COMPETITION CHATTER & THE HANDICAPPERS HACK MAY 2018 In this Edition of Competition Chatter and the Handicappers Hack and we update you on League News, Competition News, bring you up to date on the Club s In-Form Golfers and other snippets from around the club. Date June 2018 Competition Saturday, 2 nd Sunday, 3 rd Monthly Medal (AM & PM) BB Stableford Wednesday, 6 th BB Bogey + Saturday, 9 th Sunday, 10 th Wednesday, 13 th Saturday, 16 th Sunday, 17 th Wednesday, 20 th BB Stableford (AM & PM) Captain s Delight BB Medal Singles Stableford Pairs Aggregate Stableford BB Stableford Saturday, 23 rd BB Bogey + Sunday, 24 th Wednesday, 27 th Saturday, 30 th BB Medal Captain s Delight BB Stableford with 85% Handicap Allowance
MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS The Club s Match Play Championships for the Top 16 Players in the A and B Division of the Club Championships proved difficult to schedule due to the fixture dates set by the WPGU for the Mid-Am, Masters & Harry Solomon Leagues. In the A Division the Match Play Championships are scheduled for June & July culminating with the final over 36 holes on 14 July 2018. The draw is: MILNERTON GOLF CLUB : CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS A DIVISION MATCHPLAY 2018 1st Round: 9 th June 18 holes 2nd Round: 16 th June 18 holes Semi-Finals: 23 rd June 18 holes Finals: 14 th July 36 Holes G. Buchanan 1 L. Bagg 16 } R. Rhoda 8 } D. Dunlop 9 } } G. Johnston 4 M. Gomes 13 } } L De Swardt 5 R. Hartley 12 } S. Buchanan 6 J. Plumbly 11 } } R. Wynton 3 L. Blignaut 14 } } D. Dawson 7 R. Soffer 10 } } J. Kotze 2 M. Harcombe 15 }
LEAGUE NEWS Mid-Amateur League The Mid-Amateur league was concluded with the final on 6 May 2018 at Metropolitan Golf Club, which saw Milnerton Golf Club s admirable title defence fail as they lost 5.5-2.5 to King David Mowbray. The final was closer than the score suggests, as after 12/13 holes the Club s Mid-Amateur team were leading, but a dramatic collapse saw the team fail to retain the League title. The Club should be proud of this team s efforts throughout the season, which included a brilliant win over a strong Westlake team in the Semi-Finals. Results Summary: Pool Matches Western Section: vs Durbanville won 7 1 vs Strand won 5.5-2.5 vs Parow won 4.5 3.5 vs KD Mowbray lost 3 5 Semi-Final vs Westlake won 4.5-3.5 Final vs KD Mowbray lost 2.5 5.5 Masters League The Club s Masters League campaign ended on 12 May 2018 in a Losing Draw to King David Mowbray in the Semi-Final, the match tied at 2 games each, but was lost 147-149 on stableford points. Results Summary: Pool Matches Western Section: Larry Bagg on his selection for the Western vs Durbanville lost 0-4 Province Masters KESTRELS team, who play vs Rondebosch B won 4-0 Boland at Robertson in June. vs Parow won 4-0 vs Royal Cape won 2.5 1.5 vs Bellville lose-draw 2 2 (140 142) Semi-Final vs KD Mowbray lose-draw 2-2 (147 149) The Masters League was won by KD Mowbray who beat Bellville 4 0 in the final at the Metropolitan Golf Club on Sunday, 20 May 2018. Harry Solomon League The Harry Solomon League season is well underway with the Milnerton team have a 100% record following two 4.5 3.5 wins over Erinvale & Westlake respectively, followed by a 6 2 win over Atlantis, a 5.5-2.5 win over Parow and a 4 4 draw with Kuils River this past Saturday. Milnerton are in the A Section, as the holders, and the teams remaining fixtures are: 16 June vs Bellville 23 June Quarterfinal 30 June Semi-Final 8 July Final at the Metropolitan Golf Club CONGRATULATIONS!
