World Handicap System
Course Ratings, Slope Ratings
& Playing Handicaps
The new World Handicap System was rolled out in Great Britain & Ireland on 2nd November 2020.
The new system will feature 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
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 |
A golfer’s handicap for a specific course is determined by multiplying their Handicap Index by the Slope Rating of the course/tees and dividing by the Neutral Slope Rating of 113.
West Monmouthshire Golf Club’s Course Rating and Slope Table is available to view:
In terms of day to day playing, not too much changes, you will need to know your Playing Handicap before you start each round as this changes dependent on which course & teeing areas you are using, but during the round and following it no changes, just record your score on the score card and/or enter your score into the Handicap Master system in the Clubhouse as you do currently and you will be notified of any change to your Handicap Index.
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 