First Game 2014 - Mareeba 4 Feb

All,

Our first game of the new year is at Mareeba on Tuesday 4 Feb., (probably just as well if the forecast wet weather continues down here).

The game will be a 4BBB Stableford, sponsored by Mitre 10, so please notify the desk at registration who you wish to partner with.  If you have a preference for playing in a group, let us know that too.

Please DO NOT complete cards & pay for potential playing partners who are expected but have not turned up, because if they decide at the last minute to drop out it causes problems to the starter writing up the board & our Treasurer.  (If you annoy the starter he may put you off last & if you annoy our Treasurer you may not get a refund!)

If you haven't read the articles on this blog about the Slope System that is now in place, please do so before you get up to Mareeba, as you will need to know your current EXACT handicap (eg 15.2) in order to calculate the handicap you will be playing off on the day.  (Laminated sheets will be available at registration on the table where you fill in your cards to make life easy for you, so I'm sure Capt. Greg will be scrutinising all high scores on the day to make sure you have entered the correct one!)

Colin Johannsen has been busy getting sponsors for our games, apart from those already arranged in Mareeba by Col McDowall, so updated copies of the 2014 program showing our sponsors will also be available at registration - thanks to all concerned.

See you there.

Louis Siedle

More on the Slope System

All,

Many of us will have experienced a nasty surprise after the introduction of the Slope system on 23 Jan, with handicaps reduced by several shots.  I hope you managed to play to it!

Capt Greg continues his informative series on the system below.

For those who have access to Golf Link by way of computer, to assist in determining your Daily Handicap, there is a Calculator just to the right of where your exact hanidcap is displayed on your Handicap History page .

 

One simply has to enter the Slope Rating of the course one is to play the following day and click on the link.  Your Daily Handicap will then be displayed and that is the handicap that you will be required to play off.

 

For those unable to access Golf Link there will be Look Up Charts at the respective venues, but again I stress, you must know your exact Golf Link handicap.

 

The Slope Ratings for the courses we will be playing over the year, off the tees we normally play, are as follows.  If there is any change to tee locations that may effect the Slope Rating members will be notified.

 

ATHERTON

Men's Whites        117                                 Ladies' Red             121

Men's Blue Wet     111                                 Ladies  Blue Wet    126

 

BABINDA

Men's White          113                                  Ladies' Red             116

 

CAIRNS

Men's White          121                                  Ladies' Red             131

 

GORDONVALE

Men's White          110                                  Ladies' Red              113

 

HALF MOON BAY

Men's White          118                                  Ladies' Red               124

Men's Grey Wet     117                                  Ladies' Yellow Wet    126

 

MAREEBA

Men's White          114                                  Ladies' Red               113

 

MILLAA MILLAA

Men's White          113                                  Ladies' Red               118

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE

Players (with the exception of Visitors) are reminded that unless they are financial members of the FNQVGA, they are not entitiled to win the major daily prizes in our programmed competitions.

 

Captain Greg

2014 Program Updated

All,

The 2014 program has now been updated with all our sponsors shown - click on the link in the right column.

The back page of the program detailing the various trophies has also been updated to include the Savannah Cup.

Our first game is on 4 Feb, but if you are getting twitchy don't forget the Tablelands Summer of Golf games. The next one on their list is Mareeba next Tuesday 28 Jan.

Cheers,

Louis Siedle

SLOPE SYSTEM Part 2

All,  More explanation from Capt Greg of the Slope System in force from 23 Jan for you to get your heads around before our first game on 4 Feb. 

Below are two examples of the Look-up Charts that you will find when you go to an Away Club. I have used Atherton and Cairns Look-up Charts as they were to Clubs that I used in the example of manually working out your Daily Handicap from your Golf link Handicap.

One change that you will notice is that the Daily Handicap may not have same handicap range which determines one handicap from the next, as one had been used to. Previously, if one's Golf Australia handicap was say, between 18.5 and 19., one played off a 19 handicap.

For example, using at the Atherton Look-up Chart, if one's exact Golf Australia handicap was between 18.4 and 19.3 one would be playing off a Daily Handicap of 18 at Atherton. Previously, anyone on 18.4 would be playing off an 18 handicap and from 18.5 to 19.3, a 19 handicap. Not so now.

