If you are an experienced golfer, you likely already know about your GHIN index (handicap).
But anyone new to The Villages needs to understand a few things about handicaps:
The 9-hole executive courses and the pitch & putt courses are NOT rated by the USGA. As such, you cannot post your score(s) from executive courses to your handicap index.
The Villages Championship Courses do have USGA ratings and your scores on those courses must be posted (same day) to your index database at www.ghin.com.
If you do not carry a GHIN index, but want to start one, a very affordable solution is available through the Florida USGA. You can start your GHIN index membership at the pro shops for any of The Villages Championship courses. You will have to play a total of 54 holes and then posted to your scoring record. These scores can be made up of any combination of 9- or 18-hole rounds. (Rule 4.5, Rules of Handicapping)
One new note for 2024: If you are playing on a championship course in The Villages but don’t complete 18 holes, there is a special process for filling-in the missing holes to complete a 18-hole round. In the past, if you played beyond the front nine but quit (weather, darkness, etc) on the back 9, you would have discarded those holes. Now, when a player plays between 10-17 holes, they will be required to post their scores using the hole-by-hole option. This allows a Score Differential to be calculated based on the specific holes that were played, which is then combined with the player’s expected score for the number of holes not played.
Here is the official USGA infographic showing you how to calculate Holes NOT Played
2024-Revision-WHS-Change-Summaries-USGA.pdf
