winter scoring low man v high man

Hendy

Hendy

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As we all know in the winter the courses are shorten in most places.

Would you say this suits the low man or the high man or would you say it does not have any effect as its the same for everyone

Just say for arguments sake both the low and high man can still play twice a week.

Thanks for the views.
 
Think the winter set up if the course is shortened suits the high handicap but if the course is still the same length then it suits the low handicapper
 
Why you think that is ? agree by the way lower man suits longer cause

But say a par 3 goes from 180 to 120. Surely a lower man would benefit just as much as a high man in that respect. As green be softer and can go at pin directly.

Was discussing this with a fellow golfer today at the club thats why I am asking.
 
Hendy said:
Why you think that is ? agree by the way lower man suits longer cause

But say a par 3 goes from 180 to 120. Surely a lower man would benefit just as much as a high man in that respect. As green be softer and can go at pin directly.

Was discussing this with a fellow golfer today at the club thats why I am asking.
Click to expand...

A higher handicap prob hits a 180 par 3 once out of ten and prob has a shot there. If reduced to 120 he prob hits it 8/10 times and still has a shot. So will get more 3 for 3 with the lower handicapper prob needing a birdie to equal it.
 
we play 1/2 hcp rather than 3/4 hcp allowance when playing on temps. effectively means everyone is playing off 3/4 of their handicap. works very well and the majority of our winter league matches are only won by 1 or 2 holes with either allowance in force.
 
Our course is exactly the same length and as an 18 handicapper I find it easier in the winter.
Not so much the short shots but the long drives don't skip off the fairway into the rough or shoot off the rough into the trees.

Today for instance I had a mediocre front nine while getting used to the speed and lines on the greens but the back nine I came in 3 over gross. To say it's the best nine I've hit is an understatement. Birdies at 10 and 11 got the nine off to a great start backed up by a good par on 12 and I was -2 thru 3 holes. I bogied the 13 then had a mare of a double on the 14, just missed the putt for par on 15 to sit +2. Pared the short par 4 16th, again just missing the birdie putt, bogied 17 and hit a 10 foot putt to finish par and plus 3 for the nine holes.
The main thing was being able to hold fairways with slightly off line shots and have a good lie for the next instead of it rolling into the rough with virtually no shot to go for the green.

So who does it favour?
Whoever has the game to go for it.
 
We use 1/2 handicaps in the winter league - the course is shortened to circa the reds on average - I think this new format is incorrect simply because an 18 handicapper loses 9 strokes a round and a three handicapper loses one!
Now the course is playing around 50 yards shorter on the long holes and maybe 15/20 yards on the par threes. We have no 120 yard par threes as ours are all around the 200 yard mark(180 in winter)
Due to this I fail to see the fairness in the winter handicap system.
 
Very luck at my place. Yesterday Turkey shoot was right off the tips into normal greens. Was three quarters hcp, so definitely favoured the low guys. However all our comps, qualifying or not are in three divisions, excepting board comps which are all in the summer anyway.
 
We don't have anything but a few fun comps over the winter so non qual and i think all those are 3/4. If it were full handicap it def fav the high handicapper. I played in a weekly group roll up last year that was half handicap, i was the highest handicap most weeks so played off 4 and all the other reg players were 1 or scratch so all played off their full handicap;)

Our winter course is much much shorter than the normal course and there are some very short par 4's where all the trouble is bypassed.

its winter golf its a bit fun and a walk most of the time.
 
winter is a red herring in this

the reality is that everyone has

1. an optimum distance capability
2. a control capability
3. a short game capability

they are then, generally, handicapped against their home course in it's standard condition

if you change the course requirements for any of the above you will change the relative capabilities - it really is that simple.

a few generalisations

most senior golfers have become extremely sensitive to length; they can hit is straight, get it down the hole but (for example) may drive 190 and their fairway shot is 170 rolling out. put such a player on a 5400 course with no hazards in front of the greens and they will play hugely better relative to their handicap if it's based on a 7000 course with strong greenside bunkers (way more than SSS will reflect). Take a scr player across the 2 courses and they will gain little over the SSS differences.

in this example it won't really matter what the handicap of the senior golfer is - 4, 14, or 24; it's their capabilities that count.

the reverse would apply if you had a typical newish player who can hit the ball a long way but is a little wild, poor short game. Take them from a relatively open and unprotected greens at 7000 to a tight protected 5400 and they may well go backwards!

changing the course will always favour some players over others - always has, always will. It's not a function of handicap, and creating 'allowances' is, quite frankly, a weak practice. do such clubs increase handicaps, say 1.2x, in medal competitions in the summer to take into account the current handicap basis and it's impact on high handicappers in medal play?

"its winter golf its a bit fun and a walk most of the time" :thup:
 
Liverbirdie said:
When its frosty, definitely the high man.
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha I couldn't agree more.

What I do like about this thread is all the "proper" golfers saying how it favours the high handicapper and that hardly any "proper" golfers win their competitions in the winter. Well by that i'm guessing all the summer comps are won by "proper" golfers so it's just a case of sharing the love.

Personally I play of 24 and think the winter is great as it's slower greens (I find them easier), shorter course, fairways without much run to enable a second shot, but most of all.............................................

It's great listening to the "proper" golfers complain about how hard done by they are :-)
 
thepodgster said:
Ha ha ha I couldn't agree more.

What I do like about this thread is all the "proper" golfers saying how it favours the high handicapper and that hardly any "proper" golfers win their competitions in the winter. Well by that i'm guessing all the summer comps are won by "proper" golfers so it's just a case of sharing the love.


Personally I play of 24 and think the winter is great as it's slower greens (I find them easier), shorter course, fairways without much run to enable a second shot, but most of all.............................................

It's great listening to the "proper" golfers complain about how hard done by they are :-)
Click to expand...
If you ever get to single figures an a couple of your par 4s are shortened to par 3 length an a 24 hcp is getting two shots you will understand until then you won't
 
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