When one compares the Cairns Look-up Chart to Atherton's, one will see that players in that same general Golf Australia Handicap range will be playing off a different Daily Handicap than at Atherton. If one's Golf Australia Handicap was 18.4, and that person played at Cairns instead of Atherton, the Look-up Chart for Cairns tells us that the player would be playing off a Daily Handicap of 20. That is 2 strokes higher, because the slope system tells us that Cairns is a harder course that Atherton.

I hope that this goes a bit further in explaining the impact of the Slope system on handicaps and reinforces why you must know your EXACT Golf Australia handicap, i.e. the one found at Golflink. This is absolutely essential for our members when playing at an Away course.

Members will only be required to place their Daily Handicap on the scorecard and not their exact Golf Australia Handicap.

I have purposely only included the two Charts shown to demonstrate the changes with as little complexity as possible and with the intention of limiting any confusion that might arise. The Look-up Charts for the Ladies tees at the various courses work on the exactly same principles as the ones below.

I intend to supplement the Look-up Charts held at the various Clubs with a number of laminated Charts for each Club at which the Association plays, so that there will adequate charts available for members to check their handicaps prior to Registration.

If anyone has any inquiries, please contact me and if I don't know the answer to your query, I will endeavour to find out.

Captain Greg

ATHERTON	MEN'S WHITE	SCRATCH 68	SLOPE 108
GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap	GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap	GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap
+9.9 to +8.9	9	5.8 to 6.8	6	21.5 to 22.4	21
+8.8 to +7.9	8	6.9 to 7.8	7	22.5 to 23.5	22
+7.8 to +6.9	7	7.9 to 8.8	8	23.6 to 24.5	23
+6.8 to +5.8	6	8.9 to 9.9	9	24.6 to 25.6	24
+5.7 to +4.8	5	10.0 to 10.9	10	25.7 to 26.6	25
+4.7 to +3.7	4	11.0 to 12.0	11	26.7 to 27.7	26
+3.6 to +2.7	3	12.1 to 13.0	12	27.8 to 28.7	27
+2.6 to +1.6	2	13.1 to 14.1	13	28.8 to 29.8	28
+1.5 to +0.6	1	14.2 to 15.1	14	29.9 to 30.8	29
+0.5 to 0.5	0	15.2 to 16.2	15	30.9 to 31.9	30
0.6 to 1.5	1	16.3 to 17.2	16	32.0 to 32.9	31
1.6 to 2.6	2	17.3 to 18.3	17	33.0 to 34.0	32
2.7 to 3.6	3	18.4 to 19.3	18	34.1 to 35.0	33
3.7 to 4.7	4	19.4 to 20.4	19	35.1 to 36.0	34
4.8 to 5.7	5	20.5 to 21.4	20	36.1 to 36.4	35

CAIRNS	SCRATCH 72	SLOPE 121
GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap	GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap	GA Handicap	Play off this Daily Handicap
+9.9 to +9.9	11	4.3 to 5.1	5	19.2 to 20.0	21
+9.8 to +8.9	10	5.2 to 6.0	6	20.1 to 21.0	22
+8.8 to +8.0	9	6.1 to 7.0	7	21.1 to 21.9	23
+7.9 to +7.1	8	7.1 to 7.9	8	22.0 to 22.8	24
+7.0 to +6.1	7	8.0 to 8.8	9	22.9 to 23.8	25
+6.0 to +5.2	6	8.9 to 9.8	10	23.9 to 24.7	26
+5.1 to +4.3	5	9.9 to 10.7	11	24.8 to 25.6	27
+4.2 to +3.3	4	10.8 to 11.6	12	25.7 to 26.6	28
+3.2 to +2.4	3	11.7 to 12.6	13	26.7 to 27.5	29
+2.3 to +1.5	2	12.7 to 13.5	14	27.6 to 28.4	30
+1.4 to +0.5	1	13.6 to 14.4	15	28.5 to 29.4	31
+0.4 to 0.4	0	14.5 to 15.4	16	29.5 to 30.3	32
0.5 to 1.4	1	15.5 to 16.3	17	30.4 to 31.2	33
1.5 to 2.3	2	16.4 to 17.2	18	31.3 to 32.2	34
2.4 to 3.2	3	17.3 to 18.2	19	32.3 to 33.1	35
3.3 to 4.2	4	18.3 to 19.1	20	33.2 to 36.4	36

SLOPE SYSTEM!

