Can You Decide To Put In A Handicap Card After A Round?

Okay, so you deliberated long and hard about putting a card in before you went out for a non-competition round with your mate, but ultimately decided against it as you weren’t sure you were playing well enough. Four hours later, you’re sitting in the clubhouse staring at a scorecard displaying a net 65 after playing a blinder.

It would comfortably have been one of your eight ‘counters’ if you’d decided to put a card in, bringing your index down and giving you a bit of breathing space in your quest to keep your handicap as low as possible (assuming you’re not one of golf’s disreputable handicap bandits who seek to keep things as high as possible!).

For some, the temptation can be there, can’t it? You’re having a bite to eat and a couple of drinks – why not register now to put the score in and then wait long enough for the My England Golf app (or equivalent in your country) to let you press ‘submit’. This, undoubtedly, does happen but can you legitimately decide to put in a handicap card after a round has been played? The answer, of course, is no to maintain the integrity of the whole system.

According to my home country’s union, England Golf: “When submitting a score for handicapping, a golfer needs to create a ‘score intent’. This is done by creating a scorecard and pre-registering a round. By creating a scorecard, you are confirming your intent to submit a score for handicap purposes and this must be done prior to starting your round.”

There are various ways to pre-register your intent with the host club to post a general play score from any venue:

* On the My England Golf App (or equivalent facility wherever you live)
* Via the club’s own computer software
* Or simply telling the pro/club manager of an intention to submit a score

You must then play the round in accordance with the Rules of Golf and Rules of Handicapping.

The reason to pre-register should be obvious as the score you submit will carry the same weight on your handicap record as a score submitted during a competition and you certainly can’t register for, or enter, a competition after you’ve finished your round. To allow retrospective registration would permit players to potentially manipulate their handicap either way – for most, hopefully, out of a desire to stay as low as possible; but for a select few with bandit tendencies, unfortunately a desire to keep their handicap artificially high to suit their nefarious motives.

As England Golf goes on to explain: “When you create a scorecard via the MyEG app, you also create an intent to submit a score for handicap purposes… this is in place to stop golfers handpicking scores for their playing record, which could manipulate their Handicap Index.”

So, the next time you decide not put a card in and then proceed to shoot the lights out, simply take it on the chin, put it down to experience and believe in yourself enough to repeat the feat next time you do have a ‘live’ scorecard in your hand (or on your phone).