GM Article - Handicap System Ruining Comps for Low Handicaps

[bobmac]

What did you want back?

The opportunity to have my good game of golf recognised and maybe some reward for the hard work I put in to get down to 2 h/cap
Doesn't everybody want the chance to win something?

 

[LincolnShep]

The opportunity to have my good game of golf recognised and maybe some reward for the hard work I put in to get down to 2 h/cap
Doesn't everybody want the chance to win something?

No idea what everybody wants. It's usually dangerous to assume that your feelings are shared by everyone else. I play golf because I like playing golf. I don't expect anything from it other than enjoyment and relaxation.
Presumably you got pleasure simply from being a 2-handicap, it's a measure that can identify the best golfer in any room. Each time you got a cut, did you not feel like you were winning something that carried more kudos than some pro shop credit?

 

[wjemather]

I'm not saying anything, I'm quoting the article.
And for your information, I stopped playing amateur golf because
1. I got fed up playing good golf and getting nothing back for my efforts
2. I wanted to learn how to become a better teacher so I could help people enjoy their golf more and maybe earn a few quid at the same time.

At my age and state of health, I doubt I'll be joining any golf club soon, so what clubs do with their comps won't affect me one bit.
I was just trying to answer the question in the OP

The opportunity to have my good game of golf recognised and maybe some reward for the hard work I put in to get down to 2 h/cap
Doesn't everybody want the chance to win something?

This makes it sound like you felt entitled to win handicap comps (at a grossly disproportionate rate) because of your better ability but weren't good enough (as a 2 handicap) to compete in scratch comps. To be brutally honest, this reflects the truth behind much of the complaining from some of these low(-ish) handicappers.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

When I enter a comp 9/10 I’m just looking to play good golf and enjoy myself , if I score well then it will be reflected on my handicap , if I win a prize then great , if I don’t then it’s far from the end of the world

There are some board comps that would be nice to win and I would love to win club champs but other than that playing well is the main aim

I dont think its right to dismiss someone going round in 35 points as “mediocre” golf when they have a HC of 1/2 - that’s great golf imo but its all relative to someone’s Handicap

It’s the same when I play in Opens either team or individual- it’s great to play well but winning isn’t the reason most of us enter

 

[bobmac]

No idea what everybody wants. It's usually dangerous to assume that your feelings are shared by everyone else. I play golf because I like playing golf. I don't expect anything from it other than enjoyment and relaxation.
Presumably you got pleasure simply from being a 2-handicap, it's a measure that can identify the best golfer in any room. Each time you got a cut, did you not feel like you were winning something that carried more kudos than some pro shop credit?

Absolutely.
It's a great feeling going out early, knowing you've played well and beaten par, only for frustration to creep in as the 40-45 pointers start to come in, pushing my 38 pts out of the prizes again.

This makes it sound like you felt entitled to win handicap comps (at a grossly disproportionate rate) because of your better ability but weren't good enough (as a 2 handicap) to compete in scratch comps. To be brutally honest, this reflects the truth behind much of the complaining from some of these low(-ish) handicappers.

I played in every club champs and scratch knockout as my trophy cabinet would prove but 2 comps a year isn't much to look forward to. The nett comps I would enter were purely for handicap purposes.

 

[LincolnShep]

It's a great feeling going out early, knowing you've played well and beaten par, only for frustration to creep in as the 40-45 pointers start to come in, pushing my 38 pts out of the prizes again.

If I was frustrated by losing prizes in handicap competitions, I think I'd resolve to give up the frustrations rather than give up the comps - but everyone is different.

 

[Crow]

This isn't an intended solution to this short thread but more of a thought on some people who can't compete.

To reach a low handicap, a golfer has to have been an improving golfer for quite a while, during which time they will have been strongly placed to win things as their handicap is often higher than their ability.
Anybody who can get that low must have some aptitude for the game and will so improve rapidly, again increasing their likelihood of winning prizes as they come down.
The fact that they eventually reach a plateau and stop winning things makes it easy to forget the earlier comps they won during their improving years.

Now consider the differ, there are many. They start their golf with a high handicap and make a very slow improvement over several years but never get anywhere close to single figures and in some case (probably quite a lot) they don't get their handicap below 20.
They are forever trying but their ability never gets beyond their handicap and so they have little chance of putting in a "great" score for their level at any time during their golfing "career".

Some might say, "but for them to win would be rewarding mediocrity" and maybe it would, but just a thought that not all mid handicappers are sweeping up prizes but still happily chip in with their entry fee.

 

[AussieKB]

I enter the comps here not expecting to win a nett prize no matter what I shoot, that way I don't get upset when I do shoot under par and miss out, I just mark it down as another win to the Australian Handicap System.

 

[Neilds]

Yesterday’s medal was won with a nett 66



By a 4 handicap player.
Obviously this will be forgotten later in the season when all the usual moans about high handicap players win every competition

 

[clubchamp98]

Yesterday’s medal was won with a nett 66



By a 4 handicap player.
Obviously this will be forgotten later in the season when all the usual moans about high handicap players win every competition

Ours was won by a 69 and last week 41 pts.

The scores have come down and lower caps in the frame because the rough is brutal atm.
High cappers can’t handle it. But there’s a premium for hitting the fairway now.

 

[D-S]

Thinking about it, in broad terms, handicap golf competitions reward inconsistent players.
If you are someone who is as likely to shoot net (or gross) 67 as 87 on any given day then you are more likely to be able to win.
This is more obviously more often the case in higher handicappers, hence the need for divisions.
If you are the sort of player with a small differential between your worst and best rounds, your handicap will be a better reflection of your actual ability, however it means that you will be unlikely ever to win much.
I don’t think any system can/should reward consistency (mediocrity?) but being inconsistent is the best way of being able to win.

 

[rulefan]

Thinking about it, in broad terms, handicap golf competitions reward inconsistent players.
If you are someone who is as likely to shoot net (or gross) 67 as 87 on any given day then you are more likely to be able to win.
This is more obviously more often the case in higher handicappers, hence the need for divisions.

Wouldn't the best 8 of 20 (ie gross 67s) by an inconsistent player always be reflected by a lower handicap and the gross 87s be lost in the rest of the 20? How likely are they to win net competitions off this lower handicap?

 

[D-S]

Agreed, the 8 out of 20 goes some way to mitigate it, but the more inconsistent you are say you shoot 1 67 and 19 87s in your last 20 (I know this is oddly fairly consistent golf, but you know what I mean) then you will do very well versus the person who only has a 5 or 6 shot spread over their typical worst to best scores.

 

[rulefan]

Agreed, the 8 out of 20 goes some way to mitigate it, but the more inconsistent you are say you shoot 1 67 and 19 87s in your last 20 (I know this is oddly fairly consistent golf, but you know what I mean) then you will do very well versus the person who only has a 5 or 6 shot spread over their typical worst to best scores.

I see what you mean but that is hardly inconsistent. You did say "handicap golf competitions reward inconsistent players"
Any player is just as likely to have that day in the sun. At some point in time every player will have his best score but 20 below their next best is improbable.

 

[Golfist]

Yesterday’s medal was won with a nett 66



By a 4 handicap player.
Obviously this will be forgotten later in the season when all the usual moans about high handicap players win every competition

Some people will see problems and some won’t. It’s a system based on the average difficulty, therefore, issues will be ironed out at the average and the problems will exist at the extremities. The closer you get to the average the better things will appear.

I’d like to see winning scores broken down to High Slope / High CR, High Slope / Low CR, Low Slope / High CR, Low Slope / Low CR. Then I believe we will start to see where the issues exist.