Dear Linda,
I recently played in a mixed tournament. The men played from the white tees and the women played from the red tees. Each team had two men and two women. The team score for each foursome was the sum of the "net" better ball of the two men and the "net" better ball of the two women on each of the 18 holes. (The cards were dotted to show the handicap strokes. The men got their full course handicap from the white tees and the women got their full course handicap from the red tees.)
Prior to the tournament I mentioned to the tournament committee that I thought handicaps should be adjusted for the different tee boxes, however the tournament committee said that since the women were not competing against the men it was not necessary to do this. On our course the difference in course ratings would have resulted in giving each woman 4 additional strokes.
When two women with similar handicaps are playing in the same foursome these extra 4 strokes would occur on the same holes so the result would be to lower the team score by a total of 4, regardless of which woman had the better score.
However if the two women in a foursome had very different handicaps then the four extra strokes would fall on different holes for each woman. On a hole where one of the ladies had an extra stroke and the other didn't there is a situation where the extra stroke may go to the woman who played the whole badly and therefore the extra stroke was of no benefit to her team. The net result would be that this team's score would not be reduced.
Now one can argue that this high/low handicapper team has the potential of being able to lower the team score on as many as 8 holes if the team was lucky enough to have the better woman on a hole also having the extra stroke.
Should the handicaps be adjusted for the different tee boxes?
Lulu
Dear Lulu,
Since the format you describe (net better ball of two women added to net better ball of two men) is not a traditional format, I consulted the handicap department of the USGA for an opinion. Here is the gist of the answer I received:
1. This is essentially a four-ball (better-ball) tournament. It is the recommendation of the USGA that the Tournament Committee apply the following handicap allowances for a four-ball competition: 90% of Course Handicap® for men and 95% for women. These handicap allowances help to make the competition more equitable. (This was not your question, Lulu, but I thought it was a good piece of advice to share with your Tournament Committee.)
2. The Tournament Committee at your club pointed out correctly that the women were not competing against the men (and vice versa) in this non-traditional format. Since the women were competing only against women, and the men only against men, there was no need to make an adjustment under 3-5 for men and women competing from different tees.
If this tournament had used the more traditional Two Best Balls of Four format, in which the men and women would have been competing against each other, then the Committee would have had to adjust for both the difference in slope rating and the difference in course rating between the men’s and women’s tees. [For a detailed explanation of how to do this, please see Ask Linda #65, published on June 1, 2008.]
Lulu, you have the honor of being the first “Lulu” to write a question that is longer than my answer!
Linda
Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
