On a remarkable day of high-quality golf and high drama at Al Hamra Golf Club, Captain Rishi Narain’s Bonallack Trophy side emerged triumphant by the narrowest of margins.

With Asia-Pacific claiming 6.5 points from the 12 singles matches, the result ended 16.5-15.5 in their favour.

Here are the teams for the 2025 Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy

 

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It was more clear-cut in the Patsy Hankins Trophy, where Captain Joanne McKee’s team turned on the style, winning eight and halving one of the singles encounters to score an emphatic 20-12 success overall.

“What an incredible effort from everyone involved. Congratulations to the players, the captains, and their support teams. They should be proud of their achievements,” said Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC.

It was a day of multiple magical moments, including holes-in-one for Japan’s Mamika Shinchi and Denmark’s Marie Madsen, and a majestic five-wood approach into the par-3 18th green by Eila Galitsky, who set the tone for the day by claiming the prized scalp of England’s World Amateur Golf Ranking number one Lottie Woad in the opening singles encounter.

Leading 11½-8½ overnight, the Asia-Pacific girls came out all guns blazing, never giving their opponents a chance of staging a comeback. Astonishingly, the Asia-Pacific won the first seven matches out – Galitsky, Zhou Shiyuan, Mirabel Ting, Ren Jiyia, Vivian Lu, Jeong Min-seo, and Suvichaya Vinichaitham.

“It was just phenomenal,” said McKee, who lived up to her promise of jumping into the Arabian Gulf if her team triumphed. She was followed into the water skirting the 18th hole at Al Hamra by her assistant captains and all 12 of her players.

Narain and his team were not shy in replicating the celebration when their victory was confirmed some 90 minutes after the girls had clinched their win.

As had been the case at La Manga in 2023, the Bonallack Trophy went down to the wire.

Locked at 10-10 heading into the singles, fortunes fluctuated throughout the day, with punches and counter-punches being thrown.

First blood went to the Europeans, with WAGR number five José Luis Ballester swatting aside Singapore’s Hiroshi Tai 5&4 in the top match. In so doing, he completed a 100 per cent record this week, winning all five of his matches.

Pablo Ereno Pérez, his partner in crime in the foursomes and fourballs on Wednesday and Thursday, was held to a half-point by Japan’s Taishi Moto.

In match number three, China’s Zhou Ziqin brushed aside Swede Algot Kleen 6&4, the largest winning margin of the day.

But it was Europe who regained the initiative when Benjamin Reuter and Arni Sveinsson overcame Thai Thanawin Lee and Indian Kartik Singh, respectively, and Czech Republic’s Filip Jakucik halved with New Zealand’s Joshua Bai.

The pendulum swung again in favour of the Asia-Pacific when New Zealand’s Zack Swanwick, Enrique Dimayuga of the Philippines, and Japan’s Rintaro Nakano all won handsomely.

With just two matches still on the course, the outcome was still up in the air.

While Vietnam’s Nguyễn Anh Minh and Estonia’s Richard Teder were making their way down the 18th all square, Thai Phichaksin Maichon was one-up on England’s Charlie Forster after 16.

As Anh Minh and Teder were conceding short par putts on the home hole and settling for a half, news filtered back that Phichaksin had triumphed on the 17th green. His 2&1 win confirmed Asia-Pacific’s retention of the Bonallack Trophy and sparked wild scenes of celebration among the Asia-Pacific contingent.

Main Image: Emirates Golf Federation

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You’d be forgiven for not realising that, in Ras Al Khaimah, a very similar event is taking place within the amateur side of the game: the Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy.

The Bonallack Trophy is a prestigious amateur male golf event, modelled on the Ryder Cup, where every two years teams representing Europe and Asia-Pacific compete against each other, with the venue alternating between courses in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The inaugural event took place in 1998 in Perth, Australia, and has since become a key fixture in the amateur golf calendar. In 2016, to further promote women’s golf and recognise the talent emerging from the Asia-Pacific region, the Patsy Hankins Trophy was introduced alongside the Bonallack Trophy.

The event has consistently attracted strong fields, with past participants including future Major champions such as Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Rory McIlroy, and Shane Lowry. Other notable players who have competed include Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm.

The format of both the Bonallack and Patsy Hankins Trophies follows that of the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup, featuring various match-play formats between two teams of 12. Over the course of three days, a total of 32 matches will be played, each contested over 18 holes. The first two days will feature five foursomes matches and five four-ball matches. The final day will see all 12 players compete in 12 singles matches.

