Competitions Where Players Play from Different Sets of Tees
Club competitions, in which different groups of players compete for the same prizes
or trophies but play from different sets of tees, are becoming increasingly popular.
Examples include competitions that are open to men and women, boys and girls
and also single gender competitions e.g. Junior/Adult/Senior competitions. With
aging memberships, a number of golf clubs are now encouraging their senior
members to play in competitions from forward tees, where these have been
allocated an SSS by the SGU/SLGA and where other required competition
conditions prevail.
A number of issues arise if a competition is played with some players playing from
different sets of tees:
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How to equitably determine the overall winner in stroke play
How to adjust handicaps to provide fair and equitable Competition Handicap
Allowances
How to calculate the CSS in qualifying competitions
What handicap should be recorded on the scorecard in order to comply with
the Rules of Golf
How to equitably determine the strokes given/received in match play
The following guidance is, therefore, offered for different formats of competition:
Overall winner in stroke play
Appendix O of the CONGU® Manual 2012-15 gives revised guidance on the
adjustments to handicap allowance required to determine the overall competition
winner in stroke play – Medal, Stableford and Par/Bogey – competitions. In each
situation the players playing to the more difficult target (SSS) should receive
additional strokes above their Playing Handicap to give a Competition Handicap
Allowance. This Allowance may be higher than the maximum permitted handicaps
i.e. in excess of 28 [36]. The adjustments required depend upon the type of
competition:
1. Medal Stroke Play
The players playing to the more difficult target (ie from the tees with the
higher SSS) require an additional allowance equivalent to the difference in
the SSS between the different sets of tees.
Example:
Men playing from White tees SSS= 70,
Boys playing from Yellow tees SSS= 69
Ladies playing from Red tees SSS = 73.
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The Competition Handicap Allowances calculate as:
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Boys from Yellow tees = Playing Handicap
Men from White tees = Playing Handicap + 1
Ladies from Red tees = Playing Handicap + 4
The overall winner is the player returning the lowest nett score.
2. Stableford Competitions:
For Stableford competitions it is the relationship between Par and SSS that
determines Competition Handicap Allowances required for equitable
competition. When all players require the same number of points to ‘play to
handicap’, no handicap adjustments are required regardless of the SSS’s.
Example:
Men playing from White tees SSS = 70, Par 69
Ladies playing from Red tees SSS = 73, Par 72.
Both sets of players require 35 points to ‘play to handicap’ so no adjustment
is required. The winner is simply the player that returns the greatest number
of Stableford points.
If, however, the target points required to play to handicap is different, an
adjustment is needed so that all sets of players who play to handicap over
their particular set of tees have the same number of points for competition
purposes. In this way the overall winner is the player with the most points.
Example:
Men playing from White tees SSS=70, Par 69
Ladies playing from Red tees SSS = 73, Par 73.
In this scenario the men require 35 points to ‘play to handicap’ and the
Ladies 36 points. The men now, therefore, require an additional handicap
stroke to equate the two scores to ‘play to handicap’. The Competition
Handicap Allowances therefore calculates as:
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Ladies from Red tees = Playing Handicap
Men from White tees = Playing Handicap + 1
In order to attain this extra point/stroke, however, the men have to ‘earn’ it by
recording a gross score/Stableford score on the additional hole at which they
receive the additional stroke.
3. Par/Bogey Competitions:
Similar principles to those for Stableford apply to Par/Bogey competitions.
The players having the ‘harder’ target to ‘play to handicap’ require a higher
Competition Stroke Allowance.
Example:
Men playing from White tees SSS=70, Par 69,
Juniors playing from Yellow tees SSS=68, Par 69
Ladies playing from Red tees SSS=73, Par = 71.
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In such a situation the men require 1 down to ‘play to handicap’, the Juniors
require 1 up to ‘play to handicap’ and the ladies require 2 down. In such
circumstances, to determine the prize-winners on an equitable basis, the
Competition Handicap Allowances would be:
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Juniors – Playing Handicap
Men – Playing Handicap +2
Ladies – Playing Handicap +3
The overall winner is the player with the best ‘holes up’ score relative to Par.
Note 1:
It is important to remind players who are not familiar with these adjustments and
who are in receipt of additional strokes in Stableford and Par/Bogey competition not
to pick up on the holes where they receive any extra strokes awarded within their
Competition Handicap Allowance, unless they are completely out of the hole.
Note 2:
Committees should have a decision for deciding ties that is based on the
Competition Handicap Allowance(s) rather than the Playing Handicap(s).