Winter League The Winter League is a 36 hole singles stroke play event that was held at Erinvale this past Sunday, 3 June 2018. The competition comprised teams of 4 players, with the aggregate of the best 3 scores over the 2 rounds being used to determine the winner and placings. Reigning Premier League champions, Durbanville won the competition on 439 strokes, our boys battled in tough conditions with the A Team finishing 14 th on 483 strokes and the B Team finished 3 rd last on 493 strokes in the 20 team competition. The Milnerton A team were Geno Belfiore (Capt.), Nathan Scott, Roy Wynton & Jonno Kotze, and the B team was Bernard Schacht, Darren Dunlop & Russel Soffer, captained by Kyle Lee. Next up for the Club s premier golfers is the Bradshaw Foursomes to be hosted by Parow on Saturday, 30 June and Sunday, 1 July. The Premier, Premier Reserve & 1 st Leagues commence on the weekend of 4 August 2018.
THE HANDICAPPERS HACK The Clubs IN-FORM GOLFERS Based on our monthly competition results for April 2018, the Club s TOP 10 In-Form Golfers are presented in the table below: Player Monthly Ranking Places Handicap Impact Mark Harcombe 1 1 8 1 2 6 Mike Gomes 2 5 2 4 1 3 Bernard Schacht 3 1 (1) 1 5 Athol Cooper 4 1 4 4 Leon Blignaut 5 3 1 (2) Chris Webster 6 4 3 2 1 David Du 6 8 1 2 Patrick McGivern 8 2 3 1 Fynn Czismadia 9 3 2 2 Handicap 8 to 10. Recorded 15 Rounds during April 2018. Won BB with Kyle Harcombe on 4 April who recorded a nett 65. 1 exceptional round on 7 April not in the prizes. Other 3 placings with David Du. Handicap 5 to 6 to 7 to 6. 1 exceptional round on 22 April 2018. Recorded 17 rounds during April 2018. Handicap reduced from 5 to 3. 1 exceptional round recorded on 7 April and was 2 under handicap on 21 April. Handicap reduced from 29 to 26 with exceptional rounds recorded on 7 & 21 April. Handicap reduced from 7 to 6 with an exceptional round recorded on 7 April. Handicap reduced from 26 to 25. 2 placings won in separate forward tee individual competitions Handicap reduced from 15 to 13. Exceptional round recorded on 28 April and recorded scores of +1 & -2 to his handicap in other competition placings. See note on Mark Harcombe. Handicap increased from 14 to 15. 15 rounds recorded during the month. Handicap reduced from 12 to 11. 20 rounds recorded during April 2018. Russel Soffer 10 1 2 (2) Handicap reduced from 5 to 4. Players in Blue are handicapped off the forward tees. Scores in () indicate gross placing in Monthly Medal.
Based on average monthly position ranking our TOP 20 In-Form golfers for the three month period from March to April 2018 are: Player February 2018 Monthly Ranking March 2018 April 2018 Period Ranking Mike Gomes 37 34 2 1 Mark Harcombe 27 138 1 2 Gary Bain 3 16 124 3 Kenny Michel 2 87 42 4 Kobus Herholdt 4 104 36 5 Rob Guy 5 77 23 6 Justin de Allende 13 3 107 7 Roy Wynton 30 6 49 8 Paul Real 33 5 64 9 Gideon Odendaal 1 59 153 10 Patrick McGivern 17 59 8 11 David Du 21 138 6 12 Brian Marsden 7 138 30 13 Leon Blignaut 66 25 5 14 Allan Biersteker 61 18 13 15 Colin Horack 48 1 84 16 Dave Riley 12 138 21 17 Wesley van Rooyen 52 8 153 18 Leon Louw 8 101 124 19 Peter Waison 54 13 12 20 Shaun Buchanan 66 12 17 21 Fynn Czismadia 31 138 9 21 John Reynolds 11 138 32 22 Lionel Spencer 48 4 49 24 Nat Yamey 18 49 64 25 Chris Webster 45 138 6 26 Bernard Schacht 66 138 3 27 Athol Cooper 66 115 4 28 Pat Taylor 24 40 94 29 Shaun Ginsberg 10 49 153 30 Players in Blue are handicapped off the forward tees.