Here are the teams for the 2025 Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy:

Bonallack Trophy:
Team Europe (Non-playing Captain, Joachim Fourquet, France)

Jose Luis Ballester (Spain)

Dominic Clemons (England)

Charlie Forster (England)

Lev Grinberg (Ukrain)

Filip Jacubčík (Czech Republic)

Algot Kleen (Sweden)

Pablo Ereño Perez (Spain)

B. Reuter (Netherlands)

G. A. Sveinsson (Iceland)

R. Teder (Estonia)

P. Wernicke (Germany)

Tim Wiedemeyer (Germany)

Team Asia Pacific (Non-playing Captain Rishi Narain, India)

Joshua Bai (New Zealand)

Enrique Dimayuga (Philippines)

Thanawin Lee (Thailand)

Phichaksn Maichon (Thailand)

Nguyen Anh Minh (Vietnam)

Taishi Moto (Japan)

Rintaro Nakano (Japan)

Jeffrey Wong Ngai Shen (Hong Kong)

Kartik Singh (India)

Zach Swanwick (New Zealand)

Hiroshi Tai (Singapore)

Zhou Ziqin (China)

Patsy Hankins Trophy:
Team Europe (Non-playing Captain, Myrte Eikenaar, The Netherlands)

Emma Bunch (Denmark)

Beth Coulter (Ireland)

Aine Donegan (Ireland)

Francesca Fiorellini (Italy)

Carolina Lopez-Chacarra (Spain)

Marie Eline Madsen (Denmark)

Carolina Melgrati (Italy)

Patience Rhodes (England)

Louise Rydqvist (Sweden)

Nora Sundberg (Sweden)

Rocio Tejedo (Spain)

Lottie Woad (England)

Team Asia Pacific (Non-playing Captain, Joanne McKee, Hong Kong)

Eila Galitsky (Thailand)

Sophie Han (Hong Kong)

Cindy Hsu Huai-chien (Chinese Taipei)

Jeong Min-seo (Korea)

Arianna Lau (Hong Kong)

Vivian Lu (New Zealand)

Aira Nagasawa (Japan)

Ren Yijia (China)

Mamika Shinichi (Japan)

Suvichaya Vinichaitham (Thailand)

Mirabel Ting (Malaysia)

Zhou Shiyuan (China)

Main Image: Al Hamra Golf Club

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Staged biennially, the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup-style match play contests pits teams representing the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) against their counterparts from the European Golf Association (EGA).

Featuring the best amateur golfers from the two regions, the 12th staging of the Bonallack Trophy and the fourth version of the Patsy Hankins Trophy will be held from January 8-10, 2025.

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry – Chris Graythen

Among the star names to have appeared in the Bonallack Trophy since its inception in 1998 are Cameron Smith, Geoff Ogilvy, Min Woo Lee, Hideki Matsuyama, Takumi Kanaya and Kiradech Aphibarnrat for the Asia-Pacific and Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Danny Willett and Francesco Molinari for Europe.

In the Patsy Hankins Trophy, which was launched in 2016, Yuka Saso, Hannah Green, Patty Tavatanakit and Atthaya Thitikul have represented Asia-Pacific with Albane Valenzuela, Emma Spitz, Helen Briem, and Lottie Woad, currently number one in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, lining up for Europe.

Lottie Woad reacts to making birdie on the 17th hole during her victory in the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur – Maddie Meyer

Taimur Hassan Amin, Chairman of the APGC, said: “After the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic which prevented us from staging these events between 2018 and 2023, we’re delighted to be back on track with the biennial scheduling.

“The Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy are special events for both the APGC and the EGA as we get to see stars of the future who will go on to win professional Major titles.

“The continued success of these match play contests are testament to the close working relationship between the APGC and the EGA. We also greatly appreciate the support of the Emirates Golf Federation and Al Hamra Golf Club. Their efforts are central to the success of the 2025 gathering.”

Caroline Huyskes, President of the EGA, said: “We’re really looking forward to yet another exciting encounter between Asia-Pacific and Europe. Matches between teams of geographic regions always prove to be so special. They mobilise an energy in their own right and bring an unforgettable experience for the players and all involved.

“The level of play, sportsmanship and friendship is just amazing. We’re thankful to our close friends at the APGC for organising the 2025 edition and look forward to visiting Al Hamra Golf Club and the UAE, which will surely be outstanding hosts for this great event.”

Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, Mr. Taimur Hassan Amin, and Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation, General Abdullah Alhashmi, at the 2022 Nomura Cup

General Abdulla Al Hashmi, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF) and a Board Member of the APGC, said: “The EGF is honoured to play host to the 2025 Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy.

“The talent on both sides of our regions is so high that, among past players who have taken part in the Bonallack and Patsy Hankins, we have now won numerous Majors and countless PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour events.

“We offer a very warm welcome to all players and officials and are confident that another memorable week of golf is in store in January.”

In the men’s Bonallack Trophy, which is named after the late Sir Michael Bonallack, ex-amateur standout and former R&A Secretary, Europe holds a 7-4 overall advantage.

Last year at La Manga in Spain was just the second time that Asia-Pacific had won the Bonallack Trophy on European soil, the only other occasion being in 2004 at Italy’s Circolo Golf Roma. Asia-Pacific’s two other successes came at Japan’s Hirono Golf Club in 2002 and Doha Golf Club in 2018, the sole previous occasion the event has been staged in the Middle East.

In the women’s Patsy Hankins Trophy, named after the respected late New Zealand golfing administrator Patsy Hankins, Asia-Pacific holds a 2-1 lead overall.

Al Hamra Golf Club

Located in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, Troon-managed Al Hamra Golf Club joined the official DP World Tour venue list in 2022, hosting the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. The fourth edition of the championship will take place a fortnight after the Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy, from January 25-28.

Designed by Peter Harradine and opened in 2007, the Al Hamra course measures 7,400 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 72, meandering around four inter-connected open water lagoons merging seamlessly with the water of the Arabian Gulf.

Originally planned to be built on the salt flats bordering the water edge, some five million cubic metres of sand combined with expert shaping came together to create gentle elevation changes as the terrain moves around the lagoons rising and falling from plus one to plus eight metres.

Paul Booth, General Manager at Al Hamra, said: “Al Hamra Golf Club and the team are incredibly excited to be hosting the prestigious Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy.

“These events highlight the pinnacle of amateur golf, bringing together the best talents from across Europe and Asia-Pacific. Our team is dedicated to delivering a world-class experience for all participants, spectators, and partners, showcasing the exceptional facilities and hospitality that Al Hamra and the beautiful Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates have to offer.”

The Bonallack Trophy and Patsy Hankins Trophy take place over three days. Five foursomes matches in the morning and five fourball matches in the afternoon are played on both of the first two days. On the final day, all 12 players complete singles matches.

With 32 total points on offer (one for a win, 0.5 for a half and 0 for a loss), 16.5 points are needed to secure victory.

Images: Supplied

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All of which begs questions: Routinely pitted against U.S. squads armed with what appears overwhelming talent, how have perennial underdogs Europe come up with 12 wins versus only six defeats over the last four decades or so? Why is it that, more often than not, the statistically superior Americans find the contrasting conditions, atmosphere and pressures of the Ryder Cup so difficult to handle?

On that specific point, let’s knock one thing on the head right away. According to former captain Paul McGinley—whose iconic Ryder Cup status was initially ensured when he holed the winning putt for Europe at The Belfry in 2002—the explanation for this apparent anomaly is simple: In the heat of Ryder Cup moments, World Rankings are all but irrelevant.

“I have a saying that you have to prepare for an exam,” says the Irishman. “You’re playing in an Open, that’s an exam. You’re playing in a U.S. Open, that’s a different exam, a different skill set. So when you are playing tournament golf, you are constantly playing different exams. When you are playing in the Ryder Cup, the exam changes again. Just because your World Ranking is, say, five, it doesn’t necessarily translate into you being a good match player. It doesn’t translate into you playing well in an 18-hole sprint. It doesn’t translate into coping with a partner and playing foursomes. And it doesn’t translate overall into being comfortable in a team environment.”

Indeed, closer analysis surely reveals no singularly persuasive reason for this near-dominance by supposedly out-matched but eternally plucky bands of multicultural Europeans. Which makes sense. Different teams, different venues and different captains mean that a variety of factors are more than likely in play every two years.

Hang on though. There is at least one thread running throughout this modern phenomenon. While the addition of continental Europeans in 1979 clearly provoked a transformation of what had previously been a near-moribund event, those newcomers—in common with their Great Britain and Ireland counterparts—typically arrived with valuable and extensive involvement of team competition gained even before they turned professional.

