I am finally putting a number to my poor play.

I just dont know what it is yet.

For the first time in my life, I am going to have an official handicap index.

The day of reckoning will come on Wednesday, when Oregon is scheduled for its next handicap revision and I finally have played enough rounds to qualify for an official handicap.

Judging by my first five rounds posted, the minimum posts to qualify, it will be ugly. I am like a kid at Christmas, only I know that a lump of coal awaits. I am just eager to know the size.

Establishing an official handicap is something new to me, and it has been eye-opening to discover how easy it is.

I am not a member at any course, public or private, and always have been the golf equivalent of a nomad, roaming from course to course looking for a bargain and a decent track.

I joined the Oregon Chapter of the Northwest Golf Media Association, a collection of characters from around the region likely in search of free golf or lunch or something else that does not cost much.

For $50, I get membership into the Oregon Golf Association, a free round at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, a USGA bag tag, and a handy-for-my-job USGA 2008-09 Rules of Golf handbook.

Most importantly for me, the group is not tethered to a home course. (There are actually dozens of clubs in Oregon that are not tied to a particular golf course.)

Instead of the head pro posting for me, I post my scores through the Web site for GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network), the USGAs nationwide network of clubs that offer the handicapping service. It takes about a minute to post each score.

GHIN relies on the honor system when golfers post their own scores, which is probably the systems greatest weakness. Golfers who benefit with higher handicaps in net tournaments can sandbag easily by marking 100 when they truly shot a 95.

But I have no use for that nonsense.

Since I play in very few net tournaments (such events are the most common reason for having a handicap), Im using the handicap index more as a measuring stick for my game.

To get an accurate index, golfers must play by the rules of golf, meaning penalty strokes count, mulligans are no-nos, and the ol foot wedge is about as useful as a pool cue on the golf course.

The process has forced me to play tournament-style golf, something I have avoided since I last teed up in a high school tournament, a time when grunge music was still all the rage.

And without gimme putts buoying my scorecard, Ive learned I cant putt a lick, something I had long suspected.

But once I get that score next week, Ill be official knowing Ive counted every slice, chunk and three-jack I have suffered through during the last five rounds.

And once I get that number, I can get a reminder of my stinkiness from the USGA every time I fire up the Internet with a widget. (Technology can be grand that way.)

There is hope for my handicap, though. Every two weeks, through Sept. 16, Oregon handicaps are revised to include a golfers latest rounds. Then the handicaps are revised every three weeks through Dec. 1, when the handicapping system goes dormant for the winter.

In other words, a couple of fall 80s and I am right where I want to be.

The system is not perfect, but it has become an easy way to track my progress.

All I need to do now is play a little better, and it will be a much happier offseason for me.