7/28/2019 New GA Handicap System - Summary (1!6!2012)

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Summary o Major Components o the Complete New GA Handicap System

1. Calculation o GA Handicap Best 8 o 20,

Multiplied by 0.93 [already in eect]

To calculate a players GA Handicap, you do the ollowing:

rstly identiy their most recent 20 scores (which are clearly

displayed on golfink.com.au),

then average the Dierentials rom the best 8 o them (Dierential

is the calculation o the dierence between the players score andthe course rating; it is the value listed in the Played To columnon golfink.com.au),

nally you multiply this average by 0.93,

the resultant gure is the players GA Handicap .

4. No Lapsed Handicaps [already in eect]

Players will not be required to play a minimum number o roundseach year in order to maintain their GA Handicaps.

5. DSR (Daily Scratch Rating) [yet to be implemented]

How will the new DSR (Daily Scratch Rating) system work?

Under the new DSR system, we will assess a current course ratingor you each day. This rating will be appropriate to the conditions youactually experienced. GOLF Linkwill do all o the work and publishthe DSR immediately ater the scores are processed.

The ormulas used to assess the DSR are complex as ourstatisticians have advised that simple ormula options are not ecientenough to produce reliable ratings this was the problem with CCR.

Through GOLF Link, the DSR system will establish each o the

ollowing:

The average net score or a eld.

The average handicap o a eld.

The eld size.

The type o competition (Stableord, Par, or Stroke).

The gender o the competitors.

Once it has established each o these actors, GOLF Link

will compare the ACTUAL average net score on the day with theaverage net score GOLF LinkEXPECTS or this precise eldcomposition. (The EXPECTED average is determined byGOLF Link rom millions o prior rounds.)

GOLF Linkwill then determine the DSR by using the dierence

between what ACTUALLY happened on the day and what wasEXPECTED to happen.

Will the DSR system mean more work or clubs?

No. GOLF Linkwill do all o the work and provide the DSR

immediately ater the scores are processed.

Why do we need course ratings?

In order to process a players score or handicapping,

we need to know how hard the gol course was. I we dont,

the score itsel is largely meaningless and is unusable.For example, 82 on a very hard gol course is a much betterachievement than 82 on a very easy gol course.

For this reason, every set o tees on every gol course has

a Scratch Rating assessed or it by a group o State/TerritoryAssociation experts.

What is the beneft o changing the course rating rom

day to day?

Course ratings currently stay the same day ater day, ignoring

all daily shits in conditions. We all know that the diculty o a golcourse can vary substantially rom day to day. This means that onmany days the Scratch Rating will not currently refectthe course diculty.

In a computerised world, clubs and golers are becoming

increasingly expectant o improved service standards. Utilisingtechnology to provide ratings more closely aligned to the dicultyo a course is an innovation that will increasingly be seen as a

basic requirement.

With the vast maority o our golers playing in coastal cities

that are prone to variable weather conditions, it is particularlyimportant or Australia to have a handicap system that is

suciently fexible to cater or daily movements in course diculty.I we dont, we end up processing scores against inaccuratecourse ratings, and that makes handicaps inaccurate.

DSR will lead to more stable and comparable handicaps than

i the vagaries o fuctuations in conditions rom day to day andseason to season prevail.

Can the DSR strategy be summarised in one paragraph?

DSR will provide golers with a rating that is a refection o theconditions they played under. The complex ormulas will determinewhether the diculty presented at the time by the playing conditionswas normal or dierent to normal.

8. Handicapping o Conorming Social Scores

[yet to be implemented]

GAs extensive consultation program yielded strongly expressed

views rom some clubs that they should be permitted to handicapsocial rounds. Other clubs strongly expressed the view that theyshould not be obligated to handicap social rounds.

It is a key obective o GA to have a handicap system that is

suciently fexible to cater or those aliated golers who wishto play but not in ormal competitions. This will acilitate greaterparticipation.

It is also a key obective o GA that policy be suciently broad to

cater or the great diversity o Australian clubs, club environments,and competition and administrative challenges.

The new handicap system will permit a social score to be usedor handicapping but only i the ollowing conditions are met. Firstly,

the players home club must have chosen to allow the use o socialscores; and secondly, the player must have nominated prior tostarting a round that it is to count or handicap purposes.

9. Handicapping o Four-ball Scores [yet to be implemented]

The our-ball handicapping component will be very similar to the

current method except or a small amount o ne-tuning. The newsystem will permit a club to choose not to handicap our-ball scoresi they believe their circumstances do not support our-ballhandicapping.

10. Changed 9-hole and Incomplete Score Regulations (GOLF Link

will store a players 9-hole score or automatic combination with

their next 9-hole score) [yet to be implemented]

In designing our new regulations, GA has been particularly mindul otwo key points:

Firstly, it is important that the GA Handicap System cater or

9-hole scores. This recognises the degree to which some groups

o aliated players have become time-poor. It also recognisesthose players who or various reasons have a strong preerenceor 9-hole gol.

Secondly, a theme to emerge rom the GA consultation program

was concern with any regulation that involved the handicapping oscores that had been estimated or extended in more than a smallway.

The key points o the new regulations or the handicapping o

incomplete scores and scores o less than 18 holes are as ollows:

Where 16-17 holes inclusive have been played, the player will be

deemed to have had net par or the remaining holes. The scorewill be processed as an 18-hole score.

Scores returned over 9-15 holes will not be doubled or extended.

They will be entered into GOLF Linkas 9-hole scores.(Where 10-15 holes inclusive have been played, the rst 9 holesplayed will be used and the remaining holes will be disregarded.)

Where only 8 holes have been played, the player will be deemed

to have had net par on the 9th hole. The score will be entered intoGOLF Linkas a 9-hole score.

Any score o less than 8 holes will be disregarded.

The initial 9-hole score a player returns is to be entered into

GOLF Link; it will not immediately be used in the calculation othe players GA Handicap. It will be automatically held by GOLFLink in the players handicap record (together with the relevant9-hole course rating) until another 9-hole score is entered.(Note: Under the new course rating system, all ratings are nowstored in the database in 9-hole blocks.) The two 9-hole scores

will be combined automatically by GOLF Link to create a single18-hole score.

mplementation Date The complete new GA Handicap System is proected to come into ull eect during the latter part o 2013.

MAjOR COMPONENTS OF THE COMPLETE NEW GA HANDICAP SYSTEM

6. Slope [yet to be implemented]

What does Slope do? Slope adusts a players handicap to thecourse they are playing by using that courses Slope Rating.

What is the aim o Slope? The aim o Slope is to increase theportability o handicaps and to create a more level playing eld

or golers.

What does the Slope Rating provide that the Scratch Rating

doesnt? Scratch Ratings are based solely on the challenge agol course poses to an elite player, whereas the Slope Rating hasactored into it the challenge posed to the elite player AS WELLas the challenge posed to the non-elite player.

How does this make things more equitable? We all know that

on a dicult course a high-markers score tends to deteriorate to agreater extent than the score o an elite player. just how much moreis what Slope measures. For example, i Course A is harder thanCourse B, a high-marker may play o 28 on Course A and 24 onCourse B. The elite player nds it easier to adust, so they may playo 4 on Course A and 3 on Course B. This is more equitable thanour current system where the dierence between the elite players

handicap and the high-markers handicap is always the same.

Does that mean we no longer need Scratch Ratings? We still

need Scratch Ratings. The Slope Rating and the Scratch Rating workin concert with each other. The Slope Rating is telling us how manymore shots a player will need at a course in order to play to theScratch Rating.

What are the eatures o Slope?

Under Slope, every set o tees on every gol course will have

both a Scratch Rating and a Slope Rating. The maximum SlopeRating is 155 (dicult) and the minimum is 55 (not so dicult). Theneutral Slope Rating is 113.

The Scratch Rating is the number o strokes a Scratch marker

(ie a player with a handicap o 0) is expected to have. The SlopeRating indicates how much harder or easier the course will play ora player who is not a Scratch Marker.

GOLF Linkwill calculate a central handicap or every player.This will be called the GA Handicap. Golers will be able to directlycompare their GA Handicaps with one another,no matter where they play their gol.

Whilst the GA Handicap is the handicap that will be displayed

in a players GOLF Link record on www.golfink.com.au,it is not designed or use in handicap competition play.

The handicap that is designed or use in competition play is the

Daily Handicap. The Daily Handicap is the Sloped version o theGA Handicap (ie the Daily Handicap takes into account the Slope

o the course being played, whereas the GA Handicap does not).The ormula or calculation o a Daily Handicap is as ollows:

Daily Handicap = GA Handicap x (Slope Rating Neutral Slope

Rating (ie 113))

I that sounds dicult to work out, dont worry because GOLF Linkwill calculate it or you. GA will also provide each club with easy-to-use Daily Handicap look-up posters.

7. SHA (Stableord Handicapping Adjustment)

[yet to be implemented]

For handicapping, all Stroke scores must be converted to, and

processed as, Stableord scores. (Where the competition is Stroke,the Stroke score will be the Competition Score; the StableordScore will be the Handicapping Score.)

Any round played under the Par scoring system will be converted by

GOLF Link into a Stableord score by adding 36 points to the

players nal result (or example GOLF Linkwill convert a score o 4down into 32 points; the score o 32 points will be the playersHandicapping Score).

I a player is competing in a Stroke or Par competition, their

Stableord score is disregarded when assessing Competition

placings.

The purpose o this regulation is to:

Reduce the eect o high hole scores or handicap purposes in order

to make handicaps more representative o a players potential ability.

Make all handicaps as equitable as possible by using a uniorm scoretype or all handicapping.

3. Immediate Updating o Handicaps [already in eect]

GOLF Linkwill recalculate a players GA Handicap every time theyhave a new score processed.

2. Anchor [already in eect]

GOLF Linkwill automatically prevent a players GA Handicaprom increasing by any more than 4 strokes beyond their bestGA Handicap rom the previous 12-month rolling period.

The Anchor eliminates the capacity or extreme outward movementso GA Handicaps within short spaces o time. As a result,a sustained loss o orm does not cause a players GA Handicapto move too ar rom a level which is consistent with their underlying

ability. The Anchor also makes the handicap system less susceptibleto manipulation.

GENERAL NOTESTo gain an initial GA Handicap a player will berequired to submit 3 x 18-hole scores(or 6 x 9-hole scores, or a combination o the two).

There will be no handicapping o match play scores.

The system will not permit use o the USGAs

Most Likely Score regulation.

Handicapping o scores returned by players playing

alone will not be permitted.

A social score may only be used or handicapping

i the players home club has chosen to allow theuse o social scores, and i the player has nominatedprior to starting a round that it is to count orhandicap purposes. Otherwise, social scores willnot be permitted or handicap purposes.

Already in Eect

Best 8 o 20, multiplied by 0.93

Anchor

Immediate updating o handicaps

No lapsed handicaps

Handicapping o Four-ball scores

(will be similar to current regulations)

Changed 9-hole regulations(9-hole score to be automatically

held in GOLF Link or combinationwith next 9-hole score)

Yet to be Implemented

DSR (Daily Scratch Rating)

Slope

SHA (Stableord HandicappingAdustment)

Handicapping o ConormingSocial Scores

www.golaustralia.org.au