No one who has played in the modern Ryder Cup ever claims it is anything other than the most profound experience of their careers, but familiarity with something similar has proved to be beneficial. Step forward the European Boys, the (now defunct) European Youths and European Amateur Team Championships. All run by the European Golf Association, all three have seen future Ryder Cuppers represent their countries—a crucial aspect—in six-man team competition that involves an initial 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying followed by match play made up of (two) foursomes and (five) singles. The 2024 edition of the men’s event, the 41st playing overall, takes place next week at the Royal Park I Roveri in Italy, with Spain attempting to defend its title.

Just how influential might these events be? Well, by way of most recent example, only one of the 12 men who made up last year’s successful European Ryder Cup side (Tyrrell Hatton) did not play in at least one of those three EGA team events. Adding to that influence, skipper Luke Donald (for England) and all four of his assistants, Edoardo Molinari (Italy), Francesco Molinari (Italy), Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) and Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), can boast the same background and upbringing.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (back row, third from left) enjoyed being with teammates at the 2019 European Amateur Team Championship.

Step back further and you can see this ongoing influence, both on and off the course, for some time. As well as Donald and Olazabal, future European captains Mark James (England), Colin Montgomerie (Scotland), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), McGinley (Ireland), Padraig Harrington (Ireland) and Henrik Stenson (Sweden) all represented their native lands in those European team events, the men’s version debuting in 1959 as a biennial competition that became a yearly affair starting in 2013.

The victorious Spainish squad takes a celebratory selfie after its win at last year’s European Amateur Team Championship.

More specifically, many future Ryder Cuppers have enjoyed amateur success at the European level. Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden, 1983), Peter Baker (England, 1985), Andrew Coltart (Scotland 1987), Ignacio Garrido (Spain, 1990), Stephen Gallacher (Scotland, 1992), Donald (1995), Sergio Garcia (Spain, 1996, 1997), Thomas Pieters (Belgium, 2010), Jon Rahm (Spain, 2011) and Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark, 2017) all played in winning teams at the Boys Championship.

Ronan Rafferty (Ireland, 1979), Philip Walton (Ireland, 1979), Montgomerie (1982), Niclas Fasth (Sweden, 1992) and Alex Noren (Sweden, 2002) were members of victorious squads in the Youths event that ended in 2006.

Paul Way (England, 1981), Walton (1983), Montgomerie (1985), Gallacher (1995), Garcia (1997), Rory McIlroy (Ireland, 2007), Shane Lowry (Ireland, 2007, 2008), Tommy Fleetwood (England, 2010), Rahm (2014), Robert MacIntyre (Scotland, 2016) and Ludvig Aberg (Sweden, 2019) were all integral parts of successful Men’s squads.

Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are just some of the recent Ryder Cup stalwarts who first gained team golf experience representing their countries at the European Amateur Team Championship.

Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are just some of the recent Ryder Cup stalwarts who first gained team golf experience representing their countries at the European Amateur Team Championship.

All in all then, this thing has gone way beyond coincidence. Combined, these international contests have made a key contribution to the camaraderie that somehow pervades the potent mix of nationalities, temperaments and attitudes that come together to make up European Ryder Cup teams.

“There is no doubt that playing for England in those European team events helped me when I got to first the Walker Cup, then the Ryder Cup,” says Donald, who will revise his captaincy role for Europe at Bethpage Black next year. “Match play is rarely a comfortable experience, as is wearing a national jersey. You’re not just playing for yourself. You don’t want to let others down. You want to contribute. All of those things are good to have experienced as often as possible before you get to the Ryder Cup.”

Not surprisingly, there is much support for Donald’s view.

“I can say I 100 per cent benefitted from my amateur days playing for Ireland in those European Championships when I got to the Ryder Cup,” Harrington confirms. “I knew how to interact with others when they won their match and I didn’t. Or vice versa. I knew how to be with a partner who played badly when I played well. Or vice versa.

“The camaraderie needs to be worked on,” he continues. “So it helps to have that early base established. There have been guys like Ian Poulter, who didn’t play amateur golf. But the vast majority played for their countries in the European team events. So an affinity with team golf is built. I see that as essential going forward. There is less ‘them and us’ within the European team when it comes to the Ryder Cup.”

Of course, that ability to gel and work together as one unit rather than 12 individuals has long been noted as one of Europe’s biggest strengths.

“Playing for England in those European events gave me an insight into what being part of a team really means,” says Englishman Peter Baker, a member of the 1993 European Ryder Cup side. “Competing for your country as an amateur is probably as close as you can get before you actually tee-up against the Americans. It helps so much to know you are in something as a team and feeling the sort of togetherness and team spirit you need to be successful.”

