Changes to Highest Male Handicap

[Foliage Finder]

Afternoon all,

Whilst chatting to the pro at the range, he has mentioned twice in the past couple of weeks that there are plans to raise the maximum male handicap from 28 to 40, in order to more accurately represent the spectrum of amateur players. I'm having some difficulty finding anything online about it, has anybody else heard or does anybody else know of these proposed changes?

I'd be all for it. As a new player, I regularly shoot worse than double bogey. Although I can track my scores via totting up Stableford pts with a theoretical 28 h'cap or simply by counting strokes, I'd like to have a handicap that means something and provides a basis to track improvement.

What does everyone think? Would we perhaps see separate club comps for these lower handicappers?

 

[fundy]

Thought it was going to be increased to 36 for men and 54 for women. Likelihood is a lot of clubs will retain a maximum of 28 I expect, at least as far as competitions are concerned, I know we plan to if it is introduced

 

[Pin-seeker]

If I couldn't get down from 28h/c reasonably quick I'd have thought that maybe golf wasn't for me.

 

[garyinderry]

Dear God, here we go.

 

[jamielaing]

I understand the frustrations of not being able to play to your handicap. That's why a lot of courses (including mine) offer juniors an unofficial playing handicap above 28 (I once saw a junior off 105!) to allow them to play and compete in junior competitions. I do however think it is unnecessary in men's golf. I know my frustrations when I had a net 63 and was sure I was in for the trophy only to be beaten by a net 59 by a high handicapper who has either had the round of his life or has possibly not had a fair reflecting handicap so to speak. I couldn't imagine how I would feel losing to net 49s!

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

 

[PuttPuttSteve]

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

Agree :thup:

 

[Craigg]

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

I agree with this. 18 shots is plenty. I currently don't have a handicap but hover around the 20/22 mark in general play. If golfers are entering competitions with these ridiculouslyhigh numbers of shots, there is no incentive to get better. Make it 18 max and if you're serious about winning, you will have to put some effort in. There is also the obvious reason for not having these high numbers! The B word!

 

[Oddsocks]

I kinda agree with the one shot per whole, even two on the longer par' 4's, but we have a p3 with an si of 3, ok it plays 200+ into the wind but still....

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

Totally Disagree, why? 28 works and has done for years, starting off 18 will make it unplayable for a lot of people starting Golf and possibly put them off, most 19-28 players are genuine and imo the fear of losing the odd comp to someone off 19+ people come out withis statement.
Using my Club as an example, we had the chinese whispers of people fed up with the high Handicappers winning everything, so the Club introduced a couple of Comps that were played off 3/4 handicap maximum 18, over a period of 10 months one of the members took the time to analize all Comps, 80% of all handicap comps were won by people who's handicaps were 10-16, only 4 Comps were won with a handicap over 18 the rest were won by Single figure Golfers. I believe this would reflect the majority of Golf Clubs in the UK.
Dropping it to 18 would, imo, see a drop in the numbers of people playing in comps and a drop in revenue to Club funds as happened at our place as those off 28, for example, had to make 10 shots beofre teeing of on the 1st so didn't even bother entering those comps.

 

[drew83]

As a 28 handicap I would like it to be higher to give me more of a chance with the guys I play with. I can normally scrape around 20 points, but they easily hit low 30 to mid 30s each time. So I would like the opportunity to be in with more of a chance.

That said, there would be no incentive to get better if I didn't have to work hard to try & and beat them.

I could see an introductory handicap of say 36 for men. for the 1st 6-12 months. give them a chance to get into the game etc. after that they can only play of a maximum 28 (or less?).

I think there needs to be a bit more to control nomadic handicaps. I know of someone who is not a member, plays to a good standard in my eyes (was at 18 last year). after 6 months off due to bad weather and work commitments came back out a few weeks ago & declared himself off 23. promptly walked off with 42 or 43 points.....

I realise that if you get membership somewhere then you can get a proper handicap etc, but for those that don't want to take a membership & like to move about, some sort of regulation would be good.

Now, how it will be done, no idea! We try to keep it fair by having a central database of the years rounds & work out our end of year society handicap when we go away for the weekends. But in the meantime, anyone can state anything......

 

[Hacker Khan]

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

But isn't that just going to put even more new players off joining if they have to start with a 18 handicap and end up with 10 stableford points at best? As much as some people would like to think they will persevere, practice hard and dedicate their lives to lowering it till they properly play off 18, in reality a vast majority may well say, sod this for a game of soldiers, I'm off to do something else where I can get some enjoyment and compete. Life is too short.

Much as my heart bleeds for some amateurs who look like they might win one comp but are pipped at the last by a relatively high handicapper who was just on one that day, surely the bigger picture needs to be taken into account?

And being argumentative for the sake of it, another opinion could be that if amateurs are frightened of getting beat by someone with a higher handicap then get better so you can play in scratch comps where you won't have to worry about 'bandits'.

 

[Foliage Finder]

Agree :thup:

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

I can understand the viewpoint, especially in comps where I would be frustrated as a mid-low h'capper by a someone off 28 coming in with the round of their season to win. However, having a blanket max handicap of 18 would put off a lot of people from taking up the game in the first place. The problems of high h'cappers in competitions as far as I can tell is somewhat solved by having restrictions on who can play. These could be modified should the max limit increase.

