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What Do You Think About This From USGA?

Or an unplayable lie that is dropped on line of site in the fairway

blugold said:
The standard, "what did you git there" 2-stroke penalty.
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Heck the group of old codgers my dad plays with carry chain saws with them lol

blugold said:
Relief from the cart path. There are a ton of them.
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Great discussion here. I concur with many , I also play very very few tournaments a year or even in the last decade for that matter. So really the handicap is just for me to see how I'm progressing

I already established with the men's club that I can break 85 everytime. For them that is the requirement to be a permanent a player for them. I'm not looking to qualify for a us open or a major event . Just looking to get back in the game and meet a good group to play with when I get time .

This rule will be interesting
 
A goodly portion of my rounds are solo, and I can't find anyone to attest my scores on US Handicap when I do play with other people. Also doubtful that my CC will enter them in for me.
 
TheDoctor said:
????? I still don't get this ????? Why would you be shooting way below your handicap. Are you only going to submit high scores to boost your handicap because you play a different game when playing with others?
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If I play 80 rounds a year and of those 80 rounds I only submit say 30 because I only played 30 with someone else then yes my handicap generally does not reflect my score. I play better when I'm playing by myself because it usually means I am playing at my comfortable pace. When I play with others it's usually because I'm playing at a peak time so I'm playing at a much slower pace. However there are still the times when I do shoot a sub 80 round when in a group. At a 7-8 handicap no one cares. However if my handicap says I'm a 12-15 because all I can post are the rounds when I'm shooting in the upper 80s then I look like a sand bagger.

The opposite could hold true. I could start shooting lights out in a group consistently and put up high scores alone. Since I can only record my rounds with others my handicap will be lower than what it should be accurately.

If I play by the rules I should be able to post the score regardless.


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I think this is a good intention gone awry. I don't think it will do anything to promote more accurate handicaps. I think those who cheat their handicaps are just as likely to do it with their buddies as alone.
 
wubears71 said:
If I play 80 rounds a year and of those 80 rounds I only submit say 30 because I only played 30 with someone else then yes my handicap generally does not reflect my score. I play better when I'm playing by myself because it usually means I am playing at my comfortable pace. When I play with others it's usually because I'm playing at a peak time so I'm playing at a much slower pace. However there are still the times when I do shoot a sub 80 round when in a group. At a 7-8 handicap no one cares. However if my handicap says I'm a 12-15 because all I can post are the rounds when I'm shooting in the upper 80s then I look like a sand bagger.

The opposite could hold true. I could start shooting lights out in a group consistently and put up high scores alone. Since I can only record my rounds with others my handicap will be lower than what it should be accurately.

If I play by the rules I should be able to post the score regardless.


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I agree with your reasoning of why an "official" handicap that does not consider the majority of your rounds is less accurate and not a true reflection of your ability.

But I will also point out that if you play so much worse in a slow round with playing partners, wouldn't this change be more accurate for tournament? Why suddenly in a tournament do you expect to play so much better when you admittedly do not play well in those conditions?
 
I can see it being slightly higher. If I can only input 10 rounds for example vs 40, that's 30 rounds of missing play and possible low rounds going into the handicap. It doesn't mean a 2 vs a 10, but I could see it being a few tenths different no?
 
wadesworld said:
I think this is a good intention gone awry. I don't think it will do anything to promote more accurate handicaps. I think those who cheat their handicaps are just as likely to do it with their buddies as alone.
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You are correct.

I think they are going back 25/30 years with this thought. Like I said, I am old enough to remember the days when the only way you could get a score posted was with a signed card and then the course/club handicap chairman had to enter the score. The course I played for the past 35+ years was still doing this up to about 2 years ago, using the "peer review" BS as the reason. So many people stopped posting scores, they finally moved out of the stone ages, and now the USGA has decided to return to the stone ages.

Screw em I say. Wait until they get around to the golf ball! Whole new can of worms, and it is coming.
 
