Quite a bit of credit goes to Dr. Francis Scheid for the current USGA handicapping method. Our Tournament Manager golf software includes the "Scheid System" for handicapping unhandicapped players at golf tournaments. Like the Official Calloway System, the Scheid System is a "worst holes" system for handicapping players with no USGA Index. Professor Golf, as Dr. Scheid was sometimes called, was a former department head for mathematics at Boston University and original member of the USGA's Handicap Research Team. Marvin Pave of the Boston Globe had this to say about him:
"His passion for the game and his mathematical expertise triggered Dr. Scheid’s fascination with how golf handicaps were calculated. His many hours of research and his articles on the topic helped spur formation of the United States Golf Association’s Handicap Research Committee."
The USGA, in honoring him upon his death, said in part:
"Dr. Scheid was instrumental in research that helped determine the USGA formulas for implementing SLOPE, the current USGA Course Rating System and numerous handicap allowances for various forms of team play. He spent 12 years as the mathematics department chairman at Boston University and later served as a consultant at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He created more than 100 television programs for the Harvard Commission on Extension Courses."
Find out more about Dr. Scheid at the USGA.org website.