All Kenya clubs will submit the CONGU handicap records of all their members to the centralised system up until the transition date. The best eight scores of the last 20 scores on your handicap record will be used to calculate your WHS Handicap Index. Your Handicap Index will be the simple average (to one decimal place) of those eight scores. Under the CONGU system, you have a decimal handicap; under the new system you will have a Handicap Index.
So, if for example the best eight scores of your last 20 scores are:
16, 18, 13, 14, 19, 15, 16, 14 = 125; 125/8 = 15.6 = Handicap Index (HI). You do not need to do any calculations manually or have a record for your scores – it will all be done for you.
Under the CONGU system the difficulty of a course was measured by the Standard Scratch Score (SSS) – the score expected from a scratch player. The SSS will now have a new name: Course Rating. Under WHS the difficulty of the course is be based on what is expected from the “average” or “bogey” golfer compared to the scratch golfer and this is called the Slope Rating. Your Handicap Index will be changed to a Course Handicap and it may go up or down depending on the difficulty of the course you play as measured by the Slope Rating.
Each set of tees on each course will have a slope rating for men and women. The table below gives an example of a course with three sets of tees of varying lengths. Men and women will be able to play off any of the three tees and their handicap adjusted accordingly because the Slope Rating will be different for men and women for each set of tees.
| TEE | LENGTH | MEN | WOMEN | ||
| COURSE RATING | SLOPE RATING | COURSE RATING | SLOPE RATING | ||
| 1 | 6,530 yds | 72.6 | 131 | 78.1 | 135 |
| 2 | 6,056 yds | 70.4 | 124 | 75.4 | 129 |
| 3 | 5,407 yds | 67.3 | 112 | 71.2 | 121 |
Clubs are encouraged to use numbers for their tees instead of colours to get away from the concept of men’s and women’s tees. Each club will have a look-up chart called a Course Handicap Conversion Chart which will allow you to convert your Handicap Index into a Course Handicap for whichever set of tees you are playing. The chart uses a simple formula to do the conversion.
Course Handicap = Handicap Index x Slope Rating/113. But you don’t need to remember this formula or do any calculations manually because the Conversion Chart at the club will do it for you.
The “average” golf course (world-wide) has a Slope Rating of 113. So, if the set of tees you are playing from has a slope rating of more than 113, that’s more difficult than average and your Course Handicap will be higher than your Handicap Index and if you are playing from a set of tees with a slope rating of less than 113, easier than average, your Course Handicap will be lower than your Handicap Index.
