5Gs Handicap Calculation Information

Originally written 1/22/02 with the following revisions:

1/27/04 - Section for multiple when members have played less than 5 rounds (Special Case

Handicap Index Calculation)

3/16/04 - Addresses Course Handicaps for Men, Women, & Senior Men (See Section 5)

1/19/05 - Corrects formula error for Slope Differential (See Section 5)

10/23/07 - Corrects error in Table 2 & broadens Section 3 to include member course history from

other sources (prior to this date it was only Motorola related clubs)

8/3/11 - Addresses purging of Member history (See Section 3)

7/30/23 - Complete scrub of Handicap rules to ensure they match the current Handicap Calculator

(All Sections were refreshed)

The club continues to receive inquiries from guests and members asking how HANDICAPS are calculated in 5Gs golf club. This document gives some basic information for the method used to calculate the 5G HANDICAP. Please note that while there may be similarities with the USGA rules, the 5G’s of America Golf Club has formulated our own HANDICAP rules.

Section 1: Establishing a 5G’s Handicap

After joining the club as a member, you will have a member play history tab created in the HANDICAP CALCULATOR and your handicap will be established after 1 round of play in 5Gs. The member play history tab will have your full play history, identifying which play dates along with the below criteria are used for determining your HANDICAPS. In addition, the HANDICAP INDEX is established per the rules below so read on……

NOTE: USGA rules require 5 rounds to establish a Handicap. This is the main variation between the 5Gs HANDICAPS and the USGA.

Section 2: Acceptable Member Play History

The Club will use your round(s) played as a GUEST to establish your initial HANDICAP INDEX once you become a member.

If you are a member of another golf club, you may be able to use that clubs’ history to establish your 5Gs HANDICAP. Certain conditions must be met and ultimately any outside club history must be approved by the 5Gs Handicap Master – Refer to Section 9: Transfer of External Data for Determining 5Gs HANDICAP INDEX for more information

Section 3 – History Retention

In the past, the 5G’s, at the beginning of each year, used to purge all rounds of history in a in a players file that was older than 2 years. This included play history for people who transferred in rounds from another external club to set up their handicap.

This will be no longer be the case moving forward. There were considerations given to the new Handicap Calculator maintenance, risk for errors, effort involved with the rollover, and alignment with USGA rules for round history that led to this decision. The Club Officers felt it was non value-added, time-consuming exercise that introduced the potential for errors. In eliminating this we are in alignment with the USGA rules where there are no limits related to play history age.

The new Handicap Calculator captures member play history from Jan 1st 2021 forward.

Section 4: Access to Member HANDICAP Information

Member HANDICAP INDEX is posted to the website. The member stats will have a bunch of information related to if dues are paid, number of rounds played, last round played, tees declared, current HANDICAP INDEX and the members’ COURSE HANDICAP for the next event.

Also, at anytime, members can request their HANDICAP play history tab data. Requests can be made through the Handicap Master.

Section 5: Declaring Tees to Play

The 5Gs club will designate the Men’s tees (generally known as the majority mens) that will be played for each event. The Women’s tees will also be defined. Members will have a “tee” designation in their HANDICAP CALCULATOR Play History tab. This is the tee location members will be expected to play from for each event. For example:

Men = 1

Women = 2

Sr Men = 3 (see below for the criteria)

Sr Men - The 5Gs also offers members meeting the defined criteria to move forward from the majority men’s tees. This option was put in place to make the game more fun and competitive for the Senior Men players. This tee placement will also be defined for Sr Men who have declared for each event. The 5Gs of America allows players to hit from the forward tees provided you meet the following conditions.

· Condition 1:  You may request to move to the forward tees when you reach age 75

or

· Condition 2:  You may request to move forward when the sum of your age and handicap equals or is greater than 95

1) If your request is granted by the Club Officers, you must play from the forward tees in all tournaments and special events going forward.

2) Sr. Men forward tees will be defined as the farthest tee forward from the majority men tee designated that are rated for men per the USGA Course Rating and Slope Database.

a. This will differ from course to course and in some circumstances my end up being the same as the designated majority men’s tees.

