Handicapping at Golf

No Perfect System for Even-Handed Justice Has as Yet Been Devised

R. F. FOSTER

AMONG the many contributions to the idiosyncrasies of human nature, there is probably none more curious than the kickers' handicap. It is practically an acknowledgment that it is impossible to satisfy everyone, or even to prove that equal justice has been done. It is a frank admission that the majority of players kick about their handicaps, and that the only way to satisfy them is to let them fix their own upon certain occasions. Thus it comes about that one of the most popular forms of competition in almost every golf club is one in which every player is left free to set his own estimate on his abilities, as compared to the absolute standard of excellence set by a gentleman known as Colonel Bogey, or the absolute unreliability of a lady known as Luck.

All games have some system which is designed to place players of varying skill upon a more equal footing; but golf alone presents the anomaly of using the same scale for two entirely different purposes and of picking out the spots at which advantage is to be given. Fancy a tennis tournament in which odds were to be given only in the third game of the second set and the first game of the third set, whether the player wanted them there or not.

The established system of handicapping in golf is to take three of the candidate's medal scores, average them, and give him the difference between that and the par of the course. In medal play, he gets his full allowance, regardless of what he makes on any individual hole. If he takes 10 to the long hole and then does the pond hole in 2, he is neither better nor worse off than if he did one in 7 and the other in 5.

In match play, only three-quarters of the handicap is allowed, the weaker player getting the difference. If A is a 14 handicap man, matched to play B, who gets 6, three-quarters of the difference is 6. The peculiar thing is that it is very seldom indeed that the player gets these 6 strokes, because they are to be taken only at certain designated holes, where they may be of no use to him.

Three Other Systems

THERE are three variations from this system, none of which is recognized in the official laws of golf, and therefore never adopted in tournament play. One is the personal agreement between two players for the concession of bisques. This is giving a certain number of strokes to be taken anywhere throughout the round, until the allotment is exhausted. This number is always less than the player's regular handicap, which is only another way of acknowledging that he would never get all the strokes that are coming to him if the official system were followed.

The second system is the kickers' handicap, in which each fixes his own handicap before starting, using his best judgment as to how nearly he can come to what will probably be the temporary bogey of the course for that day, the figure being selected by lot from some numbers within 5 or 10 of par.

There is no better evidence of the general dissatisfaction with the present handicapping system than the almost universal introduction of kickers' handicaps. Among the evidences of the accuracy with which some of the older hands can gauge their handicaps when they know about what the bogey will be, are the results at the annual Seniors' tournaments at Apawamis, in which there are always four or five ties, whereas ties in the regular handicap matches are very rare.

The third system goes by the name of the Yorkshire handicap, and is credited to some of the leading players in that county in England, and it is unquestionably the best of all systems, because it is the only one that takes into account the wide variations in a player's game from day to day. There is probably no game known which will show such vicissitudes in form, except in the case of professionals or very high class amateurs.

The Yorkshire handicap is governed by three simple rules:

1. The players start even on the first tee.

2. The first player that wins a hole concedes a stroke to his opponent on the next hole, and continues to concede a stroke a hole as long as he can save or win holes. As soon as his opponent wins a hole, they play even again, and the first to win a hole on even terms concedes a stroke to the loser, just as before.

3. Strokes are never conceded by a player who wins a hole on which he is receiving a stroke, even if he wins the hole without the assistance of the stroke.

It will be seen from this that as long as a player cannot win a hole, even when he is getting a stroke, he will continue to get strokes, and the player who can play every hole at least a stroke better will have to continue to give them.

Club Handicaps

THE principal use of the handicap system is in the player's home club, at which he probably takes part in a large number of matches during the season. The weekly tournaments are usually medal play affairs, in which he gets his full handicap, so that if he is a 12 man and goes round in 92, his score is posted as 80 net.

There are two varieties of match play. One is against individual players, qualifying in sixteens and using the lose and drop out system. The other is against bogey, the player winning or losing the hole according to his score as compared to bogey or par for that individual hole. In either form, the player gets only three-quarters of his regular handicap.

Here comes in a. peculiar defect that the Yorkshire system aims to eliminate. There is no official system for the selection of the holes at which strokes are to be taken. Some clubs concede strokes at the longest holes, on the assumption that the weaker player will be outdriven. Others start by giving strokes on the short holes, on the theory that the less skilful player is not accurate on the short game. This is the system in use by the clubs using our public links at Van Cortlandt, notably the New York Newspaper Golf Club. Still another system is a combination with one or other of these with a consideration of difficulty. Two holes may be of about the same length, but one will require much more skilful management to get home in two than the other, and at such a hole the weaker player should get a stroke.

The theory of handicapping is that a player who goes round in about 95 should get 10 strokes from a player who can do it in 85. Why he should not get these 10 strokes in match play has never been explained, and why he should not be guaranteed all of the three-quarters that he is allowed is also a mystery.

Where Handicaps Fail

THE weak point in the system is that it makes no allowance for the periodical fluctuations in the average player's game. He will go round one day in 85 or 90, and the next he cannot beat 100. Let one player be right on his game and the other a little off, and the result is a foregone conclusion.

