New Competition "rule" to reduce the impact of "new handicaps"

[IanM]

Just had a letter from the Club's Competition Committee to say that from 1st March, to be eligible to win any silverware event or claim any winnings in any club competition you must have 20 cards registered in your playing record.

Our formal comps stop at the end of September, we then move to informal "Pro Shop Swindles"... these never used to be qualifying, I suspect with the Winter Course measured, they now could be. The opportunity and practice to lodge "Gen play scores" was re-iterated in the email.

I wonder if this has come from County or Wales Golf, as we haven't had too many nutty scores from new improving players. In general,

Anyone else seem similar??

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Good example of WHS allowing 'everyone to compete on a fair and equal basis'

 

[ger147]

Just had a letter from the Club's Competition Committee to say that from 1st March, to be eligible to win any silverware event or claim any winnings in any club competition you must have 20 cards registered in your playing record.

Our formal comps stop at the end of September, we then move to informal "Pro Shop Swindles"... these never used to be qualifying, I suspect with the Winter Course measured, they now could be. The opportunity and practice to lodge "Gen play scores" was re-iterated in the email.

I wonder if this has come from County or Wales Golf, as we haven't had too many nutty scores from new improving players. In general,

Anyone else seem similar??

So do you get free entry to all competitions if you have less than 20 scores on your record, seen as you can't win any of your money back with a good score?

 

[IanM]

So do you get free entry to all competitions if you have less than 20 scores on your record, seen as you can't win any of your money back with a good score?

Yes... you do. You can play in any event to register a score only.

Good example of WHS allowing 'everyone to compete on a fair and equal basis'

Actually, someone with their handicap based on 3 cards isn't anything like as "equal" as someone with over 20, as evidenced at some length in the other thread, so I think that is fine. Especially if explained properly to new players.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Good example of WHS allowing 'everyone to compete on a fair and equal basis'

is it “equal and fair” when someone has their handicap based off 20 cards and someone has it based of 3 ?

In the Prem WHS days it was 3 cards for everyone - no its not as simple as that

I can see the reasons why and people can just put in general play cards now easily

 

[Deleted member 3432]

Actually, someone with their handicap based on 3 cards isn't anything like as "equal" as someone with over 20, as evidenced at some length in the other thread, so I think that is fine. Especially if explained properly to new players.

I agree its not not equal but then I don't believe 20 scores is equal either from what I've seen 1st hand on my own course this season.

Crack on is what I say and some handicaps will improve and some will never get any better just like the rest of us.

 

[ger147]

Yes... you do. You can play in any event to register a score only.



Actually, someone with their handicap based on 3 cards isn't anything like as "equal" as someone with over 20, as evidenced at some length in the other thread, so I think that is fine. Especially if explained properly to new players.

Is there any requirement for the 20 cards to be "recent", or a certain number of them to be within a certain recent period? In the new WHS world, you keep your handicap forever (as long as you remain a member) so it's perfectly possible for someone to have 20 scores on their record but may not have put a score in at all in the previous 12 months for example. Are they looking at that too? After all, someone who regularly submits cards and has done so and for an extended period and continues to do so is not equivalent to someone who has 20 scores on their record and the most recent could be 12+ months ago.

 

[IanM]

The rest of the email mentioned the old minimum requirement of 3 cards a year and reminded members of their responsibility to enter cards regularly, the wording in WHS and the functionality within Master-Scoreboard and the Wales Golf App. It also mentioned that regular reviews of who was entering scores and who wasnt were in progress. We don't really have the issue of folk who clean up in matchplay, rarely being seen in medals.

I asked the question if any other clubs were doing similar, as I was not aware of a comp being won at our place with a mad score and big (newly given) handicap.

 

[ger147]

The rest of the email mentioned the old minimum requirement of 3 cards a year and reminded members of their responsibility to enter cards regularly, the wording in WHS and the functionality within Master-Scoreboard and the Wales Golf App. It also mentioned that regular reviews of who was entering scores and who wasnt were in progress. We don't really have the issue of folk who clean up in matchplay, rarely being seen in medals.

I asked the question if any other clubs were doing similar, as I was not aware of a comp being won at our place with a mad score and big (newly given) handicap.

Not seen it anywhere else I've been. We don't have issues at our place re. new players winning comps with silly scores. All our comps are in Divisions and in Scotland, by and large we don't really have the concept of board comps.

The only issue that has cropped up at ours is Texas Scramble comps. We have had a few belters, best one so far, our Texas Scramble Open was last Saturday and the winning score was 46

 

[IanM]

Not seen it anywhere else I've been. We don't have issues at our place re. new players winning comps with silly scores. All our comps are in Divisions and in Scotland, by and large we don't really have the concept of board comps.