3) Sr Men playing from the forward tees will continue to play men handicaps and men pars for each specific course, in accordance with the USGA guidance on this matter.

4) When moving to the forward tees, your handicap index will be recalculated the same as if you were a new member establishing a new index. All previous rounds from alternate tees will no longer be used in determining your index, and you will play in the Callaway flight for your first tournament after moving to the forward tees.

a. Members electing to move to the forward tees may use external HANDICAP history provided they meet the requirements in Section 9 below

Note:  Sr Men can declare back to use of the majority Men tee, if granted by the Club Officers upon notification. HANDICAP INDEX will once again be re-start fresh. If there is member 5Gs history from the majority men tees that history can and will be used.

Section 6: Handicap Index vs Course Handicap – Slope/Rating Impact

A player has a basic handicap which is called a HANDICAP INDEX which is an average of rounds played. The COURSE HANDICAP will factor in the course RATING/SLOPE for the course to be played and will adjust your HANDICAP INDEX accordingly for that course play.

SLOPE

An “average” degree of difficulty for a golf course is generally defined with a SLOPE rating of exactly 113. The closer a member plays a course to that slope the closer the COURSE HANDICAP will be to their HANDICAP INDEX. The COURSE HANDICAP will be higher than the HANDICAP INDEX if the golf course has a HIGHER SLOPE rating than 113. The reverse is true if the golf course has a LOWER SLOPE rating than 113 – your COURSE HANDICAP will be lower than your HANDICAP INDEX. The degree of the delta between the 113 used as the average and course slope will determine the impact to your HANDICAP INDEX.

Tees played from will have an impact on the course slope and thus your COURSE HANDICAP but the above still applies – it just that the tees played from will have different slopes

The 5Gs will round both HANDICAPs used to the nearest 1/10 of a point - example: 10.495

would be 10.5). For those of you who are interested the formula used to convert from a Handicap INDEX to a COURSE Handicap is as follows:

Course Handicap = (Handicap Index) x (Slope of G.C. / 113)

COURSE RATING

Men, Sr. men, & women play from different TEE BOXES that have different SLOPES and RATINGS. The impact of the slope was addressed in the last section. The 5G’s COURSE HANDICAP does also factor in the Course Rating. In addition to factoring in the Course Slope, the difference between the men's, Sr. men’s, & women's Course Ratings is calculated.

If the Women's Rating is BIGGER than the Men's Rating the DIFFERENCE (rounded down to the nearest whole number) is ADDED to each Woman's COURSE HANDICAP. However, if the Women's Rating is SMALLER than the Men's Rating the DIFFERENCE (rounded down to the nearest whole number) is SUBTRACTED from each Woman's COURSE HANDICAP. The same relationship is true for the Sr. Men’s. The key being the difference for each is against the Men’s Tees – what is sometimes referred to as the majority men’s tees.

The majority men’s tees is defined in advance for the course played and the impact of the course rating to the member’s COURSE HANDICAP is factored against that.

Section 7: Basis for Member’s HANDICAP INDEX

Your handicap is calculated using your ADJUSTED GROSS scores. This is a term created by USGA and utilizes a method called equitable stroke control to adjust your ACTUAL score down to an ADJUSTED GROSS score. The method used depends on the COURSE HANDICAP you played under for that round of golf. Your ADJUSTED GROSS score for a round of golf is the sum of your hole scores after all hole scores have been adjusted to meet the requirements shown below. The below table is factored into the formulas used in the HANDICAP CALCULATOR

The ADJUSTED GROSS scores are used to re-calculate your handicap after your round by the Handicap Master. For tournament events you should always turn in your scorecard showing your ACTUAL scores.

Note: Scores enter on your Member’s play history tab will be your ADJUSTED GROSS score for that tournament.

