NZGA NOTICE TO GOLFERS REGARDING
EQUITABLE STROKE CONTROL (ESC)
What is ESC?
‘Equitable Stroke Control’ (ESC) is the downward adjustment of individual hole scores for handicap purposes in order to make handicaps more representative of a player's potential scoring ability. Many players refer to these score changes on a hole as a ‘ringer’ or their ‘adjusted gross’ for a hole.
Under the ESC system players who score above the maximum allowable score on an individual hole will be required, for handicap purposes, to adjust downward their score to what is effectively a net double bogey (2 strokes over par) or, the lowest score that would give no Stableford points. For example:
On a par 4 hole (double bogey score of 6) with a stroke index of 12
The ESC system is not currently applied to holes not played.