The Inactive Season

Played nine on a pristine course today.  Greens were a touch slower than normal but still better than those on 75% of the courses around here when they're at their peak.  I'd put this course in mid-March up against all the others in mid-September and I think it'd hold its own.

Score is ineligible for handicap purposes.   

If I play a piece of garbage dog track in horrible condition after April 1st. it's a mandatory submission assuming the round is otherwise eligible. 

Can't play legitimate golf when it's wet, windy, cold or dormant.  Is that the USGA's message? 

Old Tom Morris mocks us from on high.

Agreed.

Played a few rounds last fall after our season became "inactive" in conditions better than a lot of other days during the year.

You mean like when they aerate in October? 

I read the fine print. You were nice before?   

I don't see how aeration being a transient thing changes the fact that a course in that condition is vastly mis-sloped and rated while other courses are in perfect shape a month into either end of the inactive season. 

As you know there are handicap systems wherein day-to-day differences in the difficulty/playability of a course are accommodated.  While our golfing culture might make those systems difficult to implement here, we don't even try.  We just come up with this 'inactive season' silliness.  The course I played today is in good-to-primo shape when it's open.  If the condition isn't up to snuff they don't let you out.  Its inactive season should/could be determined by course management and, therefore, also its eligibility for posting of scores.

Your (their) point is valid on a course by course basis.  There are no such things as 'standard' or 'average condition' over scores of courses and based on a certain period of the year.

On my homegrown index calculation system I created a feature called Watt The *fudge*.  It's named in (dis)honor of the executive director of our state association.  Basically, you can tag any score as a WTF round and have it count in the calculation of a second index or eliminate one that normally would count.  The WTF index is intended to include only rounds that you feel accurately represent the state of your game.  Playing a round on aerated greens in October can be eliminated while playing a round such as I did today can be counted.  It's pretty cool.  I look forward to seeing how much different the results will prove to be over time.  Obviously it's only as honest as the person recording the scores but that's no so different from the regular USGA deal.