COURSE HANDICAP	PLAYER ADJUSTED GROSS RULE
0 – 9.9	The worst score a player can use for any hole is a Double Bogey
10 – 19.9	The worse score a player can use for any hole is a 7
20 – 29.9	The worst score a player can use for any hole is an 8
30 – 39.9	The worst score a player can use for any hole is a 9
40 – 49.9	The worst score a player can use for any hole is a 10

Section 8: Number of Rounds used for your 5Gs HANDICAP INDEX

The formula used is based on the number of rounds of history you have. Rounds used for your HANDICAP INDEX is as follows:

Number of Rounds	Rounds used in HANDICAP INDEX
1-6	The lowest round is used
7-8	The lowest 2 rounds
9-10	The lowest 3 rounds
11-12	The lowest 4 rounds
13-14	The lowest 5 rounds
15-16	The lowest 6 rounds
17	The lowest 7 rounds
18	The lowest 8 rounds
19	The lowest 9 rounds
20+	The lowest 10 rounds

There is an additional step and factor applied if members have not yet reached 5 rounds. This factor is to protect against players padding their handicaps. The multiplier used is in the table below and once a member reaches 5 rounds the multiplier is no longer used.

Number of Rounds Played	Multiplier Used
1	.80
2	.85
3	.90
4	.95

Section 9: Transfer of External Data for Determining 5Gs HANDICAP INDEX

In the past the 5Gs of America Golf Club was born out of a group of co-workers and friends from Motorola and largely only considered only other Motorola club’s handicap/play data in determining a HANDICAP INDEX (HI) to be used in 5Gs event play, if requested by a member. Over time, the club has had to amend this policy to allow, provided certain conditions are met, the use of other clubs’ handicap and play data to determine an equitable HI for a member to be used in 5Gs play, if requested by that member. This section addresses the guidelines behind this.

Eligibility - This section applies to only for members who have less than 5 rounds played with the 5Gs during the previous rolling 12-months, and who have less than 10 total rounds played with the 5Gs as posted on the 5Gs website. The member who complies with this requirement MUST REQUEST the consideration of external data with the Club HANDICAP MASTER.

Acceptable External Club Data -

a. Any club that uses the official “USGA Handicap System” to determine a golfer’s HANDICAP INDEX.

b. The 6Gs of A (6Gs) Golf Club.

c. If multiple club data is requested for consideration, only data from the club with the lowest HANDICAP INDEX will be considered.

d. For data integration into the 5Gs Handicap Calculator the Handicap Master will Details include but are not limited to date play, course played, tees played, course rating/slope, player ADJUSTED GROSS score as well as any HANDICAP rules that are specific to that club.

e. 5Gs will not accept any history that cannot be verified by the external club supplying the information and this includes random unverified play outside of an organized golf club or golf club venue.

f. The 5Gs Handicap Master will evaluate the information to determine if the information can be used to establish a 5Gs HANDICAP considering the special rules used by the 5Gs - it is the sole discretion of the 5Gs Handicap Master on what external history is acceptable or is not acceptable.

Multipliers – if the data has been determined to be acceptable by the Handicap Master there are additional multipliers to protect against an inaccurate HANDICAP INDEX

a. Apply the “5Gs Rule Factor” to the external HANDICAP INDEX (see Table 1 below). The 5Gs Rule Factor adjusts for the fact that 5Gs rules do not require full compliance to the USGA rules of golf with the resulting 5Gs HI being marginally lower than an equivalent USGA HI, and for the fact that this has a larger impact on players with a higher HANDICAP INDEX. This step will not be used for history supplied by the 6Gs Golf Club.

Handicap Index	Penalty Adjustment
0.0 – 4.9	0.0
5.0 – 9.9	0.5
10.0 – 14.9	1.0
15.0 – 19.9	1.5
20.0 – 24.9	2.0
25.0 – 29.9	2.5
30.0 – 34.9	3.0
35.0 – 39.9	3.5
40.0 – 44.9	4.0

b. Apply the “5Gs Participation Factor” to the result of step a., (see Table 2 below). The 5Gs Participation Factor penalizes a member with very little or no play with 5Gs within the last rolling 12 months

Times Played Last 12 mos	Multiplier to HANDICAP INDEX
0	.90
1	.92
2	.94
3	.96
4	.98
5+	1.0