Without trying to read between the lines, I get the gist that because male players hit it further than ladies, they should only have one shot per hole. That doesn't allow for mistakes made by less experienced players on shorter shots or around the green. Isn't the whole point of having a handicap to level the playing field across the board for players of different abilities/experience, not just on full shots/off the tee? Not to mention that I'm sure there are plenty of lady golfers around (definitely on this forum) that could outdrive me any day of the week.

It's easy enough to say max one shot per hole when you have years of experience of the game, but the thought of that to someone like me who has only just started seems like something I'd need a good 6-12 months more of solid playing experience to achieve. I remember Curls posting a while back saying an 18 h'capper is not much more than a consistent 28 h'capper, and a max limit of 18 wouldn't allow for that transition period to occur without either giving up or going mental.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Can't believe no one has mentioned getting the popcorn in before now! As the move seems to be to raise the h/c any discussion about 18 max seems a bit academic. The move is the other way, not that way.

If low h/c are so sensitive, bless em, why not split comp prizes to people 0-18 and 18+. As a higher handicapper I personally couldn't give a monkeys about walking away with a trophy. If I play in a comp the aim is to reduce my h/c to respectability. If anything else happens it is a bonus but I don't expect it. I know if I currently win a comp with my h/c then I have had more than a little assistance. That is how golf works, fair enough but in my heart I know I have won by the back door. If I won a competition competed for by 18+ h/c then I know a victory would be more reasonable. No need for separate trophies. That goes to the winning golfer in the 0-18 section, incentive there for higher players to get lower. Somehow the money would be split, how is up to each club. Would that satisfy more people?

 

[duncan mackie]

Dear God, here we go.

:thup:

but in fairness many of the posts here simply reflect the initial reaction of many in committees around the country from what I have seen and heard.

you have to press the quiet ones for an opinion, as ever, and most seem to have an excellent understanding of the issues.

their is a huge issue with seniors dropping off the memberships because they can no longer enjoy even slightly competitive golf outwith small closed groups who use their own handicap system. at 85 (for example) they have given up entering competitions after 10 years of 0.1s have them firmly up against the buffers of 28.0 They may well have played to a better handicap than most posting their opinions on what constitutes a golfer and that people should give up etc - but time moves on.

it does have the potential to impact the fast improvers, but frankly anyone who's going to improve that quickly isn't going to fall into this category anyway; by the time they put in their 3rd card they will be off 28!

As to giving shots - I suspect that the move to 90% (from 3/4) in 4BBB will cause more cry's of anguish in time - they will be correct to complain as it should of course be 100% difference!!!

Anyhow, all of this will pale into insignificance with the core changes in 2020 :whoo:

 

[rksquire]

Afternoon all,

Whilst chatting to the pro at the range, he has mentioned twice in the past couple of weeks that there are plans to raise the maximum male handicap from 28 to 40, in order to more accurately represent the spectrum of amateur players.....

I don't like it, but I see the logic - I know plenty of guys that would benefit from this and make them competitive, as they're not off 28

...(I once saw a junior off 105!) NUTS..... I know my frustrations when I had a net 63 and was sure I was in for the trophy only to be beaten by a net 59 by a high handicapper who has either had the round of his life or has possibly not had a fair reflecting handicap so to speak. I couldn't imagine how I would feel losing to net 49s!

But.. it would have been a hefty cut thereafter, and also a net 63 means you also had an exceptional round and wouldn't have been happy with the 3 h/capper sitting on net 64 taking exception at your 63

Male golfers should not receive more than one shot per hole !!! :thup:

...., there is no incentive to get better. Make it 18 max and if you're serious about winning, you will have to put some effort in. There is also the obvious reason for not having these high numbers! The B word!

The problem is providing incentive for people to stay in the game. A guy on 40 will compete and want to improve because getting better is achievable; starting on 18, a newbie might take years and that's not worth his investment.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Can't believe no one has mentioned getting the popcorn in before now! As the move seems to be to raise the h/c any discussion about 18 max seems a bit academic. The move is the other way, not that way.

If low h/c are so sensitive, bless em, why not split comp prizes to people 0-18 and 18+. As a higher handicapper I personally couldn't give a monkeys about walking away with a trophy. If I play in a comp the aim is to reduce my h/c to respectability. If anything else happens it is a bonus but I don't expect it. I know if I currently win a comp with my h/c then I have had more than a little assistance. That is how golf works, fair enough but in my heart I know I have won by the back door. If I won a competition competed for by 18+ h/c then I know a victory would be more reasonable. No need for separate trophies. That goes to the winning golfer in the 0-18 section, incentive there for higher players to get lower. Somehow the money would be split, how is up to each club. Would that satisfy more people?

We already have this though, just more play Comps in Divisions, like you I enter to reduce my Handicap and that would be more than enough to stroke my ego, if I could actually do it!! :lol:

 

[chellie]

Jeez, I'm glad most women I've met don't think we should only get one shot a hole.

 

[massivebelterlad]

if it aint broke don't fix it

 

[garyinderry]

Picture the scene.

3 four balls of 40 handicapers playing in the monthly medal.