Handicaps and Course Ratings in Kent

Contact details: courseratings@kentgolf.org

These two subjects are very closely connected, as the course ratings form the standard base against which handicaps are calculated.

The National Association (England Golf) has overall responsibility for handicapping and course ratings but it can delegate some of this responsibility to Regional Golf Associations (Kent Golf) or golf clubs.

For course ratings, these are undertaken by teams of local volunteer members, overseen by an approved county lead course rater. All ratings are undertaken in line with the USGA Slope standards and the data collected from course ratings is passed onto England Golf who maintain the data on the USGA CRS Platform and WHS Platform. Any proposed changes to courses should be discussed with the lead course raters in view of possible implications to your course ratings.

Handicaps are primarily the responsibility of the local golf clubs where the competitions are run. Returned score cards are collated daily and input into the WHS database overnight with amended handicaps being available before play starts the following day. There is a separate database that holds the club competition results. The maintenance of handicaps is the responsibility of club Competition and Handicap Committees, looking after the many competitions and also undertaking the annual handicap review due at the end of each year.

In all cases the County Secretary/Office should be the next port of call for queries, AFTER your club officers. The county has access to a wealth of information and experts, and in the vast majority of cases can provide answers to your more difficult questions.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - 25 April 2022

For those golfing athletes who attend overseas college provision (outside of GB&I), it is a requirement that they return all acceptable scores back to their home club for processing and entering into WHS portal records. This is the responsibility of the golfer. This document clarifies all requirements. Please can we ask that if you know of any players who this applies to within your county, that you send them a copy of this letter and ask them to get the scores entered ASAP to avoid any further action needing to be taken. We will also be contacting any player from the performance program with the same information.
England Golf have streamlined the handicap appeals process to incorporate iGolf Subscribers and ensure that the process reflects the Rules of Handicapping. This revised detail can be located via the England Golf website.