I am in the process of revising the handicap formula we use for our local minis. Currently, I take the best 10 rounds from each players most recent 20, subtract 48 (what would be considered a 'scratch' score) to come up with the handicap. Also, if you dont have a handicap...you basically 'donate' that first week to establish.

We started doing handicaps in August '06 after collecting scores dating back to May '05. Statistically I think it is very accurate, but a few problems have arisen. The formula really doesnt work until you get more than 10 rounds. Even after over 2 years worth of data has been collected on 112 players, less than 20% of the players have at least 20 rounds and maybe 50% have at least 10 rounds. Also, a lot of our regulars are in that 'Intermediate' class and still throw inconsistantly. If their first few rounds are pretty high scores (due to high wind, bagging, or just sucking that day)...then, they play casually with peeps for a few months scoring relativly well, then show up to a mini and cream those same peeps with a handicap that is not indicative of their playing ability. I know that kind of thing can happen no matter what formula you use...but there has to be a better way for use to go about it.

Even with some of the complaints...there are more people coming out to play the minis than ever before. Our players dont want to do away with the handicaps, but they would like something a little more accurate. I understand that with handicaps, its all about you verses yourself...but I can see what they are saying, so I am looking for a different formula.

I think I am going to start with just the most recent 5 rounds averaged, then subtract 48...or maybe the last 10 and weight the most recent 3 more than the previous 7. What are some formulas that you guys use?

I've got the original Handicap League document from 1990 I can email you that shows how to do it similar to how you've been doing it but with less rounds and preventing sandbagging. In addition, consider the Disc Golf United league program which can do all of the work for you and even adjust for SSA differences on leagues with multiple pin layouts or courses. www.discgolfunited.com (http://www.discgolfunited.com)

That would be great Chuck. I have talked about getting us into Disc Golf United, but half of our players still dont have internet access and no one is really interested (Im going to have to start printing our e-newsletter to post on the course sign). Perhaps in the future....

We use 80% of the difference of your average score over our 3 courses and 62 (which, based on experience at the time of establishing our league, was the pro average). We round at halves, and floor the handicap at 0. We've just had our first person reach a steady 0 handicap, so we're considering how to deal with it.

An equation would be:

HDCP = MAX(0.8 * (AVE(Scores) - 62), 0)

This yields positive numbers, which you'd subtract from your score, so a 5 handicap shooting a 70, would yield a 65.

---

To continue with what we do, for our championships, we use your best handicapped scores from each course, and find the handicap based on those to use as your championship handicap. Also, if your handicapped total for those 3 rounds is not within 10 strokes of the leader, you have to sacrifice part of your handicap. This helps to nullify sandbagging.