Hi Linda
Can you clarify the position further for people inadvertently
playing off wrong handicaps?
We have a winter golfing society made up of members who have
national handicaps from their own golf club - they also have separate handicaps
for our society, which can be different, and this is where confusion comes in.
As a committee we have taken the view that if players play
off a higher handicap (i.e. giving themselves an advantage) then they are
disqualified - if they play off a lower handicap then we let their score
stand.
Is this the correct procedure?
Also, if we are running a scratch competition at the same
time would this be unaffected by wrong handicaps? In other words, can a player who is
disqualified for using a higher handicap still use his scratch score?
I am a recent subscriber to your rules and will be
recommending it to all our society members when we start our new season after
the summer.
Best regards from the home of golf.
Lou from Scotland
Dear Lou,
Your procedure is correct, Lou.
A player is responsible to ensure that the handicap recorded
on his scorecard is correct. If it is higher than his handicap, and that
affects the number of strokes he receives, he is disqualified from the
competition. If it is lower than his handicap, his score stands [Rule 6-2b].
If you run gross (scratch) and net tournaments concurrently,
a player who has recorded an incorrect handicap would not be disqualified from
the gross event. His handicap has no effect on his gross score.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
