WHAT IS A SOFT & HARD CAP AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

The Soft & Hard Cap limits the amount by which a player’s Handicap Index can increase when measured against the player's Low Handicap Index.

A player’s Low Handicap Index is the lowest Handicap Index they have held within the last 12 months. 

If a player’s new Handicap Index is more than a certain number of strokes above the Low Handicap Index, a cap is triggered. This is to help ensure that the player’s current Handicap Index cannot stray too far away from their demonstrated ability, in too short a space of time.

The soft cap is triggered when the difference between a player’s newly calculated Handicap Index and their Low Handicap Index is greater than 3.0 strokes.

When a calculated Handicap Index increase is greater than 3.0 strokes, the value above 3.0 strokes is restricted to 50% of the increase.

The hard cap triggers to restrict the amount by which a player’s Handicap Index can increase, after application of the soft cap, to no more than 5.0 strokes above their Low Handicap Index.

The soft cap and hard cap procedures can only take effect once a player has at least 20 acceptable scores in their scoring record.

There is no limit on the amount by which a player’s Handicap Index can decrease.