Under the World Handicap System (WHS), more players are entering counting scores played outside competition – known as General Play scores.
As long as you pre-register – either signing in on a computer or app, or notifying the professional or secretary that you are intending to enter a General Play score before you hit your first tee shot – you can put a scorecard in to count for handicap calculation purposes.
In this country then, if you have registered to play 18-holes, you can’t hand a scorecard in for nine holes of golf and have it count towards your WHS handicap calculation.
If you registered to play the front nine holes as a General Play but then realised you had time to also play the back nine, you could then register to do that – But doing so would count as two separate scores on your handicap record.
Many clubs will hold nine-hole competitions, even 18-holers, particularly at clubs where the ninth comes back to the clubhouse. If a club had a loop of 12 holes that it made sense to use for a shortened competition, scores from that could count towards handicap – Players would sign in to play 18 holes and, as long as they completed a minimum of 10 holes by The Rules, the score could count.
