The Irish Trial

What isn't fair?

Is it 'unfair' to low h/c or high h/c? Views on this seem to change depending on who you are talking to.
It depends on the number of entrants and their handicaps. Could be either. This is well documented- see R&A Rules of handicapping.
Which is why it makes sense to be able to vary the allowance.
 
So this feedback was from these county officials then? Why not ask clubs what they think?
The initial decision announcement was taken with no broad consultation.
Once announced the feedback came from the Counties. Each County has a dedicated Handicap Advisor who has frequent contact with most of the clubs in their County and so has a pretty good grasp of the situation and is well placed to give appropriate feedback.
 
From what I gather, in addition to citing having insufficient information to justify a change in 2026, EG wanted to avoid making another handicap system change so soon after the last ones (that could potentially confuse golfers), hence the delay until implementation of the next major revision to WHS in 2028.
 
From what I gather, in addition to citing having insufficient information to justify a change in 2026, EG wanted to avoid making another handicap system change so soon after the last ones (that could potentially confuse golfers), hence the delay until implementation of the next major revision to WHS in 2028.
That is certainly the immediate feedback they were given back in October. It’s good that they have listened and altered their stance.
 
The initial decision announcement was taken with no broad consultation.
Once announced the feedback came from the Counties. Each County has a dedicated Handicap Advisor who has frequent contact with most of the clubs in their County and so has a pretty good grasp of the situation and is well placed to give appropriate feedback.
Well that assertion is certainly not true in the case of our club. I don’t think it would be that difficult to run a proper consultation. England golf have the email address of every Handicap Secretary in the country.

I don’t really accept the ‘confusion’ argument. It isn’t really that much of an extension to what already exists. And the reality on the ground is that allowances vary anyway, in societies for example.

I’d be surprised if this didn’t come in in 2028.
 
Well that assertion is certainly not true in the case of our club. I don’t think it would be that difficult to run a proper consultation. England golf have the email address of every Handicap Secretary in the country.

I don’t really accept the ‘confusion’ argument. It isn’t really that much of an extension to what already exists. And the reality on the ground is that allowances vary anyway, in societies for example.

I’d be surprised if this didn’t come in in 2028.
No, they don't. They only have those details for clubs that have entered them on the WHS platform (and even then it's only useful if they have kept that up to date). Being very generous, that's probably only about a third of clubs.
EG gain feedback via counties and at the various seminars that are held throughout the year.
 
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Note that this is just an EG decision, it is not known what Scotland and Wales will do at this stage.
What I find strange the Irish went ahead with the changes albeit it on a trail bases now EG saying they are not making any changes and will review it in 2028, and Scotland and Wales have yet to announce any changes.

You would have thought they would have consulted each other and implemented the same changes.
 
But that is how it worked from the outset.

Scotland applied allowances to unrounded CH. Rest of UK applied allowances to rounded CH.
Rest of UK adopted Scotland's method some years later.

Any region could possibly go their own way on some things. Rest of UK can choose to implement same variation or not some years later.

Whether it should or should not be done this way is not much of a debate worth having. It can be done this way. It was done this way at the outset.
 
But that is how it worked from the outset.

Scotland applied allowances to unrounded CH. Rest of UK applied allowances to rounded CH.
Rest of UK adopted Scotland's method some years later.

Any region could possibly go their own way on some things. Rest of UK can choose to implement same variation or not some years later.

Whether it should or should not be done this way is not much of a debate worth having. It can be done this way. It was done this way at the outset.
It’s to fragmented as it is now and doesn’t help giving confidence to how this has been handled.
I thought the whole idea of whs was to unify the game
 
It’s to fragmented as it is now and doesn’t help giving confidence to how this has been handled.
I thought the whole idea of whs was to unify the game
Was it not to make your h/c more transferable? Between different courses and also different countries.

I'd argue the system is easier to understand than the previous h/c system but I'm not sure that was the key purpose.
 
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