BOOKING TEE TIMES

There has been slight change in the booking process.  We can now book tee times 6 days in advance rather than 7. i.e if you want to book for Monday 11th January you can book from Tuesday 5th NOT Monday 4th January.

Golf Groups for Bounce Wednesday 6th January

Hello Ladies

I have now done an informal random draw for the bounce on Wednesday 6th January, and have emailed the lead for each group (in bold below), copying in the other group members.

Apologies if I have missed anyone out. If you have not been emailed by me about bounce games for Jan/Feb/March and wish to take part, please message me (Morag Cunningham) on 07776 151659 or cunninghammorag58@gmail.com There are a couple of spaces in the existing groups and, of course, another group can be made.

Group 1                         Group 2                     Group 3                     Group 4

Joy McLeod                Anne Judge             Marion Munro           Helen Abram
Sheila Biggart              Pat Pennell               Mary Jane Bird          Morag Cunningham
Chris Minto                  Alison Templeton      Mary Craig                 Rosemary Reedie
Sally Smyth                 Eileen Walker           Lillias Snodgrass       Carol Reid

Group 5                        Group 6                  Group 7

Vivien Howe             Gillian Donaghy      Mary Hardie
Pamela McKenzie     Denise Cowan         Karin MacKenzie
Rosemary Ogilvie      Vicky Rennie           Senga Nixon
Kate Scott

Wednesday Bounce Games January/Febuary/March

Happy Christmas everyone!

Now that we are using the Scottish Golf app for booking tee times, some are finding it a bit trickier to get a game of golf as it is no longer possible to add your name to a booking that has already been made. It is proposed that we try out a new "ballot" system for booking Wednesday bounce games for the first three months of this year.

Later this evening (Mon 28th Dec) you will receive an email to ask if you want to be included in the "ballot" for Wednesday 6th January. This will happen weekly thereafter.

The system will operate as follows:

• an email will be sent out on Monday preceeding the Wednesday of the following week
• reply to say that you wish to be included in the bounce ballot by noon on Tuesday
• players will be put into groups of 4
• one of the 4 will be the lead for their group and will receive an email on Tuesday afternoon/evening to inform them who is in the group. They will contact the other players in the group to arrange a mutually convenient tee time which they will then book on the SG app.
• if any of the group can no longer play after the booking is made, they should inform the lead

The hope is that this new "ballot" system will help us all to continue mixing and ensure that everyone who wants to can get a game.

Any queries, please get in touch on cunninghammorag58@gmail.com or 077776 151659

Thanks!

Morag Cunningham (Match & Handicap)

FESTIVE TRI-AM - WEDNESDAY 9 DECEMBER 2020

In a fun end to a bizarre season, 34 ladies enjoyed the Festive Tri-Am waltz today, over 12 holes. Thankfully the weather allowed it to be played today, mainly on the full greens, although it did get a bit wet for the later starters.

Big thanks to Joy McLeod for preparing the cards and for the festive treats in the starter's hut, especially her beautiful homemade mince pies.

Festive Outfits were in evidence, and you can pick your own winners from these pictures!

There were some great scores and an honourable mention goes to runners-up Anne Robinson, Mary Hardie and Pauline MacEwen with an excellent 54 points.

However they were just pipped by winners Sheila Biggart, Louise Cooper and Morag Cunningham with an amazing 55 points. Well done!

Santa will deliver your prizes before he gets too busy on the 24th of the month!

FESTIVE TRI AM

Ladies, just a reminder that your cards for tomorrows tri am will be in the Starter Hut at the 1st tee.

Individual handicps for the day will be marked on them and it is a STABLEFORD Waltz format,  playing holes 1 to 12.   One score at 1st hole, 2 scores at 2nd hole and 3 scores at 3rd hole then repeat.

You are playing over the Green course, take a selfie of the team at the start and a photo of the card at the end and send both to Jan.

Have FUN!

FESTIVE TRI-AM DRAW

The draw has been updated for the Festive Tri-Am on Wednesday 9th December 2020.

