As of today, your Handicap Index is 100% official and can be used in any local tournaments. The DPT Golf Club is now a recognized club by the USGA.
Along with a welcome letter... I received an update about changes coming in 2018, when our current license expires. The USGA is going to do ALL index calculations in-house, starting January 1st. This means, basically, nobody is "allowed" to calculate handicaps themselves.
Current clubs must either join an "authorized golf association" (ie: FSGA)... or figure out a way to send scores to the USGA, and in return receive updated indexes (for a $2 per golfer yearly fee).
As far as we are concerned... joining an association is a waste of money and isn't going to happen. Figuring out how to electronically get our scores to the USGA might also prove an issue.
So for now... we made the USGA "recognize" us. And our club is already listed on their website.
It is a great time to be alive. Even if it's short-lived.
Congrats on this! And thanks for your efforts commish!
ReplyDeleteWhy would they expand to 3 club tiers and then bring the calculations in house? Seems counterintuitive.
ReplyDeleteSo back in the day they had no choice but to recognize clubs, train them on the handicap calculation, and require the to adhere to certain rules.
ReplyDeleteThen the internet finally reached the golfing world, and the USGA expanded their club definitions to allow groups like USHandicap to calculate indexes for the masses. This probably resulted in a ton of revenue loss for local associations.
I imagine their next move is aimed at forcing local clubs to join/pay those associations. And so they can be more secretive of any changes they make to the formula itself. They tell you the index... you take it and use it to calculate course strokes... and don't ask any questions.
The USHandicaps of the world will figure out how to take all posted rounds and send directly to the USGA's site. Clubs like ours which do it by hand won't have that option.
I plan on reaching out to the USGA later this year to ask specific questions about what happens to us that do our own calculations... and why should we be forced to spend money to get accurate indexes. It's not "growing the game."
Great! So, now instead of just being bad at golf, now I'm OFFICIALLY bad at golf.
ReplyDeleteYou just won! But yes. You're officially terrible.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a move in the wrong direction. Handicap calculations should be transparent and universal. Prediction....that change doesn't last very long.
ReplyDeleteGood work commish!
ReplyDelete