Handicaps and scoring
Parful runs thisPer-outing handicap adjustment
Also called Handicap adjustment for one event, Winner's allowance, Docking a handicap, Guest day handicap adjustment.
A per-outing handicap adjustment is an organizer's overlay on one player's Handicap Index® for one outing or event: a percentage (for example 90%) or a points offset (for example minus 2). It is applied before the Course Handicap™ is worked out, held between +10 and 54, recorded with a reason, and never changes the player's source index.
- Two kinds
- Percentage (1% to 200%, default 100%) or points (minus 20 to plus 20)
- Arithmetic
- Raw index × percentage, or raw index + points, rounded to one decimal
- Clamp
- The result is held between +10.0 and 54.0
- Applied where
- Before the Course Handicap™ and before the format allowance
- Source
- The roster index is never changed; the raw value is stored beside the adjusted one
- NH
- A player with no handicap cannot be adjusted; NH stays NH
What an adjustment is for
A club roster index is the club's record and a network index is the network's. Neither should be edited because of one day's circumstances. But committees have always had reasons to move a single player's strokes for a single day: last week's winner plays off 90%, a guest's home index is known to be generous and the society trip plays them off two fewer, a junior playing up a tee gets two more. The adjustment is that lever. It sits on the player's entry in the outing, not on the roster, and it disappears with the outing.
The arithmetic
An adjustment has a type and a value. A percentage adjustment multiplies the raw index: 12.4 at 90% is 11.16, rounded to one decimal, 11.2. A points adjustment adds the offset: 18.0 with minus 2 is 16.0. Either result is then held within the World Handicap System™ bounds of +10.0 and 54.0, so an adjustment can never push a player beyond the range a real index can occupy.
The adjusted index is the effective index. From there the usual chain runs unchanged: effective index to Course Handicap™ on the player's tee, club maximum, format allowance, Playing Handicap™ on the card. An adjustment of 100% or plus 0 is a no-op and is treated as no adjustment at all.
- Percentage: effective = raw × value ÷ 100, rounded to one decimal, then clamped.
- Points: effective = raw + value, rounded to one decimal, then clamped.
- No adjustment, or a player with NH: effective = raw, untouched.
What gets recorded
Every adjustment stores the raw index it started from, the adjustment itself (type, value, an optional reason up to 120 characters, who set it and when), the effective index and the effective Course Handicap for the player's tee. Saving or clearing one writes an audit entry with the before and after values. Because the raw index sits beside the effective one, the card can always show both: "12.4, adjusted to 11.2 (90%, last week's winner)". Clearing the adjustment restores the raw index and recomputes the strokes; entered scores are untouched.
How Parful runs it
On a club outing the organizer opens the player on the scoring grid and sets the adjustment there: percentage or points, the value, a reason and a live preview such as "12.4 → 11.2". On Events the same control lives on the Flights tab, per player or in bulk with one type for everyone selected. In both products the effective Course Handicap is recomputed from the player's tee, the leaderboard reranks, and if the field is flighted by handicap and the flights are not yet frozen, flight membership is recomputed as well.
A player with no handicap on file cannot be adjusted: the control is blocked with a message to set a handicap first, and the server refuses the write. Plus handicaps follow the same arithmetic: +2.0 at 90% is +1.8, slightly easier on the player, which matches the winner's allowance convention.
Worked example
A worked example: a society day with four adjustments
Blue tees: Slope Rating™ 128, Course Rating™ 71.2, par 72. The organizer adjusts last week's winner, a guest with a generous home index, and a high-index player whose points offset runs into the clamp.
| Player | Raw index | Adjustment | Arithmetic | Effective index | Course Handicap™ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maria (won last week) | 12.4 | 90% | 12.4 × 0.90 = 11.16, rounds to 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 × 128 ÷ 113 − 0.8 = 11.89, plays 12 |
| Tom (guest) | 18.0 | minus 2 points | 18.0 − 2 = 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 × 128 ÷ 113 − 0.8 = 17.32, plays 17 |
| Sam | 6.2 | none | 6.2 unchanged | 6.2 | 6.2 × 128 ÷ 113 − 0.8 = 6.22, plays 6 |
| Dee | 48.0 | plus 10 points | 48.0 + 10 = 58.0, clamped to 54.0 | 54.0 | 54.0 × 128 ÷ 113 − 0.8 = 60.37, plays 60 |
| Lee (guest, NH) | NH | 90% (refused) | No handicap to adjust | NH | No strokes |
- The adjustment lands on the index, before slope. That is why Maria's 1.2 index reduction becomes a 1 stroke reduction on this tee and would differ on another.
- None of the roster values changed. Maria is still 12.4 on the club roster and 12.4 next week.
Common variants
- Winner's allowance
- The most common use: the previous winner plays off a reduced percentage, typically 90% or 95%, for the next outing. On Parful that is a percentage adjustment on one player for one outing.
- Guest handicap policy
- A society or guest day plays visitors off a fixed reduction, say two strokes, to allow for the members' home-course knowledge. A points adjustment of minus 2 on each guest does it, and the reason field records the policy.
- Standing handicap reduction
- A lasting cut to a member's handicap is not an adjustment. That is a manual edit on the roster, recorded as such in the member's history.