Swango1980
Well-known member
When I took over as handicap secretary last year, I was a little surprised at how casually certain things were done. For example, it was not uncommon for players to put cards in clearly after they had a good round (or being forced to by players around them). I know this is not a one off, as I know of one club locally who, after the social weekend comps players are demanded they hand in cards if they get a good score, but not if they shoot a bad score.
Anyway, I've found myself having to explain to numerous people that they can't just hand in cards AFTER the round only if it is a good score. This includes a player bordering on Cat 1 / Cat 2, who desperately wants to stay in Cat 1 to play in some of the more prestigious events in the County (although, also told him he can't hand them in anyway once he is in Cat 1, he has already got his "c" status).
However, in terms of Supplementary Cards, I haven't yet settled on a fool proof method of ensuring players sign in for their round before they go out. So, basically players (and only a handful put in supplementary cards) just put cards in to the box, and when I get up there I process them. I basically have to trust is was a legitimate round, and they were going to submit the card regardless of score (a bit like a member handing in their 3 cards for initial handicap). If I suspect this is not the case based on my own instinct, I'll ask the player.
Is there any fool proof method (or virtually fool proof) in which a handicap secretary can be almost certain that a player has registered before the round? I'm sure a lot of clubs have a book at the pro shop to register. We could do that, but the problem is we have nobody that works at the club that knows anything about golf, even the owner. We don't have a pro that works continually at the shop, and so it is just the bar staff that come and go. So, if a player was the type who only submitted their score AFTER the round, then they could quite easily sign into the book and just put an earlier sign in time, and nobody would be any the wiser. We have Club V1 and I note that you can use the terminal to sign in for supplementary rounds. Is this any better (i.e. I doubt you can falsify the Sign In time?). I suppose my only other thought is, I could request that players e-mail me directly before the round, although that is not exactly user friendly.
Ultimately, I'm usually happy to trust the intent of the players, and try to get the message across continually that you can't just put in a card in after you know what you scored (some players innocently simply don't realise this, especially inexperienced players). But, the reason why I need to get a handle on it is, when WHS comes in, I don't want to suddenly see a huge amount of cards start coming in (as players think they need to hand them in), but finding a load of players will simply rip them up if the score is not what they want. Also, given that Cat 1 players have no more restrictions, and in relation to another post I commented in, I'd be worried that the more elite golfers could take advantage of not having to sign in, and easily falsifying a sign in time. Perhaps, if I cannot find a fool proof method to guarantee a player has registered before the round, I could at least have a backstop policy by stating, at our club, if your handicap index is below, say 5.0, then I need to be contacted directly before round, whether it be my e-mail, text, etc.
Anyway, I've found myself having to explain to numerous people that they can't just hand in cards AFTER the round only if it is a good score. This includes a player bordering on Cat 1 / Cat 2, who desperately wants to stay in Cat 1 to play in some of the more prestigious events in the County (although, also told him he can't hand them in anyway once he is in Cat 1, he has already got his "c" status).
However, in terms of Supplementary Cards, I haven't yet settled on a fool proof method of ensuring players sign in for their round before they go out. So, basically players (and only a handful put in supplementary cards) just put cards in to the box, and when I get up there I process them. I basically have to trust is was a legitimate round, and they were going to submit the card regardless of score (a bit like a member handing in their 3 cards for initial handicap). If I suspect this is not the case based on my own instinct, I'll ask the player.
Is there any fool proof method (or virtually fool proof) in which a handicap secretary can be almost certain that a player has registered before the round? I'm sure a lot of clubs have a book at the pro shop to register. We could do that, but the problem is we have nobody that works at the club that knows anything about golf, even the owner. We don't have a pro that works continually at the shop, and so it is just the bar staff that come and go. So, if a player was the type who only submitted their score AFTER the round, then they could quite easily sign into the book and just put an earlier sign in time, and nobody would be any the wiser. We have Club V1 and I note that you can use the terminal to sign in for supplementary rounds. Is this any better (i.e. I doubt you can falsify the Sign In time?). I suppose my only other thought is, I could request that players e-mail me directly before the round, although that is not exactly user friendly.
Ultimately, I'm usually happy to trust the intent of the players, and try to get the message across continually that you can't just put in a card in after you know what you scored (some players innocently simply don't realise this, especially inexperienced players). But, the reason why I need to get a handle on it is, when WHS comes in, I don't want to suddenly see a huge amount of cards start coming in (as players think they need to hand them in), but finding a load of players will simply rip them up if the score is not what they want. Also, given that Cat 1 players have no more restrictions, and in relation to another post I commented in, I'd be worried that the more elite golfers could take advantage of not having to sign in, and easily falsifying a sign in time. Perhaps, if I cannot find a fool proof method to guarantee a player has registered before the round, I could at least have a backstop policy by stating, at our club, if your handicap index is below, say 5.0, then I need to be contacted directly before round, whether it be my e-mail, text, etc.
