By Dave Ransom
THE new slope system will come into play on Thursday 23rd of January. Golf Link will be offline from Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd of January to allow for the installation of the new software required. Players will not be able to access their handicaps in this time.
This means that the competitions on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd will still run on old handicaps. The match committee prepared listings of the last recorded handicaps for use by members.
In the slope system every member will have a Golf Australia Handicap (ie the one on golflink) and a “playing handicap” will have to be determined for each competition by applying a formula. To save individual golfers the tricky calculation ready reckoners have been prepared for all four courses played on at Jamberoo (Mens and Ladies Blue and White) and will be on display at the golf shop and in a folder near the computer in the golf shop. In preparation for the change-over we have already put up the ready reckoners.
You may notice that your Golf Australia handicap (ie the handicap given on Golflink) may be slightly different from your old handicap. Don’t panic as everybody in Australia will have their scores from the last 12 months recalculated to determine the new Golf Australia handicap. Every course in Australia has been rated according to their difficulty against set criteria and when you play at other courses the playing handicaps will recognise this. So playing a course that is considered more difficult will give you extra shots on your handicap at that course and if the course is rated easier than Jamberoo then you will play off a lesser handicap.
So recapping, from Thursday, players will need to look up their Golf Australia handicap on Golf Link before each comp (so just use the club computer in the golf shop which will give the Golf Australia or Golf Link handicap) and use it to determine their playing handicap for the course they are playing on for the round.
From Thursday the 22nd, when entering your score after a round the computer should automatically indicate to you the correct playing handicap in the handicap box which you can use as a check.
Dave Ransom
Captain JGC
(New GA Handicaps are scheduled to be available online on Golf Link from 7pm Thursday)
An article providing further information on all the new changes here
Alas Golflink was down for the Saturday and Monday comps. It was working for individuals but there were access problems for clubs. We will enter the scores as soon as possible to keep your handicap up to date and accurate.
Hi Dave: Just a question on the new GA Handicap system.
Prior to playing a round on 01/02/14, checked GOLF LINK Hcp with my hcp being 20.4 and using the calculator on Golf Link, with the slope rating of 110 for Jamberoo on this day, I found I should have been playing on 20 hcp. But rechecking at Starters Shed found that 19.6 was entered into system(not 20.4 that was on Golf Link) and with the slope rating of 110 had to play off 19.
When checking Golf Link Results on line found that in actual fact I should have played off 20.
It didn’t worry me on the day, because as usual, our group had a very enjoyable day as we always do, playing our course.
I understand there are going to be teething problems but, just checking as I would like to know for future when going to other clubs, for example, for a game of Golf.
Thanking you for your time.
Regards: Ron Hewson.
Yes, I think there have been teething problems with many members unsure of where and what to look up. I believe the discrepancy in your case (and with me as well) was due to the rounds played before this one not being accepted by Golf link on the day we processed them, and then coming onto the system after we checked with golf link.. We have been checking manually every card and making corrections to handicaps and scores without disqualification and nobody’s comp results have been affected as far as I can tell.
Soon we will be using a new printer to print out cards for each comp and it will automatically put on your daily playing handicap and thus ending the problems we are encountering at present.
Don’t worry about other clubs, the procedure should be them asking, or finding for you, your Golf Australia handicap (ie the one from golf link with a decimal) and then printing your card with the correct playing handicap.
Thanks Ron for your enquiry. I hoped I have alleviated your concerns.
Hi Dave hope you are well , just a quick question with regards the new handicap system (which I admit I don’t fully understand) it takes into account Handicap, Slope, Scratch and Field Performance……what about if you’re not feeling too well or playing with a headache…..(just kidding champion)
In that case you will probably play like me!!
BTW, the Golf Australia handicap is supposed to calculate everybody’s handicap to the norm of 113. The slope rating of the course then effects your playing handicap depending on where you are playing. The other stuff is more complex and I might comment on it another time!