“When you are the underdogs, you need any edge you can get,” says Stenson, a veteran of five Ryder Cups. “Being tight as a group is part of that, which has to stem from the European Team Championships. There is nothing like winning as a team. It teaches you things. You have to find your place and your role. It’s just a different dynamic. Coming into that sort of environment with no previous experience I have to think would be really difficult. All those little things add up and affect the end result.”

“Competing for your country as an amateur is probably as close as you can get before you actually tee-up against the Americans. It helps so much to know you are in something as a team and feeling the sort of togetherness and team spirit you need to be successful.” —Peter Baker

As is the case with so many high-performing athletes, the fear of losing tends to outweigh the joy of winning. So, perhaps perversely, there can be stimulation and so long-term benefit to be had from early defeat. Many years on, Stenson continues to live with the deep disappointment he felt following defeat to Englishman (and future DP World Tour player) Shaun Webster in the 1994 Boys Team Championship.

“Agonizing,” is how the 2016 Open champion describes his youthful devastation. “My loss meant the team lost, too,” he says. “I felt like I had let everyone down. But the feeling has always motivated me. It was definitely not something I wanted to experience again in the Ryder Cup.”

The most commonly cited advantage Europe has in Ryder Cups is the familiarity all nationalities have with foursomes play. What many see as golf’s most difficult format is an integral part of the amateur team championships. Since 1985, when Europe won the Ryder Cup for the first time, the Old World has accumulated a 13-point advantage (82½-69½) in what America calls “alternate shot.”

“There is no doubt that the experience our players gain as amateurs playing in the various European Team Championships has a knock-on benefit when it comes to the Ryder Cup,” says Edoardo Molinari. “Which makes sense. Playing match play for your country is not like playing for yourself. Then there is the benefit you get from playing foursomes golf early in your career. That isn’t something the American players get to do. All of which can only help our cause, if only for knowing how to feel comfortable in what can be an uncomfortable environment. It’s a great learning experience, especially when you are playing alongside a partner who is performing a lot better then you are yourself.”

A formal opening ceremony gives the European Amateur Team Championship a distinguished feel.

Still, Ryder Cups can also be won and lost off the course, as well as on. Yes, the Europeans become as one during Ryder Cups, but recognizing their individuality within that ultimate goal is another key learned at amateur level.

“Playing in a team after months of playing as an individual is not easy,” says McGinley, who led Europe to comfortable victory at Gleneagles in 2014. “As captain, I tried to preserve the individual mind-set. I took away the formal dinners. There were no compulsory team dinners. That’s not what they do on tour. So I gave them ownership of their own time, within the team environment. Some players are not made to be part of teams. You must always take account of that.”

That McGinley was successful in his aim is epitomized by the experience of Gallacher. Playing on home ground 10 years ago, the Scot was the only member of the European team who failed to contribute to his side’s 16½-point total. But he remained, at least in his own mind, an important member of the squad.

“I was in winning six-man sides at Boys and Men’s European Championships,” Gallacher says. “And in both there was a great team spirit. I’ve also been in teams that were unsuccessful. They had little cliques and factions within them. If you have that going on, winning is almost impossible. I took that with me into the 2014 Ryder Cup. I didn’t personally have the best time at Gleneagles, but my knowledge of what team golf is all about made me part of our victory. I was proud to be playing with the badge on my chest.”

So it’s all about match play and team experience really, something the Europeans have plenty of, even before they arrive at the Ryder Cup. The Americans? Not so much. But McGinley for one sees that changing over the coming years.

“The NCAA Championship now has a team match-play element,” he says. “That will help them down the road. In future, they will be better prepared when they arrive at the Ryder Cup.”

In addition to the men’s team event being played next week in Italy, the European Boys Championship takes place July 9-13 at the Diamond Golf & Country Club in Austria. (Simultaneously, the Women’s Championship is being staged at the Real Sociedad Hípica Española Club de Campo, Spain).

Pay attention to all of the above. Names like Calum Scott of Scotland, newly crowned British Amateur champion Jacob Skov Olesen from Denmark, Swede Simon Hovdal and Jose Luis Ballester. who has followed Spanish compatriot Jon Rahm to Arizona State, could soon enough be more widely familiar if and when they tee-up in future Ryder Cups wearing Europe’s colors. Strong chances are, at least some of them will make it. It’s a tradition.

