Possible Conflict, An Option, Your Thoughts?
Conflict-I have a Disc Golf Workshop from 10 to 12 on the day of our July Monthly. Possible, because it may be cancelled due to lack of participants. Will not know until Thurs. the 9th if it is a go or not. Option-At least 3 of us tee off at 7:30, so I can be done before the workshop. Your thoughts?? Keep ‘em flyin’
Last Night’s POD
Nine players showed up for our first Play One Disc night. We started out playing doubles with 8 players. Our 9th showed up on 2nd hole and became the wing man for various groups throughout play. The coordinator, (me, tee-hee) was making rules up on the fly (another tee-hee), regarding our 9th player. We know how we’re going to deal with the odd-man out at next gathering. To wordy for me to splain it here. Bascically, extra player will be helping any of the non-leading groups that are playing. Will help only one group per hole. Steven and John did not get, or need, any help last night, as they did quite well in shooting a -12. Our next POD play will be July 22nd. For future reference, the 4th Wednesday of every month will be our night for POD. Keep ‘em flyin’
6/24 Play–Single Disc
Next Wednesday, if you come to play, just bring that one special disc you think will get you around the course. Just think, you won’t have to decide which of those 20+ discs to use!! Don’t forget to bring a mini to mark your lie. Original course layout will be played. No alternates.
Keep ‘em flyin’
Bryan Wins June Monthly in Throw-Off
Bryan Becker finished top in a field of seven this past weekends monthly by winning the CTP* throw-off with Hal Horn. Both finished with a one-over-par 82, after handicaps; but in the end, Bryan’s six feet from the basket toss was enough to take first place. Rob, Marie and Jim finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
It was a challenging day with frequent winds interrupting many decent throws. Players also used the new long tee locations for holes 4, 5, 8 and 9. It seems that everyone liked having these longer holes added to the round.
Handicaps and Championship Standings have been updated. Also, check out the new club page showing the current ace pool values and the club account balance.
*CTP – Closest To the Pin (basket)
Handicap Formula Has Changed
That’s right. We’ve made some changes to how handicaps are earn, and calculated for monthly tournament. The goal was two-fold: 1) to ensure that new players have a fully established handicap that accurately reflects their playing ability, and 2) to bring all handicaps closer together to allow the establish, high-handicappers to be more competitive. We want our club to be enjoyable for everyone, but also fair and competitive. We believe these changes will accomplish that goal. So, if you are interested, let me try to explain each of the changes and what effect it will have.
The first change is to the rules for establishing a new handicap with the club.
- A new player must play a full three rounds of 27 holes before being given a monthly tournament handicap.
- Only rounds played during a monthly tournament or with a club officer will be counted toward a new players handicap. (Note: once a handicap is established, only tournament rounds are used to adjust handicaps.)
- A player can not play their third round AND use their new handicap in that same tournament. They can only compete for prize money and placement in the first tournament AFTER earning their handicap.
- After three rounds have been played, only the lowest round is used for calculating a handicap.
These changes should ensure a more accurate handicapping of a new players ability. This change will be in effect beginning with the June 2009 tournament.
The second change is to the actual handicapping formula. The only change to the formula is the percentage of the player’s scoring differential that is used in calculating the handicap. In the past, we have used 80% of the difference between a player’s qualifying average score and par. Beginning with the June 2009 tournament, we will be using 92%. So, here are the handicapping procedures and new formula:
- Calculate the average of the best half of a player’s scores. If the player has played an odd number of rounds, median score is not included in the average.
- Subtract that average score from par (81 is par for 27 holes).
- Multiply the result by .92 and round to the nearest whole number.
- If the number is a negative, the player will subtract the number from their tournament scores. If the number is a positive, the player will add the number to their tournament scores.
Here is an example of how the handicap is calculated for a player with rounds of 96, 103, 91, 94, 95:
- The rounds of 91 and 94 are averaged for a score of 92.5. The player has an odd number of rounds, so the median score of 95 is not used in the average. The high scores of 96 and 103 are also not used.
- 92.5 is subtracted from 81, resulting in a -11.5.
- -11.5 is multiplied by .92 with a result of -10.58. This is rounded to the nearest whole number, -11.
