Modifications to the Course

The Handicap Committee must notify the AGA when temporary physical changes are made such as use of temporary tees and/or greens. It is especially important to contact the AGA when the course length differs by at least 100 yards from an existing rated tee and the duration of such a change could impact scores posted. After review of the temporary changes, the AGA will determine whether scores made under those conditions are to be accepted for handicap purposes, and whether a temporary Course Rating and Slope Rating should be issued.

If a temporary Rating is issued, the Handicap Committee has the responsibility to notify its members and guests of the temporary Rating and when to resume posting scores to the permanent/published Ratings. If it is determined that temporary Ratings will not be issued, the Handicap Committee has the responsibility to notify its members and guests that when a hole is not played or temporary tees/greens are in use, hole-by-hole score entry must be used so that an expected score can be calculated for holes not played. Alternatively, under limited and practical circumstances, the Handicap Committee may advise players to use net par. Use of net par is only permitted for use one 1 or 2 holes not played. If the holes not played and holes where temporary tees/greens are use in use exceeds 9 holes (and the AGA has decided not to issue temporary Ratings), then the score is not acceptable for handicap purposes.

The Handicap Committee must notify the AGA when permanent changes are made to the course or course set-up has changed significantly. The AGA should then review the current Course Rating and Slope Rating and determine whether a re-rating is necessary. Examples of such occurrences might be:

• a storm caused a landslide where a green was located, and the course must permanently shorten a hole from a par 5 to a par 3; or
• in a cost savings effort, maintenance practices changed from cutting the rough daily to twice a week resulting in an increase in average rough height of 1-2 inches; or
• a portion of the property is sold, and holes are reconfigured to create a new layout.

In the case where modifications impact the stroke index allocation, please contact your AGA for support. This can likely be addressed during the process of generating temporary Ratings for the golf course.

In addition, if nines have been reversed on the golf course, please contact your AGA for support. It is possible that the AGA can accommodate this change through the WHS Course Rating Software if no other significant changes were made to the golf course.