COMPETITION CHATTER! Competition Fees Along with petrol, taxes, water, inflation, etc. the Club s competition fees are also going to increase by R10 from Saturday, 30 June 2018. The reason for the increase is that bar sales are down as the winning & placings FLAPS just cannot buy what they used too. As an added bonus the Club is to run a 4 Hole Jackpot competition included in your competition fee on Wednesdays, Saturday Morning and Saturday Afternoon competitions. 4 Hole Jackpot The 4 Hole Jackpot will consist of 4 randomly drawn holes, 2 on the front 9 and 2 on the back 9. The idea is for any player/s making 4 nett birdies on the corresponding holes e.g. 12 points in a Stableford competitions, or similar will win/share the Jackpot. If there is no winner the jackpot will roll over to the next week. The Jackpot is for individuals and not pairs, therefore you are encouraged to putt out if you have a chance of a nett birdie on any hole even if in a Better Ball competition your partner has already secured the score. The Jackpot will be rolled over separately for the three competition days, viz. Wednesdays roll over to the next Wednesday, Saturday Mornings roll over to the next Saturday Morning and Saturday Afternoons roll over to the next Saturday Afternoon. The Jackpot will be made up of R5 per player x the number of players in the field on the given day. In order to comply with the rules on Amateur Status the maximum that can be won by an individual is R 6 000, should the Jackpot exceed this amount the winners will be paid the maximum and any surplus monies will be used to seed the next Jackpot. The Jackpot holes will be drawn for the day at Prize giving and the jackpot value and winners will be announced at the following week s prize giving. The Jackpot holes on Saturday will be the same for both the morning and afternoon fields. IT S BACK! The Club s Management Committee has decided to re-introduce the much debated / hated / misunderstood handicap allowance in Better Ball Pairs competitions from 30 June 2018 for an extended trial period of 2 months until the new course rating system kicks in on 3 September 2018. Thereafter, we will first assess the impacts of the new course rating on handicaps before making any further decisions in this regard. This decision was based on the analysis and assessment of the Better Ball competition results for the months of August, September & October 2017, during which period a handicap allowance of 75% was introduced in September and of 85% for October, competitions in August were played off full handicaps. From the competition results analysed the following observations and conjectures were made: Competition scores across the 1 st to Last place were 13 stableford points at full handicap, 15.5 at 75% handicap allowance and 12.5 at 85% handicap allowance.
Observation: Competition scores across the 1 st to Last place were 13 stableford points at full handicap, 15.5 at 75% handicap allowance and 12.5 at 85% handicap allowance. Conjecture: 75% Handicap allowance is too penalizing. 85% Handicap allowance similar comparable to full handicap, but 3.8% lower indicating potential evening of scores. Competition scores across the average of the 1 st 4 places to the average of the last 3 places were 11.23 stableford points at full handicap, 12.18 at 75% handicap allowance and 10.63 at 85% handicap allowance. From reviewing the scorecards, many of the higher handicap golfers, handicaps > 24, playing as pairs were relegated to lower places in the field. This was not necessarily evident when these players were paired with lower handicap golfers of say < 18. The comparison of the average winner handicaps and the last placed handicaps was 20.7 to 13.6 at full handicap, 18.1 to 13.9 at 75% and 21.9 to 11.8 at 85% handicap allowance. The comparison of the average 1 st 4 places handicaps and the last 3 placed handicaps was 14.8 to 16.2 at full handicap, 14.2 to 19.8 at 75% and 19.4 to 19.7 at 85% handicap allowance. 75% Handicap allowance too penalising. 