Please note: This is a beta release. Reach out to the UDisc team at help@udisc.com if you'd like to test handicap league scoring for your league!
What is a handicap?
A handicap is a number that represents a disc golfer's skill level. Players' handicaps display as a Starting Score, which could be negative (eg. -5) for beginners or less-skilled players, positive (eg. +3) for professionals and other highly-skilled players, or zero (displayed as E, or even par). For leagues with a variance in playing abilities amongst their members, handicaps help to level the playing field, giving all participants a fair chance to win!
How does UDisc calculate player handicaps for league events?
Past league round scores, layout distance and difficulty, and estimated field size for a league event are used to calculate a player's handicap.
The player's five most recent league rounds within the past year are considered.
Rounds must be singles format and scored on Smart Layouts.
Casual rounds, standalone event rounds, and rounds recorded in other leagues will not factor into a player's league event starting score calculation.
A handicap allowance (or handicap multiplier) is also applied based on the estimated field size for the league event, which serves as a bonus for excellence.
A player's handicap is rounded to the nearest integer for each league event.
How are handicaps calculated for new league members?
Players participating in their first event within a league are not yet eligible to receive a handicap. They will display with a dash (-) instead of a numerical handicap, and they'll drop to the bottom of the leaderboard in the default sort order of handicap-adjusted total score. After the player has scored at least one singles round on a Smart Layout within a league in the past year, they will receive a handicap for their following event in the same league (provided the event is singles format and played on a Smart Layout).
How can I turn on handicaps for my league?
You can activate handicaps for your league via the Settings tab in your league admin tools if you'd like to toggle on handicaps by default for all future scheduled league events, or under the Scoring settings to try it out for a specific league event. If you're in your league admin tools, tap the Events tab and select a scheduled event, then hit the "Edit" button in the upper-right and scroll down to toggle on handicap scoring for the upcoming event.
*Please note: Handicaps are only available for one-round singles format league events played on a Smart Layout.
Where can players see their handicaps (starting scores)?
For league events using handicap scoring, players can see their starting scores upon check-in or when their scorecard is published for pre-registration events. During the event, your starting score will also appear in-app on your scorecard, and on the leaderboards, which now sorts by handicap-adjusted total score. If you'd like to re-sort the leaderboard by raw (absolute) number of throws, just tap on the RAW column header.
How does my handicap relate to my competition player rating?
Handicap calculations are contained within a specific league only, and the calculations for these numbers are significantly different. In general, a player with higher competition rating is likely to have a higher handicap (e.g., +5) in their league play. To learn more about player ratings in UDisc, please take a look at this article.
How does handicap league scoring relate to the "starting scores" functionality in UDisc?
Handicaps are automatically calculated, and manual starting scores are disabled for league events with handicaps enabled. You can learn more about manual starting scores in this article.