Images: Supplied

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There is, however, a flaw in the system. Specifically, there isn’t just one system for calculating handicaps. While the USGA formula is used by the largest number of golfers worldwide—roughly 10 million of the 16 million who have handicaps—it coexists with five other systems, none of which easily translates with one another. In Great Britain & Ireland, there’s the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU), which computes handicaps incrementally off a limited number of rounds. In Europe, they use a variation of CONGU called European Golf Association. Australia, South Africa and Argentina use their own systems similar to the USGA’s. Suddenly, the virtue of having a handicap isn’t quite so virtuous.

Enter the World Handicap System (WHS), announced jointly on Tuesday by the USGA and R&A, the result of six years of conversations, deliberations and mathematical modelling among the statistical gurus who oversee the current formulas. The goal? To clear up confusion and create a single Handicap Index that’s easy to obtain and maintain, and is truly portable.

“We’d hear about the challenges [of multiple systems] constantly,” says Steven Edmondson, the USGA’s director of handicap and course rating. “Finally, we just all decided it was time. It was really everyone saying, ‘Wouldn’t one system be better for the game?’ ”

Slated to go live Jan. 1, 2020, the new World Handicap is part of a larger shift in how the game approaches handicapping. Having laid out a set of 10 foundation principles, the USGA and R&A have outlined a set of handicapping rules that will become codified much the same way there are rules that govern equipment around the world.

Courtesy of the USGA and R&A

The good news for American golfers is that the WHS will look and feel much like the current USGA system. The WHS formula will be average-based, pulling from a golfer’s last 20 rounds (though all you need are three to establish a handicap) to calculate an index based on your best eight scores. (The current USGA system takes 10.) The new formula, which will count both nine- and 18-hole scores, will use a course’s Slope and Rating and will continue to produce an Index based off a players’ potential that’s then translated to a “playing handicap” for each set of tees at each course. One difference: These playing handicaps will represent the number of strokes a golfer gets in relation to par, rather than Course Rating, which will make it easier to run competitions where player use multiple tees (such as mixed tournaments).

Edmondson says most players with a USGA index won’t see their number differ under the WHS formula. There will still be plus-handicaps for the best of the best, and scratch golfers will remain in the neighbourhood of a 0 Handicap Index. What will change is the top end of the scale, with a maximum players’ index being 54.0 for both men and women, up from 36.4 for men under the USGA system and 40.4 for women.

“For some time, we’ve heard golfers say, ‘I’m not good enough to have a handicap,’ or ‘I don’t play enough to have a handicap.’ We want to make the right decisions now to encourage a more welcoming and social game,” said Mike Davis, USGA executive director.

“Our research showed some people were intimidated to get a handicap because they didn’t think they were good enough,” says Edmondson, noting only 10 to 15 percent of golfers in the United States have a handicap. “We’re hoping this sends a message that anybody can have one.”

Perhaps the biggest adjustment from the USGA system is that the highest score a player can take for any given hole is net double bogey, regardless of their index. Edmondson says their modelling shows this should have a minor impact on most handicaps but will prevent Indexes from jumping up artificially—you’ve been warned, sandbaggers!—a concern for officials who oversaw the CONGU and EGA systems in switching from incremental formulas to an average-based model.

Uniting the six current handicap systems into one World system will help make getting a handicap easier. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos)

Modern computing will also allow the calculations to be more intuitive. For instance, players’ Indexes will be updated daily rather than every two weeks. And the formula will have a “playing conditions adjustment” component. Ever shoot an 84 that feels more like a 79? Or vice versa? The WHS seeks to account for those days. If the average score posted at a course on any day is statistically unusual—high or low—the WHS algorithm will essentially create an adjustment to the formula it uses to create your handicap. So you might shoot a score that isn’t great by your standards, but if everyone else is struggling, say, because of bad weather, say, that round may count when calculating your Handicap Index.

For the six organizations to arrive at the new WHS, each made concessions. The USGA agreed to adhere to a 2016 change disallowing scores from rounds played alone. Other handicap systems have long frowned upon counting these solo rounds. CONGU and EGA golfers, who have traditionally counted only tournament scores, will now count scores posted for other types of rounds. Some supporters of the CONGU and EGA systems feared the switch would mean sharp spikes or drops in handicaps, and the move to accepting nothing greater than net double bogey on any hole was meant to address this concern.

Between now and 2020, Edmondson says officials will use real scoring data to help refine the final formula and will start outreach programs around the world to help educate golfers on the changes taking place.

“It’s been a long process,” Edmondson says, “but ultimately it will be something I think we’ll all look back on as a good decision.”

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