Tom Huckaby writes:
Just as starry-eyed is Rich's (and now Dan's) advocation of the UK handicap system, which has many faults as well and would never work here in the US, outside of small private clubs where everyone knows each other and they play regular stroke play events.And the current system does work?
Why would it never work? Your argument is that American golfers don't play in regular tournaments like UK golfers. But the USGA handicap says they should. You are suppose to participate in official club events to maintain your handicap. This is how they currently work peer review.
Members of a golf club must have a reasonable and regular opportunity to play golf with each other. They must be able to return scores personally, and these scores must be available for review by fellow club members.Click here for USGA definition of a golf clubThe golfers that don't play in tournaments are suppose to be weeded out. But they aren't. The handicap committees are weak, the golfers get to post scores in all the machines all over the country, and they get mailed a handicap card. The regional associations continue to make money off the 4.5 million golfers with a USGA handicap.
The USGA isn't about to remove people who don't play by the rules. Do that, and fees are drastically reduced.
I just looked up my handicap on GHIN. There is not a single
T score on my card, and it goes back to 9/19/01. Has anyone contacted me about this? When I renewed with my club this year did anyone say anything? Has my handicap chairman gotten a notice from a computer program saying there should be concern here?
Looks like in this small anecdotal case, peer review is failing miserably. Wonder if others are maintaining handicaps without playing in periodic events?
My solution has trivial little differences from the current system. I just don't believe more is better. I don't believe all these golfers guessing what their score would be serves a purpose. I don't believe all these golfers earning handicaps without a clue about the Rules of Golf is in the best interest of American golf.
Play in club tournaments, medal play according to the Rules of Golf, or go and get a Yahoo handicap. Save USGA handicaps for those willing to play by rules. Make the USGA handicap something that matters, that it is somehow more meaningful than a Yahoo handicap.
TEPaul writes:
how little you like the USGA’s Rules of Golf and related handicapping procedures.When did I ever say I didn't like the USGA Rules of Golf. I've said I don't always play by them and I think there are more enjoyable ways to play golf, but I still think they serve a valuable purpose for running a tournament. I do question some of the rules, but just like questioning my country, it doesn't mean I love it any less.
Of course there’s a certain degree of guesswork involved in the 'adjusted hole score' procedure but it’s clearly spelled out in the procedure. It’s not an exact science and probably doesn't need to be particularly with the supporting 'peer review' process.What peer review process is that? Lets' say you want to peer review your buddy you played golf with last weekend. You go to
www.ghin.com, and look him up. Oops it takes a month to get the score from the box at the course to the database. Who knows why it takes that long? Guess they must use Pony Express. So a month later, you decide to look him up. GHIN doesn't do anything as simple as tell you what course the person played, they tell you date and course rating/slope. There's some useful information. I just have to remember for a month this information, along with what score my buddy posted, and then compare. Yeah, like that is ever going to happen.
What would be so terrible about doing away with the Pony Express system and use a system that updates the numbers immediately, or at least within 24 hours? If you want peer review, why not go toward active peer review rather than the current passive method?
Why is quanity, despite the fact that many scores are guessed, better than quality?
The USGA is promoting the USGA’s Rules of Golf.Many golfers are clueless on the Rules of Golf because the USGA puts no pressure on them to ever learn the rules. You can play this mixture of medal and match play, ignore almost all rules and still post as many scores as you want. What if they required you to play by the Rules of Golf to post, wouldn't that result in people making the effort to learn? Those that didn't want to learn would get a Yahoo handicap. A USGA handicap would become something to work towards.
I would suggest you have no idea whether or not the handicapping business is lucrative to the USGA.It is lucrative to the regional associations. Wonder why the USGA is so worried about maintaining the 4.5 million USGA handicap participants, follow the money.
Dan King
"Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody."
--Agatha Christie