Vice Captain’s Update
Hi, another year has come and gone for our club championships with the final round for both Men & Ladies completed last Sunday, this was the 5th year of having both the ladies and men’s final round together. A great day was had by all competitors and spectators. Congratulations to all the winners of each grade. Results can be seen below within Golf News.
We currently have our Junior Encourage Shield team in the middle of the season. In the first round they had a loss to Muirfield 4-2, then last weekend they had a great win 4-2 over our local rival’s Ryde Parramatta. Good luck to the team for the rest of the season.
Just to let everyone know that on the 30th January 2020, our handicap system will change to a new World Handicap system. The changes I have noted below, but in looking into the new system most of us will lose 1 shot when we play at North Ryde, however gain more shots when we play at tougher courses which I’m sure most of us will be happy with.
Handicapping Changes
The handicapping experience for Australian golfers under the WHS will be largely the same as it is now. However, there are four changes that golfers will see. These are:
- NEW REGULATION | Bonus Reduction for Exceptional Net Score. GOLF Link will apply an automated extra reduction to a player’s GA Handicap for any net score that is at least 7 strokes better than it.
- NEW REGULATION | Soft Cap. In addition to the existing Hard Cap of 5 strokes, a Soft Cap is being introduced. The Soft Cap will take effect once a player’s GA Handicap increases to 3 strokes above its best point for the previous 12 months. Once in the Soft Cap zone, a player’s GA Handicap will only be allowed to increase by 50% of the calculated amount.
- CHANGED REGULATION | Adjustment made to Daily Handicap if Scratch Rating is different to Par. This will make 36 Stableford points (or net par) the universal measure of a golfer playing to their handicap. As a result, it will become simple to conduct mixed-gender or multi-tee competitions. Examples of the adjustment: If Scratch Rating 73 & Par 70; 3 is added to the Daily Handicap calculation (i.e.73 – 70 = +3). If Scratch Rating 68 & Par 70; 2 is subtracted from the Daily Handicap calculation (i.e. 68 – 70 = -2).
- CHANGED REGULATION | Transfer of 0.93 Multiplier. The 0.93 Multiplier will be transferred out of the GA Handicap calculation and into the Daily Handicap calculation. Note: Our statisticians confirm this change will have no overall impact on the handicaps players actually play off (i.e. Daily Handicaps). This is because the slight increase it will cause to GA Handicaps (by being removed from the GA Handicap formula), will be exactly the same as the decrease it will cause to Daily Handicaps (by being transferred into the Daily Handicap formula). As a result, there will be no overall impact.
If you have any question on the handicap changes please come and have a chat to me at any time.
All the best and good golfing. Ben Brown – Vice Captain