Old Skier
Tour Winner
We have the question on our membership form and it's amazing how many new members don't ask the question and the blank stares when you ask about CDH numbers is unbelievable, even from well established players.
4 'Home' clubs?
- Thread starter Beware-the-3putt
- Start date
UlyssesSky
Head Pro
Maybe walking up to him/phoning him would be slightly awkward, but writing to the commitee/county behind his back would be just rude. Very, very bad etiquette. If it bothers you or you feel something needs to be done about it, you should have the guts to address this with him in person.
You're assuming he's oblivious of his responsibiltiy, so why don't you think the correct way of handling this would be to make him aware of it, giving him the chance to explain himself and make things right? What if you writing to the commitee/county has negative effects for him that could have been avoided had he taken action himself?
Green Bay Hacker
Journeyman Pro
I was a member of two clubs for a couple of years and it was impossible to get the second club to treat me as 'away'. At one point I had a handicap at that club that was 2 shots higher than my handicap at my home club. Every week I played a comp there I had to tell the handicap sec to amend the scores.
Beware-the-3putt
Hacker
As I've explained he hardly plays any medals. I don't want an explanation, I just think it's a mess and I feel it is the Match & Handicap secretary's duty to fix it as he is as much to blame as the guy in question.
If I do cross paths with the guy I'd happily say to him he needs to sort it but I ain't ringing a guy I don't know regarding a golfing matter when I ain't part of the Committee. I don't see this as "very, very bad etiquette" or not having "guts", I just don't see it as my place to contact him.
If there are negative effects then that is an issue he can take up with the Committee as they have had every chance to sort this already. If it gets to the stage that the County are contacted and he is not aware of the situation then that will highlight an even more worrying situation as it would show our Committee are simply neglecting their duties.
UlyssesSky
Head Pro
But you seem to be the one who sees a problem.
Plus, if you notice someone is doing something wrong, it should be common courtesy to approach that person first before informing any kind of "authority" (committe/county). When you play in a tournament and
see one of your playing partners commit a rules breach you notify him directly instead of waiting until after the round and then inform the commitee to have him disqualified for signing for a wrong score, don't you?
It may be uncomfortable, but that's one of the 'downsides' that comes with being part of a social community (like a golf club). And what's the problem with ringing the guy up saying "Hi, it's XY from Z golf club, we'll be playing in next month's comp together and I just noticed you're a member at several golf clubs and I'm afraid that might lead to problems that could have a negative impact on the whole team, what can we do about it?"
If he isn't cooperative or disagrees you can still inform the commitee, but at least you will have done your part.
You said you were worried about him playing a match for one of your club's team - is the team's captain aware of the situation? If yes, what does he say? If not, why not discuss the matter informally with him before taking any further action?
Beware-the-3putt
Hacker
Don't you see a problem?
So the Committee just sit back and ignore it and I've to take the bull by the horns and sort it for them?
All I've done is email the Committee to say this guy needs to get 1 'home' club sorted and the others marked 'away'. This has been pointed out to them already and I am now doing it in writing and await a reply.
What's wrong with the M&H secretary phoning the guy and saying pretty much what you want me to say? Isn't that part of their responsibilities?
So the Committee just sit back and ignore it and I've to take the bull by the horns and sort it for them?
All I've done is email the Committee to say this guy needs to get 1 'home' club sorted and the others marked 'away'. This has been pointed out to them already and I am now doing it in writing and await a reply.
What's wrong with the M&H secretary phoning the guy and saying pretty much what you want me to say? Isn't that part of their responsibilities?
UlyssesSky
Head Pro
It is NOT the committees responsibility!
The committee can do nothing what you could not do yourself: contact the guy and ask him to sort things out. It just feels like you have some kind of "this needs to be taken care of" attitude, that kind of reminds me of the following story a policeman told in the newspaper about a call he got:
Police: Munich police, how can I help you?
Caller: You need to come to my place, please, my neighbors are making so much noise I can't sleep!
Police: Have you tried asking them to be more quiet?
Caller: No, why?
It's not upon the committee (or police) to sort stuff out for you just because it would be uncomfortable to take action yourself...
If you were in his shoes, what would you prefer: a call from a fellow member saying "listen mate, there might be a problem but I'm sure you can make things right easily" or an official letter from your clubs committee reading "Dear Mr. X, we've been notified that you are in breach of rule 8.2 of the official handicap regulations."
Old Skier
Tour Winner
Well this is dragging on. It is the committees responsibility if they have been informed that something is not quite right and then the county's if the committee are unable or unwilling to.
My only query is how the OP knows he belongs to 4 other clubs and what the designation is at the clubs.
My only query is how the OP knows he belongs to 4 other clubs and what the designation is at the clubs.
