Once the migration work to the new servers of the Central Handicap Server (SCH) was completed, which will be used to implement the World Handicap System (SMH) in the RFEG, from 9 a.m. on June 10, 2020 the SCH is available for sending competitions and Out of Competition Results (RFC).

Clubs will find some differences when processing a test under the SMH. The process is now divided into two parts: submission and calculation. Clubs will first send the competitions to the SCH, and the SCH will report: whether they have been received, whether they have been received but with warnings, or whether they have not been received due to submission errors (in these last two cases, the warnings and errors will be specified).

Once the various codes for the same competition have been submitted, the club can request the calculation of the ASC and the players' new handicaps. A club can only request the calculation once per day. If no calculation is requested, the ASC and the new handicaps will be calculated overnight and will be available the following day.

This procedure has a dual purpose. On the one hand, it reduces the calculation time for the new handicaps, which are already longer processes than before.

On the other hand, many clubs process the same competition under different codes, which until now meant that within the same competition there were players with different ASCs, which is not at all logical (remember that the ASC measures the difficulty of the course on the day of the competition compared to its rating, and this variation in difficulty should be the same for all players).

With the new procedure, by separating the calculation of the submission, when the submission of the entire competition is finalized, a single ASC will be calculated for all players.

Therefore, we strongly recommend that clubs do not request handicap calculations until the competition has finished and all results have been submitted.

The option to resubmit a ticket will remain available as before. Even if a handicap calculation has been requested, tickets can be resubmitted as many times as necessary to correct errors during a competition. During the initial days of operation of this new system, resubmissions on subsequent days will require authorization from the Handicaps Department.

Software providers have incorporated the calculation request in different ways. Clubs are advised to contact their provider for details.

Late submissions will also be permitted for the next two weeks, meaning that tests conducted during the two days the SCH was closed can be processed starting today. Please remember that, even if processed later, the competition date must be the date the competition was played.

The RFEG Handicap Department will be constantly monitoring the new system during these first few days of operation to ensure it functions correctly and to assist clubs in their initial competitions. For this reason, we ask for the clubs' understanding and patience should any problems arise.

Finally, the Courses and Handicap Committee and the Handicap Department of the RFEG would like to thank all suppliers for their collaboration in recent weeks in launching the new SCH.

Full information on the World Handicap System is available below, in the Related News and Related Links sections.