We are frequently asked what a Club Index is since everyone has a GHIN index for use in tournaments.  The purpose of the index system is to maintain fairness and competitiveness between golfers in tournaments who have very different skill levels and sometimes compete from different tee boxes within the same tournament.  The index system is also useful as a way for golfers to evaluate themselves as to whether their golf skills are progressing, regressing, or staying static.  Any golf index is supposed to be a measure of a player's scoring potential at any moment in time. 

Where the GHIN is controlled totally by the World Handicapping System (WHS), the Club Index is determined by each local club that chooses to create and use it.  Most clubs have some way of verifying that players are posting properly and accurately in order to create a system that allows for fairness and competitiveness. Our club has used the Club Index for our local tournaments for over ten years.  It has provided us with very few people claiming that we have sandbaggers playing in our tournaments. 

The Club Index is provided by the Handicap Chairperson, Larry Tash, at the beginning of each month.  It is based on the scoring of the last six rounds of golf played during our club tournaments (going back no more than twelve months).  In most cases, the last six scores are reviewed and the lowest four of those six are averaged, giving us a Club Index for each player (in a few cases where members have not played in six tournaments, the Club Index may have been created using fewer than six scores).  There are special cases due to injury or extended illness or other circumstances where there is an adjustment to the last six score system.  For example, due to the pandemic, we had players who had not posted a score for over one year, so in order to create a potential ability index other ways of reviewing a player were necessary. 

Each month about ten players have a Club Index that is lower than their GHIN index, and for our club events, we use the lowest of the two index numbers to determine a playing index for that month.  The Club Index can fluctuate quickly because of the use of six rather than the last 20 scores being reviewed.  However, it has provided a sense of trust and fairness to our members that everyone has a competitive chance to be a winner.  Thanks to our Tournament Director, Jan Bernard, and to the use of this index system, we have many members winning at some level throughout the year.  

If you wish to have any more information, please feel free to contact me by email at Larry.tash@gmail.com.