All, 

Sorry to burden your brains with significant detail & maths so soon after the holiday season, but Capt Greg has put together some info on the Slope System which will be in force towards the end of Jan.  You need to get your heads around it to avoid giving Greg any more grey hairs so early in the year!

SLOPE SYSTEM

On 23 January, 2014, the Slope portion of the Australian Handicapping system comes into force. The Slope system basically rates each course throughout Australia on the degree of difficulty with the rating ranging from 55 to 155. The lower the rating, the easier the course. A rating of 113 is classed as a Neutral Rating. e.g. Atherton has a Slope rating of 108 and Cairns a rating of 122, which indicates that Cairns is a harder course than Atherton.

As a result of changes to the Australian Handicap system, including the Slope component, players will have a Golf Australia Handicap and a Daily Handicap.

A Golf Australia Handicap is the players EXACT Home Club Handicap found on Golf Link. The Daily Handicap is the one used at the course on which the player is competing on the day. A player's Daily Handicap will change in relationship to the difficulty of his Home Course compared to the Away course being played.

When the Slope system comes into operation on 23 January, 2014, what do I need to know?

EACH TIME YOU PLAY AWAY FROM YOUR HOME CLUB YOU MUST KNOW YOUR EXACT GOLF AUSTRALIA HANDICAP. AS FOUND ON THE GOLFLINK SITE e.g., 12.7, 24.3, etc.

This is particularly important as far as our Members are concerned as without it, you cannot accurately determine your Daily Handicap, i.e., the Handicap you will play off at that particular course on that particular day.

Every time before you play a round, you should check what your Daily Handicap will be. How can you do this?

Firstly, you must determine your EXACT Golf Australia Handicap. Even playing at your Home Club, unless the Club has a computer system for producing cards with your correct Daily handicap, you will need to check your GA Handicap and then determine your Daily Handicap for the tees from which you are playing. This is because your handicap may vary depending on whether you are playing off the normal competition tees or the Championship tees.

Different clubs will use different methods to communicate Daily Handicaps to golfers, including computers. Generally, as far as the FNQ Veteran Golfers are concerned, each Club should display an easy-to-use Daily Handicap look-up poster from which a player can determine his Daily Handicap.

The Golf Australia website and the GOLF Link website will also feature Daily Handicap calculators.

What is the formula that GOLF Link will use to calculate a Daily Handicap?

Daily Handicap = GA Handicap x Slope Rating ÷ Neutral Slope Rating (ie.,113)

Example:

If you are a member of Cairns (Slope Rating 122) and have a Golf Australia Handicap of 22.3 and you travel to Atherton (Slope Rating of 108) your Daily Handicap will be: 22.3 x 108 divided by 113 = 21.3 or 21. In other words you would play off a lower handicap at Atherton as it has been rated an easier course than Cairns.

Conversely, if you played off 22.3 as a member of Atherton and you play at Cairns, your Daily Handicap would be: 22.3 x 122 divided by 113 = 24.07 or 24.

I will endeavour to obtain some look-up posters additional to those that will be delivered to the individual Clubs. The Committee will endeavour to make the change as seamless as possible and will assist members where needed.

Captain Greg

Golf on Xmas Day

All, Have you ever wondered how you could get away on Xmas Day for a game?

Four old timers were playing their weekly game of golf, one remarked how nice it would be to wake up on Christmas morning, roll out of bed and without an argument go directly to the golf course, meet his mates and play a round.

His mates all said, "Let's do it! We'll make it a priority; figure out a way and meet here early, Christmas morning."

Months later, that special morning arrives, and they all turn up at the golf course. 

The first guy says, "Boy this game cost me a fortune! My wife cracked up when I mentioned the possibility of golf today & I had to buy a diamond ring that she'd had her eye on for a while to get her to agree."

The second guy says, "I spent a ton too. My wife is at home planning the cruise I gave her. She was up to her eyeballs in brochures."

The third guy says "Me too, my wife is at home admiring her new car, reading the manual."

They all turned to the last guy in the group who is staring at them like they have lost their minds.

"I can't believe you all went to such expense for this golf game. I woke up early, threw off the covers, slapped the old girl on the rump and said, 'Merry Christmas darling! It's a great morning -- intercourse or golf course --' & she just said, "Don't forget your hat."

Happy New Year.