Medals in Winter?

[patricks148]

I noticed there are a lot of guys on here going on about having a medal this weekend etc, over the last couple of months. Can't understand how you could have a handicap counting competition in the middle of winter. None of the clubs I've been a member of up here ever have a counting comp after the end Oct or before the end of March.
How can you be playing for you handicap when you are not playing from the medal tee's and are off winter greens. The club I was at last year ran a winter league but doesn't count as a medal as you could put 3 cards in a week for the eclectic. I've only ever played in a medal on full course and greens from the medal tee's. Does your club run medals in winter. Surly you cannot be expected to play for your handicap in the middle of winter?

 

[Oddsocks]

Patrick, we just had our january medal, full course off white tee's. The only hole cut short was our 3rd by 20 yards due to a matt being in play. every other hole was right back on the whites too.

I would have likes them to bring the whites forward to the front of the white tee boxes to give the back of the tee's in the shade some rest, but nope, full course off the whites. Considering a tripple on our 1st and 3 doubles in the middle i was happy with a gross 86 only 3 over h/c too, the course was challenging.

 

[jammydodger]

We dont have qualifiers between October time and beginning of April , however we do run medals and stableford comps. Theyre just non-qualifiers thats all

 

[HawkeyeMS]

We play off the medal tees and use the proper greens, that's how.

Why should you not play medals in winter if the course is open and playable? Yes it's wetter, yes you get a few more bobbles on the greens but these aren't reasons not to play for your h'cap. Scoring was generally poor on Sunday but one fella shot 79 off 12 and got a cut of 1.4.

Golf is played against the course and conditions, get out the and play

What do you want, perfect conditions?

 

[patricks148]

No i don't expect perfect conditions, just not to play when courses are either frozen or soaked. TBH i rarely get to play in perfect conditions though the summer. Just don't see the point in going up 0.1 when greens would be frozen along with the rest of the course. We just don't get that up here. Plenty of people play in winter just not for their handicap.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

That's fair enough and I imagine winter up there is a tad worse than down here.

I can understand not wanting to play medals in some conditions, what I don't get is the blanket "no qualifiers in winter" mentality. There are many weekends between october and April when conditions are fine so why not play a qualifier?

It wouldn't be hard for most places to aim to play qualifiers and then make a decision on the day if things are frozen or waterlogged.

 

[Oddsocks]

We play off the medal tees and use the proper greens, that's how.

Why should you not play medals in winter if the course is open and playable? Yes it's wetter, yes you get a few more bobbles on the greens but these aren't reasons not to play for your h'cap. Scoring was generally poor on Sunday but one fella shot 79 off 12 and got a cut of 1.4.

Golf is played against the course and conditions, get out the and play

What do you want, perfect conditions?

im with you here.

surely why not adjust the CSS/SSS accordingly during the winter, thus making the competitive golf season 10/11 months instead of 7

 

[chrisd]

surely why not adjust the CSS/SSS accordingly during the winter, thus making the competitive golf season 10/11 months instead of 7

What!! and make the lazy gits known as Club Secretaries actually do some work - revolutionery idea though!

 

[vig]

Our winter tees are generally further back than normal medal tees. Therefore course plays longer. Still a lottery with ground conditions.
Got HDID notification that I finished 8th this Sunday, played like a tw@t and blobbed a few so what does that tell you ??

 

[rickg]

I've played some of my best golf this winter. The following gross scores were recorded off full tees and greens in Qualifiers: (Par 71)

October: 75, 78

November: 72, 77

Jan: 77

I've left off my higher scores during this period, but it shows that you can score well as long as the course is playable.

We have up to 11 Qualifiers in the Winter each month if the course is open:

Weekly medal ( Wednesdays) = 4
Mixed Medal (1st Monday) = 1
Mid Month stableford = 1
Monthly medal = 1
Winter League (Sat or Sun) = 4

Total = 11

I guess we are lucky to have a course that seems to be more playable than others together with a Committee that believes in laying on a lot of competitions.

 

[Region3]

That is a lot. I reckon I missed maybe 10-15 qualifiers all Summer and I only played in 16.

I'd love it if there were 10 or so a month.

 

[rickg]

That is a lot. I reckon I missed maybe 10-15 qualifiers all Summer and I only played in 16.

I'd love it if there were 10 or so a month.

Easy....Move house!!

 

[goldenbare]

we have a winter league, a stableford comp of 9 or so rounds with best 6 to count. If rounds are lost to the weather the number of best rounds is also adjusted.
We missed the first 2 rounds before xmas because of the weather but played last sat in reasonable weather, proper greens and comp tees. Those played on the proper course are qualifiers, if temps are used they are not.
As ours is not a long course it is often easier on a benign autumn or winter day as the rough is a lot shorter than the summer and any loose drive is usable playable which is definitely not the case in the summer.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We play competitions throughout the year but usually switch to stablefords only for December and January. Like Hawkeye, our course is usually fully open (only temps for frost and not mats) and our handicap secretary is pretty adept at sorting out the CSS for comps without any fuss

 

[brendy]

Due to being where we are our area suffers frosty greens quite often through the winter so the shortened course murders any chances of medals. The only regret I have but then again no other local club can deal with it either without going 15 miles or so.

 

[richart]

We play competitions throughout the year but usually switch to stablefords only for December and January. Like Hawkeye, our course is usually fully open (only temps for frost and not mats) and our handicap secretary is pretty adept at sorting out the CSS for comps without any fuss

Same with us although we seem to be going the medal route. One tomorrow and Thursday. So tempting to take time off work, but must resist. Our yellow tees are only slightly in front of the majority of white tees, and SSS is usually only one less. No mats, but we do go on to temps if there is a frost.

 

[Paul_Stewart]

I don't play qualifiers during the winter for all the reasons people have said about random conditions etc. I'll still play but this is time to work on your swing on the range.

I don't mind going up 0.1 when I play badly but not when I didn't really have a fair chance in the first place.