How to Use the Callaway Scoring System
When Official Handicaps are Unavailable
The Callaway System (or Callaway Scoring System) is a sort of
1-day handicapping system that can be used in events where most of the golfers
do not have real handicap indexes.
For
example, at a company outing, most of the golfers may not carry official
handicap indexes. How can they all - with widely different playing abilities -
compete fairly at stroke play?
like
the similar Peoria System, based in certain part on luck - allows a
"handicap allowance" to be determined and then applied to each
golfer's score.
When the Callaway System is in use, all
competitors tee off and play stroke play, scoring in the normal fashion with
one exception - double par is the maximum score on any given hole (i.e., on a
par 4, 8 is the maximum score).
Following the round, gross scores are
tallied. Based on each golfer's gross score (using the double par maximum),
each golfer tallies up a prescribed number of worst scores from their
scorecard, then applies a second adjustment that may add or subtract
additional strokes.
The result is a total that is something
similar to a net score using real handicaps.
A couple points:
• The higher a competitor's gross score,
the more holes that player will be deducting;
• Holes deducted begin with the highest score; if a player gets to deduct
one hole and his highest score is an 8, then an 8 is what gets deducted;
• Scores on the 17th and 18th holes may not be deducted, even if one (or
both) of them are the competitor's highest score.
• Even after high scores are added together for the allowance, the second
adjustment must be made; this adjustment might add or subtract 2, 1 or 0
strokes from a player's Callaway handicap.
• Once the appropriate number of high scores has been tallied, and the
second adjustment is made, the player is left with a net score.
Sounds complicated, eh? That's why the
Callaway System comes complete with a handy reference chart.
The chart below should make things much
easier to grasp. Look over the chart, then look below the chart for an
example.