As of March 1, Golf Canada has adopted the USGA’s Equitable Stroke Control procedure. ESC is the downward adjustment of individual hole scores to make handicaps more representative of a player’s potential ability. For example, a player with a course handicap of 9 or lower can post no more than a double bogey on any hole. A player with a course handicap of 10-19 can post no more than a 7. The maximum score increases as the handicap increases.
It’s a great move to provide harmony among golfers’ handicaps in the United States and Canada, but I wish the USGA would adopt the net-double-bogey limit used in much of the world.
In that system, a golfer with a course handicap of 12 could take no more than a 7 on a par 4 that is rated the 12th-toughest hole on the course (add two strokes plus one handicap stroke to the hole’s par). A golfer with an 11-handicap, however, could take only a 6 (two strokes but zero handicap strokes). This formula helps create more accurate Handicap Indexes and speeds up play.