Posting Your Scores

Your membership in the PAGC carries with it the responsibility to post all scores accurately and in a timely manner.  To quote from the USGA Handicap System manual:

"A basic premise underlies the USGA Handicap system, namely that every player will try to make the best score at each hole in every round, regardless of where the round is played, and that the player will post every acceptable round for peer review."

This means that your handicap is not just your handicap; it is a public record of your play, available for other club members to review and check.  Accurate handicaps for all of our members are essential if we are to insure the integrity of our tournaments.

Equitable Stroke Control

Before posting, you should reduce any scores to the maximums noted below.

Please note that a player with a 10 Course Handicap who has been reduced to getting 9 strokes because it is a team event, can still take a maximum of 7.  The reduction for team does not affect ESC.

Unfinished Holes and Conceded Strokes

If a player starts but does not complete a hole or is conceded a stroke, that player shall record for handicap purposes the score he most likely would have made.  For example if a player believes he makes over half of his four foot putts, he should count a conceded four foot putt as a one putt.  Likewise, if a player in a team event putts aggressively for a birdie because his partner already has a par (his next putt won't matter to the team) , he should not count a resulting three putt for handicapping purposes.  Rather, he should assume that, playing under a format where only his own score would have counted he would have two putted and should record a par for handicapping.  And when in doubt, assume the lower score.

Posting Scores as a Tournament (T)

Effective with the start of the 2009-10 tournament season, the Palo Alto Golf Club has adopted a policy of having the club, including the Tournament Chairman, Handicap Chairman, Club professional staff or their designees, post scores on behalf of players in all Club tournaments. The GHIN computer at Palo Alto Golf Club will have signage for home tournaments reminding players that they are not to post their scores, and the Tournament Chairman will also include that reminder in the rules sheet for all Club tournaments.

Should a player accidentally post a Club tournament score, that player should contact the Handicap Chairman as soon as practicable, so that the duplicate score can be removed from the player’s record.

Players should continue to post scores in non-Club-tournament rounds on their own. The Handicap Chairman, assisted as necessary by other members of the Board of Directors, will review posted scores of members as necessary to address handicap issues, as authorized under Section 8-4(c) of the United States Golf Association Handicap Manual, which states that "a Handicap Committee has the ultimate authority to adjust a Handicap Index under any circumstance that it feels necessary to do so."

Posting Scores In A Timely Fashion

The USGA Handicap System states in Section 5.2  "Posting scores in person immediately following the round at the course where the round is played is the preferred way to expose scores to peer review.  This method of posting shall be used whenever possible."

And while all players are responsible for posting their own scores, the club's Handicap Chairman also has the responsibility to verify that scores are posted properly, This is especially true for our club tournaments but also applies to all other rounds. 

(Note: For more information about the handicap system, an online version of  The USGA Handicap System can be found at www.usga.org.)

Last Updated on 09/20/2010