Juniors - Getting a Handicap
What is a Handicap?
Golf has developed an ingenious way of allowing players of
different abilities to play with and against each other. It involves giving
a player an allowance of additional shots - her handicap - to adjust her
score when measuring how she has performed against another player of a
different ability.
The Council of National Golf Unions, CONGU for short, is the official body
which administers the handicap system for men, ladies and juniors. Their
website www.congu.com contains in detail
how the handicapping system works. The maximum CONGU handicap for girls is
36.
How to Get a Handicap
There are three stages you can work through towards gaining the CONGU handicap. Once you have this handicap you can play in any official competitions.
Stage 1 - If you are NOT a member of a Golf Club and belong to Berkshire Girls Golf
If you cannot yet play 18 holes (and are under the age of 14
years) then play 6 or 9 holes with a golfer, who has an official CONGU
Handicap, marking your card on three
occasions.
If you are 14 years or over then you must play a full 18
holes, again with a golfer, who has an official CONGU Handicap, marking your card, on three occasions.
You can play on a 9 Hole course completing two rounds.
The course you play on must be an officially recognised course, ie it
CANNOT be a Par 3 course, but a 9 Hole course is acceptable.
The marker can mark the card as for a Stableford working on the assumption you have a maximum
handicap of 54, in other words if you take more than 9 shots on a Par 5 you can safely pick up.
You can then be awarded a 'Berkshire Girls Handicap', up to a maximum handicap
of 54. This will get you started and will give you a target to aim for
improvement, and you can use it for playing in friendly competitions.
Stage 2 - If you are a member of a Golf Club but have not yet reached the standard required to gain the official CONGU handicap
If you are 14 years of age or over then you must play a
full 18 holes marked by a member on three occasions.
If you cannot yet play 18 holes (and are under 14) then the
Club MAY allow you to play 6 or 9 holes marked by a member on three
occasions.
The Junior
Committee may allocate you a 'Club Handicap' up to a maximum of 54. Again
this will get you started and give you a target to aim for improvement and
you can use it when playing friendly competitions.
If your club does not use Junior Handicaps then you will be
issued with a 36 CONGU Handicap Certificate (36 is the maximum CONGU
handicap for ladies) even though your 'true' handicap is more than this.
This places you at a disadvantage when competing in BGG events against girls
with a BGG or Junior Club Handicap. So provided you have a CONGU handicap of
36, you can apply to us for a BGG handicap, ie up to a maximum of 54, by
producing just one recent card, either from a Club Competition or from a BGG
competition. This BGG Handicap Certificate can only be used for BGG events
and this will ensure fairness for you. You will still however have to use
your CONGU Handicap Certificate for club events.
Stage 3 - If you are a member of a Golf Club and can reach the standard required to gain a CONGU handicap
You will have to play a full 18 holes marked by a member on three occasions. The Junior Committee will then allocate you a CONGU handicap and will give you a HANDICAP CERTIFICATE. (This is a very important document and whenever you play in competitions you will be asked to show it - make sure you have an up to date one and KEEP IT SAFE!)