Resolving stroke play ties

2 players with a Course Handicap of 10 and 11 playing a Medal Comp and their scores are equal. There could be 0.1 difference in their HI. Which player deserves to win and I know these are the rules which everyone should be aware of.

This can go, and probably will, on and on.
 
3offTheTee said:
2 players with a Course Handicap of 10 and 11 playing a Medal Comp and their scores are equal. There could be 0.1 difference in their HI. Which player deserves to win and I know these are the rules which everyone should be aware of.

This can go, and probably will, on and on.
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Neither, by the rules of the game it’s a tie and that’s just fine.
 
rulie said:
Mid-high handicappers will win handicap events more often because there are generally more of them competing, and the probability is that the winner will come from from the most populous group of players.
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And in spite of Imurg's point above - which was possibly assisted by shortened course, even with less run - it's 'easier' for 'improving' mid-high cappers to have 'exceptional' rounds than it is for, say, very low cappers. This time of year can also can also produce 'exceptional' results for them too - even with WHS.
 
Liverpoolphil said:
I enter every board comp - which is about 15 i think plus another 20 plus medals etc - field is around 120-130 each time

I won my last one when I played off 5 and as I said haven’t got a chance “now” since the arrival of WHS.

We have asked for a gross prize and been told no but they did create a “mid handicap” KO - even though the mid handicappers win the main club KO each year.

We have two scratch comps - club champs and a KO - outside that then it’s mid to high handicaps winning each week.

There is a feeling that each comp at most clubs the mid handicap has the best chance of winning yet everyone plays in it
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I will agree that the WHS has moved the dial, but the evidence from my clubs is it has merely served to reduce the gap in prize winnings. I do though suspect that when there is more statistical data available it will show that winning for low handicap players is now harder than for old Cat 2's & 3's, but no harder than for long-standing 4's & 5's. The truth is, and will always be so improving players have the best chance of winning, and we all improved quickest when we first got into the game.

If there are sufficient numbers of you that would like to see more gross competitions have you thought about asking the club to instigate an entry fee for those that wish to take part alongside the net events.
 
DaveR said:
I checked our results back to start of 2020. A monthly medal and stableford plus various other singles competitions so about 40 singles comps in total. 5 were won by single figure players, vast majority won by teens and a couple by guys in the 20's
We have over 50 Cat 1 players as were.
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Again nowhere near enough information to draw any conclusion.
 
Whilst I agree with the purist intent of Colin's original post, I can live with countback on the basis that it rewards somebody who may have had a poor start and then focussed and got things together, vs somebody who has cruised in and protected a score. Shotgun and two tee starts I don't agree with countback.
 
Canfordhacker said:
Whilst I agree with the purist intent of Colin's original post, I can live with countback on the basis that it rewards somebody who may have had a poor start and then focussed and got things together, vs somebody who has cruised in and protected a score. Shotgun and two tee starts I don't agree with countback.
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Thanks for recognising the purist in me, but that's just another Fred and Barney situation. There is a multitude of different ways in which two players can compile identical scores each of which you could argue should be rewarded for some reason or another.

I think I will rest content that no-one has come remotely near convincing me that a countback has anything to do with golfing ability. I won't be as blunt as Salfordlad and say that anyone who believes it to be other than arbitrary is delusional - but they are kidding themselves. :)
 
Colin L said:
Thanks for recognising the purist in me, but that's just another Fred and Barney situation. There is a multitude of different ways in which two players can compile identical scores each of which you could argue should be rewarded for some reason or another.

I think I will rest content that no-one has come remotely near convincing me that a countback has anything to do with golfing ability. I won't be as blunt as Salfordlad and say that anyone who believes it to be other than arbitrary is delusional - but they are kidding themselves. :)
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Your right Colin, although I quite like countback to decide ties (mainly because we have always done that at our club, so we know the rules before teeing off), I do agree it has nothing to do with one player playing relatively better than another, but happy to keep it that way until someone comes up with a better way of doing it, which nobody has convinced me yet
 
Steve Wilkes said:
Your right Colin, although I quite like countback to decide ties (mainly because we have always done that at our club, so we know the rules before teeing off), I do agree it has nothing to do with one player playing relatively better than another, but happy to keep it that way until someone comes up with a better way of doing it, which nobody has convinced me yet
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1st Equals. That's the way. But countbacks are too well entrenched - which takes me back to the sure and certain knowledge of the futility of farting against thunder.

Thanks for a great discussion, folks.
 
I think there is a better way but some people won’t like it. You could run an 18 (or any n) play-off as a simulation using the tied players’ WHS history and the (controversial bit) concept of most likely score weighted with the tied scores of the day.

It would be more representative of playing abilities but I suspect the outcome would generally be that the lower handicap player would win most of the time.

Although more representative of individual ability it won’t have the same perceived fairness of flipping a coin.

One for the future generations I think.
 
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