GOLF handicaps are not fair, according to US researchers. Instead of making a
game between any two golfers an even contest, the handicap system leaves the
better player at an advantage.
鈥淭he idea behind the handicap system is to give players an equitable chance
of winning,鈥� says Larry Kupper of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. But with the handicap system, he says, it turns out that a bad golfer will
lose 60 to 70 per cent of games to a good one.
To calculate a golf handicap in the US, a player submits their 20 most recent
scores to their club. The club takes the average of the 10 lowest scores,
adjusting them for the difficulty of each course.
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This puts poorer players at a disadvantage, says Kupper. 鈥淭he worse a golfer
you are, the more variable are the scores you shoot. The average from the `best
10鈥� calculation is farther away from the player鈥檚 typical ability. The handicap
you get will be more optimistic.鈥�
Kupper says the problem could easily be fixed. 鈥淭ake your last 20 scores,
throw out your best and worst two scores and take the average of the remaining
16,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat makes it roughly equitable.鈥� Kupper鈥檚 analysis will be
published in a future issue of the journal Chance.