Please address any questions about handicaps to the
What handicap should I play off?
Simple: the lower of your own club handicap or the BGS handicap. It is the player's responsibility to declare and play off the correct handicap. If you play off a handicap that is higher than you are entitled to, you will be disqualified per R & A Rule 6-2.
How do you calculate the SSS for the day?
- Take the par for the course - say 72.
- Find the SSS on the scorecard for the tees you are using (usually yellow for men and red for ladies). SSS of 69 for example.
- Subtract SSS from par (in this case, 3).
- ADD this to 36 to reach the Stableford score for 18 holes: 39 in our example.
Where SSS is higher than par (which sometimes applies to ladies' tees), a negative number is added to the Stableford score. For example, if par is 69 and SSS is 70, the Stableford score is 35.
How many shots are cut?
| SSS beaten by | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Handicap 0-20 reduces by | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Handicap 21-36 reduces by | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
What is my Society handicap?
At the start of the Society year (following the AGM in March) the handicap secretary assigns society handicaps based on the handicaps submitted with the membership form and the player's performance in the previous year:
- Cuts awarded at an event are recorded on the Society handicap list and will be active for the season the cut is awarded plus the two following seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn). Cuts will be reinstated one shot at a time per season if the player does not play more than once in his new buffer zone of 2 strokes to the SSS of the day in the two seasons following the cut. This will be subject to player playing in 5 games minimum within the season of the cut and the following two seasons.
- If no cuts are received during the previous year and you are a member of a club, your society handicap reverts to your club handicap (whether it is higher or lower than your society handicap).
- If a new member does not have a current handicap or does not belong to a club their handicap will be set using the first 3 cards submitted at society events as per the normal CONGU rules. In subsequent years if the player does not play within 3 strokes of SSS based on the previous year, an increase is given.
Event organisers assign the handicap shown on the website. The web will be updated as soon as results are received; however it is the player's responsibility to play off the correct handicap.