Fair or Not

[CaptainStue]

Captains day at my club we play 18 holes Stableford Format and run 4 seperate competitions for the entrant mens/Ladies/Seniors/Visitors.

At the 16th our signature par 3 we run a hole in one competition with a good prize if won. To boost the takings as its a charitable day, the committee sells a Mulligan ball on the tee to be taken as a one hit wonder just to go for the hole in one. Its a second chance ball as both would count toward winning the Hole in one prize.

The ball is taken off the Winter Mat and is not counted in the match it is picked up after it has been hit once.

For the last 10 years the scores from Captains day have been a qualifier and jandicaps have been adjusted to the scores on the day- except this year. The club secretary declared the match a none qualifier after the event (he had scored well and was playing an open later that week but was out of the prizes for the day).

Having scored 41 and came in second I was infuriated as my handicap would not be reduced as was the winner who had a creditable 44 points. Having written to the EGU I am told the decision was sound but is it fair or not?

 

[pokerjoke]

Well definately not fair,all comps should be declared qualifiers or non before the game not after.
I would not be happy.

 

[GB72]

Well definately not fair,all comps should be declared qualifiers or non before the game not after.
I would not be happy.

What he said,

If it is listed as a qualifier before hand then that is what it is.

 

[CaptainStue]

thats the general opinion at my club too especially when we have played the same format for 10 years and been cut before.

 

[bobmac]

Get everyone to write an official complaint/email to the Captain/Chairman/President....anyone who outranks this pillock and make sure he's cut before his comp.

 

[Monty_Brown]

Course in Warwickshire with the 16th as a par 3 signature hole... not Stratford is it?

Feel free not to incriminate anyone!

 

[CallawayKid]

Who voted fair then? Come on, who was it??!!

CK

 

[DCB]

But......... how can a player have a mulligan in a 'counting' competition ?

 

[Imurg]

Because it's a competiton within the main event.
YOu can't just decide that it's not going to be a qualifier after the comp has been played.
Bloke's an idiot and needs taking down!!

 

[oltimer]

The conditions of the Comp MUST be made available for all competitors to know before the comp starts, if none are posted and it has been played to the same conditions for several years then players have the right to expect that the time honoured conditions apply.
Assuming that all players played the same measured Course then the comps conditions cannot be changed after the event.
If ground conditions changed during the event resulting in not the same exact Course being played by all competitors then it would not be unreasonable to let the comp stand but make it a non-qualifier.
You state Secretary, assume you mean handicap sec not Club sec, then he should be asked to explain his reasons for his abnormal actions, if he cannot give an acceptable answer ("because I say so" unacceptable) then you need to replace him. As an ex comp sec I had my valid actions queried by players who withdrew their complaints once they had all the facts, so give him a chance to respond.
Rule 33-1 "The Committee MUST establish the conditions under which the competition IS TO BE PLAYED.

 

[Swinger]

It's Captains Day so if he decides a format that would deem the event non qualifiying then so be it. Unfortunatly the extra mulligan ball would get the field a 2 shot penalty for practising on the course during regulation play of a hole and then as they have not declared it a provisional it might would be in play, played from the wrong teeing area, continued to play the original ball and fail to correct the error before the next tee. So a few shots penalty before a DQ for everyone.

I'm sure others will have a different take on it though!

Nice score and I understand your frustration at playing well and not getting cut but hopefully you enjoyed the round anyway.

 

[oltimer]

He can make it Qualifying or Non Qualifying thats not in dispute but he MUST do this before the Comp starts and Post Conditions of the Comp where everyone can read them before they play.

 

[Fyldewhite]

There is a clear argument here that due to the mulligan option the round isn't technically being contested under the Rules of Golf. So it follows that it can't be deemed qualifying for handicap adjustment. To me, it seems pretty stupid to invalidate a whole round for one shot. Why bother with the mulligan? why not simply have 2 par 3's? or all of them for that matter. The chances of actually having one are minute anyway.

This is just another example of a committee/captain making a rod for their own back by not thinking through things beforehand and making things up as they go along instead.

Of course despite it technically being wrong, it wouldn't be hard to turn a blind eye to the mulligan and just run the comp anyway (it is a charity day after all) and I assume that's what's been done in previous years. To just change that on the basis of someone having a good score is simply rediculous.

 

[Swinger]

He can make it Qualifying or Non Qualifying thats not in dispute but he MUST do this before the Comp starts and Post Conditions of the Comp where everyone can read them before they play.

The bulk of Captains Days would be non qualifying in my estmations. They are generally fun days where the captain can thank people for support throughout his year and meet a good number of members. Ours has been a qualifier about twice in the last 14 years, the format of the day is posted on the board before hand but as soon as the format has any type of mulligans, different tees etc you know its a NQ.

The idea of the days are to have fun and meet the Captain. The format (in my view) is better off with some cheeky additions in to put more enjoyment into it for the golfers.

I realise that people like to play well an get cut but Captains Day shouldn't be about that.

(If the Captain decideds a standard format i.e. Individual Medal/Stableford then is should/has to be a qualifier)

 

[stevelev]

Get everyone to write an official complaint/email to the Captain/Chairman/President....anyone who outranks this pillock and make sure he's cut before his comp.

And hopefully he might miss the fact he's been cut and get DQ'd for putting an incorrect handicap on his card

 

[Mungoscorner]

Sounds very suspect to me.
Unless stated prior to play,its a qualifying competition,i can only assume the same as most other people, that decisions were made after the event,in order to maintain a previous handicap.
Out of interest,which club/course was it ?

 

[CaptainStue]

Wont divulge the course buut have contacted the EGU and they confirm the descision to be correct, thats good enough for me even though I dont agree.