All of these changes are positive. What I believe is still missing is this: solo rounds are still not eligible/allowed for handicap purposes – a change made by the USGA back in 2015. The USGA justifies this rule by stating that these rounds don’t meet its criteria of a “peer review.” Why, I ask? Some of my most memorable games were played by my lonesome, not with any peers. Does this make the scores I tallied any less reliable? Take an early morning dew-sweep round of mine years ago at TPC Sawgrass. I made par on the famed island green at 17. The only witnesses to this feat were the blue and white herons. So what? Isn’t one of golf ’s tenets integrity and honesty? Why shouldn’t this score and/ or round count for my handicap? If I lie, I’m only cheating myself. And if I lie playing with just the birds, the chances are good that I will lie when teeing it up with actual playing partners. I’ve played with many peers who, when asked, give me a score that is not what I added up – yet, I write it down on the scorecard and I’m sure that they count it when figuring out their handicap. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts: david@ mcphersoncommunications.com For more information on the new World Handicap System: http://golfcanada.ca/ handicapping/#world-handicap-system Golf By David McPherson Consistency is one of the biggest takeaways from the proposed WHS. As someone who has chased the little white ball fromCanada to Colombia, I share this frustration. When the handicap rules vary from country to country, how can you count that memorable vacation round you had? Thankfully, the new system addresses these frustrations. The three main goals are: 1. to encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain and maintain a handicap; 2. to enable golfers of differing abilities, genders and nationalities to transport their handicap to any course globally and compete on a fair and equitable basis; and 3. to indicate with sufficient accuracy the score which a golfer is reasonably capable of achieving on any course around the world, playing under normal conditions. CSANews | SPRING 2018 | 43
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