The World Handicap System was rolled out in Great Britain & Ireland on 2nd November 2020.
The system features the following:
A consistent handicap that is portable from course to course and country to country through worldwide use of the USGA Course and Slope Rating System, already successfully used in more than 80 countries
An average-based calculation of a handicap, taken from the best 8 out of the last 20 scores;
A calculation that considers the impact that abnormal course and weather conditions might have on a player’s performance each day;
Daily handicap revisions, taking account of the course and weather conditions calculation;
A maximum handicap limit of 54.0, regardless of gender, to encourage more golfers to measure and track their performance to increase their enjoyment of the game
2024 Rules of Handicapping Revisions
Click on the image for further details of the 2024 changes
Course Rating replaces Standard Scratch (SSS) and represents the score that a scratch golfer is expected to achieve on the course.
West Monmouthshire’s Course Ratings are:
| Teeing Area | Course Ratings |
| White tees | 70.4 |
| Yellow tees | 68.5 |
| Red tees | 69.2 |
| Green tees | 66.3 |
Slope Rating is the relative difficulty of a course from a specific set of tees for a bogey golfer compared to a scratch golfer.
A course with long carries, narrow fairways, lots of hazards and thick rough will have a high slope rating because these features are more of a challenge to bogey golfers. Slope Rating can be anywhere between 55 and 155. The neutral value that is used in handicap calculations is fixed at 113. The GB&I average Slope Rating is around 125.
West Monmouthshire’s Slope Ratings are:
| Teeing Area | Slope Ratings |
| White tees | 128 |
| Yellow tees | 120 |
| Red tees | 118 |
| Green tees | 113 |
West Monmouthshire Golf Club’s Course Handicap Tables effective April 1st 2024
World Handicap System – Player Portal
For more information and to confirm your WHS Playing Handicap, log on to the Wales Golf WHS portal via the following link:
Competition Handicap Allowances
In addition to the above changes, the WHS also introduces the following Competition Handicap Allowances:
West Monmouthshire Golf Club 