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Gimmees and handicaps have been a source of golf conversation for a long time.

Some golfers want nothing to do with either while others want to have as much of both as they can get.

Whatever your position, both topics can be quite controversial.

Everybody has their own definition of what a gimmee is, from the miserly "no gimmees" to the more defined "inside the leather" on out to the more generous gimmees that are taken.

We've all seen players pick up their ball from 10 feet plus out, having battered the life out of their golf ball to get it even that close, with the announcement "I'll take a five".

The purist would say knock everything in whereas those who are clock-watchers are happy to concede putts so that they can hurry up and finish the round a few minutes sooner.

Wherever you fit in the gimmee equation, what's certain is that a short putt faced in a Sunday afternoon friendly is a lot simpler than that very same putt faced on tournament day.

That very same putt on tournament day somehow seems to have far more break, is much, much faster and is being made to a hole that is getting smaller the more we look at it.

For handicapping, Bermuda uses the United States Golf Association system to calculate handicaps which is based on the best 10 scores from the last 20.

If a golfer plays once per week, the population of 20 scores will only turn over two and a half times per year, which means that there will likely be a long lag between one's handicap and one's current form. How many times have we been lost for words when our opponent, who's just thumped us into oblivion, announces a handicap that just seems impossible based upon the dazzling skills just produced by the scoundrel.

There is, of course, slope and course rating to get one's head around when trying to get to the bottom of the handicapping math. Some very wise men from the USGA, every now and then, walk around each course and ponder the difficulties that golfing mortals will encounter during a round of golf on that course.

Landing areas are considered, bunkers are taken into account, greens and normal weather conditions are factored in and, lo and behold, the wise men from the USGA arrive at a course slope.

The USGA have even determined a standard slope for a standard golf course, somewhere around 113, and when you enter your score into the GHIN system, lights flash, a comparison of the standard slope and course slope is made and, magically, a differential between your score and the course rating is produced, becoming one of your 20 differentials. Oh, lest I forget to mention it, be very wary of T scores.

Gimmees and handicaps will continue to be a source of amazement and amusement for golfers of all ability levels, and long may the fun continue.

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