Draw
9.30	Anne Robinson	Mary Hardie	Pauline MacEwan
9.40	Vivien Howe	Pat Pennel	Alison Templeton
9.50	Denise Cowan	Rosemary Ogilvie	Chris Minto
10.00	Sheila Biggart	Louise Cooper	Morag Cunningham
10.10	Anne Judge	Eunice Muir	Kate Scott
10.20	Karen Binning	Eleanor Cannon	Eileen Walker
10.30	Lilias Snodgrass	Helen Abram	Carol Reid
10.40	Mary Craig	Gillian Donaghy	Vicky Rennie
10.50	Marion Munro	Sally Smyth	Anne Gordon
11.00	Agnes Williamson	Rosemary Reedie	Senga Nixon
11.10	Pamela MacKenzie	Karin MacKenzie	Joy McLeod

Instructions

1) We have been allocated a "slot" on the Wednesday morning, so there is now no need for team captains to book a time for their group - these have already been reserved and can be viewed using the "My Tee Time" function on the Scottish Golf App.

2) The competition will be played over Holes 1-12 in Stableford WALTZ format ("1-2-3")

This means 1 score to count at hole 1, 2 scores to count at hole 2, 3 scores to count at hole 3, then back to 1 score to count at hole 4..... and repeat.

3) Handicap allowances will be the same as for individual Stableford (95%) as each player's stableford points are relevant at a hole. Calculate this for each player by 

     Handicap Index x 129/113 x 95% (as clubhouse closed for the lookup tables).

Note: the Handicap shown for each player on the App on entry to the competition is their Course Handicap ie 100%, so you need to multiply this by 95%. 

4) Play on the Green Course - use green stroke index and take strokes on Holes 1-12 where you would get them if you were playing a full round.

5) One player from each team please mark your points on a scorecard and send a photo at the end of your game to me. (Scoring for the Waltz Tri-Am is not possible using the phone App)

Scorecards (prepared by Joy) with handicaps included will be left in the Starters Hut for each team).

6) It's Christmas! (nearly 😉). Take a selfie of your team on the 1st tee in your Festive Attire and send this with your scorecard to mark the occasion (expect this to appear here on the blog!)

7) Enjoy yourself!

If there is very bad weather on the morning of Wednesday 9th Dec, a post will be put here on the blog by 8.45am with contingency plans.

Any cancellations or late entries, please contact me.

Jan

LADIES FESTIVE TRI-AM WEDNESDAY 9TH DECEMBER 2020

Despite the fact that the weather or covid restrictions could scupper our plans, we are going ahead in optimism and arranging a competition for Wednesday 9th December in place of the usual Christmas competition and lunch.

Note there will be no organised lunch afterwards, though players will be able to stay for drinks/lunch afterwards if they wish in the usual way, assuming the clubhouse is able to open for hospitality at that time. (EDIT - clubhouse will be closed under Tier 4 restrictions).

Details

Enter from now until the end of November using the VMS App. (The App will be used to collect entries but scoring on the day will be by card).

Draw will be done Monday evening 30th November and posted on the blog. Teams of 3 as far as possible.

We have been allocated a ladies "slot" between 9.30am and 11.10am.

The competition will be Tri-Am format, open to all playing members including Associates and will be over 12 holes. 

Further instructions to follow once the draw is made.

HOW MANY STROKES DO I GET NOW?

The new WHS appears to have introduced the need for maths and calculators before we play golf. However, there is an easier way. Lookup tables should be available to keep everyone right.

Unfortunately, revised information on the Slope Ratings for our courses was received from Scottish Golf after our initial stationery had been ordered. Consequently, the information available in the hallway may not be correct for ladies.

I have therefore prepared 2 documents (one for the Red Course and one for the Green Course) that I will pin up on the main noticeboard on the left hand wall as you enter the Ladies Locker Room, which you can all consult as necessary.