85% Handicap allowance similar comparable to full handicap, 5.3% lower. Handicap allowances may be too penalizing of the higher handicap golfers when paired together in better ball competitions. This may indicate the need for applying a handicap allowance to a combined handicap or average handicap on a sliding scale. This may, however, be too complicated. Handicap allowance is too penalizing on higher handicap pairings and favors the lower handicap pairings, which is not necessarily fair. The evening out of the average handicaps for the 1 st 4 places compared to the last 3 places may indicate that the 85% handicap allowance is close to being fair to all. Note: Handicap calculations were based on player s full handicaps, not their handicap after applying the handicap allowance. From the above, the following can be concluded: (i) The data set used in the analysis and assessment is too small to provide definite conclusions. (ii) The 75% handicap allowance is too penal on golfers with a handicap of >24. (iii) The 85% handicap allowance transpires to be close to what handicap allowance could be applied to better ball competitions to compensate for fairness in a team golf better ball competition. (iv) Handicap allowances may be too penal on pairings in which both golfers handicaps are >24. Based on the above conclusions the Club will introduce a trial period with a handicap allowance of 85% for club better ball competitions, but with a maximum handicap reduction of 4 shots, as per the table below: H/Cap Allowanc e H/Cap Allowanc e H/Cap Allowanc e H/Cap Allowanc e + Same 8 7 18 15 28 24 0 0 9 8 19 16 29 25 1 1 10 9 20 17 30 26 2 2 11 9 21 18 31 27 3 3 12 10 22 19 32 28 4 3 13 11 23 20 33 29 5 4 14 12 24 20 34 30 6 5 15 13 25 21 35 31 7 6 16 14 26 22 36 32 17 14 27 23
NEW COURSE & SLOPE RATING On 3 September 2018 South Africa will be implementing a new Course and Slope Rating System which will influence your Handicap Calculation. Under this system, your course handicap on any given day will be determined according to the difficulty of the course you choose to play. GolfRSA believes that this will be fairer than our current handicap which does not equalise the higher and lower handicaps well on a difficult golf course. It will also bring SA in line with the rest of the world when the World Handicap System is implemented and make our Handicap Index portable from country to country. GolfRSA, SAGA and HNA have completed the USGA Course & Slope Ratings for all of the 441 courses in South Africa and communicated the same on 12 April 2018. SAGA decided at their Exco meeting in February 2018 in Durban to implement the USGA Course Rating System including Slope, on a date to be confirmed, Milnerton s new course ratings, for information and feedback purposes only, are: MILNERTON (72) CURRENT MEN (72) WOMEN (72) YELLOW 71 72,5/130 WHITE 70 71,4/125 BLUE 67/72 68,9/120 74,9/126 RED 66/71 67,6/119 72,9/122 Background on the USGA Course Rating System process Most of the world has now implemented the USGA Course Rating System, including Slope. CONGU (United Kingdom and Ireland) and South Africa have yet to implement slope but CONGU has committed to doing so and is currently rating all its courses for slope, while South Africa is on the verge of implementation, since the process has been completed. The World Handicap System (WHS), which is going live in 2020, adopted the USGA Course Rating System as the system to be used by all countries for the rating of their courses and is one of the primary building blocks of the WHS, which will result in handicaps being comparable worldwide. The Course Rating reflects the difficulty of the tee relative to par. The Slope Rating is the difference between how difficult the tee plays for a higher-handicapped golfer relative to a scratch golfer. The Slope system was developed because when the statistics from millions of rounds were analysed, it was found that while the course ratings were correct for scratch players, there was a big difference in the degree of difficulty for the higher-handicapped players at different courses and so, at these courses, the higher-handicapped players were at a disadvantage. The Slope system was developed to adjust the higher-handicapped players handicaps according to the slope. The standard slope was set at 113, which means that if a course has a slope of 113 then no changes would be made to handicaps. If the slope is, say, 130 then the tee is more difficult for the higher-handicapped golfer relative to the lower handicapper, and their handicaps should be adjusted upwards. When we introduce Slope, we will adjust the last 20 scores of all golfers to the new Course and Slope Ratings, so a new number, namely the Handicap Index to be used for calculating Course Handicaps, will be on the system.