Adjusting Handicaps and calculation of the CSS
All handicap calculations must be made with reference to the players’ Playing
Handicaps. There are two ways in which the CSS can be calculated:
Method 1:
A separate CSS is calculated for each individual section/group of players e.g. in
Example 3 above for the Par/Bogey competition three competitions would be set up
on the computer (or calculated manually) and each group of players would have a
CSS calculated on the results only relating to those in their particular section. Whilst
easy to set up, this approach has a number of disadvantages:
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The ISV software will not show the overall winner as it will not take into
account the Competition Playing Handicap when printing out the results; this
additional calculation will have to done manually.
The CSS calculation is more likely to be affected by a small field situation.
The adjustment to the CSS may well be different for each group of players
e.g. In Example 3 above, it is not inconceivable that the CSS for juniors
could = SSS-1, for the men CSS= SSS+1 and for the ladies CSS=SSS+2.
Such differences are difficult to explain to members when all are playing in
the same competition against each other.
Method 2:
A Single CSS Adjustment is calculated by taking the performance of the whole field
relative to the set of tees from which each competitor played from. This single
Competition Scratch Score adjustment is then applied to the SSS of all relevant sets
of tees e.g. If in Example 3 above the calculated CSS adjustment was CSS=SSS+1
then the CSS from the Yellow tees would be 69, from the White tees 71 and from
the Red tees 74.
The main disadvantage of Method 2 is that it is only possible for ISV handicap
software to calculate the results if the handicap details of all the players are held on
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the same database. Please contact your ISV to check whether this can be set up in
your handicapping software.
In a situation where, for example, the men’s and ladies’ handicaps are held on
different, unlinked, computers then the software cannot be set up to calculate the
CSS and adjust handicaps in this way. It is possible to manually calculate the
competition results and the Single CSS Adjustment and then enter the scores into
the player’s records as Away scores played on their Home course. Please note Away players must ensure they return their scores back to their Home clubs in such
cases as they will not be sent back via the Central Database of Handicaps.
It is recommended that wherever possible Method 2 should be adopted but it is a
matter for each club Committee to decide given the practicalities of administering a
combined, single CSS adjustment calculation.
What ‘Handicap’ should a player enter on the Scorecard in competitions when
players are playing from different sets of tees?
When players have a Competition Handicap Allowance that is greater than their
Playing Handicap the question arises as to what handicap should be entered on the
scorecard to comply with the Rules of Golf?
Unfortunately, the answer is not straightforward. Although the Rules of Golf are
applicable worldwide there are several different major handicap systems adopted by
the various Governing Bodies across the world. The Rules of Golf cannot always
cover all the variations within the different handicapping systems in a definitive way.
Rule 6-2b:
Committees will be familiar with Rule 6-2b, which requires the player to record
his/her ‘handicap’ on the card and that a player is disqualified for entering a higher
handicap on his scorecard, than that to which he/she is entitled.
Committees may, however, be less familiar with the fact that disqualification only
applies if the player has recorded a handicap on the scorecard that is higher than
the strokes the player is entitled to receive. Therefore, from a Rules perspective
entering a higher ‘Competition Handicap Allowance’ rather than the Playing
Handicap is perfectly acceptable if the player is entitled to receive the recorded
number of strokes.
Decision 6-2/1:
Decision 6-2/1 suggests that the handicap that should be recorded on a player’s
scorecard should be the ‘Competition Handicap Allowance’ and should be entered
as the figure that has been adjusted for the course/tees that the competition is being
played from. Committees should, however, note that this decision was introduced to
cover handicap systems that incorporate slope adjustments to calculate course or
playing handicaps and slope is not part of the CONGU® UHS.
If a player correctly records his/her Playing Handicap then (except for Nine-Hole
Qualifying Competitions) it is clear that any question of disqualification does not
arise since a player’s Playing Handicap will never be higher than their Competition
Handicap Allowance.
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Decisions 6-2b/0.5 and Rule 33-5 point towards the player being responsible for
entering his/her handicap and the Committee then being responsible for applying
that handicap to work out the result of the competition.
Committees are therefore urged to exercise extreme caution if considering
applying a disqualification for a wrong handicap being recorded on the
scorecard within a competition where players play form different sets of tees.
For all concerned it is helpful if the player records both the Playing Handicap and
the Strokes Received (Competition Handicap Allowance) on the scorecard. Clubs
that host such competitions are encouraged to consider having room to record both
the Playing Handicap and the Strokes Received i.e. the Competition Handicap
Allowance, on the scorecard.
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