During the course of a round your driver goes squirrelly. And suddenly you are performing some unwanted shingle work on a nearby home.

You are a serious golfer but you take a mulligan anyway, just to save some pride.

The makeup shot is solid, and you play the rest of the round in complete accordance with the rules of golf.

But if you think that mulligan prevents you from reporting your score for USGA handicap purposes, think again.

The occasional mulligan is just one of many excuses golfers use to negate a postable score.

It’s no wonder. There seems to be a ton of misconception among golfers about what is an acceptable score to post.

So I asked Kelly Neely, the Oregon Golf Association’s senior director of handicapping and course rating, just what is unacceptable.

As it turns out, not much.

“The list seems to be long of what people think they can’t post,” Neely says. “But there are very few scores that are unacceptable.

“The reason why is because the handicap system is partly based on arriving at this number that is your potential ability. If we went around expecting 100 percent compliance of the rules of golf, we would not have enough data to get to what somebody’s scoring habits would indicate.”

Generally, Neely says, golfers must post any round played under the “principles of the rules of golf.”

Yet golfers everywhere neglect to post a score for myriad reasons. (In fact, after our conversation for this column, Neely was able within minutes to compile and e-mail to me a list of 35 common excuses used by golfers for failing to post a score.)

“There are a ton,” Neely says.

Most players have no interest in being labeled a “sandbagger,” among the most joy-killing of golfers. Nothing like playing in a tournament against a guy who is officially a 30 handicapper yet magically plays bogey golf or better.

But chances are that a golfer who plays with a handicap index has used at least one or two of the excuses on Neely’s list.

I have been guilty in the past of not posting because I had one of those awful, I-will-never-play-golf-again days.

But that is a no-no.

“Start with: ‘I’ve got to post everything,’” Neely says. “THEN go from there.”

At minimum, golfers must play seven of nine holes under the rules of golf to post a nine-hole score or 13 of 18 holes to post an 18-hole score.

So what do you post for the holes on which you took a mulligan? Glad you asked.

Three types of scoring adjustments can be made on any given hole, Neely says.

For a hole on which you received a “gimme” or that you conceded during match play (that’s right, match play counts), post the most likely score on the hole. For example, in a game of match play, a golfer concedes a hole. He or she is lying at five strokes with a 22-footer to finish the hole. The most likely score would be a seven for most golfers, because it is likely that he or she would two-putt in if the hole was played out.

On holes not played under the rules of golf — such as when you took that mulligan so you would not have to hit your next shot from somebody’s backyard barbecue grill, use “par-plus.”

Par-plus is the par for the hole plus how many handicap strokes a golfer is allowed on the hole using a course handicap. An 18 handicap, for instance, would get a handicap stroke on a par 3. So, using par-plus, the score for that hole would be a 4.

(A course handicap, which is different from a handicap index, can be determined with the help of a complicated equation. But unless a golfer has a degree from MIT, it is best to use an Internet calculator The USGA’s can be found at: www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/calculator/course_handicap_calculator.asp.)

And for that brutal 14 you took on the par-5 15th hole, use equitable score control. Simply, if your course handicap is 0-9, a double bogey is the highest score you can post. Ten- to 19-handicappers are maxed out at a 7, 20- to 29-handicappers can card an 8, 30- to 39-handicappers can mark a 9, and golfers with a handicap of 40 or more can mark 10.

Of course, some scores should not be posted. For instance, a golfer who just wrapped up a round in a scramble format is off the hook.

Here are some other circumstances that make for unacceptable rounds:

• Fewer than seven holes are played.

• Playing on a golf course outside of the local active golf season. (Generally in Oregon, that means golf played in December, January and February. But if an Oregonian plays golf in Hawaii during those same months, the score should be posted.)

• When a majority of holes are played outside the principles of the rules of golf, such as in a game of scramble.

• The course is less than 3,000 yards for 18 holes, less than 1,500 yards for nine.

• When, during a tournament, the rules of competition set the maximum number of clubs allowed at fewer than 14. Or when, say, a golfer is limited to playing with irons only. The caveat here is that if you CHOOSE to limit yourself, the resulting score is postable.

• Playing a course with no slope rating.

• Using clubs, balls, or tees that do not conform to USGA rules.

• Using a swing aid or a towel under your arm during play.

And what if a golfer wants to bury a score because he or she was just “practicing?” Forget it.

Not because the handicap system is punitive or harsh. But rather because, for the system to be at its best, it needs as much data as it can get.

Says Neely: “(The handicap system) is trying to get that potential ability, and to get enough data to get there accurately.”

That seems simple enough.

Out of bounds

Some examples of excuses for failing to post scores for a golfer’s handicap that should not be used, according to Kelly Neely, the senior director of handicapping and course rating for the Oregon Golf Association: