Conference 7.286::golf

I'm not sure what the breakdown by handicap is - can you post it? Does this
mean that triple bogeys may nt be adjusted?

I believe this will keep scores of single digit handicap players down,
and everyone else will go up!

If I'm a single digit, then assume I can take no more than a 6 on any hole.
On par 4's there is no effect - a double by any other name is still a double;
on par 5's any damage is limited to a bogey - rewarding aggresiveness!; on
par 3's my handicap baloons if I get a 6 - certainly possible for me (on in 3
and 3-jack!) but not too common. I get a lot more 7's on par 5's than I'd get
6's on par 3's so it should be tougher for my handicap to climb.

Last year I could never take more than a double bogey on a hole. This really
wasn't an issue most of the time - it almost always depended on my drive. If
I drove it off the planet, then the stroke and distance penalty pretty much
meant an instant double (but no worse). I'd play along with the foursome just
to get to the next tee (being thankful for a partner of course!).

If I did this on a par 4 as a 10 handicap, I'd still have to be careful to
avoid a 7! And I play some holes where a 7 is not out of the question! It's
tougher to lower handicaps because of the "one bad hole" damage is greater.
Good play is still rewarded, but don't tense up on that tight driving hole!

Eric

    So, does this allow a single digit player to pad his index on the
    par 3's ?? No one would ever do that either !!!!!
    
    Mad Hacker

    Remember that a single digit handicapper is allowed only the number of
    double bogeys that equals his handicap. If the handicap is 4, only four
    double bogeys are allowed when the card is stroke controlled.
    (ESC-Equitable Stroke Control)
    
    Rich

    Am I correct in surmising that .0 is indicating that this is a new
    rule?  If so then I believe this has been so for a number of years now.
    
    Regards Kevin,

    The new rule is no longer par dependant, but is stroke dependant.  Old
    rule was double bogey, new rule is number of strokes and not contingent
    on the number of holes.  It is now possible for a 12 handicapper to
    post a 126(7 x 18) 0r is it 108(6 x 108) while in the past the most 
    that a 12 could post was a 102(72+(2x12)+6).
    
    Anyway, you can see that is easier to calculate but can change your
    handicap (increase it).
    
    SCD
    

    A single digit handicap golfer can explode their handicap quite a bit
    under the new system. Using Dick's example of a 4 handicapper, the
    following would be true.
    
    	Old System: max 4 doubles = 8
    			14 bogies = 14
    			________________
    			maximum over 22
    
    	New System: max 6 on all holes = 36 over
    
    This means they can post scores which are quite a bit higher than
    previously allowed. I don't believe any single digit handicapper would
    take advantage of this do you?
    
    	My experience so far under the new system is that it has slowed the
    pace of play up even more. With higher handicappers, there is a lot
    more putting out on par 4s and par 3s. Also anyone who is allowed a
    max. of 7 can spend alot of time on the tee box of a PAR 3 over water
    before they have to pocket the ball.
    
    	Since we have only been playing a few weeks under the new system,
    some of these comments may be premature but what the heck.
    
    Dan
    
    

 At least your playing!

 - Dave

    Unfortunately what I have been doing lately is participating not
    playing. 
    
    -Dan

    
    Ya, but you get to swing a club without putting a hole in your
    living room ceiling :-)
    

    Here are the new Equitable Stroke Control tables:
    
    For 18 holes
    
    Course hndcp        Maximum # posted on any hole
    
    9 or less           6
    10-19               7
    20-29               8
    30-39               9
    40-49               10
    50 and +            11
    
    For 9 holes
    
    Course hndcp        Maximum # posted on any hole
    
    4 or less           6
    5-9                 7
    10-14               8
    15-19               9
    20-24               10
    25 and +            11
    
    Tavo

    Tavo,
    
    Your chart shows course handicaps of over 36. Does this mean that the
    maximum of 36 for men, 40 for women is gone?
    
    Rich

    Re:                      <<< Note 1622.11 by CTHQ::OCONNOR >>>

    Rich,
    
    I copied  the  tables directly from the USGA's January/February issue
    of its magazine, Golf Journal.
    
    The article doesn't make any reference to the previous rules other to
    say that it replaces  them,  so  I  guess,  yes,  they  increase  the
    maximum.
    
    Tavo
    

    Tavo,
    
    If its not to much trouble, could you make a copy of the article and
    send it to me (Tay2-1/H15)? This could affect my wallet if my
    brother-in-law finds out!
    I appreciate it, thanks.
    
    Rich

    I intend to implement the USGA handicap algorithm in some software.
    From the replies here and elsewhere I have gathered together most of
    the information that I think I need with some excpetions. Perhaps
    someone has a copy of the USGA's handicap book and could give me some
    guidance. Unfortunately I need to do it very quickly.
    
    I believe that the best ten out of the last twenty scores are used.
    What happens when a golfer has less than 20 scores available? Less than
    10 scores? One?
    
    Are there actual rules for nine hole rounds? My belief is that matching
    pairs of nine hole scores can be used when no other golf comes between
    the two halves. However our league plays three sets of nine holes and
    I'm not sure how to resolve this.
           
    We never play one nine of one course. I plan to use the slope of the
    course anyway - even though the slope reflects all 18 holes and, in
    some sense, won't reflect just nine holes. Any guidance here?
    
    Thanks for any assistance,
    /Neil

    
    Neil,
    
       May I suggest that you do this in an Excel or Lotus spreadsheet?  It
    sounds like it might be straightforward to do that way.
    
       If you don't, then I might be interested in doing this myself. 
    Where is the algorithm 'officially' defined?
    
       /jim
    

    neil,
    
    yesterday's boston globe has some info related to calculating scores
    using the new equitable stroke method.
    
    maybe we can get a copy of it......
    
    /kb

This algorithm will be part of our league's scoring database system -
written in C.

I don't think that the implementaiton will be hard. Knowing exactly what
needs to be implemented is the tricky part.

Yesterday's Globe should still be at home - I'll look in there. I would
be suprised, but happy, to see all the details I need there.

I have an offer of the USGA handicap book from 1989. However, the rules
changed in 1993 and I don't know how much is still the same.

/Neil

    I will try to get the "manager" of the AI league here to post a reply
    (he's on vacation this week).  He has a system that does 9 hole
    handicaps.  I THINK it's written in DEC OPS5 (soon to be RuleWorks),
    so is portable to most any platform.  His system is pretty nice, it
    calculates handicaps, scores all the matches based on the handicaps,
    generates the schedule, keeps track of league standings, statistics,
    etc.

                                Andy Ostrom

    
    	From the User's Guide of our league's DOS-based program:
    
    	0-4 scores - no handicap
    	5-6        - best 1
    	7-8        - best 2
    	9-10       - best 3
    	11-12      - best 4
    	13-14      - best 5
    	15-16      - best 6
    	17         - best 7
        18         - best 8
    	19         - best 9
    	20         - best 10

Thanks to all of you who offered advice, code and tables. Apart from giving
handicaps to players with less than five scores, we should be able to keep close
to the USGA system.

/Neil