Rather like death, the handicapping system in golf remains a great leveller. It’s one of the most admirable traits of this fine game; the fact that a David can regularly overcome a Goliath, not so much with stones and a sling but with the small matter of the 21 shots they were getting.

The one problem, of course, is that there is no one structure of calculation. That is set to change in 2020, however, after the R&A and the USGA, the two custodians of the global game, unveiled a new World Handicap System.

At the moment, there are six handicapping authorities representing some 15 million golfers. They are the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) in Britain and Ireland, the European Golf Association, the South African Golf Association, the Argentine Golf Association and the USGA.

After a few years of discussions, deliberations and the kind of mathematical conundrums you’d get on an episode of Countdown, the powers-that-be have finally devised a blueprint to move forward with. Their own handicaps have probably lapsed in that time.

The chief goal of all this endeavour has been to create a single, unified, flexible handicapping index that’s relatively easy to obtain and maintain and is transferable across the golfing lands.

In an effort to create a more consistent measure of playing ability, some of the features of the new system, which will incorporate the USGA’s Course and Slope Rating System, will include social rounds counting towards a handicap and an average-based handicap which takes into account your best eight of the last 20 scores.

Instead of flinging in three cards like we’d normally do here, a handicap can be generated from 54-holes of different combinations to include nine hole scores as well as standard 18 hole scores.

In addition, the new maximum handicap of 54, which was brought in at the start of January this year by the aforementioned CONGU for both men and women, will form part of the new world system.

At the heart of the change is the notion of modernising the game and making it less intimidating to those dipping their toes into the golfing waters. “We want to make it more attractive to golfers to obtain a handicap and strip away some of the complexity and variation which can be off-putting for newcomers,” said Martin Slumbers, the chief executive of the R&A.

The USGA’s Mike Davis added: “For some time, we’ve heard golfers say, ‘I’m not good enough to have a handicap,’ or ‘I don’t play enough to have a handicap.’ We want to encourage a more welcoming and social game.”

We await to see what President Trump, with his questionable handicap, makes of it all ...