What is our Handicap Committee responsible for?

A Handicap Committee is set up by the golf club and is responsible for making sure the club meets its obligations under the Rules of Handicapping. In practice that includes:

• Reviewing members' Handicap Indexes (at least annually is strongly recommended) and adjusting them where needed.
• Dealing with scores: making sure acceptable scores are posted, handling missing scores and applying penalty scores where justified.
• Checking score details: when players enter a score they must say whether it was match play or stroke play, competition or social, and team or individual. GolfRSA makes the club handicapper/committee responsible for checking that competition entrants chose the right options, and correcting a player's record if, say, they chose "Social" instead of "Competition".
• Course compliance: keeping the course at the length and difficulty it was rated for, so scores stay acceptable.
• Allocating or modifying Handicap Indexes for new, returning and professional players, and withdrawing and reinstating an index where a player doesn't meet their responsibilities.

Sources: Rules of Handicapping (2024), Rules 1.3 and 7.1; GolfRSA Rules of Handicapping 2024 club training (Rule 1.3 and score entry requirements).