As the USGA charges state and regional golf association to set their own season dates, most associations in areas where winter can be harsh designate a specific inactive season. This is the time frame in which scores cannot be posted to a USGA Handicap Index.

 

We’ve made the determination that December, January, and February are the months where most of the inclement weather occurs across the region. And inclement weather can mean that Course Rating numbers just don’t hold up.

 

USGA Course and Slope Rating represent the difficulty of a course played under normal or mid-season playing conditions. The unpredictability of off-season conditions - a lack of foliage, lessened green speeds, reduced bounce and roll - can greatly affect a course's difficulty. The course conditions during winter months are inconsistent with the way a course was rated, and posting these scores could affect a player's Index.

 

A Handicap Index is defined as "potential scoring ability on a course of standard playing difficulty." Consider a player on a course that, during the winter, was extraordinarily easy because the tees were moved up and there was no rough. Such a course would no longer reflect conditions under which it was rated, so accepting even a few scores could change a player's Index. The converse holds true for those facing quite difficult conditions, such as wet fairways or strong winter winds.

 

Though not a perfect science, we try to be consistent in considering the golf community as a whole, and determine a season that will suit most across a large geographic region.

 

The 2015 season opens up again on Sunday, March 1st.