"For Handicap" Cards

Beedee

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Jul 25, 2015
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Morning,

got my first "for handicap" round tomorrow at my new club. My last official handicap expired about 8 years ago, so it's 3 cards for me. Must admit I'm a bit nervous as I'm not playing well at the moment, and I'm also almost terminally shy and don't know anyone at the club :(

Anyway, when I joined the pro said when I get my 3 cards, staple them together and drop them into the secretary. Fair enough I thought and didn't ask anymore questions. However, it's just occurred to me that I'm playing in a proper comp tomorrow (or rather the other 2 that I'm joining are playing in the proper comp). What's the usual card swapping etiquette for this situation? Do we swap as a normal 3 ball, and I just don't hand my card in at the end; or do those 2 swap as they're in the comp, but I ask one of them to be my marker also?

Actually, thinking about it again, I'd always assumed that the markers card would be used to try to resolve any issues when the cards are being processed. Is that the case, or is it purely the players card that is considered, so me not handing in the "comp" card wouldn't be an issue?

Sorry for rambling. As well as the terminal shyness, I tend to overthink things sometimes too.

Thanks

Brian.
 
Cheers. it'll be my first round off white tees in about 9 years too. Should be interesting. Makes a big difference on a few of the holes.
 
Tell your fellow players you are unsure and they will be glad to help. Golf is to be enjoyed so concentrate on having fun.
 
Relax, go out and enjoy it. That's two people at the club you've now met that you should be able to play with again. Just hit and don't worry what you score. The worse that can happen is you'll end up on 28 and then it's downwards from there
 
Just back from my first round off the whites.

Bit of a cock-up when I arrived. I thought I'd a slot reserved for me to join a 2 ball. However the 2 ball had become a 4 ball, and none of them were me! Thankfully the 3 ball in front of them had just become a 2 ball so I joined them. And good company they were too.

My golf ranged from the sublime (driving) to the ridiculous (everything else) and I definitely left a few silly shots behind on the course, but if I understand the formula for initial handicap correctly, that round would work out as a 22 handicap. I'm quite pleased with that but would really like at least another shot off that so I can be a Cat 3. Would be nicely to be officially "not very good" instead of "quite bad".

Our 3 ball got round in a smidge over 3.5 hours so that was good too.

Just need 2 more cards and try to get to Cat 3.
 
don't get too hung up if the next round doesn't improve any, keep enjoying it and the scores will drop along with your initial handicap.

also if the company was good try and get out with them again,
 
Just back from my first round off the whites.

Bit of a cock-up when I arrived. I thought I'd a slot reserved for me to join a 2 ball. However the 2 ball had become a 4 ball, and none of them were me! Thankfully the 3 ball in front of them had just become a 2 ball so I joined them. And good company they were too.

My golf ranged from the sublime (driving) to the ridiculous (everything else) and I definitely left a few silly shots behind on the course, but if I understand the formula for initial handicap correctly, that round would work out as a 22 handicap. I'm quite pleased with that but would really like at least another shot off that so I can be a Cat 3. Would be nicely to be officially "not very good" instead of "quite bad".

Our 3 ball got round in a smidge over 3.5 hours so that was good too.

Just need 2 more cards and try to get to Cat 3.

Formula is the lowest adjusted differential of your 3 cards (everything worse than a double bogey gets reduced to a double and then the SSS gets taken off) with a calculation on the end that essentially reduces it by 1-3 shots for the sake of simplicity.
 
Did my first card on Sunday but scored 129! Huge amount of that was on the green though. Went out again and shot 59 for nine holes.

I'd be over the moon with 27 to be honest; just anything less than 28!
 
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