Golf handicaps are not fair, according to US researchers. Rather than making a game between two golfers of different ability more even, the handicap system gives the better golfer a much better chance of winning, they say.
鈥淭he idea behind the handicap system is obviously to give players an equitable chance of winning. So if two players with different handicaps played 100 games, each should win 50,鈥� says Larry Kupper who conducted the research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
鈥淏ut it turns out that a bad golfer will lose 60 to 70 per cent of games to a good golfer,鈥� he says.
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Above average
To calculate a golf handicap in the US, a player submits their twenty most recent scores to their club. The club then takes the average of the ten lowest totals, having adjusted them to account for the difficulty rating of each course. But according to a statistical analysis carried out by Kupper and his colleagues, this system disadvantages the poorer players. 鈥淲e assumed that the worse a golfer you are, the more variable are the scores you shoot. This was borne out in real scores we collected,鈥� he says.
鈥淲e found that if a golfer is more variable, the average you get from the 鈥渂est 10鈥� calculation is farther away from the players typical ability,鈥� Kupper explains. 鈥淭he handicap you get will be more optimistic, because the system reflects a player鈥檚 potential rather than their real ability.鈥�
That means a high handicap player is much more likely to overshoot their handicap than a low handicap player.
Quick fix
Kupper says that the problem with the US handicap system could easily be fixed.
鈥淚f you want something that shows how you typically play, rather than on a good day, you to take your last 20 scores, throw out your best and worst two scores and take and average of the remaining 16,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat makes it roughly equitable.鈥�
The UK handicap system is different to that in the US, says John Walker of the English Golf Union. 鈥淵ou have to submit a minimum of three cards and the handicap is calculated from the best one of those,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e operated this scheme since 1983 and I have to say it鈥檚 the best.鈥