WHS driven unrest in local (handicap based) leagues

IanM

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Bit of fun-and-games in the local leagues in South East Wales...

We have two main summer inter-club leagues in addition to the scratch leagues: Wayfarers, handicaps 10-18 ad Hallets 18 and over. (matches played scratch matchplay) Now lockdown over, the plans for this year (post WHS) have come out.

Hallets have been told that the line is now Handicap Index 17.5 and over (this has caused uproar with players who have played for years who have now found themselves excluded)

Wayfarers have been told minimum handicap is Course Handicap of 9.5 and over. (causing mass amusement, cos your eligibility will depend on the venue of the match!) Cue the spreadsheet for where you are in and where you are not :)

Will make picking teams in Wayfarers funny when you factor in all the other usual variables!

How is this being managed where you are?
 
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Lord Tyrion

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Is this not a lot of fuss about nothing, people not understanding the new system? How many clubs will have courses where a HI of 17.5 will not give them an on course handicap of 18 or over? Very few surely. Same at the bottom end.

I'm playing in a Rabbits Open in May and the criteria there was always 16-28. This year it is tweaked to 15 HI to allow old school 16 h/c to compete still.

It is effectively the same, it's just the numbers have changed slightly.
 

IanM

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They understand the system... and reading your top line, you haven't understood what I have written. (Or my explanation was poor, sorry)

Last year you were in the Wayfarers Category or you were not. This year you are in it for "some matches" and not for others!

Last year a Hallett Player got 18 shots on his home course, still gets 18 on his home course but isn't eligible because his HI is below the cut line.

Whether or not you think it is fuss about nothing depends on if you are impacted or not.
 

Lord Tyrion

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I'm probably not quite getting it. I understand that playing handicaps will move around from course to course but I would have expected the parameters to allow for this. If they have then it is no different to last year, play well, get a cut, you don't qualify. If they don't allow for this then a fuss is very acceptable :D
 

nickjdavis

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Putting aside the issues of who used to qualify but don't now qualify....

It is utterly ridiculous that on one hand the measure for eligibility is your handicap index and on the other hand it is your Course Handicap

Most sane organising bodies would surely have a consistent methodology of deciding eligibility?

(I'm assuming here that the same organising body is responsible for both comps?)
 

backwoodsman

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I guess, because some people's "handicap" went up, some went down and some stayed the same when WHS came in, it was always going to be difficult (ie impossible) to make sure that exactly the same folk could be included post-change.

But I do find it strange that one criterion is based on handicap index, and the other is based on course handicap. I would have thought that HI was the best criterion?
Oops. Beaten to it by nickjd
 

Foxholer

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Bit of fun-and-games in the local leagues in South East Wales...

We have two main summer inter-club leagues in addition to the scratch leagues: Wayfarers, handicaps 10-18 ad Hallets 18 and over. (matches played scratch matchplay) Now lockdown over, the plans for this year (post WHS) have come out.

Hallets have been told that the line is now Handicap Index 17.5 and over (this has caused uproar with players who have played for years who have now found themselves excluded)

Wayfarers have been told minimum handicap is Course Handicap of 9.5 and over. (causing mass amusement, cos your eligibility will depend on the venue of the match!) Cue the spreadsheet for where you are in and where you are not :)

Will make picking teams in Wayfarers funny when you factor in all the other usual variables!

How is this being managed where you are?
Why is it that the 2 leagues use different elligibility criteria Are they run by different 'committees' To me, they should both use the same criteria. FWIW, I don't believe there's actually a 'perfect' way to resolve eligibility for 'boundary' cases - and that would have been the case in previous years too! Boundary cases would always have been iffy on elegibility between from comp to comp. However UHS will add to this because Handicap Index iis liable to change more often than Congu Handicap! It'll likely create a few problems for 'Selecters' too - as they will only know eligibility (for the boundary cases) shortly before each match! Again, FWIW, I believe using Handicap Index for eligibility in both leagues would be easier to administer.
 

IanM

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Why indeed?

How can you run a league where certain players are excluded from certain matches? Players were used to losing their eligibility if their handicap changed through the season, but that was that as a result of their playing.

I can understand the Hallets approach, which is consistent for all matches.

They are separate bodies, but it would have been nice if the spoke to each other.
 

Voyager EMH

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In my county, the only county-wide issue that I am aware of is Rabbits matches which used to be 19 and over. These are only friendlies in a way. But I've not yet heard of a new definition of Rabbit either at club or county level.
We have three board comps with trophies at our club; one for 10-18 and two for Rabbits. Even at club level, no decision yet for HI limits even though diary dates have been set for these comps.
White tee CR is 132. I know of a few chaps around the 16.8 HI mark that have been playing as Rabbits for years and wish to continue as such.
Fortunately, none of the above issues affect me personally. Much head-scratching continues. H&C chairman has HI above 20 so I would expect him to be keen to sort this out.
 

TreeSeeker

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The two handicap related cut offs I am seeing are both taking the same approach as your Hallets example, and in my opinion that is the only approach that makes sense.
 

jim8flog

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I would say that prior to WHS with regards to the local matches my handicap was always to low for one division and not good enough to be selected for the other division.

The uproar about the Hallets I find very amusing a H.I. of 17.5 will give a Course Handicap* of at least 18 on the vast majority of course so no real change there.

The slope needs to be under 113 for Course to be less than 18 our fairly short 9 hole course just about falls in to that category with a slope of 112

I have just checked on the website and they have not published what they are doing re handicaps.
 
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