The RFEG (Royal Spanish Golf Federation) announces that the World Handicap System (WHS) will officially come into effect in Spain on Monday, June 8th. This new system replaces the EGA Handicap System, which has been in place since 2000 and will cease to be valid at the end of June 7th.

Since May 27th, members have been able to find out their SMH Handicap by consulting the RFEG APP or the Player Area on the RFEG website for which it is necessary to be registered beforehand.

This SMH Handicap will be for informational purposes only until June 7th (until then, the EGA Handicap must be used). From June 8th onwards, only the SMH Handicap will be available, and it is the only one that must be used.

Therefore, in competitions and out-of-competition results played this week, the EGA Handicap System will be used, and SMH calculations will be performed in parallel. The Central Handicap Server, which has been offline during the lockdown, is now configured to receive and calculate handicaps in both EGA and SMH. Clubs can now process rounds if their situation allows.

Given the complexity of the new system, the RFEG has prepared a document, explaining step by step and with the data of each player, how the SMH Handicap is calculated.

This document can be found both in the Player Area of the website (new section) and in the app (by tapping the player's handicap). We hope this document helps you understand the new SMH. Should you require any further clarification, please send an email to [email address missing]. handicap@rfegolf.es.

In the event of a complaint, players will have a period of 3 months from Monday, June 8th. After that period, no complaints will be accepted.

The RFEG has followed the recommendations issued by the World Handicap Authority for the transition from the EGA Handicap System to the SMH. The following rules were followed for the recalculation:

. All players have been assigned an SMH Handicap dated 01/01/2014 equal to their EGA Handicap on that date.

. From that date onwards, the SMH Rules have been applied, taking into account only valid individual rounds and Canada Cup rounds with submitted results (i.e., rounds in Best Ball mode, rounds not submitted, or disqualifications without a result have not been taken into account).

. Results prior to 01/01/2014 have not been recalculated.

. As of 01/01/2020, rounds played under the Best Ball format, rounds Not Submitted and Disqualifications without Result have been included.

Since the new handicap was recalculated on 01/01/2014, the data that members can see in the aforementioned document, which is used to calculate the new SMH Handicap, may differ from the data they had at the time of playing.

It should be noted that the procedure applied calculates the new handicap after each round and applies it to the next round, which may result in a change to the playing handicap and, therefore, to the result obtained.

The idea for a single handicap system arose from a meeting between the R&A and the USGA during the 2011 British Open. Work on its development began in 2014, involving all the handicap systems then in operation (USGA, EGA, CONGU, GA, SAGA, and FAA). The RFEG has played an active role in this development, contributing its knowledge and experience in various areas.

NOTE: The RFEG recommends downloading the RFEG App for free from any of the usual virtual stores.

Related news below, in the Related News section.

Access to the Courses and Handicap microsite (with all documentation), the Player Area and the information circular below, in the Related Links section.