Par 73 SSS 70 Why the difference?

I recently played at Tewkesbury Park Par 73 SSS 70.

I have found numerous definitions of standard scratch online, one of these below.

This is a fixed number agreed by the Club with the ruling bodies. This is the score it would be expected a scratch golfer would go round in. This can differ from the course par by anything up to +3 to -3 of the course par.

I play off 12 and went round in 83 (10 overpar in my book) thinking I may come down by 0.4 but i didn't move as its obviously using the SSS and therefore it must calculate my round as 13 over (no move)

As I am not a scratch golfer, why doesn't golfshake use the Par score?

Confused!

Because no one uses just par to computer handicaps.  In fact, if you were using the US system of slope and rating, your handicap would be higher than that of using the SSS system over here.

I keep a handicap in the USA and on golfshake, and my US handicap using the exact same cards would be 18. 

6500 yds should not be a SSS 70 in my opinion. I have played this course many years ago in a Pro-Am with Brian Huggett and it is no pushover.

I agree with you Rob, par is what we should play to, after all that is what the Pros do.

Steven, I had this circular argument with J P, no so long a go. I agree with you that all courses are different, some being easier than others.

Having the SSS system does not make any difference to your handicap when you go and play another club, it still stays the same, so if you are playing a match against a member of a much more difficult course then you are at an disadvantage, as his handicap will be based on that course whereas yours is based on an easier course. Because of this your handicap is not comparable to the player from the harder course. If you are both of the same handicap then he would be the better player.

Handicaps are never re-adjusted to take the SSS into consideration for this discrepancy, so the SSS is a total waste of time.

Pros are all scratch, only amateurs can attain + handicaps.

JP, that's why the US system is so much better IMHO.  My course handicap can actually change up or down depending upon the course rating.  So playing Whistling Straights or Bethpage Black with a rating of 145 and slope of 75 or so would actually give me a massive course handicap adjustment. 

So if I go onto a course that is harder, my adjusted handicap for THAT course actually changes up or down on an easier course with a lower rating. 

If I scored a 110 on Whistling Straigts, my handicap would probably go down whereas if I shot a 110 on a very easy course with a slope/rating of 68/118, my handicap would go up.

I don't know if the SSS system just uses the best 10 of most recent 20 rounds, but that's how the HC is based in the USA.  It's a continuous rolling best 10 of 20 scores.   

My USGA Handicap is 22.1, my golfshake HC is 15.4.  And the way I play golf, I can assure you that my USGA handicap is exactly what my score would be on a good day.  And here I thought I was getting better, but the SSS system has misled me into false hope. 

I am sorry Steven, both you and J P are wrong, A player off 10 handicap at  a very hard course will always be better than the 10 handicapper from an easy course, no matter which course they play.

In practice John you are correct as playing to your handicap on a harder course is always tougher, but in theory they are as good as each other.  The easy way to explain is it is to forget about the par and just look at the the SSS. 

When a 10 handicapper from an SSS 70 course goes to an SSS 67 course, he would expect to shoot 77 (5 over gross) if playing to his handicap.  If a 10 handicapper from an SSS 67 course goes to an SSS 70 course, he would expect to shoot 80 (8 over gross) if playing to his handicap.  This is why SSS is used as it transferable between courses.  If par was used, then the player from the tougher course would effectively have a 3 shot advantage when going to the easier course.  SSS, in theory, takes this into account in an attempt to make a 10 handicap the same no matter what the course.  As long as the SSS is correct.....

When calculating handicaps, the par for the course is completly irrelevant; it's the SSS that matters. 

They are not equal at all.

Additionally I'd like to comment that SSS is based around a system of length per shot to calculate the number of strokes you should take for the hole:

Drive - up to 250 yards

Fairway shots - up to 225 yards

Putts - 2 per hole

Therefore holes are calculated as follows:

3 strokes - up to 250 yards

4 strokes - up to 475 yards

5 strokes - up to 700 yards

Most Par 72, SSS 72 courses fit within these boundaries, where PAR 72 courses have a lower SSS it is ususally because there are par 5 holes under 475 yards and or par 4 holes under 250 yards. To the lower handicap these holes are generally reachable in less shots than the par dictates therefore SSS is lower to enable roughly comparable scoring between courses of differing difficulty

Mike, the distances you quoted for the par of a hole has been in existence from when I first started playing. You are wrong that a par 4 could be under 250 yds as that is the criteria for a par 3.

As 2 putts are allowed on every green then the par is determined in how many shots it takes to reach the greens.

The new courses have made par fives so long that the majority of players just do not reach the green in three but add a lot of distance to the overall length of the course. I do not think this is the way that golf should have gone, as it has changed the play from accuracy to sheer power.

250 yards is a long way and I do not come across players who can drive this length. They may think they do but in reality they don't, with just a few exceptions.

The SSS system does nothing to correct the degree of difficulty between the courses, as no provision is made in the regulations for ones handicap to change when one arrives at a harder or easier course, in comparison to their own.

J P a 250  yard hole shopuld be a par 3 in the first place, par 5's have to be 475 yards and over and if you can hit a drive and six iron to that length of hole then you really are a long hitter.

May I suggest you pop into London and play Wimbledon Common Golf club. 5480 yards with five par threes, three of which range from 229 - 243, all narrow tree lined. One par five which you will not hit for two as their are obstacles to prevent this, yes, there are three/four short par fours but thay are all tight and two great par fours that are very rarely hit in regulation figures.

I was a member for four years and the very first round I shot to par of 68 and thought that this was an easy course so I would join it. My game became worse and worse as the course gradually closed in on me until in the end I was totally paranoid. Like Chris's course the SSS was 66 but on occasions with the higher handicaps producing good scores the SSS would move down even further, trying to play off 4 handicap there was a nightmare, I can assure you.

You are a good player J P but if you would like to play nine great holes which will really test you, then come down and have a game with me at my club and you will find that the back nine of the Waterloo course is as tough a nine holes as you would wish to play anywhere, but the par for the course is 69 and SSS 68/67.

Nice one J P, just let me when you are free. I have no doubt I can point out your problems. I have too many to mention at this time.