First Handicap

[GaryK]

[FONT=Conv_VAGRoundedStd-Thin]I played 3 times in the last week to get my first ever handicap and despite carding something like 103, 107 and 113 (ouch), I was given a 22 HC - this seems rather harsh.

I was talking with various club members during my first ever comp yesterday and the general opinion was that it did seem unfair. However, speaking to the club caption afterwards, he explained that I probably did well on the lower SI holes in the 3 rounds that I played to get my HC. Whilst I see the logic in this, it looks like I'm going to struggle to compete in future comps and will need to wait several years(!!) for my HC to adjust up.

My score in yesterday's stableford was 15 pts (last place) with the next guy scoring 20pts.

My attitude to playing golf (been playing approx 2 years) is to get out, try and have some fun and much needed exercise. I hadn't considered getting a HC or entering comps until recently when the club captain persuaded me to do so.

BUT....Despite being my first comp, I am somewhat dejected with my HC and result. However, I did enjoy playing and meeting some great folks.

My question is this....Is there any way that I can get a "realistic" adjustment to my HC, rather than a measly 0.1? Is there an appeals process available? Some may say that I should just get out there, play and practice more so that my game improves, but I do play at least once a week (sometimes twice) and also spend time focusing on my short game on the short course.

Cheers
Gary[/FONT]

 

[pbrown7582]

you are not alone in these thoughts many people think this.
just relax and play, there is a difference in playing in comps rather than knock abouts with your mates and not unusual for the first score to be a bad one.
the cards will have official system in place which is the same for everybody, scores with triples or more are rounded down and your best score is used against SSS.
there is an going review process of your handicap in comps.

 

[Cake]

[FONT=Conv_VAGRoundedStd-Thin]I played 3 times in the last week to get my first ever handicap and despite carding something like 103, 107 and 113 (ouch), I was given a 22 HC - this seems rather harsh.

I was talking with various club members during my first ever comp yesterday and the general opinion was that it did seem unfair. However, speaking to the club caption afterwards, he explained that I probably did well on the lower SI holes in the 3 rounds that I played to get my HC. Whilst I see the logic in this, it looks like I'm going to struggle to compete in future comps and will need to wait several years(!!) for my HC to adjust up.

My score in yesterday's stableford was 15 pts (last place) with the next guy scoring 20pts.

My attitude to playing golf (been playing approx 2 years) is to get out, try and have some fun and much needed exercise. I hadn't considered getting a HC or entering comps until recently when the club captain persuaded me to do so.

BUT....Despite being my first comp, I am somewhat dejected with my HC and result. However, I did enjoy playing and meeting some great folks.

My question is this....Is there any way that I can get a "realistic" adjustment to my HC, rather than a measly 0.1? Is there an appeals process available? Some may say that I should just get out there, play and practice more so that my game improves, but I do play at least once a week (sometimes twice) and also spend time focusing on my short game on the short course.

Cheers
Gary[/FONT]

Having just gone through this process myself I can lay out the process used to set initial handicaps (which is apparently more 'harsh' than previously, as it was felt that initial handicaps were coming out about 2 shots too generous)

They take 3 cards, then adjust any individual hole scores to be max of 2 over par. They then compare the adjusted total scores for each round to the SSS and the one with the lowest difference is taken (effectively this is viewed as your best card, but the original score may have been greater, especially if you had some individual holes with scores much greater than Par).

The best card's adjusted score minus the SSS is then multiplied by 0.9135 (there is logic behind this number but I can't remember what it is) - this gives a value that is then rounded down to a whole number to give the initial handicap.


I believe that if you you get 7 x 0.1 increases in a row you appear on a report that feeds into a process that might lead to an exceptional change to your handicap... but I have not gotten that far yet so will leave to others more experienced to confirm this.


Hope that helps

 

[GaryK]

Thanks for the replies...

The club captain did explain that on your qualifying cards, the worst you can do [according to the damn system!] is a double bogey.
I typical round for me usually has 1 or 2 pars, occasionally a single birdie, followed by bogies or doubles, with 1 or 2 highs (8-10).
In fact my 3rd qualifying card had a 10 on a par 3 that is SI 18 (embarrassingly my first 3 tee shots went into deep rough).

