Nothing is more vital to success at the World Am than an accurate handicap, something that is easier said than done in some instances. With that in mind, we offer up five things every golfer needs to know to keep an accurate handicap and derive maximum enjoyment from the World Am.

1. Make sure you post all of your scores – It sounds simple and it is, but people have the tendency to let a couple of rounds slide. It’s in your best interest to post all of your scores, good and bad.

2. Use equitable stroke control – Equitable stroke control places a cap on the highest total you can record on a hole for handicap tracking purposes. It’s important to understand the concept and to understand how your handicap is formulated.

3. Make sure you play by USGA rules – Again, it sounds simple but a lot of people, for instance, don’t take stroke and distance during their Saturday morning round that factors into their handicap. Things that you pay little attention to at the time can make a significant difference in compiling an accurate handicap.

4. Play from tee to green – That 2 ½ foot putt that you pick up from May through July because it’s “good” – don’t do it. It doesn’t take much longer to putt out than it does to pick up, and the truth is, the average golfer is prone to missing those “gimmes” on occasion.  Finish every hole.

5. Make sure you are entering scores from the correct tees/rating/slope – This is a much more common mistake than you might think, especially when you aren’t playing your home course. If this mistake is made more than once or twice, it can impact your handicap.

You aren’t a member of a golf club and don’t have an “official” handicap? No worries. There are several websites that include USGA recognized handicap programs. If you want to keep your handicap online, here is where you should go:

1. Golf.com – The World’s Am title sponsor also offers official USGA handicaps online, in addition to giving you professional quality statistics and an assortment of other benefits. Never mind the fact Golf.com is our title sponsor, this is an ideal online handicap service.

2. GolfHound.com– With nearly 1.7 million rounds in its handicap network, Golfhound.com provides a quality outlet as well.

3. MyScorecard.com– A one-stop shop dedicated to providing USGA approved handicaps. It’s very user-friendly and a good choice.
 
4. GolfGalaxy.com – In addition to being one of the game’s largest retailers, Golf Galaxy also offers a handicap service.
 

Think you know everything about a golf handicap? Take our handicap quiz and see if you are ready to keep an accurate handicap for the World Am.

Correct Answers:

1. True

2. False

3. 3

4. False

5. 13

If you tell a friend you are taking a golf trip to Myrtle Beach, the question that typically follows is, “Where are you playing?”

For Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship players the answer to that query is, “The best courses Myrtle Beach has to offer.”

Course assignments won’t be made until August, but the list of layouts competing in this year’s event is complete and it reads like a Who’s Who of Grand Strand golf.

Tidewater, King’s North, Grande Dunes, Leopard’s Chase, Glen Dornoch, Rivers Edge and True Blue are just a sampling of the courses that will again return to the World Am rotation. (View a complete course list)

“The Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship takes great pride in making sure players get to play some of the nation’s best courses,” Dave Macpherson, the tournament director, said. “The experience on the golf course is at the heart of what makes this event special and the participation of Myrtle Beach’s best courses is a big reason why.”

The two biggest additions to this year’s lineup are the Love Course at Barefoot Resort and the TPC of Myrtle Beach, which will be hosting all four days of the tournament.

The Love Course, which has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, is hosting the tournament for the first time, joining the other three layouts at Barefoot as part of the World Am team. The Love Course has been one of Myrtle Beach’s most popular courses since it opened 10 years ago, and is famously home to the faux ruins of an old plantation home.

The TPC is a former host of the World Championship Playoff and unquestionably one of the area’s best. The home course of PGA Tour star Dustin Johnson and one of only 17, 5-star layouts in America, TPC will significantly enhance the World Am’s course lineup.

Whether you are registering for your first tournament or preparing for your 27th Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship, everyone harbors dreams of winning their flight and advancing to the Championship Round, an 18-hole shootout that crowns the tournament champion.

In 2010, the winner will again hoist the World Am trophy at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach’s most revered course. The Dunes Club, a member of every substantive list of America’s top 100 public courses, will host Friday’s Championship Round.

“We are looking forward to crowning our champion at the Dunes Club again this year,” Dave Macpherson, the World Am’s tournament director, said. “The Dunes Club has a unique place in Myrtle Beach golf history and it’s an ideal venue to cap off the World Am.”

Opened in 1948, the Dunes Club, a Robert Trent Jones design, is just yards from the Atlantic Ocean and is Myrtle Beach’s most tradition-filled course. It has hosted the Senior Tour Championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, the finals of the PGA Tour’s Q-School and several prominent amateur tournaments.

A 4.5-star course, the Dunes Club is a traditional golf course and one of the Myrtle Beach area’s most popular layouts. The most recognizable hole at the Dunes Club is No. 13, a long, par 5 that plays around Lake Singleton and is affectionately known as Waterloo.

The course lineup for the 2010 World Amateur Handicap Championship is the best in tournament history, and here is a look at this year’s list by the numbers:

55 – Courses hosting the 2010 World Am.

38 – Host courses that have earned at least 4 stars.

29 – North Strand courses hosting the tournament.

17 – Central Strand courses hosting the tournament.

10  – Courses that have earned Top 100 honors (Dye Course at Barefoot, Fazio Course at Barefoot, Love Course at Barefoot, Caledonia, Dunes Club, Grande Dunes, King’s North, Rivers Edge, Tidewater, True Blue)

9 – South Strand courses hosting the World Am.

7 – Courses that play along the Intracoastal Waterway (Arrowhead, Norman Course, Glen Dornoch, Grande Dunes, Myrtlewood – Palmetto, Tidewater, Waterway Hills)

5 – Number of World Am host courses designed by Dan Maples, Tom Jackson and Gene Hamm, the architectural leaders of this year’s event.

4 – Number of Arnold Palmer designs in this year’s event (King’s North, West Course and Southcreek at Myrtle Beach National, and Rivers Edge)

1 – The number of people who will conquer Myrtle Beach’s best courses and be crowned 2010 Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Champion.