Dear Members, as a follow on to our earlier correspondence, the new Golf Australia (GA) digital platform – Golf Connect website and app will go live on the 2nd October. The intent of the new website is to include information, news, professional tournament information, club information etc. incorporating both Golf Australia as well as the Professional Golf Association (PGA) as a ‘1 stop shop’ for all things about Australian Golf and Australian Golf facilities.
Along with the new website (Golf Connect) the existing handicap system for records of handicap and lookup, ‘Golf link’ will be shut down and replaced by a new handicap facility in the new Golf Connect website and in a new Golf connect app. In order to undertake this transition, from late Sunday 28th September, the existing ‘Golf Link’ application will be shut down and there will be no handicap look up facility for all club golfers for the transition period of up to 10 days (may be a lesser period but this is current advice). This period of transition is to enable all existing handicap and course rating information etc. to be loaded in to the new Golf Connect digital platform.
During this period, the VGC will maintain a manual listing of all member handicaps (as of close of the competition on Sunday 28th) in the Golf Shop, which will be the handicap a member will use for competition play during the transition period. A return to normal handicap play is expected by or before Friday 10th October.
Competitions will run as normal during the transition period but will have no impact on player handicaps until the new platform is live. We have also been advised, that when golf connect is up and running, there will be some slight variations to how handicaps are calculated in the future. We have attached the following summary information from GA explaining the minor changes in the handicap algorithm, noting that any amendment to a members handicap is expect to be minor in nature.
From 2 October 2025, when Golf Australia’s new digital platform goes live, your GA Handicap will be calculated using updated Australian Rules of Handicapping in line with the World Handicap System. These updates will make handicaps fairer, more consistent, and more reflective of actual playing conditions.
The four key changes are:
- A new “Consistency Factor” for Daily Handicap calculations, supporting fairer competition and equity for female players.
- A revised formula for 9-hole rounds, making shorter formats more accurate.
- Adjusted expected scores for holes not played, using statistical modelling.
- A refined ’Daily Difficulty’ calculation (PCC), back-calculated to 1 January 2023.
Most golfers will see a small change to their GA Handicap on 2 October, projected to be less than 0.5 strokes on average, although some players may see a bigger adjustment based on their unique scoring history. The system applies the changes automatically, so golfers don’t need to do anything.
Members will be able to log into the Golf connect (and app) from 2nd October. VGC members will see little difference in booking and use of the ‘miscore’ app as this will still be available for competition and social scoring.
