WHS - current GM article

[Teebs]

Interesting view point from a low handicap..

Why The World Handicap System Has Ruined Golf For Low Handicappers

Single figure golfer Carly Frost says the World Handicap System has caused a sensational and unpopular shake-up of handicaps

www.golfmonthly.com

 

[Backsticks]

Throw in a few prejudices, lack of research or analysis, a dollop of anecdote, and clichéd rant writes itself.

 

[Tashyboy]

A very good honest read. One in which many golfers I play with can relate to.

 

[Captain_Black.]

As I've argued on here .
It's ruined golf for anyone under 15 or so h/c
The vast majority, if not all of those lower h/c players are the ones who really care about their game, work hard at it, take great pride in playing great golf are effectively getting cast aside in favour of the choppers & hackers.
Terrible.

 

[IanM]

There are several things in there that many have said on here since "the wonderful new system" came in.

 

[IanMcC]

Typical sensationalism from GM. Best thing about it is this forum.
She sounds like a whizz at parties...............no, maybe not!

 

[Orikoru]

Some truth in it I think although exaggerated. I do feel sorry for low handicap players having to play Stablefords every week and needing a course record to compete. I think there should be more gross prizes on major/board comps for them to compete for. I do also think the WHS is far too quick to boost you up a few shots after a bit of poor form. The old system you worked to reach a certain handicap, and you wouldn't just be bumped right back up to where you started in a matter of 10 or 12 weeks.

 

[RichA]

Maybe the twice weekly Stableford comps at the local recreational club against a field of high handicappers aren't the place where a wannabe international golfer should be testing their skills.

 

[Junior]

Lots of harsh replies already. It’s her experience and opinion of WHS and a lot of it (not all) resonates with me.

I’m the same handicap as the author and am a steady but not spectacular player so I hover between 2 and 4 under WHS which is a fair reflection. However with the scores coming in now , I have slim to no chance of winning lowest gross or shooting 6 under gross to win a comp.

The interesting part for me is the county coaches saying lots of young players now have vanity handicaps. I’ve thought the same myself a couple of times this year when drawn with young kids who have designs on college golf in the USA.

 

[Teebs]

The County Coaches / low handicap comment is also what I have witnessed and heard about from various sources this season.

It's causing issues at a local elite level where they are being over-subscribed due to the sheer number of low handicaps.

 

[Hobbit]

There’s a fair bit in the article that reason with me but as a low single figure golfer I gave up on Opens long before the new system came in. Needing to shoot a course record at an away course to win an Open was an impossible task. Players ‘managing‘ their handicap up, or keeping it artificially high, has gone on for as long as I can remember. As for vanity handicaps, they’ve also been around for a long time. You could say a vanity handicap hurts the person with it but it goes beyond that. It stops the genuine decent player from entering as the cut off is artificially low. Time and again you see the same people struggling to break 80 in scratch Opens yet they hover around a scratch handicap - but again, I can remember a few of those from 25 years ago.

What was a disappointing read in the article was her gripe about losing on the 17th whilst playing some of her best golf. To lose on the 17th whilst having a good day suggests the other player had a good day too. If she’d got dog licenced whilst playing exceptionally well, I’d have some sympathy but it just reads as sour grapes.

 

[Tashyboy]

Throw in a few prejudices, lack of research or analysis, a dollop of anecdote, and clichéd rant writes itself.

Quote from the piece

As for grassroots girls golf, never before has it experienced a shock to the system quite like the jolt the World Handicap System has sent surging through it. I’m the regional press officer for the PGA and I speak to county and national coaches regularly.

one would suggest you have not read the piece or done your own research on it. And also are prejudiced against anyone who is not a fan of the current system. Furthermore she actually finishes the story by saying.

“So the reality is, as much as those like me are opposed to the new WHS, we are simply not going back. We have to find solutions now using the new system to make things fair for all who play. For the future of the game we love.”

so someone/she who is prejudiced wants to find solutions to make it fair for everyone. Me I couldn’t agree more. In its present format I am not a fan. It needs sorting, and I am led to believe there will be changes. But to not accept there is problems will only lead to more unrest towards a system that has cost vast amounts of time and money to change.

 

[Jimaroid]

Handicap manipulation has always existed.
It has gotten easier to manipulate handicaps with WHS.
The emperor is naked.

 

[IanM]

To give whs credit, its a huge achievement to make "handicap management" easier at both ends of the scale.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Yes, you can find holes in her rant and anecdotes, but I certainly feel what she feels a lot of the time.
I enter all our comps and this year all I managed was a second place in a weekday medal with my lowest round for 3 years.
Looking forward to the possibility of a 0.6 increase to HI when that one disappears.
I don't bother with the handicap knockout anymore.

There are benefits to being a low handicapper, but these are nothing to do with the fairness or unfairness of WHS.
I came second in the club championship and thus winning a prize that the majority of members have no chance of getting.
Gave me some gloating rights over the whippersnappers - "which was nice".
I do very well in the 2s sweeps. I might even be the best in the club at this, but no one keeps track.
I entered the county seniors scratch knockout and got to play at Luffenham Heath at no extra cost than the £18 entry fee.

On the whole - I just accept the reality of what WHS has given us - with regard to outcomes of comps.

First comp in April, I will "get an extra shot" on the 13th hole SI 6, if it is a stableford, due to CR-Par (Par 70, CR 70.8)
But it won't make any difference to my score differential or where I finish in the comp - most likely.
And I probably won't remember my extra shot while playing the hole.
These are my my types of gripes with WHS - unnecessary or poor arithmetic - in my view.

 

[Slab]

I had sympathy reading the piece and I’ve seen some whacky scores these last couple of years, but I got needlessly distracted from her message by the parts that seemed to muddy the picture a bit

Like shooting 35/36 points much of the year and being well outside the prizes (but when was 36 points enough for a prize, maybe it was for her)
I cant begin to imagine how good a player you need to be to consistently shoot 2/3 over all season and what it must feel like to lose out to a 36+ handicapper by several shots. She says she’s up against 20 & 30 handicappers capable of shooting 10 shots better & the Comp Divisions at her club need reviewed but it sounds like there’s insufficient player numbers of her standard to make a low h/cap (or scratch) division viable. That must be so frustrating for players in her position and some kind of answer needs to be found

She also relates playing to 1 over gross (playing to her h/cap) & losing a match on 17th hole to someone who’s h/cap had risen 8 shots under whs (but that sounds like a close game) image the whitewash if the opponent h/cap was still 6 or 8 shots lower, the author may have won the same game 6&5. Surely she needs a better example to show that whs doesn’t work, this example reads like it is working

I’m probably focussing too much on these peripheral examples within the bigger point being made in the article when there are no doubt some real concerns to discuss for players in her position

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I think she's making a good point badly

 

[Crow]

I just read the article and there's much that resonates with most golfers, but I have to wonder if in her own case she's just not good enough any more?

I read down to her mini bio where it states that her 8 year old son is hitting the ball as far as mum....
If as a 2/3 handicap she can't hit the ball further than an 8 year old then she's not going to win much untill she plays off a realistic handicap of 20 or 30

 

[jim8flog]

If it is the same where she plays as I play one of the problems is not enough ladies playing in comps to have realistic divisions or have them at all.

 

[Crow]

If it is the same where she plays as I play one of the problems is not enough ladies playing in comps to have realistic divisions or have them at all.

The article says that they have over 100 active lady members at her club.