2019 Yearbook.indd

| 9 HANDICAP & COURSE RATING 2 019 has proven to be one of the busiest years for Course Rating and Handicapping in recent IGA history. With the highly anticipated 2020 World Handicap System right around the corner the IGA staff spent the latter half of the year educating golfers and club officials of the changes. The focus has been on five significant modifications: • The Handicap Index Calculation is changing • You will have a Playing Handicap • Net Double Bogey will replace ESC • You will have more responsive Handicap Index updates • Safeguards have been added to protect your Handicap Index To help with this transition the IGA has created a new World Handicap System resource page on the website with videos, posters, and articles all focused on the 2020 WHS. If you have a free moment between now and the start of the season you should visit iowagolf. org/whs and check it out. In addition to major changes to the Rules of Handicapping the USGA has also completed a total overhaul of all GHIN related golfer products. This includes the GHIN mobile app, score posting kiosk, GHIN.com and the club admin website. Enhancements include a modern interface, stat tracking, “courses near me”, and much more. Expect to see further updates to these products as the year progresses. Moving into the topic of Course Rating, it was a jam-packed year to say the least! Fortunately, we anticipated the uptick in ratings. In 2019 our teams completed 32 full ratings and 15 partial ratings, totaling 114 tees for men and 70 for women. This is over four times the number of ratings completed in 2018! We are so fortunate here in Iowa to have a strong base of Course Rating volunteers and I know the IGA board and staff appreciate everything they do for our association and the golfers of Iowa. As you can see, this has been an eventful year in the Handicapping and Course Rating department and we expect 2020 will have a similar feel. We’re excited to introduce the new World Handicap System to Iowa and welcome the discussions and questions it brings. As always, the IGA board and staff are here to help so please use us as a resource. BILL EBY, COMMITTEE CHAIR