Previously I have used buggies quite a bit (dodgy ankle - not dodgy enough to warrant their use in comps!) and had been carding anywhere between 96 - 99 consistently.
Maybe I was feeling added pressure in getting the 3 cards in and yesterday was my first comp.

Hey ho, I guess that's just how it is, I shall certainly persevere with the comps + supplementary cards.
Plus side is that I get to play with people that I wouldn't normally play with (I am fortunate that on the whole, the members at my club are really friendly).
The downside is that I am normally an afternoon golfer...I always considered that weekends are for lie ins!!!

 

[AmandaJR]

Handicap Secretaries/Committees are advised to keep a close eye on initial handicaps and review where necessary - from The Congu manual:

23/5 Adjusting Newly Allocated Playing Handicaps
Q. Handicap Committees are advised to monitor the early returns of players with newly allocated
handicaps. In what circumstance should the Handicap Committee take action?
A. Assigning handicaps to new members is one of the most important functions of a Handicap
Committee. Following the inputting of the score details from the requisite number of cards, the
computer program calculates a handicap. This should be regarded as a recommendation that
should be reviewed with reference to factors such as time of year, prevailing weather conditions,
previous playing history, and the most recent past handicap held, where applicable, before a
handicap is allotted.

You are also entitled to have a word with the Secretary and put your case for a review...

 

[MrC]

[FONT=Conv_VAGRoundedStd-Thin]I played 3 times in the last week to get my first ever handicap and despite carding something like 103, 107 and 113 (ouch), I was given a 22 HC - this seems rather harsh.

I was talking with various club members during my first ever comp yesterday and the general opinion was that it did seem unfair. However, speaking to the club caption afterwards, he explained that I probably did well on the lower SI holes in the 3 rounds that I played to get my HC. Whilst I see the logic in this, it looks like I'm going to struggle to compete in future comps and will need to wait several years(!!) for my HC to adjust up.

My score in yesterday's stableford was 15 pts (last place) with the next guy scoring 20pts.

My attitude to playing golf (been playing approx 2 years) is to get out, try and have some fun and much needed exercise. I hadn't considered getting a HC or entering comps until recently when the club captain persuaded me to do so.

BUT....Despite being my first comp, I am somewhat dejected with my HC and result. However, I did enjoy playing and meeting some great folks.

My question is this....Is there any way that I can get a "realistic" adjustment to my HC, rather than a measly 0.1? Is there an appeals process available? Some may say that I should just get out there, play and practice more so that my game improves, but I do play at least once a week (sometimes twice) and also spend time focusing on my short game on the short course.

Cheers
Gary[/FONT]

I am also in the process of getting my first handicap but the way it was explained to me (as well as the official answer above) was that your handicap is a target and not your average score.

You should be having a good round to shoot your handicap, especially for higher handicap where you have more potential to shoot better numbers.

don't know how true it all is but I believed him and look at the competition results typically the winners score 37-40 points but the lowest is around 20 points and there is a lot more under 36 than over

 

[GaryK]

I was hoping to score at least 20 yesterday, so was hugely disappointed to only muster 15 (8 front / 7 back) and had way too many blobs on my card.

I understand the concern about high handicappers rolling up and running away with the comp, after all, nobody likes a bandit!
But let's try and be more realistic and try not t discourage newer players from having a go in comps.

Interesting that the winner was a 22 HC female (not that sex matters) with a score of 40, followed by a top 10 of high single digit - low teens handicappers.

 

[Dasit]

I was hoping to score at least 20 yesterday, so was hugely disappointed to only muster 15 (8 front / 7 back) and had way too many blobs on my card.

I understand the concern about high handicappers rolling up and running away with the comp, after all, nobody likes a bandit!
But let's try and be more realistic and try not t discourage newer players from having a go in comps.

Interesting that the winner was a 22 HC female (not that sex matters) with a score of 40, followed by a top 10 of high single digit - low teens handicappers.

What handicap are you expecting? 28 is the max, you got 22 so pretty close to max.

I put in similar cards to you and got a handicap of 23 late last year. Didn't take long to start scoring to that once you begin to play.

 

[GaryK]

What handicap are you expecting? 28 is the max, you got 22 so pretty close to max.

I put in similar cards to you and got a handicap of 23 late last year. Didn't take long to start scoring to that once you begin to play.

I was expecting somewhere in the range of 25-28.
Yes, 22 is not that far off of that, but at least I could of reached 20 as a fair few of the blobs would have been doubles.

