Maximum handicap to play in major competitions

[richart]

I have just been advised that my club has changed the rules re maximum handicaps for some of the major board competitions. At least five of the medal competitions had a maximum handicap of 18, and this has now been increased to 24. Also the maximum combined handicaps for foursomes competitions has been increased from 36 to 48.

Interested to hear your comments. Should clubs have a handicap restriction on some of the bigger competitions ?

I personally have no problems with the changes, but i anticipate there will be club members who will !

 

[Swinger]

87 nett 63 will happen a fair bit thats all.
You'll have to shoot 72 - 75 to have a chance of winning.
the nett 63's will be generally from fast improving golfers or the ones who just have that magical day but with over 20 shots those days are alot easier to come by! There isn't just one of them out there either.

Not sure it will bother the foursomes too much unless you have a pair of bandits as the inconsistancy of the higher handicapper should show through at several points in the round.

 

[Robobum]

Did they explain any reasoning behind it??

Are you down on numbers in your comps or something like that??

 

[Fyldewhite]

Ours is 20 limit for the major finals. Although golf is a handicap game and we all theoretically have the same chance on the first tee I feel there should always be encouragement to improve. The first step of that is getting down to a reasonable handicap and having the chance to get "on the board" which is a perfectly achievable objective for 95% of players. I accept that older players are going in the opposite direction but generally speaking they have had their chances over many years. Limits do protect the integrity of the competitions and actually make it easier to manage the handicaps of new players properly because the fear of them shooting silly scores and cutting them off at the knees is removed.

 

[richart]

Did they explain any reasoning behind it??

Are you down on numbers in your comps or something like that??

No not a problem with numbers. Golfers with handicaps over 18 can still play in the competitions, but they only receive 18 handicap. It may have put some higher handicaps off entering, but i don't think that many.

I came second in one medal competition with a net 63, and was beaten by a19 handicap, who had to play off 18 and still shot a 58 !!

Must admit the majority of our medal competitions do seem to be won by lower handicaps, which i think reflects the difficulty of the course. Our par is 69, SSS70, and usually 66/67 is a winning score. I was just very unlucky when i shot my 63, and have taken a fair bit of stick over it

 

[richart]

Ours is 20 limit for the major finals. Although golf is a handicap game and we all theoretically have the same chance on the first tee I feel there should always be encouragement to improve. The first step of that is getting down to a reasonable handicap and having the chance to get "on the board" which is a perfectly achievable objective for 95% of players. I accept that older players are going in the opposite direction but generally speaking they have had their chances over many years. Limits do protect the integrity of the competitions and actually make it easier to manage the handicaps of new players properly because the fear of them shooting silly scores and cutting them off at the knees is removed.

Juniors can play in the majority of our board competitions, and because they improve so quickly we did have a run of juniors winning with low net scores.

I remember when i was a nipper having similar success, but once you get down to single figures it is then much harder to shoot very low rounds.

A junior off 24 playing in a major board competition could be dangerous !!

 

[haplesshacker]

The only one I'm aware of at ours is the club championships. 15 or better h'cap, restricted to 48 (I think) entries. So even having a 15 h'cap doesn't ensure your entry will be successful. I have no problem with it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We have some events that are 3/4 and some with a maximum limit. These are the rules and everyone is aware of them before entering. I don't see it putting too many of our highr handicap guys off particularly the 3/4 events as its the same for everyone. However the club does redress the balance and there are a couple of events only open to players above 18 handicap

 

[Fyldewhite]

Ours is 20 limit for the major finals. Although golf is a handicap game and we all theoretically have the same chance on the first tee I feel there should always be encouragement to improve. The first step of that is getting down to a reasonable handicap and having the chance to get "on the board" which is a perfectly achievable objective for 95% of players. I accept that older players are going in the opposite direction but generally speaking they have had their chances over many years. Limits do protect the integrity of the competitions and actually make it easier to manage the handicaps of new players properly because the fear of them shooting silly scores and cutting them off at the knees is removed.

Juniors can play in the majority of our board competitions, and because they improve so quickly we did have a run of juniors winning with low net scores.

I remember when i was a nipper having similar success, but once you get down to single figures it is then much harder to shoot very low rounds.

A junior off 24 playing in a major board competition could be dangerous !!

Juniors can play in all ours but can only win if they are off single figures. Higher than that then they get the prize value but not name on trophy or board. Harsh but fair. It was same for us when we were their age !!