The documents are basically tables which you refer to along the lines of the Greensomes Stroke Allowance sheets we used to have.

Find your Handicap Index by looking down the left hand column and move across to find the stokes you should receive for each type of play.

HOW TO FIND YOUR NEW HANDICAP INDEX

Your new Handcap Index can now be found on the Scottish Golf App by clicking on the "More" tab (three dots at bottom right hand side of home screen), then under "My Handicap" and "My WHS Index"

WHS STARTING TOMORROW 2 NOVEMBER 2020

The new World Handicapping System (WHS) comes in tomorrow, 2 November 2020. Hopefully you will all have been able to read about it over the last few weeks, including the Scottish Golf "Bite-size" posts that Morag has shared here on the blog. The data conversion has been a massive task and there are bound to be some anomalies but here are the main things to keep in mind:

1) Don't panic!

2) You can find your "projected" new Handicap Index - and from tomorrow your new Handicap Index - on the Scottish Golf App.

3) All other things being equal you would expect your new Handicap Index to be LOWER than your current handicap.

This is because your Handicap Index is NOT the number of strokes you will receive when playing at Ranfurly Castle. 

Your Handicap Index will be multiplied up using the course Slope Rating to work out your Course Handicap.

From the most recent certification from Scottish Golf, the ladies' Slope Rating for the Red Course is 130 and the Green Course is 129.

Therefore your Course Handicap will be found by multiplying your Handicap Index by 130/113 (ie 1.15) for the Red Course or 129/113 for the Green Course.

Example: Handicap Index 20 = Course Handicap 23 for the Red Course and 22.8 for the Green Course.

(Further complication involves taking a percentage of this Course Handicap depending on what type of competition you are playing eg 95% for an Individual Strokeplay competition such as a Medal, but I'm not putting all that detail in here now).

4) There are definitely some errors, in that the historic CDH data used to calculate everyone's new Handicap Index is not 100% perfect. This has been admitted and explained by Scottish Golf. 

For example, my own projected Index omits 2 of my scores from 2019 (ironically the 2 that were run by Scottish Golf at the medal finals!) and some of the scores do not have the Red/Green course distinction correct. However, the outcome is broadly in line with what I would have expected.

I suggest that if your Index is broadly in line with what you would have expected, we will all need to just accept this. Some errors may be corrected over the next few weeks by data refinement and others will sort themselves out in due course as we enter future scores.

5) However, if your projected Index is MARKEDLY different from what you might expect eg Current Handicap 32, projected Handicap Index 10 or vice versa, please let me know. This will require further investigation and correction.

I'm sure that after some initial adjustment (change is hard!) we will all get used to this new system and come in time to prefer it to the "up 0.1" CONGU system.

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 9

 Soft and Hard Cap

A player’s Low Handicap Index is remembered within the handicap formula – this is the lowest Handicap Index they have held within the last 12 months. 

The Low Handicap Index provides a reference point against which the current Handicap Index can be compared.

This is to help ensure that the player’s current Handicap Index cannot stray too far away from their demonstrated ability, in too short a space of time

If the new Index is more than a certain number of strokes above the Low Handicap Index, the cap is triggered.

The soft cap suppresses upward movement when the difference between the new calculated Index and the Low Index is greater than 3. 

The increase is suppressed by 50% of any value over 3.

The hard cap prevents further upward movement by placing a hard ceiling at 5 above the Low Index.

The soft cap and hard cap procedures only start to take effect once a player has at least 20 acceptable scores in their scoring record

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 8

 Exceptional Score Reduction

A score differential which is at least 7.0 strokes or more better than the player’s Handicap Index at the time the round was played.

Score can be from any format of play, competitive or general play and this is not restricted to competition scores.

When a player submits an exceptional score, the handicap formula applies an additional adjustment to the player’s updated Handicap Index.

This adjustment is in addition to any reduction caused within the 8/20 calculation.

The Handicap Committee can override the adjustment if they deem necessary.

