Excluded From Comps

[GB72]

Just been having a flick through the fixture diary for the next few weeks and have noticed an increased number of comps for 18 handicap or lower. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate that there should be a few so as not all of the prizes are won by us high handicap bandits but still there seems to be one every other week for the best of the summer which seems a little off to me, especially as I have really been enjoying my comps this year and am entering as many as possible to get my handicap down. Is this is usual to have a number of comps only for mid to low handicappers and am I making something out of nothing? Also noted that the club championship is restricted to 18 handicap or less. Really would have liked to enter that and wondered whether that was ususal

 

[mono217]

We dont have this at our club anyone can enter any at home.

By the way I have an away comp tomorrow at southport wish me luck.

 

[madandra]

GB, anyone can enter these comps but can only play off a maximum of 18. I played my first Open comp playing off of 22 but gave up the 4 shots to play in it. I loved it.


So take the 18 shots and go for it.

 

[GB72]

Never knew that, happy to have a shot playing off 18 to see what happens.

 

[Macster]

All our Medals are open to all, but we have a main Matchplay Comp that 64 qualify for, any Handicap etc.
We also have a variety of other Comps, strokeplay and Matchplay, that are open to different H/C groups.

Works well tbh.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have a few at Christmas that are specifically for 18 and above and one for 18 and under and you can only enter int he bracket you fall into (i.e. the higher guys can't all enter twice off 18). Other than that each medal and stableford is split by division but gold board events are opne and no handicap restrictions.

 

[romsyam]

We have comps that are max 18 but anybody above can play with the 18 strokes. I played my second comp the other week and shot 88 gross and ended up with 70 nett. It doesn't matter for the handicap either as you will get deducted the right amount anyway. I see it as a positive thing as I would think that trying to shoot scores can damage your game whereas it doesn't matter so much when you've already handed over 6 strokes.

I don't understand the logic of some golfers for that reason. I mean realistically you are not very likely to win tournaments in a field of 150 anyhow. So the object should be just to play well. If for instance you shoot 69 nett one week you could come 8th and shoot the same score next week in same conditions and win. The fact that you play well seems most important to me.

 

[stevek1969]

Dont get that at my club ,but some opens are 18 and below my mate plays of 21 and has enterd a few and done alright playing of 18, strange rule that

 

[teegirl]

you would think with clubs struggling for members up and down the country, they would be encouraging the members to play as much as possible. I wonder if it's more a logistics thing to stop the competition running into the night.

GB72,looking forward to playing at your club next Saturday, one of my favourite courses.

 

[GB72]

What time are you off on Saturday? Suspect that I will be having a knock about on Saturday morning at some stage. Any particular reason that you are at Stoke?

Beware of the changes on the par 3 7th, bunker added to the right of the green and slope into the pond has been made steeper to catch more wayward shots, now a real card wrecker of a hole

 

[birdieman]

Category 4 players (20-28) are not included in CSS calculation because their scoring is wildly inconsistent which allows them to return bandit scores.
Many cat 4 players are new to the game and are on a steep improvement curve so can play well below that on a good day.
I'm afraid to say many cat 4 players are just plain awful at the game and take too long as they're forever in the cabbage looking for balls, holding up play etc. Many are also bad at hacking up courses with swings akin to swinging an axe at a log - greenkeepers hate that!
Many Cat 4 players dont know the rules properly.

I think for those various reasons above many open comps are limited to 18 h'cap be that right or wrong. I think banditry, slow play and course damage are the main concerns for tournament organisers.

By making it 18 organisers are distancing themselves from cat 4 players, i.e. a 2 shot buffer zone from hackersville!



Quick.......Where can I hide?

 

[GB72]

The thing is that these are not open comps, these are internal club comps. I can agree that there may be an attraction to limiting the handicap in open comps (as is the case at those at my course) but limiting it on internal comps seems to either limit the access to members or penalise those of a higher handicap.

 

[Earl]

You could turn it around and look at it as a goal to achieve and take great satisfaction when you are in them and feel mighty proud.

 

[Herbie]

I may be a minority but I believe in limitations in some (not all) golf comps.
It encourages a higher standard throughout, it enables higher h/c players to test themselves.
I dont believe in excluding people because they have a higher h/c but they have to play off 18 in this case.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I can see how one or two events per year specific to either higher or lower handicap groups is a refreshing change, but why for the rest of the time prrclude people from entering. I think for most club members entering competitions is a major factor in joining a club and so in these difficult times why stop members doing the one main thing they paid to do.

I think most club golfers realise they are not going to win before they start but there is always that hope that "its your week at last". At RA most of the gold letter events are not split by handicap and so its a winner take all field. I know there are arguments that it plays into the higher handicappers hands and maybe in the stableford formats that's true but equally there is never going to be anyone over 7 or 8 (even then they'd have to play well) in with a shout of winning things like the club championship so in my mind it balances out over a season.

Our monthly events (stableford and medal) are all split into handicap divisions and so you have an equal chance against your peers. Don't lets go down the line of trying to encourage higher standards by limiting handicaps. It just penalises Joe Average who wants to pay his £3 and take his punt with everyone else

 

[Faldo_Fan]

I don't know how many times i've played in charity events and the prize giving is usually....'and the winner with 49 points off a handicap of 26 is'........

Gets pretty boring in the end especially if you've played well and managed to get a couple under your handicap!