- The players handicap is recorded as a SUB 11, meaning that they will subtract 11 throws from their next tournament score.
Here is the impact of the formula change. In the past, the difference between the average round, after handicaps, of the lowest handicapped player and the highest handicapped player was 8.4 throws. This means, that if the low handicap player threw their average round, the high handicapper would have to throw a whopping nine (9) throws better than their average to beat the low handicapper. The high handicapper was at a significant disadvantage.
With the new formula, the low handicappers (meaning, the better players) still have a handicapping advantage versus the high handicappers, but that advantage has been reduced some. With the new formula, the lowest handicapper in the club will have a 3.4 throw advantage over the highest handicapper for a 27 hole tournament. This means that the high handicapper will still have to play four (4) strokes better than average to beat the low handicapper on a typical day. So, the handicapping change will make the total field a bit more competitive, while still rewarding the better players with a small handicapping advantage. BTW, for comparison, the United States Golf Association handicapping uses 96% of a players scoring differential, still 4 points higher than we are using.
The new handicaps are already posted on the website, so visit the Club Handicaps Page to see what effect it had on your handicap. Most of you will see very little, or no change. And, if you have any questions about this change, or want to see exactly how the change impacts each person’s average score, just ask. I have all the data and can email it to you for review.
[PhotoCredit:jhiner]
How Long is Loooooooong??
We know from the teepads the distance for 9 holes is 2,489′. Rough numbers for the medium and long 9’s are 2,900′ & 3,870′. The long distance includes the new tee positions in previous post plus another I just looked at. #5–Just in front of the cable at the southeast corner of waste bin enclosure. (if you don’t know directions….) Hole framed well with fenced area on left and compost piles on right. Started walking off distances for a future XXXL 9!!! Stopped after 7 holes with distance of 3,705′. Lets work on this one. (i.e.–Tee 1 to hole 2) Give it some thought. Keep ‘em flyin’ Wanted to load some pics of new tee postions, but keep getting told something about security. (darn porn site). Jiiiiiiiimmmmm!!!!! Help
Also added link to course map & scorecard
Some new Looooooong tees!!!
#4–From the long in parking lot, walk towards pavillion until you see the concrete cut in for wheelchair ramp. Tee will probably be on grass. Have to shoot through trees, miss #4 tee sign, then your golden!!!
#8–From #8 pad shoot for hole #1
#9–Follow cable line towards pond. Concrete walkway comes from pond to cable line. From end of concrete, tree next to it on left, shoot for #9
Get out there and check them out. Going to use them for June Tourney.
John Kimball Wins Monthly with Lowest 27-Hole Round Yet!
John Kimball shot an 8-under 73 today in perfect conditions to win first place in the Chainrackers monthly tournament. John’s round of 73 breaks the previous low-round record of 74 held in tandem by both John and Bryan Becker.
Due to a handicapping error, it was thought that Steven Kehret had placed second (sorry Steven), but with a correct handicap of SUB 2, Steven actually finished in fourth place. This means that Dan Sissom finished second and Rob Hamilton finished third. Payout corrections will be made at the next monthly tournament. A field of eleven players started the tournament with nearly everyone shooting a better than average round.
New Features Added to Website
Hey, check out the newest features that have been added:
- Club Handicaps Page
- Map with course location on About Us Page
- Club Championship Page
- Contact Us Page
Okay, it’s midnight and time for some rest. See you all on Saturday!
Club T-Shirts Available on Saturday
Yes, the long awaited arrival of the Chainrackers t-shirts is very soon. This Saturday I will have the t-shirts at our Monthly Tournament. Just another reason to arrive early.
I ordered extras in various sizes, so don’t worry if you didn’t get an order in. There will probably be a shirt you can buy.
The shirts were less expensive then originally expected, so here are the new prices: $11 for regular shirts (S-XL), add $2 for long sleeve, and add $1 for sizes XXL and larger. Please bring either a check (made out to Jim Lockwood) or exact change. I have prepaid for all of the shirts.
The shirts are in either light gray or tan (sorry, not the colors in the pretty image to the left). There is a small logo on right chest and large logo on the back.
SEE YOU ALL SATURDAY!