Understanding the Peoria Handicap System

What is the Peoria Handicap System?

If you've played in a golf tournament, chances are the Peoria Handicap System was used to determine final scores for teams and awards.

While the Peoria Handicap System is not as accurate as the measure of a traditional handicap index and calculation, it is often used as a 1-day handicapping system for tournaments or events. Typically, many of the golfers playing in these tournaments or events do not yet have a real handicap index, and by using the Peoria Handicap System, the golf course hosting the event is able to establish a quick calculation for a handicap index to be applied to each golfer's score. 

How Does it Work?

Prior to the beginning of a tournament or event, the golf course general manager will secretly select six holes. Usually, there are two par 3s, two par 4s, and two par 5s, and likely one of each type per nine. However, they can be any of the holes of the golf course, as they are chosen at random. The routing and composition of the golf course is the determining factor for selecting the "secret holes", and the competitors are not allowed to know which holes they are. Upon completion of stroke play, the six holes are then announced.

When the players sign and turn in their team's scorecard, the golf course will then begin to total the scores using the Peoria method. The total score is multiplied by three. Next, the golf course's par is subtracted from that total, and the new total is then multiplied by 80%. The number that is produced determines the "handicap allowance", which should be subtracted from the player's gross score. This final number is known as the net Peoria System score. 

So, how are final scores computed?

Once play is completed, the six holes are added up and then multiplied by three. Then par (for
each hole) is subtracted from that total. That number is then multiplied by 80% to give the player's allowance, which is now subtracted from the player's gross score for that hole.

Here is how the scoring would look:

 6 random hole scores are 7+5+4+6+5+5 to equal 32.
Then 32x3 = 96
Then 96 minus par = 24
24x80% - 19.2 < (this is the allowance)
The players Gross Score was 94, so 94-19.2 = 74.8, which rounds up to 75.