Got My Handicap... Confused and Happy

Region3

Region3

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I handed the last of my 3 cards in a week ago today so popped in on my way home from work to see if I'd been given a h'cap yet.

My 3 cards were...

83 off yellows (sss 70) with one triple. I make that +12
84 off the whites (sss 72) nothing worse than dbl. I make that +12
87 off the yellows, one triple. I reckon +16.

So in my mind, my 3 cards were +12, +12, +16.

What did I get given?





11


I don't mind because I was hoping to be around 10 before I started playing my qualifying rounds, but I'm a little confused why it isn't what I expected from how I've read it works.

Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is that on my membership form I said I played off 10 when I was last a member of a club 20+ years ago.

Anyway, there was the entry sheet for this months medal on the board with a closing date of tomorrow, so I entered. My first competition in over 20 years, and I'm looking forward to it like a teenager again! (even though I'm not eligible to win anything due to not playing in 3 comps in the last year).
 
Never been a great one for how handicaps work. I put my three cards in at the new Royal Ascot course which were 98,99 and 100 (honestly I was trying) off the whites (SSS 70) in filthy winter conditions including gale force winds for the 100 and flooded greens for the 99 (I genuinely hacked for the 98) and was expecting around 22. I got 20 and thought that was generous but I was told it was because I had been off between 9 and 14 when I was a former member when the course was in the middle of the racecourse. My argument was that was five years earlier and the other course was much shorter and a lower SSS. In the end I managed to get down rapidly to 14 picking up the odd medal and stableford win so it evened itself out.

Good luck in your competition but don't try too hard or force it if it goes astray. Enjoy it, enjoy meeting new members and just think of your handicap as a work in progress.
 
Sounds about right to me. You can clearly shoot in the mid/low 80's and that's with bad holes on your card.

You shouldn't expect to shoot your handicap every time you play (once in every 5 or 6 rounds) unless you are in a rich vein of form and your handicap is on the way down because you have practiced until your fingers bled :D
 
I want it to be as low as possible really. I think I'd be embarrassed winning a comp off what I thought was too high a handicap.
I will get much more pleasure out of having a lower handicap and being able to play to it.

I understand that you should have to play well to play to your handicap, and I think I can (maybe delusionally) play to single figures, which is what my goal is.

Hopefully, even though I'm much older now and the body doesn't flex as much as it used to, I can improve quite a bit since I've only been playing again for about 3 months after a 20+ year layoff.

Better change my sig now :)
 
When I signed CVG's cards for his handicap the best one was +15. We were expecting him to get a 15 but he was given 14.5??
Far greater minds than mine must have worked this one out but I can't see it.......
 
83 off yellows (sss 70) with one triple. I make that +12
84 off the whites (sss 72) nothing worse than dbl. I make that +12
87 off the yellows, one triple. I reckon +16.

So in my mind, my 3 cards were +12, +12, +16.
Click to expand...

Mate!! you and I need to talk... :D :D

Your best card was an 83 (with a triple) off yellow scratch of 70 = 12 over discounting the triple.
Your card off white was 84, nowt worse than double = 12 over SSS

The last/other card is irrelevant. Don't go there...

If I was looking at these two cards, I'd put you off 11 also. 12 is the starting figure, and I'd adjust you down a little to take into account previous playing history.

My best card when I did mine was 14 over SSS. I managed the back 9 in 3 over par. My previous best h'cap was 8.4 in 1997. They put me off 11.5

10 would have been harsh, 12 would have been "correct" but 11 seems spot on to me.

What did you want (really?)....more or less.
 
Honestly I wanted less, which is why I'm confused and happy as per the title.

I just looked back at the cards (on ss2) and the 83 was 44/39 so maybe that's the reason.

The worst part of my game with such a long layoff is my putting. The 83 and 84 had 38 & 40 putts respectively.

I used to be an 'ok' putter, so if I put the practice in I'm sure (he says trying to sound confident) I can knock a few shots off.
 
They will have taken your lowest card (83=+12) turned your triple into a double, and thats how you got 11


Simples ;)
Click to expand...

What he said, when I put my 3 cards in I had 91, 98 and 80. The 80 included a triple at the 2nd, course SSS is 71, was up to 72 at the time of the 80 and I got given 7 !!!!
 
I don't know how I got my 12 then?
My "best" card was a gross 78 to a par of 70 played off the blue tees which don't have their own SSS shown on the card.
SSS is 68 off the yellows, 70 off the whites, and the blue tees are somewhere in between with most of them being on the same "patch of turf" as the whites.
My other two cards showed me scoring 36 & 37 points (off a hyperthetical (sp?) 12 handicap) played off the same tees.



:D :D :D :D :D
 
Sounds a wee bit random but I'm sure you'd rather be off 11 than 12, eh?

I think Birdieman is a handicap secretary . He'll know.
Click to expand...

I am and I do allocate handicaps. It's not an exact science, the way you've worked the 12 out is what I would have done and I'd have put you off 12 unless I knew some history of your game i.e. you used to play off 4 etc. Once allocated their handicap if a player puts in a nett score well under CSS I'll go by the tables for their cut but if they put in a very low one twice in succession then I'd be looking carefully at cutting them further than the tables. It's all about getting players on a level playing field.
Once players have put a few cards in their handicap will generally sort itself out.
 
Not to sure how yours was calculated Smiffy, but this has been lifted straight from the CONGU website.


Having satisfied the requirements for membership of a Club, CONGU® requires that to get a handicap a player must submit cards from at least three rounds, marked by a person approved by the Club. The rounds must be played at that Club over 18 holes of, preferably, a measured course. The Club will then adjust the returned scores, so that a lady never records more than 3 over par and a man never more than 2 over par on any individual hole. The cards are then assessed and the club allocates a CONGU® handicap based on the amount the lowest score returned exceeds the Standard Scratch Score of the course played (after taking into account other factors it considers relevant).


Note that it's "based" on the lowest score returned...
 
The worst part of my game with such a long layoff is my putting. The 83 and 84 had 38 & 40 putts respectively.
Click to expand...

Everything being equal, an 11 H/Cap player would normally be expecting to take around 30 - 32 putts a round on average. Sort out your short game (to avoid leaving those 3 putts) and improve your putting and you will be playing off 5 or 6 in no time :D :D :D
 
I had 33 putts for the 87, and my average is around 34.

The reason for so many putts on the 83 & 84 is that I hit more greens than normal (11 on both rounds) so was further away on average for my first putt.

I agree I need to sort it out though. I'm not bad from 10' in, but as soon as I have to judge pace and distance I really struggle.
 
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