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 7

 Playing Conditions Calculation (PCC)

At the end of each day, a playing conditions calculation (PCC) takes place automatically, behind the scenes, to determine if scores made at the course were significantly higher or lower than expected.

If scores were unusually low or high, a PCC adjustment of between –1 and +3 will be applied to your score differential calculation to reflect the playing conditions on the day.

When abnormal playing conditions cause scores to be higher or lower than expected on a given day, a Playing Conditions Calculation will adjust score differentials to better reflect the player’s actual performance.

This means that a higher score on a tough day may still be a good score and one of your best 8, used to calculate your updated Handicap Index.

The PCC considers all acceptable scores submitted on a golf course on a given day (all formats, competitive & recreational, 9 & 18 holes).

For a PCC to be calculated, at least eight acceptable scores must be submitted by players with a Handicap Index of 36.0 or below.  The PCC is automatically applied within the calculation of score differentials for all players.

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 6

 Course and Slope Rating

The Course Rating system forms the foundation for the Rules of Handicapping. The system enables handicaps to be portable by adjusting a player’s handicap according to the relative difficulty of the golf course being played.  

What is course rating?

An indication of the difficulty of a golf course for the scratch player under normal course and weather conditions

What is a bogey rating?

An indication of the difficulty of a golf course for the bogey player under normal course and weather conditions

What is a Slope Rating?

A Slope Rating is the number which indicates the relative playing difficulty of a course for bogey golfers, compared to scratch golfers. 

It is the combination of the Course Rating and the Bogey rating that allow us to calculate the Slope Rating of a set of tees.

Details of these ratings for courses across Scotland will be available on the Scottish Golf Website and App from 2nd November 2020 for a course rating database lookup.

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 5

 Acceptable Scores

Under WHS, one of the key aims is to provide golfers with more opportunities to submit counting scores.  

Some of the factors that will mean a score is considered acceptable for handicapping purposes, as outlined in the new Rules of Handicapping, include:

• In an authorized format of play; (Strokeplay, Stableford and Par/Bogey).

• Over a minimum number of holes, (9 for 9 holes and 10 for 18 holes) all scores will be scaled up into an 18-hole differential.

• By the Rules of Golf.

• With at least one other person.

• On a course with a current Course Rating and Slope Rating. 

• During an active season.

• Certified in accordance with Rules of Handicapping

Players must pre-register their intent to submit a score in general play for handicap purposes. General play is a significant benefit under WHS, allowing golfers to, so long as they pre-register and play the game by the WHS requirements, submit any round of golf from any golf course on the globe.  This is a massive opportunity for golfers who wish to consume their golf this way all year round and opens up new opportunities to maintain and obtain a handicap. General play scores can be submitted directly through the Scottish Golf App.

Such pre-registration must be made before the player starts the round, and in the manner prescribed by the Handicap Committee or Scottish Golf

World Handicapping System - Bite Size - Day 4

 Frequency of Handicap Index Update

The handicap calculation will take place every night at a specific time and a golfer’s new Handicap Index will be calculated ready for the following day.

It is therefore important that a player submits their score as soon as possible on the day of play, after completion of their round and before midnight (local time).

Golfers must input their gross score for every hole played. If a golfer’s score is not submitted on the day of play it will not be used in the Playing Conditions Calculation.

A golfer will be able to view their new Handicap Index on the Scottish Golf Platform (via the website or App) or through their own golf club.

World Handicapping System - Bite size - Day 3

 What are Course and playing Handicap Calculations?

https://scottishgolf.org/course-handicap-playing-handicap-calculations/

Your Course Handicap will be the number of strokes a player receives, before handicap allowances, from a specific set of tees as determined by the Slope Rating: 

For example, for a golfer with a Handicap Index of 12.0, playing a course with a Slope Rating of 127, the calculation would be:

12.0 x (127/113) = 13.5 (14)

Note This is the handicap you will put and your card and use when submitting a score, this the important handicap to remember!

