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Should any man be given more than one shot per hole?

I wouldn't be against the stableford cap tbh, as long as it applied right through the handicaps.

I'd probably still play golf if I had to play gross scores only, but millions wouldn't.

Cheers

Steve...
 
Many moons ago it was 24, why it went to 28 gawd only knows? If you need that many strokes to achieve nett par why not.

Maximum 24 when I started, and never understood why it was increased rather than reduced. Other sports if you are a beginner or not got natural talent you get beaten. Golf must be the only sport where as an improving beginner you are actually more likely to win competitions.

Nothing personal against the high handicaps on here, but when I started playing tennis again I got thumped every time I played, but it made me more determined to get better, practice more, and eventually I beat the ones who thumped me.
 
I don't see a problem with men getting two shots on a hole, handicaps are based on ability and they must need these extra shots.
The only people who seem to get upset by this are single figure golfers, they have as said before less margin for error and any mistake can be costly in matchplay against the high handicapper.
As for 3/4 handicaps again I don't see the need for it as if the single figure golfer plays any where near his handicap he should in theory win.
 
My father in law's Society handicap has risen to 42 , so on 6 holes, he gets 3 shots, 2 on the rest

But then again, he is awful :-)

But it enables him to play against other golfers , so whats the problem

Fragger
 
I dont think that 18 should be the maximum handicap, but i would like to see it as a start point for new members.
that way they cant come into a club, hand in three cards, get 28 and then shoot 50 points.
What I would like to see, which I realise wont/cant happen, is that you are given 18 when you join, the after say 3 comps, you get it readjusted, not by .1, but maybe if your scores or low, you go to say 21? but maybe you find you think your way round better and you manage 18. Obviously if your scores keep low, the you can get further reviews the take you out to a maximum handicap.
 
So what is it a measure of then?

Ash!!

Taken from the bbc website

he 18 holes on a course are generally ranked according to how hard they are using the stroke index.
Usually this means that the hardest hole on a course will be stroke index one and the easiest, stroke index 18.
But, as with many things in golf, it is more complicated than that.
Put simply, the stroke index works in parallel to the handicap.
So if you have a handicap of 14, you should subtract one shot from your gross score at the holes which have been designated as stroke index one to 14.
If you have a handicap of more than 18, there will be some holes at which you can take more than one shot.
For instance with a handicap of 24, you should take two shots at holes with stroke index one to six (18 + 6 = 24).
Although holes are rated by difficulty, the even spread of the stroke index is the most important factor.
If you look at a card the odd numbered stroke index holes will be allocated to the harder of the two sets of nine holes on the course.
There are other factors for deciding the stroke index. You can see these at the English Golf Union's website.
 
Haha, cheers fella.

Although I think I might well be that butterfly! :)

Ash!!

Taken from the golf union website as well

Clubs and members alike should be aware that Stroke Index is not determined on hole difficulty but on ensuring an equal distribution of strokes is given/received in a match play competition.
 
Taken from the golf union website as well

Clubs and members alike should be aware that Stroke Index is not determined on hole difficulty but on ensuring an equal distribution of strokes is given/received in a match play competition.

I never knew it was really related to equal distribution of strokes.

However, like my first post says, there are 18 stroke indexes according to difficulty so why have more than 18 strokes?

Or maybe it should have read: there are 18 stroke indexes distributed equally so why have more than 18 shots?

:)

Who's pulling who's chain now? lol

Ash!!
 
I never knew it was really related to equal distribution of strokes.

However, like my first post says, there are 18 stroke indexes so why have more than 18 strokes?

:)

Who's pulling who's chain now? lol

Ash!!

Why have any??? although I cant play to 40 let alone 18 lol
 
Anyway, I was thinking of getting some white Footjoy MyJoys with E=MC2 but didn't want to start a debate on how relative that is to handicaps.
 
I dont think that 18 should be the maximum handicap, but i would like to see it as a start point for new members.
that way they cant come into a club, hand in three cards, get 28 and then shoot 50 points.
What I would like to see, which I realise wont/cant happen, is that you are given 18 when you join, the after say 3 comps, you get it readjusted, not by .1, but maybe if your scores or low, you go to say 21? but maybe you find you think your way round better and you manage 18. Obviously if your scores keep low, the you can get further reviews the take you out to a maximum handicap.
I agree with starting handicap of 18 with new menbers (1st year) reviewed up or down after every 6 qualifying comps & you work your way up/down, then and you will eventualy find your level, the incentive is there to play in comps then good or bad .. i doesnt bother me what anybody else plays off as i play golf for me , & to get as low as i can .. in match play how about a max of 18 shots given ..? with say guy off 1 playing guy off 22 , 1 goes to 0 22 goes to 18.. 2 shots on a hole in matchplay is hard to peg back , i have no objection to people having high handicap if thats their true level as it would be with over 90% high h'cap of golfers.. anyone playing off a false high handicap will be found out & other members will know your a cheat, whether thats a 24 that should be 18 or a 6 thats playing off 10..
 
it was not that long ago (well compared with the life cycle of a glacier - apt as that's also the pace of the thinkers at CONGU) that handicaps in excess of 100 were not uncommon.
there was a full handicap comp in the US (where else) where one of the very top pro's (can't remember who but it might have been Hogan - memory fade!) was beaten into 7,012th place by, among others, a woman playing off 104. the rules of the comp were that each played a single round on any course of their choice, the pro playing a championship course; he made par.
 
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