My Messy Journey Figuring Out This Riggs Handicap Thing
So I was scrolling through some golf forums the other day – total newbie, mind you, can barely tell a birdie from an eagle – and kept seeing this term “Riggs Handicap” pop up. People were talking about it like it was super obvious. Felt totally lost. Decided, right, let’s figure this sucker out properly and write it down.
First thing I did was just bang my head against Google. Typed in “what is Riggs handicap”. Got a bunch of articles, some official golf rule pages… honestly, way too wordy and full of jargon. My eyes glazed over. Needed something simpler.
Started digging through forum threads instead. Found a few regular folks trying to explain it to others like me. Basically pieced together that it’s some sort of way to level the playing field in golf, especially for skins games (that’s like betting holes, right?). Makes it fairer when players have different skill levels.
Then it hit me – the simplest way is often to look at how people actually use it. Found someone explaining the calculation:
- You take the player’s handicap.
- You subtract it from a fixed number (like 18 or 20 or 24… depends who you ask!).
- That difference? Boom, that’s the “Riggs Handicap”.
Let’s say you’re like me, maybe you suck at golf (totally hypothetical… mostly). If your regular handicap is 12, and they’re using 18:
18 – 12 = 6. So your Riggs Handicap is 6. Means you get strokes on the hardest holes. Cool.
But wait! Some people use 20 or 24 as the base number? Started seeing slightly different methods. Got confusing again. The general idea seems constant: subtract your handicap from a higher fixed number to get strokes.
To really nail it down, I grabbed an old scorecard (imaginary scores!), scribbled some numbers:
Player Skill Regular Handicap Base Number Riggs Handicap (Base – Handicap)
Good Player 5 18 13
Mediocre Player (Me!) 15 18 3
Awful Player 30 18 -12 (This seemed weird… maybe you get strokes against you? Or maybe bases like 24 are used for high handicaps? The plot thickens!) Honestly, I got a little stuck here. Depends on the group’s rules.
Long story short? After chasing my tail online and scribbling random numbers:
- Riggs Handicap = Some Fixed Number Minus Your Actual Handicap.
- It gives less-skilled players extra strokes on specific holes (usually the toughest ones).
- The “Fixed Number” seems flexible. 18 is common, but I saw 20 and 24 mentioned too. Why? ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Makes sense for higher handicaps probably. Gotta ask the group you’re playing with.
It’s actually not brain surgery. Simple subtraction mostly. The big reveal after wrestling with it? It’s just a quick math trick to figure out how many strokes a player gets in those competitive skins games. Wish someone had just said that upfront! Oh well. Hope this ramble helps someone else avoid the head-banging.
