The Callaway System was invented by Lionel Callaway, a onetime pro at Pinehurst Country Club.Callaway is a popular scoring system used for one-time events where a number of competitors don’t have an established handicap. Without having established handicaps from all competitors, how can an organizer score a tournament fairly? This is just the sort of situation confronted by organizers of corporate outings, benefit events or church tournaments.When the Callaway System is in use, all competitors tee off and play stroke play with one exception – double par is the maximum score on any given hole. Gross scores are totaled. Based on each golfer’s actual score (remember there is a double par maximum), each golfer totals up a prescribed number of worst scores from their scorecard, then applies a second adjustment that may add or subtract additional strokes.
Sounds complicated, eh? That’s why the Callaway System comes complete with a handy reference chart. Gross (using double par max.)
Handicap Deduction
70
71
72
Scratch
73
74
75
1/2 of Worst Hole
76
77
78
79
80
Worst Hole
81
82
83
84
85
1 1/2 Worst Holes
86
87
88
89
90
2 Worst Holes
91
92
93
94
95
2 1/2 Worst Holes
96
97
98
99
100
3 Worst Holes
101
102
103
104
105
3 1/2 Worst Holes
106
107
108
109
110
4 Worst Holes
111
112
113
114
115
4 1/2 Worst Holes
116
117
118
119
120
5 Worst Holes
121
122
123
124
125
5 1/2 Worst Holes
126
127
128
129
130
6 Worst Holes
-2
-1
0
+1
+2
Handicap Adjustment
OK, an example of the Callaway System: George shoots 64. No deductions or adjustments are made because George’s score is lower than the scores listed on the chart. Tom shoots 71, which is on the chart, and the column to the right (”Handicap Deduction”) shows that a player shooting 71 plays at scratch – no adjustments. OK lets say that someone shoots 97. Find 97 in the chart above and we see that its row (going across) corresponds to a handicap deduction of “3 Worst Holes.” So the he finds the three worst holes on his scorecard. The his three worst holes are a 9, an 8 and a 7. Total those up and we get a handicap deduction of 24. Now we apply the second adjustment. Go back to 97 in the chart above; follow the column down to the “handicap adjustment” on the bottom line. The column for 97 corresponds to a handicap adjustment of -1. That means we’re going to subtract a stroke from our handicap deduction of 24. So our final, adjusted handicap allowance is 23. And our net Callaway System score is 97 minus 23, or 74. So using the chart is a matter of finding the gross score, looking across the row for the handicap deduction, then looking down the column for the adjustment.B. J. Lyons from BuffaloNY. For more information and equipment check out the following site: http://www.budsgolfstore.com/ This is an EBay related site with inexpensive golf equipment and other great items both new and used.