Foxholer
Blackballed
:thup:
Sure, it's the player's responsibility to select a Home Club etc. But it's each Club's responsibility to ensure that the player is informed of that responsibility! The most appropriate person to do the informing is the M&H Sec! It is quite reasonable for another player at the club to be reluctant to approach the player directly - though, like OS, it has puzzled me slightly why the concern.
As Rulefan posted, sorting this sort of mess out can be a pain! Though yelling at a player, who was blissfully ignorant of the need, is not the way imo - it's the clubs/committees that need to have the message drummed in, so that they ask the right questions so there are far fewer occurrences!
Beware-the-3putt
Hacker
The handicap lists are on howdidido. For all I know there could be underlying problems and the Committee and the player are in the process of fixing it, and if this is the answer I get from the Committee then so be it.
Say I phone the guy and he says, you are the 30th person to call me about this, please leave me alone. Surely the M&H is the point of contact for these things?
Anyway, I agree this has dragged on now and I'm happy with my actions. I've simply highlighted there is a member that appears to have more than 1 'Home' club and that if he is a member elsewhere he should select one as a 'Home' club and get the others annotated as 'Away'. I also mentioned that there could be CDH admin issues if he in fact has more than 1 CDH number. That is it. I'm not out for blood.
Say I phone the guy and he says, you are the 30th person to call me about this, please leave me alone. Surely the M&H is the point of contact for these things?
Anyway, I agree this has dragged on now and I'm happy with my actions. I've simply highlighted there is a member that appears to have more than 1 'Home' club and that if he is a member elsewhere he should select one as a 'Home' club and get the others annotated as 'Away'. I also mentioned that there could be CDH admin issues if he in fact has more than 1 CDH number. That is it. I'm not out for blood.
duncan mackie
Money List Winner
1. Yes it is
2. See earlier post to this thread quoting their responsibility
3. Whilst from time to time people post here without any real understanding of the consequences, or to deliberately inflame a situation for personal gain, I see none of that in the posts made.
Quite the contrary - and you seem to be going out of your way to defend the undefendable and attack the concerned citizen. Shame.
The committee should have acted promptly when the matter was first raised (softly); everything after that was a result of their inaction rather than the OPs pursuance.
Beware-the-3putt
Hacker
:thup:
Thanks Duncan.
Thanks Duncan.
I ended up with 2 home clubs last time I changed clubs, even though I provided a handicap certificate with my CDH number on it for the new club. It seemed that the handicap sec there had correctly transferred my exact handicap over, but somehow created a new CDH number for me. It took a lot of correspondence with both clubs and time to sort this problem out!
rulefan
Tour Winner
This is a common problem. The usual cause it that the old club doesn't release the player's record soon enough. The new club finds it can't complete the set up process and press the wrong button. The system then issues a new CDH. The new club should simply create the record without a CDH and get onto the old club to get their finger out.
Doesn't sound like a very good system to me. Surely it should be changed so that entering one's unique CDH Number and pressing a button to nominate whether you want your new club to be home or away should suffice. Although I didn't use it, I could have had a perfect 'bandits charter' there. I joined my new club just after I retired, so with more time to play and practice I got rapidly got my handicap down from 19 to 14, but could have produced a perfectly valid handicap certificate from my old club (which I remained a member of for the rest of the membership year) showing my handicap as being 19! Sounds like a loophole that needs closing!
Last edited:
Old Skier
Tour Winner
It's not perfect and that's because it requires human interaction. Most common problem is that people don't tell their old club that they are leaving and as rulefan says, until the old club releases the player then the new club cannot complete the process. I always (if I know) enter the player without the CDH and enter it later after checking the last club has realised or by going on the England Golf site and checking there.
I wasn't leaving my old club as such. Just joined another club which I wished to be my 'home' club. Surely that can't be that difficult to arrange!
Old Skier
Tour Winner
It isn't, it's dead simple as long as the proper people can get to talk to each other.
rulefan
Tour Winner
Did you do your bit?
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PLAYER
8.2 If he is aMember of more than one Affiliated Club, select one as his Home Club and notify that club
and the others of his choice and supply each away club his Home Club CDH ID Number.
8.3 Not change his Home Club except by giving advance notice of the change which can take effect only
at the end of a calendar year unless he has ceased to be a Member of his Home Club or both clubs
agree to the change taking place at an earlier date.
8.4 Report to his Home Club the names of all other Affiliated Clubs of which he is, becomes, or ceases
to be, a Member and report to all other Aff iliated Clubs of which he is a Member:
(a) The name of his Home Club and any changes of Home Club and
(b) His Home Club CDH ID Number
So do you think the average golf club member would know all this? I certainly didn't, and neither, it seemed, did either of the club handicap secretaries involved. It took weeks of phone calls and writing letters to resolve the issue, which I think (from memory) we did by changing the CDH number at my old club to match the one created at my new club, and then setting me up as an away handicap. I may well still exist twice on the CDH register for all I know!
Last edited:
