HANDICAPS & Architecture

[Bob_Huntley]

I think it was the market slide of 1974 that I realized what a difference a vanity handicap could do for one's wellbeing. Riviera was always a place where a few dollars were exchanged after a game. I played regularly with a gentleman to whom I gave a couple of shots. No matter what, it was rarely that I paid out. I offered my companion more shots, he declined, assuring me that he could well afford his losses. I have since learned that the ego satisfaction of a low handicap means much more than just filthy lucre.


Bob

[Jason Topp]

To follow up on my previous post, the NCGA is the only association in the United States besides the USGA that requires kids to establish a handicap to play in our tournaments.  We flight the players by handicap rather than age.  It has been very successful in our first two years of operation.  The kids like that they are playing against players of similar ability.

John:

That reminds me of my daughter's gymnastics competition.  At levels 4 and 5 (the lowest competitive levels) there are sometimes 14 year old girls competing against 7 year olds.  Usually the younger kids are better.  I always admire the older kids.  They work their tails off 12-16 hours a week year round knowing that they will be beaten by girls half their age who will sit on their laps in between events. 

[JohnV]

Jason,
One of the interesting things that happened when we started this program was that a few of the parents of younger kids came and said their kids would be intimidated by playing with the older kids.  I said that the older kids would be more intimidated if the little guys beat them.  I think that has happened.  We had a 9-year old in the higher handicap flight shoot 79 on a 6400 yard course earlier this year.  The bigger kids were in awe.  He came back the next day with 84 and finished second.

[Jason Topp]

Jason,
One of the interesting things that happened when we started this program was that a few of the parents of younger kids came and said their kids would be intimidated by playing with the older kids.  I said that the older kids would be more intimidated if the little guys beat them.  I think that has happened.  We had a 9-year old in the higher handicap flight shoot 79 on a 6400 yard course earlier this year.  The bigger kids were in awe.  He came back the next day with 84 and finished second.

I understand first hand the perspective of the older kids.  When I was 17 I lost in the semi-finals of my city junior championship to a kid who was 12 and looked like he was nine.  If I won, I was going to play my best friend for the title.  Our match was close and I got tighter and tighter as the round progressed.  On the last hole I missed a three foot putt to lose the match.  The kid was very polite but once he thought I was out of view he celebrated exhuberantly with his father.  I mainly felt like I had been kicked in the stomache but even at that age I understood their glee and would like to think I had a twinge of happiness for them. 

My friend took him out 7&6 in the finals. 

[Stuart Hallett]

I don't have the solution, but the obsession of preserving handicaps definitely has adverse effects on golf courses. It seems that an awful lot of golfers wake up worrying about their handicap, rather than enjoying a competitive game. If those people happen to take power within a club, the results are extremely damaging.
I hate the slope system ! Nearly every client I meet mentions their desire to increase the slope with little regard for coherent strategy or landscape integration of tees or bunkering.
It's a ridiculous system that does not correspond to reality. The hole distances are often tricked, mens back tee markers lost in the trees or rough, and other tee markers which only the greenkeepers remember where they are.
Basically the club members play from forward tees, not to mention the pressure on greenkeepers for easy pin placements. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
I'd like a simplified handicap system. No more decimals for a start, a straight 10 or 12 whatever. No more adjustments for bad conditions (that's life in the nature), and a handicap should be based on current form, for example the last three rounds regardless of the course. At least this would bring everyone back down to earth.
Could even ask Pro's to maintain a certain playing level, there are too many of them !

Oh yes, and get rid of measuring devices, and the multiple distance markers on the course.