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.

Season's Greetings

Merry Xmas & a Happy & Healthy 2014 to all our members & their families.

Just a reminder of the hazards to be encountered at Babinda during cane harvesting!  (Thanks Di)

Our program for 2014 is now on the blog (see right column), but will be updated once sponsorships are finalised.

Louis Siedle

President's Report & Results Cairns 3 Dec

President's Report & Results

of the 2Ball Ambrose Competition

Played on 3^rd December

at Cairns Golf Club

100 Players

President's Report

A beautiful clear & relatively cool day greeted the 82 men & 18 ladies who turned up for our shotgun start in the final comp for 2013, a 2 Ball Ambrose. 94 stayed for our breakup lunch which was catered for by the club. The course was in good condition with greens not as fast as they have been, which may have been a relief to some. Congratulations to the greens staff.

Thanks to the caterers & bar staff who looked after us very well. The meal was on the tables promptly & the prawns plentiful. Thanks to Dave Pascoe who kindly volunteered to drive around with cold water during the game to keep us rehydrated. Thanks also to eagle eyed non playing committee members on the verandah who kindly & loudly pointed out my approach to the 18^th had gone O/B!

Welcome to visitors for the day who were also some of our sponsors, Melody Lucas & her guests Serge & Joan Battistin, Cate Dunbar & Shae Isselbacher of Savannah Lifestyle Resorts, Carly Hatswell of Easylift & Scott Payne of Complete Fitness Solutions & Katrin Nash of Drummond Golf. Thanks to Melody for presenting the Savannah Cup winners & to Carly for presenting the day's prizes.

Welcome to new member Bill Peterson of Cairns.

The winners of the progressive raffle cleaned up most of the items, but I'm holding a couple for Gary Long & one for Dave Lawler.

We had some programs for 2014 available at registration.  More will be available at our first game next year & a copy will be posted to this blog when we finalise sponsorships, probably early in January.  I will be posting irregularly to the blog over the next few weeks if we have anything we think may be of interest to members, so please check it every week or so (if you remember during the festive season).

With best wishes for a Happy Christmas & a healthy & prosperous New Year from all the committee.

Louis Siedle

Results

Winners: John Kilby & Merv Hains 64 net

Runners up: Keith Hillier & Jon Shearer 65 net

3^rd placed: Wayne Petrohilos & Brian Panigas 66.25 net

Ball Rundown:

67 net: Dave Lawler & Roger Glover

67.5 net: Ian Tindall & Richard Staines

68.5 net: Rob Blackman & Graham Johnson

68.75 net: Colin & Jane Johannsen

69.75 net: Greg Gibb & Jim Logan, Jothi & Rama Naidoo

70 net: Lou Siedle & Dave Bennett

70.25 net: Bob Turner & Bruce Jenner, Garry Castle & David Jackson

70.5 net: John Pilbin & George Studham

70.75 net: Norm Lockwood & Zbig Bergiel

71.25 net: Dave Parrish & Herb Golightly, Yasuo Kumagae & George Shores

72.25 net: John Mitchell & Tom Clifford, Laurie Bell & Frank Thelan

72.5 net: Doug Hodgson & Warren Wright, Col McDowall & Peter Marriot, Don Thomson & Peter Jostons

73 net: Alan Dwyer & George Brew

NTPs men: 5^th Dave Lawler; 8^th Greg Gibb; 11^th Graham Johnson; 17^th David Jackson

NTPs women: 5^th Ann Perrett & 17^th Lil Benfield

Xmas Breakup Lunch

All,

The weather map indicates isolated showers for Tuesday, but whatever happens our breakup lunch is on & the club has catered for it.

The Savannah Cup presentations will take place at the lunch as previously advised.

We also have our progressive raffle during the lunch, so don't miss out!

Louis Siedle