The question is enforcement and verification. Really? We're talking about the USA. We're talking about playing on golf courses where over 70% of the people playing on them don't have an official handicap because having one is "too expensive." And I'm including players on College teams, too. Well, maybe they don't need to carry one because they're always playing gross score.

But seriously, I call a number of friends to set up a round. "I've can't get a babysitter." "I need to mow the lawn." "I have to run to Seattle." Okay, I don't. I'm retired and don't have family responsibilities. I'll make a tee time and go play. I'll get put with a group. Do any of them have GHIN cards? No.

So what is the USGA going to do? Put lines on the entry section where you have to enter your competitor's name? What if they're not in the system? Will the round count? What if they don't give you their real name? I'm reluctant to give a total stranger my real name. Sorry. But it's this day and age we live in. So the name doesn't match anyone in the system, will they kick out the score?

This reduces my rounds last season to a total of six valid rounds and would have me at a 29 handicap. I was injured at the time. I can break 90. Then you'll accuse me of sandbagging.

So then I'll play in a league where I'll have a handicap. See how I play.

Solo rounds, or those unofficial rounds? They're practice rounds. I'm not playing for score. I'm practicing different shots. If the course is slow, I'm hitting multiple bunker shots.
 
Can't wait until next season, when I have to sit and wait to play with some random when I can only play some odd day and time during the week if I want to challenge my PB at a course and post a score. "Hey buddy, can you scarf down that hotdog? I need you to tee off in 2 minutes with me so I can post this round."
 
What about the scenario where a guy has an established index from playing with partners in say the early part of the year (Jan - April). Lets just say he gets in 20 rounds. May and June comes and he plays a lot more single rounds that he can't record. He then plays in a tournament at the end of June and his index doesn't reflect any of his rounds over the last two months. How is this a fair and accurate index on his current ability?
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Can't wait until next season, when I have to sit and wait to play with some random when I can only play some odd day and time during the week if I want to challenge my PB at a course and post a score. "Hey buddy, can you scarf down that hotdog? I need you to tee off in 2 minutes with me so I can post this round."
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This is awesome! LMAO........

HEY USGA...... See above and scarf down a dog if you catch my drift!

JM
 
Looks like the RCGA has decided not to adopt this ruling so my solo scores will indeed count and I won't have to pretend to be golfing with anyone else

Good call by the RCGA imo. They had the benefit of being able to gauge the reaction from what people said about the USGA ruling though so that probably helped
 
Well put ITR, it's ludicris. Most of those we might be paired with won't be in the system. The USGA is going to lose membership and $$ from the many like me who belong to a regional association rather than a club where the handicap service is included. For decades I've loyally bought their handicap service because that's what real golfers always did. I just don't see doing so going forward. I made an excel sheet that accurately calculates my caps anyway.
 
How often does the USGA yell at kids to get off their lawn?
 
with 12 pages of mostly negative posts on this subject, I would hope this somehow reaches (even if through the grapevines) someone within the powers-to-be. And then hope they come to their senses and not move forward with this ridiculous decision.
 
Get on twitter and compare the number of comments on this decision to the comments on their tweets from earlier this week. This doesn't appear to have gone over well.
 
I belong to the SCGA but I won't renew it not because this rule affects me that much since I don't play in very many tournaments but because it truly shows how disconnected the USGA is from the general public. They say their goal is to grow the game, it's like saying Donald Trump is good for golf. I guess he is if your weathly enough to actually play one of his courses or stay in one of his resorts. I am not.. I will continue to play because I love the game but I won't give anything to support the USGA or the organizations that live by their rules.
 
Bucketsofjoy said:
Get on twitter and compare the number of comments on this decision to the comments on their tweets from earlier this week. This doesn't appear to have gone over well.
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Twitter? I admit I may be old fashion but I still don't know, and don't want to know what how why twitter is. I know its a different subject but facebook, twiiter, picturgram, tweeting, etc, etc, etc, I cant stand it all, and don't even know how to do any of it and don't want to. I just cant stand that nowadays everyone has to know whos doing what, where and when and even when we burp or go to the friggin bathroom. I understand the benefits of some of it but hate what its done to our social skills. They barely evn exist anymore. I can go on but sorry and I wont.