Importantly, the golfer won t need to calculate anything, as there would be a Course Handicap Conversion Chart for each tee at the club, as well as on the system and the handicap app. This way, golfers can easily look up their Course Handicap for the tee. On completing the round, the player then enters their adjusted gross score or hole-by-hole score, as they currently do, and the system calculates their Handicap Index. This is working all around the world without a problem. The majority of our golfers are higher handicappers and when this is introduced, together with the more accurate Course Ratings, it will ensure that golfers from different clubs in South Africa (and the world) will have comparable handicaps and can compete on a more equitable basis. The Club will in the near future have to re-consider the stroke ratings of each hole in line with guidelines, which will be communicated once training in this regard has been received from SAGA /WPGU. A Final Word.. This editions final word is a re-cap on all 2018 Club CHAMPIONSHIP Winners! CHAMPION RUNNER-UP 3RD PLACE 4TH PLACE 5TH PLACE 6TH PLACE A-DIVISION (GROSS) Geno Belfiore Weyers Janse Van Rensburg Darren Devlin Giles Buchanan Jonathan Kotze Hendrik Van Den Berg A-DIVISION (NETT) 67 + 75 + 70 + 67 = 279 70 + 73 + 71 + 71 = 285 74 + 76 + 66 + 75 = 291 69 + 72 + 77 + 76 = 294 71 + 75 + 74 + 75 = 295 76 + 72 + 70 + 78 = 296 WINNER Lucas De Swardt 67 + 69 + 70 + 69 = 275 RUNNER-UP Darren Dunlop 72 + 69 + 69 + 71 = 281 3RD PLACE Rubin Rhoda 69 + 75 + 70 + 70 = 284 SENIOR DIVISION OVER 50 (GROSS) CHAMPION Giles Buchanan 69 + 72 + 77 + 76 = 294 JOINT RUNNER-UP Lucas De Swardt 74 + 76 + 77 + 76 = 303 JOINT RUNNER-UP Shaun Buchanan 74 + 75 + 77 + 77 = 303 SENIOR DIVISION OVER 50 (NETT) WINNER Mike Du Preez 71 + 66 + 66 + 72 = 275 RUNNER-UP Mo Marais 67 + 74 + 66 + 70 = 277 B-DIVISION (GROSS) WINNER RUNNER-UP JOINT 3RD PLACE Mo Marais Deon Maritz Paul Woods 77 + 84 + 76 + 80 = 317 80 + 78 + 81 + 85 = 324 83 + 84 + 79 + 80 = 326
JOINT 3RD PLACE 5TH PLACE 6TH PLACE Matthew Marais Justin De Allende Alan Pearson B-DIVISION (NETT) 81 + 82 + 82 + 81 = 326 79 + 80 + 81 + 87 = 327 80 + 84 + 79 + 85 = 328 WINNER Mike Du Preez 71 + 66 + 66 + 72 = 275 RUNNER-UP Grant Magerman 66 + 66 + 70 + 74 = 276 3RD PLACE David Du 67 + 67 + 73 + 71 = 278 STAYERS CUP BEST NETT 3RD & 4TH ROUNDS WINNER Greg Williams 61 + 70 = 131 RUNNER-UP Geno Belfiore 68 + 65 = 133 C-DIVISION (GROSS) WINNER Shlomo Shekel 92 + 87 = 179 RUNNER-UP Francois Van Eeden 85 + 97 = 182 3RD PLACE Gideon Odendaal 94 + 89 = 183 4TH PLACE Arie Meulman 93 + 93 = 186 C-DIVISION (NETT) WINNER Jack Weir 68 = 67 = 135 RUNNER-UP Shaun Harris 69 + 71 = 140 BLUE MARKER DIVISION (GROSS) WINNER Campbell Hastie 85 + 79 = 164 RUNNER-UP Norman Marcus 94 + 89 = 183 3RD PLACE Dan Daley 95 + 89 = 184 BLUE MARKER DIVISION (NETT) WINNER Harry Cruywagen 74 + 65 = 139 RUNNER-UP Hansie Ruhl 72 + 71 = 143 JUNIOR (BEST GROSS) WINNER Jade Goyens 84 + 83 + 87 + 80 = 334 RUNNER-UP Braden Pillay 102 + 119 + 90 + 108 = 419 Until next time, HAPPY GOLFING! The Handicap Hack on behalf of the GOLF & HANDICAP SUB-COMMITTEES.