Step 1. Enter Home Course/Tees

The first step is to enter the Course/Tees that will be the Home Course/Tees for your members. To add the 1st Course/Tee, select 'Add' / 'Add Course' / 'New Course'. The Course Maintenance window will accept all the handicap relevant information from the score card as shown below. It may look like a lot to enter but you only need to do it once.

To add additional tees for the same course, select 'Add' / 'Add Course' / 'New Tee Position' and the system will allow you to make a copy of an existing tee position. All you need to do is adjust what is unique for the new tee. The hole pars and handicap holes are often the same for all tee positions.

You only need to enter the courses that are commonly played by your members. If a member plays a course that is not in the database, he/she can enter the score as an 'Away Score'.

Step 2. Establishing Flights (Logical groupings)

The use of flights is optional but, if you wish, you can divide members into up to 10 flights or logical groups for reporting or printing purposes. Some clubs group members into flights based on gender and handicap. Other clubs create flights for individual leagues such as a Monday Men's League or a Tuesday Ladies League. Through the use of flights, Handicap Manager for Windows also allows you to compute multiple types of Handicaps. For example, the Monday Men's League might want to have 18 hole handicaps since they play 18 holes while the Tuesday Ladies League might only play 9 holes each week and want a 9 hole handicap.  To add or change flight setups, select 'Change' / 'Change Flight'.

Each flight can be set to use any one of the 4 available custom handicap configurations. In this example, 9 hole handicaps are being computed for the women's flights and 18 hole handicaps are being computed for the men's flights.

Step 3. Handicap Configuration

With Handicap Manager you can set your own handicapping rules or you can approximate either the new WHS or the former USGA Handicap System. By clicking on one of the Handicap Configuration buttons on the Flight Maintenance window you can make any changes you wish to your 4 custom handicap configurations. At any time you can compare your current settings to the WHS or the former USGA Handicap System. .

Step 4. Entering Members

Based on the screen image below, it may look like there is a lot of information to enter for each member but the great majority of it is optional.  Each member must be given a unique Member ID, and name.  The remaining items only need to be changed if the defaults are not appropriate.  If the member being added has an established handicap index, it can be entered as an "Initial Hcap Index".  If the member's most recent 20 scores are available, clicking on the 'History' button brings up a window that allows for 20 historical scores to be entered rapidly.  As you would expect, the menu selection to add a new member is 'Add' / 'Add Member'.

Step 5. Securing the System

If your members will have access to the handicap computer you should secure the system to ensure that members do not accidentally modify the system configuration. To restrict access to system management functions, all you need to do is select “Maintenance” / “Disable Manager’s Menus”. If a system manager’s password has not yet been defined you will be offered the opportunity to define one. Acknowledging that handicaps are slightly less critical than nuclear launch codes, the system will allow you to use a simple password that is easy to remember but if you do forget your password, we can help you to reset it.

Step 6. eHandicap Network

For no additional cost, Handicap Manager can upload your handicap data to the eHandicap Network (www.eHandicap.net) where it can be accessed by your members. Optionally members can be allowed to enter scores over the Internet as well.  Your handicap computer does not need to be continuously attached to the Internet. Even dialup access is fine. Once an Internet Club ID has been assigned to your club, uploading your data is as simple as clicking on the 'eHandicap Network' button on the main window of the desktop system.  Any scores that have been entered online are automatically downloaded each time you sync with the eHandicap Network.

When your members visit the eHandicap Network, they can find all the step by step visual instructions they will need by clicking on the 'Help' button.