The only issue that has cropped up at ours is Texas Scramble comps. We have had a few belters, best one so far, our Texas Scramble Open was last Saturday and the winning score was 46

When scores start exceeding stableford points, it's time to panic!

 

[ger147]

When scores start exceeding stableford points, it's time to panic!

We are a Par 70 and only have 2 Par 5's, so to beat 46 gross you would need to eagle both Par 5's as well as 5 of the Par 4's, with birdies at the rest of course.

Not sure the top 4 off the PGA tour could manage that, which might explain why I was on the other 18 holes and doing a general play round...

 

[wjemather]

Just had a letter from the Club's Competition Committee to say that from 1st March, to be eligible to win any silverware event or claim any winnings in any club competition you must have 20 cards registered in your playing record.

Our formal comps stop at the end of September, we then move to informal "Pro Shop Swindles"... these never used to be qualifying, I suspect with the Winter Course measured, they now could be. The opportunity and practice to lodge "Gen play scores" was re-iterated in the email.

I wonder if this has come from County or Wales Golf, as we haven't had too many nutty scores from new improving players. In general,

Anyone else seem similar??

I am currently looking at something similar for our knockouts and trophy/board comps for next year.

However, requiring 20 scores seems a bit extreme and just excludes newer golfers for an excessive period of time - it would take most people months to put that many scores in; longer if their regular golf is not acceptable (team play, gimmes, etc.). From what I've seen, at 6-8 scores the handicap index starts to settle down a bit, so that would be sufficient. Requiring a certain number of scores from the previous 12 months makes more sense, in order to ensure handicaps at least somewhat reflect recent ability.

 

[IanM]

I could live with that! I think our club have the vast majority putting in lots of cards... Does the database give a breakdown of the sort of info you'd need for this..

 

[wjemather]

I could live with that! I think our club have the vast majority putting in lots of cards... Does the database give a breakdown of the sort of info you'd need for this..

There is a "handicap change report" on the England Golf system that includes the number of scores returned in the specified (configurable) period. Since Wales Golf use the same dotgolf platform, I would assume they have the same or similar reports configured.

 

[GB72]

My issue would be that, when I start playing again I will have no cards and stopped playing before WHS. I can play maybe once a week and so I would need to play for over 5 months just to be able to win competitions. For practical reasons it takes some people quite a while to put 20 cards in, that is nearly a season of golf for some people.

 

[jim8flog]

My issue would be that, when I start playing again I will have no cards and stopped playing before WHS. I can play maybe once a week and so I would need to play for over 5 months just to be able to win competitions. For practical reasons it takes some people quite a while to put 20 cards in, that is nearly a season of golf for some people.

Any scores recorded since from January 2018 are part of your WHS record.

 

[fundy]

Any scores recorded since from January 2018 are part of your WHS record.

I have 0 cards from since that date due to injuries (but 25+ years of handicap record from before), when/if i join a club again and they want 20 new rounds for a "valid" handicap then i wont be joining thats for sure. Get a handicap system that works or allocate me one that you think is too low, but basically not allowing me to compete in comps would be enough to ensure I find a more welcoming club

 

[2blue]

At our place, to get your name on a Trophy or Board you need to have played in at least 5 Competitions in the past 12 months...... though you can win the cash. It's working well.

 

[A.J.]

Just signed up to the forum after being a long time lurker. Feel like this topic could apply to me at some point so wanted to get involved.

Brief outline of my circumstances. I am a returning player after about 20 years away from the game (was +1 h'cap when membership lapsed), and have not had a h'cap since. I intend to join my local course in the new year and eventually play open events if I find I can still play to a reasonable standard (mainly mid-ams).

Obviously I will need to gain a fresh h'cap when I join as my previous play will be too far back to take info from.

So I guess my question is, do you think this could become the norm, and am I likely to be treated suspiciously if I enter open events with only a handful of rounds in my history? Or if I'll even be allowed to enter?

Many thanks.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Just signed up to the forum after being a long time lurker. Feel like this topic could apply to me at some point so wanted to get involved.

Brief outline of my circumstances. I am a returning player after about 20 years away from the game (was +1 h'cap when membership lapsed), and have not had a h'cap since. I intend to join my local course in the new year and eventually play open events if I find I can still play to a reasonable standard (mainly mid-ams).

Obviously I will need to gain a fresh h'cap when I join as my previous play will be too far back to take info from.

So I guess my question is, do you think this could become the norm, and am I likely to be treated suspiciously if I enter open events with only a handful of rounds in my history? Or if I'll even be allowed to enter?

Many thanks.

If you have a handicap, a CDH number, then you will be fine. I suspect this is more for internal club comps than Opens. Opens are starting to limit the maximum handicap but even allowing for 20yrs away from the game I doubt you will be getting a 54 h/c if you were +1 before.