Playing Handicap 

The Playing Handicap adjusted for any handicap allowances or Terms of the Competition. It represents the actual number of strokes the player gives or receives for the format of golf being played.

For example, using the above example where the golfer has a Course Handicap of 13.5 and playing a competition with a 95% handicap allowance, the calculation for Playing Handicap would be:

13.5 x 0.95 = 12.8 (13)

Note- This handicap is solely used for the purpose of calculating competition results or when working out allowances for a specific format of play.

Handicap Allowance 

The percentage of a Course Handicap recommended to create equity for all players participating in a specific format of play. See below a list of all formats of play and the recommended Handicap Allowance.

World Handicapping System - Bite size - Day 2

Handicap Index Calculation 

https://scottishgolf.org/calculating-your-handicap-index-under-whs/

One of the most common questions golfers will ask each other is, “what is your handicap?”

Under WHS, the way in which a handicap is calculated will change slightly, and golfers will receive a new Handicap Index.

A Handicap Index is designed to represent your demonstrated ability.  It is calculated by averaging the best 8 score differentials out of the most recent 20 within your scoring record. Can be made up of both competition and general play scores.

For example, see below the calculation for one of our own Handicapping and Course Rating team:

By taking Adam’s best 8 from his last 20 scores, his Handicap Index is calculated as 12.0.

If your record does not have 20 scores on it already, a modified calculation will be carried out to provide you with a Handicap Index.  The below table highlights how this will be done: 

A Handicap Index will be the measure of a player’s demonstrated ability calculated against the Slope Rating of a golf course of standard playing difficulty (that is, a course with a Slope Rating of 113).

Your Handicap Index provides you with a portable measure of your demonstrated playing ability that is consistent with how all other golfers will be measured around the world. It can be used to track your progress and to play in a casual or a competitive round with any other player from course to course and country to country.

How do I get one?

For new players:

Once you have joined a golf club and you have submitted scores from a total of 54 holes, made up of 9 or 18-hole scores, you will be allocated an initial Handicap Index. 

You are then able to return competition and general play scores (pre-registered).

For existing club members:

We will be using you existing scores on you CDH record to calculate your Handicap Index

What is a score differential? 

The difference between a player’s adjusted gross score and the Course Rating, taking account of Slope Rating. It is the value ‘played to’ on a specific course on a specific day.

World Handicapping System - Bite size - Day 1

 Ladies

Scottish Golf is publishing a guide to the World Handicapping System in easy to read chunks every day over the next two weeks starting today.

Here is Day 1 "The Purpose of the World Handicap System"

https://scottishgolf.org/why-are-we-moving-to-a-new-handicap-system/

With WHS coming into play in Scotland on 2nd November 2020, many golfers across Scotland will be asking, “why are we moving to a new Handicap system?”

WHS aims to provide maximum enjoyment for all who play the game. The new system will enable players of any ability, from anywhere in the world, to play and compete with others on a fair basis. This will be the case whether in competition, or during a casual round.

WHS will encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain and maintain a handicap and once a golfer has their handicap, players of differing abilities, genders, and nationalities will be able to take their handicap to any course in the world where they will be able to compete on a fair basis.

Another key aim of WHS is that it will indicate, with accuracy, the score a golfer is reasonably capable of achieving on any course around the world, playing under normal conditions.

CLUB AND COUNTY MATCHES RESUME

The Daily Mail Foursomes, which should have been played throughout 2020, has recently started to run from now until the end of 2021 with this year's qualifiers.

Anne Judge and Sheila Biggart played at home this week against two ladies from Kilbirnie and had a convincing 7&5 win! Well done girls and good luck in the next round.

The Final of the 2019/20 Renfrewshire Ladies County Foursomes (postponed from March) will now go ahead at Erskine on Sunday 25th October. Allison Murray and Lesley Robertson are to play Williamwood's Carol McNally and Alyson McGinnigle. Good luck retaining the trophy for Ranfurly Castle girls (last year's winners were Anne Judge and Marion Munro).