 

[pbrown7582]

I was expecting somewhere in the range of 25-28.
Yes, 22 is not that far off of that, but at least I could of reached 20 as a fair few of the blobs would have been doubles.

so if they gave you 28, 96-28= 68 what is SSS at your course would you be under with the ).9 calc they are setting handicap for you to only score level when you play well, expectation to make buffer zone is around 4/10 IIRC.

 

[GaryK]

so if they gave you 28, 96-28= 68 what is SSS at your course would you be under with the ).9 calc they are setting handicap for you to only score level when you play well, expectation to make buffer zone is around 4/10 IIRC.

The course SSS is 69.

The calculation you suggested (96-28) is based on my best round, I tend to card 99.
BUT, that is using a buggy - on foot my best has been 103.

 

[duncan mackie]

I have some sympathy with this scenario.

Without doubt the toughest allocation situations occur with people who have been playing reasonably regularily for a couple of years then submit their 3 cards once they have found their level at 20+

Firstly their anticipated initial improvement won't happen as much as for someone fresh into the game submitting (for example) their first 3 rounds!

Second, they have net double bogey hole adjustments based on their being a scratch golfer applied to their best card....ie if they went round in 2600 for 18 hole the starting point for the calculation would be 36 (which becomes 32...). Re-run the calculation based on an actual handicap of 22 for ndb purposes and it would spit out 28!

Anyhow, enjoy your golf, play in as many comps as you can and, if you haven't managed 26 points by the end of the season drop the handicap sec a polite note ahead of the AR saying that whilst you understand the need to initially use the system allocation you hope that with all the additional information they now have available they might like to reconsider.

 

[MrC]

It is an interesting debate

I am going to be doing my three rounds. Now what if I have the round of my life. I would be stuck with that as my marker and never be able to play to it.

TBH I am going to try to this as I want the best handicap I can but it would mess me up in comps

 

[GaryK]

It is an interesting debate

I am going to be doing my three rounds. Now what if I have the round of my life. I would be stuck with that as my marker and never be able to play to it.

TBH I am going to try to this as I want the best handicap I can but it would mess me up in comps

Just make sure that you don't par or birdie any of the low SI holes

Seriously though, if you start with a high HC and do well in the comps, your HC will soon start to come down.
On the other hand, if you are given a harsh HC that you are going to struggle to do any better than the bottom few in comps, your HC will slowly adjust up in increments of 0.1 per comp.
Well, that's how I understand it, but may be completely wrong.

For me, I will play comps over the next month or so and if I continue to really struggle, I'll speak to the handicap secretary about possible adjusting up a few points.

 

[MrC]

Just make sure that you don't par or birdie any of the low SI holes

Seriously though, if you start with a high HC and do well in the comps, your HC will soon start to come down.
On the other hand, if you are given a harsh HC that you are going to struggle to do any better than the bottom few in comps, your HC will slowly adjust up in increments of 0.1 per comp.
Well, that's how I understand it, but may be completely wrong.

For me, I will play comps over the next month or so and if I continue to really struggle, I'll speak to the handicap secretary about possible adjusting up a few points.

Stroke index means nothing to me.....I can birdie si1 and take a 12 on si18.... So looks like I am in trouble

 

[GaryK]

Stroke index means nothing to me.....I can birdie si1 and take a 12 on si18.... So looks like I am in trouble

I hear you!
My 3rd qualifying card consisted of 10 shots (4 off the tee) on a par 3 si18 which I then immediately followed up with a birdie 4 on a 480yd par 5 si8 (which probably one of the contributing factors in my unexpected HC of 22).


The following day, in the comp, I was dreading the par 3, only to go and par it. However, the par 5 ended up a blob.
Nothing like a good bit of consistency. Well, nothing like consistency whatsoever!!!!

 

[lex!]

Well done on attaining your first handicap. With playing regularly and working at the game you will soon be getting down from 22 I am sure.
However, the award is not supposed to be a blunt instrument, and the CONGU guidelines specifically state that individuals should be monitored to check that they are not playing with too low a handicap in case this harms the enjoyment of the game for them. If an individual cards seven 0.1 handicap additions in a row then this is flagged on a continuous review report and the H/cap committee can take action to make an increase. If you are really unhappy then you can always make a case to your H/cap secretary for a review.