>\n

This boils down to what is an acceptable score<\/a>. They are any round that\u2019s an authorised form of play, over a minimum number of holes, played to the Rules of Golf, and certified prior to submission. So far so good.<\/p>\n

But if you dig into the Rules of Handicapping<\/a>, there is a clarification labelled \u201cScores Not Acceptable for Handicap Purposes\u201d that brings the hammer down on anyone harbouring any hopes.<\/p>\n

It says: \u201cSome formats of play and scores played under certain restricted Terms of the Competition are not acceptable for handicap purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you download a copy from the web, and swing over to page 35, you\u2019ll find a very handy diagram very clearly listing some of what\u2019s not allowed.<\/p>\n

These include scrambles, being coached on the golf course, and when a score can\u2019t be verified by another person.<\/p>\n

But it also says \u201cwhen the number or type of golf clubs to be used is restricted\u201d and staring back at you is an illustrated sign saying \u201c3 club and putter\u201d.<\/p>\n

So fire away safe in the knowledge that if you are lucky enough to do something special with just a handful of sticks, you won\u2019t be getting a big handicap cut for your efforts. It\u2019s one the few examples in the WHS era where you\u2019ve basically got a free hit.<\/p>\n

Now have your say<\/p>\n

What do you think? Should restricted club competitions count for handicap \u2013 even if it was just reduction only \u2013 or have handicap chiefs got it right? Let us know in the comments, or get in touch on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You know another year is starting to reach a climax when the competition calendar takes a distinct turn.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-280280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}