The other big news is, Austin’s crushing tournament record has resulted in a huge drop in his handicap.  Austin, who started the year with a SUB 7 handicap, has now made a dramatic drop to a SUB 3.  Congratulations Austin!  Your handicap shows that you are one of our clubs better players…but now the task of winning has become even more of a battle.  Best of luck as you compete at this even more challenging level.

The reason for the change is to ensure that handicaps reflect how a player is playing recently (past year or so) and not how they have played over several years.  This will help even out situations such as a player who has greatly improved while playing with the club or a player who has significantly declined in their skills (hey, some of us are getting older).

As we are gathering quite a lengthy history of tournament scores for several players, the need to cap the total scores used has become more of an issue.  Most of you will see no change to your handicap for the January tournament based on this change.  Those who do see a change will only be affected by one stroke, maybe two.  If you have any questions about this change, please speak with me on Saturday.

NOTE: This does not mean that every round is used in the formula, since the worse half of your scores are not used to calculate the handicap.

So, should I order these sweatshirts?  And, do any of you want the hoodies?  Please reply soon so I can get the order in before our next monthly.  Post your comments now.

By the way, this monthly was Hal’s one year anniversary playing in the Chainracker’s monthlies.  After not being able to break par all last season, Hal has finished under par in three of the monthlies this year.  His game continues to improve each month with plenty of practice.  Hal is one of the longest drivers in the club and his putts are becoming a more solid part of his game.

Second place this month went to George Kimmerlein who also shoot a 79, but was edged out by his handicap.  George was under par after finishing both the medium and long tees.  Jack Kaufusi, Del Silva and Marie Finn finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.  John Kimball shot the best non-handicap round of that day at 74, but his punishing ADD 9 handicap put him out of the running.

Even with the handicap of adding 7 strokes, John was still 3 strokes ahead of Hal Horn’s second place round of 78 (with handicaps).  Hal had his first sub-par round during a monthly tournament.  John and Hal were followed by Nate, Rob and Jim in third, fourth and fifth places, respectively.

It was an awesome day for golf.  Thirteen players showed up for the July monthly tournament.  Three players were new and establishing handicaps, while ten members competed for the cash and points.  No aces today, so the ace pool is now $108.

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)

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:

1. Calculate the average of the best half of a player’s scores.  If the player has played an odd number of rounds, the median score is not included in the average.
2. Subtract that average score from par (81 is par for 27 holes).
3. Multiply the result by .92 and round to the nearest whole number.
4. 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:

1. 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.
2. 92.5 is subtracted from 81, resulting in a -11.5.
3. -11.5 is multiplied by .92 with a result of -10.58.  This is rounded to the nearest whole number, -11.
4. 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]

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.

• 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!