The Yorkshire handicap is the only system that provides for this unevenness. It encourages a player to make a match with anyone who is not more than 15 or 20 strokes better than himself, at any time, whether he is on his game or not, because the better player will have to give the greater odds. Amateurs of the first rank, eligible for the Metropolitan or United States Association lists, are not troubled with this irregularity in their game, and 'are perfectly satisfied with the official rating given them. They will go round within three or four strokes of the same score under the same weather conditions, every time. The average player, the 15 handicap man, may take 20 more in the afternoon than he did in the morning.

Another point that is not provided for in any other system is the basis for a fair match between two players who are unfamiliar with each other's game. Perhaps one or both have no club handicap. If they meet for a friendly match, the question of odds is always difficult, and largely matter of guess work. If they play a Yorkshire handicap, one will have to be very much superior to the other, 20 strokes at least, to get more than one or two holes ahead at any time during the round, because the better he plays, the more he will have to concede.

Some Practical Illustrations

IN order to show how this system works out in practice, take the following scores of a match played at Wykagyl this spring. This has been selected because it so happened that each player made exactly his normal medal score for the 18 holes. Wykagyl is handicapped on the long-hole system, and the asterisks show the six holes at which A had to concede strokes to B:

1 2*3*4 5 6 7 8 9* K: 4 4 6 6 3 3 4 6 6=42 B: 5 4 5 74 4 5 6 5=45

10 11* 12* 13 14* 15 16 17 18 A:.4 5 5 4 5 5 3 5 6=42=84 B: 3 7 7 4 6 5 3 5 7=47=92

A won the match on the 16th green with 3 up and 2 to go. He also won the 18th in playing out the bye holes, which would have made him 4 up, had they been playing for so much a hole. At medal play they would have been all square, as B had 8 more handicap than A.

Of the 6 strokes that A is supposed to concede to B, that player got the benefit of 2 only. The stroke at the 2nd hole won it for him, and the stroke at the 14th saved it. He won both the 3rd and 9th without any assistance from his handicap, and the strokes at the 11th and 12th were not enough to save him.

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For the sake of comparison, suppose the match had been played on the bisque system. The same number of strokes is never given in bisques as at match handicap; but if B had been allowed to take his 6 strokes where he pleased, the match would have ended all square, just like medal play. The 4 strokes that were of no use to him at holes 3, 9, 11 and 12, where he was assigned them under the official system, he could have used at 1, 4, 5 and 6, which he would have saved instead of losing. A would have saved the loss of the match with the last putt on the home green.

NOW suppose that the Wykagyl Club arranged its handicaps on the system of giving strokes first on the short holes. The 6 strokes conceded to B would have been assigned to Nos. 5, 6, 7, 10, 13 and 16. Then B would have turned for home all square, having got the benefit of all three of his strokes on the first nine holes. On the second nine, B's stroke at the 10th would have been of no use to him, and A would have won the match on the home green.

Here are two players, exactly on their normal game, but on the long-hole system of giving strokes A wins by 4 up in the 18 holes played. On the short-hole system, he wins by 1 up. On the bisque system, which is not affected by any selection of long or short holes, the match finishes all square, showing that the handicapping for bisques or medal play was perfect.

NOW let us suppose this match had been played on the Yorkshire system, which takes no notice of a player's normal game, nor his handicap, nor the length of any holes, or their difficulty; but aims to adjust itself to the game that is played to-day, as compared to the game the opponent is able to play on the same day.

A wins the first hole and must concede a stroke to B on the second. With the assistance of the stroke B wins it. and they play even on the third, which B wins, so that he must concede a stroke to A on the fourth. This is something that is impossible under any other system of handicapping, because the weaker player never, under any circumstances, concedes any strokes to his opponent. A wins the fourth, and they play even again on the fifth.

This continues until we find B squares the match at the 1-5 th. The 16th and 17th are halved, and A wins the match with his last putt on the 18th green.

The fairness of this system will be more apparent if there is no great discrepancy in the players' games, as regards handicap. In one of the Newspaper Golf Club's matches this spring at Van Cortlandt public links, C had to concede 4 strokes to D, and the match ended on the 15th green with D 4 up and 3 to go, although only 2 of his 4 stroke allowance were of any use to him. The bye holes left him 5 up, against a player who was conceding him 4 strokes.

Had D been allowed to use all his strokes as bisques, he would have been 6 up and 5 to go at the 13th green. Had they played the match as a Yorkshire handicap, it would have ended all square. Instead of having to concede 4 strokes when he was very much off his game. C would have received 4 strokes where they would have been useful. He would have won Nos. 4, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 17, and saved Nos. 2 and 18. D, on the other hand, would have won Nos. 1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 13, while the 7th and 15th would have been tied.

Personally, the writer has found this Yorkshire system most valuable in playing with strangers on a public course, especially if they suggest some such trifle as ten cents a hole, "just to make it interesting," at the same time declaring that they have never done the course in less than 100. The Yorkshire system being explained and agreed to, there is no feeling of resentment when the person who never did 100 goes round in about 84, but has to be content with a win of one up. made by running down a twentyfoot putt on the home green.