England Golf Issues updated World Handicap System toolkit

England Golf has issued an updated World Handicap System (WHS) educational toolkit for golf clubs across the country ahead of the imminent launch of the new system on 2 November.

The release of ‘Toolkit 2.0’ coincides with many golfers in England being able to view their projected Handicap Index via the newly launched England Golf WHS Platform, My England Golf.

Toolkit 2.0 includes several updated and fresh resources to download, such as new example Slope Rating and Playing Handicap allowance tables, alongside an introduction to the England Golf WHS Platform and a transition timeline that outlines the process of clubs moving from the present system (CONGU) to the WHS over the coming weeks.

England Golf has also unveiled two new initiatives in Toolkit 2.0; the WHS Challenge and WHS Gurus. The WHS Challenge is an event concept created by England Golf to engage with golf clubs across the country following the launch of WHS.

Clubs are being encouraged to re-name any planned competitions on the weekends of 7/8 and 14/15 November as the ‘WHS Challenge’ via the England Golf website, with the best finishing male and female players at each club being entered into a prize draw to win tickets to the 2021 Open Championship.

The WHS Gurus initiative encourages golf clubs and their handicap committees to nominate a member from their club to be the voice of the WHS for its members. A WHS Guru will become proficient in their knowledge on the WHS and be on hand to field any questions that golfers will have about the new system.

They will also ensure that the educational resources from Toolkit 2.0 are being used, alleviating pressures from Handicap Committees during the busy times following the adoption of the WHS.

Speaking on the updated Toolkit, Gemma Hunter, Head of Handicapping & Course Rating at England Golf, said “Everyone at England Golf has been delighted with the uptake of Toolkit 1.0 following its introduction earlier in the summer. To see the number of clubs downloading the educational resources, posting them on social media and engaging with England Golf has been fantastic.

“Toolkit 2.0 has been updated to help golf clubs educate their members further on the key elements to the new WHS, and provide them with an opportunity to take part in exciting new initiatives such as the WHS Gurus and WHS Challenge. These have been created to build anticipation for the 2 November launch and provide local support for handicap committees at what will be a busy transition period for us all.”

Toolkit 2.0 is a continuation of England Golf’s extensive WHS education process which started in October 2019. This was designed to further help golf clubs understand the new system and saw 86 seminars hosted across 35 counties, with a total of 4,588 handicap committee members and secretaries from 1,384 golf clubs attending from all over England.

Clubs will once again have an opportunity to download educational resources, such as posters and social graphics, that can be shared with their members both on-site at the club and across their various communication channels.

WHS will – for the first time – unite six handicapping bodies across the globe under one standardised system. This will allow handicaps to be truly portable and make for a fairer and more equitable system of accurately calculating a golfer’s current playing ability.

Clubs can download Toolkit 2.0 now via the WHS pages on the England Golf website at: https://www.englandgolf.org/whs