Medal competitions

I've just been looking through my 2004 competition rounds and found out the following :

The Number of Medals I played this year that affected my handicap was 12.

From November to April we have placing so our medal comps don't effect our handicaps.

I play nearly every Sunday so I don't miss any Medals.

So I have 12 chances every year to reduce my handicap.
This seems a very small amount.

Is this the same for everybody ?

It is a frustrating sometimes that on Medal day, the greens haven't been cut and the wind is 30 mph. Out of the 12 medals in 2004, I tied my handicap once and had a six under another time. All the others I was over my handicap. Not that good really !

Puttking,

This is about average in the UK, we also have a few stableford comps which can be even tougher for the low h/cappers.

The twelve medal comps are over 4-5 months so this should give you time to practice for each round, that said you can only play your best on the day if the course is poor or the weather, your club should allow a couple of shots for the weather conditions before adding to your h/capp.

Remember every bad round is point one added to you h/capp so you could only go up 1.2 shots over a season, but a couple of good rounds could see you fall several. This is a good thing to think about, there always next week to improve.

I changed courses two years ago to a private and pretty expensive one simply because I couldn't get any better on the poor course I was playing, you seem to be in the same situation.

Your never going to get better if the greens are c**p because chipping and putting is the main h/capp lowerer.


Ian.

12 does seem a harsh chance at getting it down, but as ian says you cant go up more than 1.2. We have about 20+ medals, where its qualifying. Do you not play midweek medals? we have atleast 10 of them through summer where day light stays late.

Playing handicap competitions are the most exciting so to only get 12 i would be frustrated too. You could join another society where november - april are playable and there is some midweek medals too

Geez, UK "rules" are strict ... here in South Africa golfers hand in every card. Whether the round was a better ball stableford, a medal or a friendly afternoon round for a few bucks. Well, they should but of course ... if it was a really great round that would affect the handicap a lot many of them "forget" to hand it in!

Most players have 4-6 rounds a month that count to handicap!

In my last few months with a handicap, I had 20 rounds a month when I played almost every day.

There is a rule called "General play" which means if you are scoring well in better ball competitions, they can drop your handicap down. This happens very rarely at my club. The only time I can think of is when a new member joins and wins a few competitions. They usually knock a couple of shots of his handicap thinking he joined on a false one.

I remember once scoring a gross 67 (3 under) in an AM AM. I gained nothing, my playing partners were that poor that we finished 10 shots behind the winners and my handicap stayed the same even though I came in on all the holes and the card showed I had scored such a good score.

Another point is the scoring at my club.

On Sundays there are usually 100 players playing in a Medal.

On some days NOBODY scores under their handicap. I remember winning a medal by 5 shots with a net 70. In the 3rd division a 72 or 73 Net will win on most days.

The Reason ??

The standard of the Greens. Uncut, bumpy means high scoring.