Bstubbs42 said:
I belong to the SCGA but I won't renew it not because this rule affects me that much since I don't play in very many tournaments but because it truly shows how disconnected the USGA is from the general public. They say their goal is to grow the game, it's like saying Donald Trump is good for golf. I guess he is if your weathly enough to actually play one of his courses or stay in one of his resorts. I am not.. I will continue to play because I love the game but I won't give anything to support the USGA or the organizations that live by their rules.
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Yea , "disconnected" from the general golfing population seems to fit this for sure
 
InTheRough said:
The question is enforcement and verification. Really? We're talking about the USA. We're talking about playing on golf courses where over 70% of the people playing on them don't have an official handicap because having one is "too expensive." And I'm including players on College teams, too. Well, maybe they don't need to carry one because they're always playing gross score.

But seriously, I call a number of friends to set up a round. "I've can't get a babysitter." "I need to mow the lawn." "I have to run to Seattle." Okay, I don't. I'm retired and don't have family responsibilities. I'll make a tee time and go play. I'll get put with a group. Do any of them have GHIN cards? No.

So what is the USGA going to do? Put lines on the entry section where you have to enter your competitor's name? What if they're not in the system? Will the round count? What if they don't give you their real name? I'm reluctant to give a total stranger my real name. Sorry. But it's this day and age we live in. So the name doesn't match anyone in the system, will they kick out the score?

This reduces my rounds last season to a total of six valid rounds and would have me at a 29 handicap. I was injured at the time. I can break 90. Then you'll accuse me of sandbagging.

So then I'll play in a league where I'll have a handicap. See how I play.

Solo rounds, or those unofficial rounds? They're practice rounds. I'm not playing for score. I'm practicing different shots. If the course is slow, I'm hitting multiple bunker shots.
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What makes you thing that you have to play with someone who carries a handicap. All I see is that you aren't allowed to turn in scores when playing alone. Play with your wife or your beer buddy or whoever and turn in scores galore.
 
Here's an update from the USGA. How they enforce it, still remains to be seen.

Why will scores made while playing alone no longer be eligible for posting?
Primarily, to support a key tenet of the USGA Handicap System: peer review. Knowing golfers rely on the integrity of the system to produce an accurate view of playing ability, this change helps golfers form a better basis to support or dispute scores that have been posted to a player’s scoring record.

The majority of handicapping authorities around the globe have employed this policy for some time. With them, the USGA believes it provides a more accurate view of a golfer’s ability, supporting integrity, fairness and equitable play among all golfers.

What constitutes not playing alone?
As long as someone accompanies the player during the round (e.g., fellow competitor, opponent, caddie, marker for a tournament, friend riding along in a cart) the player is not playing alone.

How many holes can a player play alone to post the score?
The player must be accompanied for at least seven holes for a nine-hole score or 13 holes for 18-hole score. This is consistent withSection 5-1 and the minimum number of holes played under the Rules of Golf.
For the holes played alone (not accompanied), the player would treat these as not played under the Rules of Golf and post according to “par plus” any handicap strokes the player is entitled to receive.
(For more information, see Section 4-2).

Note: If a player plays nearly all holes accompanied but just a few alone, the holes played alone are calculated using “par plus,” keeping in mind the maximum that can be played alone in a round eligible for posting is two holes for a 9-hole score and five holes for an 18-hole score. Some examples would be starting out alone and joining up with a player(s), or starting out accompanied and finishing the round alone.

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/ho.../11/2016-handicap-changes--playing-alone.html
 
The rule in my mind will only affect how many people track their handicaps. While most of my rounds are solo this will drive me to play more rounds with my fellow Ohio THPers.


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Tom O'Toole, the USGA president is a member at my club (former president). If I see him in the locker room I should go up to him and say "Mr. O'Toole, WTF?" I would love to hear his explanation.


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