Have you ever started a round with a double double and come to the realization that your hopes of a good round, let alone great round, were slowly going down the drain? Ron Zevy, President and founder of new scoring and handicap system Golf Points Index ( GPI), has. Too many times to count.
So he decided to do something about it. Did you ever want to find a fun, non intimidating way to track your progress and allow you to compete with friends on a level playing field? GPI does that too
Golf Points Index is a scoring and handicap system which uses points earned on each hole in relation to par in order to keep score and track progress. With GPI, a double bogey is ½ point, a bogey is 1 point, a par is 3 points, a birdie is 5 points, and an eagle is 8. All other results are scored as a 0. Your GPI handicap is your average 9 hole point total
Players can enter their scores in the free www.golfpointsindex.com website and the system calculates their GPI. One of the advantages of the GPI system is that it allows golfers to play as many or as few holes as they want and still enter a score towards their handicap. GPI also gives the millions of recreational golfers not on GHIN a free way to establish a handicap, benchmark and track their progress.
While the system can be used by golfers of all levels, it is geared towards mid and high handicappers
Zevy admits that the genesis for developing GPI was his frustration with the current strokes based scoring system where blow up holes early or late can ruin a round But in searching for a points based system, he found the venerable Stableford system to be wanting. “The linear points make no sense. How can a birdie, which is much more difficult to get than a par, only be worth one point more?” he argues. “ That system does not weigh the results equitably.” And the modified stableford, played by the professionals, is not geared towards amateurs at all “ zero points for a par is a non- starter for recreational golfers.”
The other advantage GPI has over Stableford, in addition to more equitable point distribution, is that it comes with its own handicap system which is free and does not require club membership. The GPI website calculates your 9 hole point average and allows you to compete with friends on a level playing field. It even calculates your handicap for individual courses and tee boxes.
Zevy goes on to say
“Golfers want a way to track their progress which is encouraging, fun and engaging. I am obviously biased but I think GPI, by equitably rewarding golfers for good holes and not unfairly punishing them for bad, does a much better job of doing that.“ For more information about GPI, visit www.golfpointsindex.com or e-mail [email protected].