Posting Match Play Scores

The posting of Match Play scores is REQUIRED by the NCGA/USGA Handicap System, it is not optional. Below is an article from the NCGA Quarterly Publication from 2000. It outlines the NCGA's rules on posting scores:

Through the Green
By Jim Cowan, Director of Course Rating and Handicapping

A lot of people have a lot of strong opinions regarding the subject of posting scores. Unfortunately most of them are wrong.Posting all eligible scores is probably the single most important component of accurate handicapping. Despite opinions to the contrary, there are very, very few instances where a golfer is not required to post a score for handicap purposes; and most of these instances are pretty obvious.

A score cannot be posted when a majority of the holes are not played in accordance with the principles of the Rules of Golf.
If a golfer is just completely goofing around, including playing two balls on every hole, ignoring OB stakes, playing from the green side of water hazards, etc., the score cannot be posted. This provision also bans score posting from certain forms of competitions where the Rules are compromised or club selection is restricted (irons only events or 2-club events) and formats where an individual does not hole out with their own ball tee to green (scrambles, alternate shots, etc.).

A score cannot be posted from a course that does not have a USGA Course or Slope Rating.
This includes most par-3 executive courses (less than 3,000 yards for 18 holes) and many foreign courses (though more and more foreign countries are adopting the USGA Course Rating System). If you play a course outside the state or outside the country and it has a USGA Course and Slope Rating and the course is "in season," you are required to post the score.

A score cannot be posted when made on a course in an area in which an inactive season is in effect.
Many Northern States obviously are unable to play golf at all in the winter because of climate. Others are able to play some golf, but overall course conditions are so far removed from summertime conditions that score posting is deemed inappropriate. Golf Associations in such regions establish an inactive season when score posting is prohibited. Rounds completed on courses in an area that is in their inactive season may not be posted (i.e. scores played in Seattle in December or in New York in March).

An 18-hole score cannot be posted when fewer than 13 holes are played/ a 9-hole score cannot be posted when fewer than 7 holes are played.
If a golfer plays 13 or more holes (7 or more for a 9-hole round) he is required to post that score for handicapping purposes. A golfer would give himself a par plus any handicap strokes he is entitled to on the unplayed holes.

That's it! All other rounds are required to be posted including the following:

Stroke Play Rounds
Standard "home" and "away" stroke play rounds including everything from casual rounds with the wife and kids to State Amateur Championship rounds, get posted. It doesn't matter whether a golfer is playing alone or with others, the System is based on the concept that the golfer is going to try their hardest on every hole of every round.

Match Play Rounds
Although many golfers feel that they approach such rounds with a different scoring outlook than stroke play (based upon how their opponent is playing on any given hole), scores recorded in match play are required to be posted. Think about it, you use your Handicap Index for stroke and match play, why wouldn't you post scores toward the development of your index from both forms of play?

Match Play also introduces situations where a golfer may be confused as to what to post due to unplayed holes or holes in which concessions take place. Fortunately, the USGA has taken this all into consideration. We already know that par plus any handicap strokes the golfer is entitled to covers unplayed holes. If a golfer starts but fails to complete a hole (concessions, picked up on hole when out of contention, etc.) he shall, for handicap purposes, record the score he most likely would have made if the hole had been completed, so long as it does not exceed his Equitable Stroke Control limit.

I am amazed at people who tell me that they posted a 76 due to all the concessions involved in the match and that the score would have been an 80 if they had putted out. Post the 80! If your opponent scores an 8 on a hole and concedes a 60 foot putt to you for a 2, you do not record the 2 for handicap purposes. Nor do you record your ESC limit. You post the score you most likely would have made had you putted out, probably a 3 or 4.

Team Play
Again, many golfers feel it is improper to post scores from better-ball competitions, best ball of four competitions, etc. They are wrong. Certainly there are times throughout the round where a golfer might approach a shot differently in a team competition (based upon their partner's play on the hole) than they would in individual play. The System nonetheless feels that such scores are every bit as good a source or indicator for tagging a golfer's potential ability as individual stroke play rounds. Such scores must be posted.

Preferred Lies/Winter Rules
You guessed it . . . such scores shall be posted unless the overall condition of the course is so poor as to warrant non-posting. The decision to post or not to post rests with the local Handicap Committee (some clubs turn off their NCGA score-posting PC during periods of time when score posting is banned). It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that a golfer is probably going to score a little lower under such rules than they would without them. However, in most instances such rules are only employed at those times of the year when the course conditions are not up to snuff. These two opposing factors tend to offset each other and scores recorded under Preferred Lies do contribute to the calculation of accurate Handicap Indexes. Again, such scores shall be posted.

9-Hole Rounds
Effective July 1999 and in cooperation with the PWGA and WGANC, 9-hole score posting was introduced in Northern California. I've heard it all on this one. I have heard nay-sayers tell me that 9-hole score posting is grossly unfair because they either a) take nine holes to warm up and that combining 9-hole scores would result in 18-hole scores that are too high; or b) that they tire after nine holes and that combining 9-hole scores would result in 18-hole scores that are too low. Whatever! The 9-hole score posting is here to stay, it's mandatory, it allows more people to post more scores more easily than ever before and that fact can only improve the quality and accuracy of Handicap Indexes generated.

By now the message should be clear: Post your scores!

For any golfers that feel that they are above the System or that these Rules should not apply to them, there is another type of score that they should become familiar with. It is applied to a golfer's record by his or her Handicap Committee whenever the golfer fails to post a valid score. It is equal to the lowest score/best performance of the golfer's current 20-score record. It has the impact of lowering the golfer's Handicap Index. It is called a Penalty Score. Hopefully they will see some appearing on their record this season!