Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) was a component of some
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
handicapping systems that were in use prior to the implementation of the
World Handicap System
A golf handicap is a numerical measure of a golfer's potential that is used to enable players of varying abilities to compete against one another. Better players are those with the lowest handicaps.
Historically, rules relating to handicaps have v ...
in 2020. It was used to adjust recorded scores in order to more accurately calculate a player's
handicap. Its purpose was to avoid one or more very high scores on individual holes inflating the handicap calculation.
Equitable stroke control was a sliding scale system, based on the course (or playing) handicap of the golfer.
Equitable Stroke Control table
Under the USGA Handicap System, the maximum score per hole for handicapping purposes was as follows:
For example, if a golfer with a course handicap of 8, shot a score of 83, but that score includes a six on a par 3 (a triple bogey) then the posted score should be only 82. However, if a golfer with a course handicap of 11 had the same score, the proper score to post would be 83.
Golf Canada
In April 2012,
Golf Canada
The Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), branded as Golf Canada, is the governing body of golf in Canada.
Beginnings
Golf Canada was founded on June 6, 1895, as the ''Canadian Golf Association'' at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. The Royal prefix ...
adopted the same ESC table as the USGA. Before then, the following table was used:
Other methods
South Africa
Before October 2019, the GolfRSA Handicap System used a similar method for eliminating the impact on high hole scores on handicap calculations. Called ''Adjusted Gross'', it used the following maximum scores per hole:
In October 2019, net double bogey was adopted as the maximum score per hole.
Net double bogey
Most other handicap systems that incorporate mitigation for high hole scores, do so by means of ''net double bogey'' (two over par after any handicap strokes have been applied) as the maximum score per hole. This method is also known as Stableford Points Adjustment as it is the lowest number of strokes that would award zero points under the
Stableford scoring system.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Equitable Score Control
Golf terminology