Gentlemen…

I just wanted to spend a moment to address our handicap system. As with any league, ours is going through some growing pains. The main topic I heard around the water cooler in 2015 was our handicap system. Without going through history, suffice it to say we have such a wide variance in skill level, a system was needed. I would like to further streamline it for 2016.

First and foremost, I want everyone to know that this is a suggestion. However, I will be doing all the math week after week, so it would be nice to have something easy and concise to use. I have found a website online that calculates handicaps. It takes into account our course rating (69.2), slope (126-white tees) and 10 of your last 20 scores. Furthermore, most of us have played 20 KWGA Tour rounds in the last 2 seasons, so there is a full set of data to work with in calculating a proper handicap. So I went back and logged everyone’s last 20 scores, put them into the website calculator and it spit it the proper handicaps.

http://www.golfsoftware.com/hsd/free-golf-handicap-calculator.html

So what would this mean for our league? I think it would be the best and fairest system going forward. It takes the guess work out of everything and simplifies the process. The only change that I would have to start calculating is the “equitable” strokes from your rounds. Meaning, if you have a 10 on the Par 5 14th at KenWo and your handicap index is 6.4, you can only take a double bogey 7 for handicap purposes. I do not mind going through the scorecards after the round to do this, in fact, I enjoy numbers. If you are unfamiliar with the equitable stroke system, it is simple. Check out the chart below.

Equitable Stroke Control- Handicap System

Let’s use me as an example.

Derek Thomson- (Course Handicap- 4)     Hole #14 KenWo (Par 5)        Score on Hole- 10

Let’s just say I had a meltdown on the Par 5 14th hole. It’s possible after all! I mean there was a sand wedge hanging 80 feet up in a tree for most of last summer because of me. Ahem. For calculating KWGA Handicap purposes ONLY, my score on the hole would be 7. This is done to prevent bloating of handicaps based on a blow up hole.

Listen fellas, it’s not that hard to calculate and I don’t mind doing it in the spirit of having the best system in place for the KWGA. The system last season was a baby step in this direction and gave us all an idea of how handicaps work. Plus, some of you may even find out what your real handicap is, since you have never had one before! The NSGA may even start to recognize our KWGA handicaps because of the previously stated fact!

I hope we can all get on board with this tweak. However, I will await to hear from the membership SO GO AHEAD AND DROP A NOTE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. Below you will find the updated handicaps heading into the 2016 season.

~Commissioner Ford

KWGA Player Handicaps 2016