Recommended Handicap Settings

Golf League Tracker has several options for handicaps, but there are some common settings which most leagues customize for their own use.  This article describes what to change for specific formats.

2020 Rules (Custom) - Recommended

I recommend using the GLT 2020 Rules with a Custom Score count.

In short, using the recommendation below, a player will establish a handicap after 2 rounds. Ongoing, it will take the most recent 6 rounds. It will toss out the high 33% of the score differentialss and use the remaining to calculate the handicap.

You can configure Golf League Tracker to use whatever number of scores you like using the 2020 Rules (Custom) selection by changing the following settings:

• Setting #7, Automatic Handicap Calculation, set to "GLT (Automatic)"
• Setting #112, Handicap Calculation Type, set to "2020 Rules (Custom)"
• Setting #38, Handicap Percent, set to "1"
• Setting #36, Maximum Calculated Handicap. Set to "54.0" for 18 hole leagues, "27.0" to 9-hole leagues.
• Setting #71, Number of Most Recent Rounds to Calculate Handicap, set to "6"
• Setting #70, Number of Rounds Required To Establish a Handicap, set to "2"
• Setting #40, Number of High Rounds to Throw Out, set to "-33". This means 33% of the high scores get tossed. This works great when a player has < 6 scores as well.
• Setting #53, Number of Low Rounds to Throw Out, set to "0"

All other settings should be left as the default value, so be sure to check your current values against the default to make sure they are set properly.

In addition, you can set up a per-hole stroke limit when calculating handicap. See: https://www.golfleaguetracker.com/glthome/cms/help/how-to/strokes-per-hole-limit

Simple Calculation

Some leagues decide to calculate their handicap against par of the course rather than the course difficulty. Using the course difficulty allows you to adjust your handicaps based on the tee box and/or  course that you're playing.

However, you can still set it up against par if so desired:

• Setting #7, Automatic Handicap Calculation, set to "Automatic"
• Setting #112, Handicap Calculation Type, set to "Par". When set to par, the player's handicap index is not converted to a course handicap when playing.

I also recommend the following settings:

• Setting #71, Number of Most Recent Rounds to Calculate Handicap, set to 6
• Setting #40, Number of High Rounds to Throw Out, set to -33 (33% of the high scores).
• Setting #53, Number of Low Rounds to Throw Out, set to 0