Calculations
All our Hogs handicap calculations are made within HandicapMaster, the application on our laptop, which is used for every Qualifying Competition. HandicapMaster not only maintains Hogs handicaps but also generates reports for the Eclectic Spoon, Ted Tickler Trophy and Denis Copsey 2's Cup and publishes these to Competitions - Results and Handicaps - Members Handicaps.
Full details of how handicapping works can be obtained from the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) but a brief summary is given here. (See below).
The card of your course will include a stroke index which shows the holes on which you are allowed to claim a stroke, according to your handicap.
All players have an exact handicap and a playing handicap. Your exact handicap is calculated in the way described below and usually produces a figure with a decimal point, eg 11.3. This is rounded up or down to the nearest whole figure to produce your playing handicap, 0.5 is rounded upwards.
Playing handicaps are divided into 4 categories:
Category 1 is for handicaps 0 to 5 inclusive.
Category 2 is for handicaps 6 to12 inclusive.
Category 3 is for handicaps 13 to 20 inclusive.
Category 4 is for handicaps 21 to 28 inclusive.
The Category you are in affects the way in which handicap changes are calculated. Each Category has a different Buffer Zone. This means that if you return a card in a Qualifying Competition where your nett score (gross - playing handicap) exceeds the Competition Scratch Score (CSS) by the number of strokes in your Buffer Zone or less, there will be no change to your handicap.
Buffer Zones are as follows:
Category 1: 0 to +1
Category 2: 0 to +2
Category 3: 0 to +3
Category 4: 0 to +4
If your nett score exceeds the CSS by more than the number of strokes in your Buffer Zone, your exact handicap will be increased by 0.1 in all cases, no matter how high your score.
Example 1. A Category 3 player with an exact handicap of 14.4 whose nett score exceeds the CSS by 3 strokes will stay on exactly the same exact and playing handicap.
Example 2. If the same player had an unusually bad day and exceeded the CSS by 10 strokes, his exact handicap would be increased by just 0.1 to 14.5 which when rounded up increases his playing handicap to 15.
If your nett score is LOWER than the CSS your exact handicap is adjusted downwards by the following amounts for each stroke that your nett score is lower than the CSS.
Category 1: subtract 0.1 for each stroke.
Category 2: subtract 0.2 for each stroke.
Category 3: subtract 0.3 for each stroke.
Category 4: subtract 0.4 for each stroke.
Example 3. If the Category 3 player above, with an exact handicap of 14.4, returned a nett score 4 strokes below the CSS his exact handicap would be reduced by 4 x 0.3 = 1.2 reducing his exact handicap to 13.2 and his playing handicap to 13.
When the calculations involve a change from one Category to another the rules for each Category are taken into account. To save the Committee doing sums every time, the CONGU provides a full table of Handicap Adjustments.
Summary
Handicap increase is protected by a Buffer Zone and it can increase by only 0.1 after any one Qualifying Competition. A bad HOGS year in all 16 Qualifying Competitions will only result in an exact handicap increase of 1.6.
Handicap decrease is not protected by a Buffer Zone and it can decrease by a considerably greater figure following a good return in a Qualifying Competition. Higher handicap players have greater cuts. A fantastic HOGS year in all 16 Qualifying Competitions can result in an exact handicap reduction of 16!
Full details of how handicapping works and definitions of text in Italics can be found in The Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) Unified Handicapping System rulebook, which is available to buy at very a reasonable price from the English Golf Union.