New World Handicap System

[Tocgolfer]

I am looking forward to the sky falling and the sun not rising in the morning and 2020 not starting until sometime later.

[bladehunter]

We should have waited to see if the system even boots back up before discussing this. We may never even get out of the “dark days”.

 

Thats a y2k joke for the millennials among us. It was predicted we’d fall into the mad max days 1/1/00. There wasn’t any dark days then. I’m not sure why they’d need a dark week now to do much less.

[nsxguy]

LOL Given the 5 year long project my company began in 1995 to address Y2K I wasn't all that surprised the night I spent in the office went relatively smoothly. A few minor issues here and there but all-in-all a non-event.

Unlike our board here I'm guessing GHIN has thoroughly tested the new system. Of course they have a lot more resources than WRX but,,,,,,

If I had to bet I'd bet it'll be up and running (properly) on time. Maybe a few minor bugs but nothing too serious (I hope). Then again,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[antip]

Quoting Augster: "I know guys that play every single day and just “play for fun”. No betting at all. I pray every night I don’t end up like them. In most cases I’d rather not play than to play with no bets at all."

Different strokes for different folks. Waaay different.

If I want to gamble, I play the no longer armed (formerly known as "one-armed") bandits in the clubhouse. I play golf for the mental and physical challenge of me versus the golf course, the continuing exercise of controlling the ball and shaping its movement to the challenge of the specific hole and the climatic conditions. I pray I don't end up fixated over bets and whether someone else has done better than me or not. No matter how good, or how bad you are at golf, there is always someone better than you and worse than you. So most of the time, I am utterly uninterested in linking my enjoyment of the golfing challenge to a lottery pick of whether I have found someone better or worse to play with.

Still enjoy scratch (no h'cap) match play though, through our Senior Scratch Pennants interclub team matches that run first few months of the year - but that is about club bragging rights and it is highly competitive team sport. It has nothing to do with attempting to empty anyone else's wallet - that's a job I leave to the taxman.

[antip]

IMO, these are mickey mouse BS processes run by sponsors/advertisers for their own ends, drawing on handicap system databases of input scores and which reward/encourage the sandbaggers.

[Colin L]

Never any doubt about how you feel. . Only a few hours to 2020. You'll be there half a day before us.

 

 

[antip]

And our kiwi cousins a few hours before us. Hopefully, we can all enjoy the Sydney fireworks spectacle counting in the New Year (there isn't yet certainty it will proceed), me on live TV, you on live Internet while enjoying your post lunch New Years Eve (Australian) fortified beverage. Meanwhile, the country burns and we can but empathize with the many, many people evacuated or stranded or fighting fires a long way from home in an unprecedented sequence of fires around the country that has all of us deeply immersed in smoke. New Year good wishes to all.

[bladehunter]

I’ll see you guys on the other side !! ( puts on armadillo helmet and closes blast doors ).

[Roadking2003]

 

WHS is a very simple system. Compared to the large commercial systems projects, this one could be done in one weekend.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

You do remember that the GHIN app was down for about 4 weeks a couple years ago? If I recall it was shoddy IT work. If they learned it will go smoothly. If they didn't we might not be able to post for a while.

Happy New Year!

[Imp]

 

https://media.giphy.com/media/XOY5y7YXjTD7q/giphy.gif

[Hawkeye77]

Got the email, now it's "cutover" instead of "dark period", lol. I like dark period better, now it sounds like they are taking shortcuts!

 

Can't play anyway, but looking forward to seeing any changes in the site or the app, etc. and whether any lucky bastards that can play during the next few months enjoy it.

[nsxguy]

App ? As in smartphone ? As opposed to the website ? If so, nope. Never use the smartphone for golf so I wouldn't remember that.

I'm thinking the APP would be much harder for coders though. I expect there is a lot more variation, especially given the lack of screen size, that on a website. But I never programmed on a PC based program/system so I'm really not sure.

Happy New Year to you too (and EVERYONE ELSE) !!!

[nsxguy]

LOL

The underlying specs of the system are certainly relatively simple but you've been in the biz.

Remember, Murphy was an optimist. LMAO

[Mudguard]

Well I'm teeing off in an hour... Wish me luck.

Kidding, I think the change is minor in NZ, best of eight rounds instead of best of ten (out of last twenty)

[mitchl]

I am concerned this might not be a joke. As a database admin, I have been discussing this with the other systems guys in my group, and we are just stunned by this transition period. 5 days to pull over "millions of scores". Ok, 5 minutes to process that, and then what are they doing for the other 4 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes? And you can't enter new scores over that 5-days either? Or get a course handicap?

This, to me, indicates a severe lack of planning and project management by the IT staff. Imagine if everytime your bank upgraded that they needed to take a 3-day or more downtime to achieve it.

[bladehunter]

Yep. It was partly tongue in cheek and partly me wondering what on earth could take 5 days to do. Sounds like one of those “ ah we willl figure it out , no big deal “ things with no planning. Should be interesting.

 

 

[sui generis]

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSWhy is the GHIN platform going offline?

This is necessary to implement the new GHIN Platform, which includes World Handicap System procedures.How long will GHIN be down?

GHIN is scheduled to be down Jan. 1 to Jan. 5. When the system comes back online GHIN expects to send an email notification to all CGA members.Can I post my scores during this period?

No score posting will be available during the scheduled down time. However, rounds played during this period should be saved, to then enter with the correct dates once the system comes back online.Will I have access to any GHIN services during this shutdown period?

No. All services will be unavailable for both club administrators as well as individual golfers.Will I have access to previous revision histories?

No. Access to any and all previous handicap information, both during the downtime as well as after the system becomes operational, will not be available. Handicaps computed prior to the implementation of the World Handicap System will not be accessible. GHIN’s notification email on Jan. 6, 2020 announcing the system is operational will include a member’s first Handicap Index computed under the World Handicap System formula.Will the GHIN app open on my phone during the shutdown period?

No. The GHIN App will not be functional during the January 1-5 downtime. Players will receive an “Unable to Connect” error message when trying to access the existing GHIN Mobile App from Jan.1 forward. Players will need to update the mobile app once GHIN comes back online on Jan. 6, 2020.Can I post scores via a posting computer at my golf course?

No. Score posting of any kind will be unavailable Jan. 1-5. All posting computers should be turned off.Can I view my current Handicap Index/Recent Scores?

No access to any Handicap Index or scores will be available Jan. 1-5. All golfers should use the Dec. 15, 2019 Handicap Index until the system comes back online. Prior to Jan. 1, 2020, members will have to access the Dec. 15 Handicap Index.Will I receive a Jan. 1, 2020 Revision?

No. The Handicap Index will not be revised on Jan. 1 and GHIN will not send any communications during its scheduled January 1-5 blackout period. CGA members should continue to use Handicap Indexes from the Dec. 15, 2019 revision until GHIN comes back online and sends its notification email, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020. This Jan. 6, 2020 email will include a personalized Handicap Index and will reflect the adoption of the World Handicap Index. Click here for more information on this new system.When do I adopt World Handicap System practices?

WHS procedures should be applied once the system becomes operational, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020.When will I be able to post scores again?

All members will be able to post scores as soon as the new GHIN platform becomes operational, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020.Do I post scores played during the Jan. 1-5, 2020 shutdown?

Yes. Scores made during this time period should be saved and then posted with the correct date when the platform becomes operational, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020.Will I be notified when GHIN is back online?

Yes. CGA members email addresses will be notified as soon as GHIN is back online, which is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020.When will I receive my next Handicap Index?

All players will have a revised Handicap Index calculated effective Jan. 6, 2020, regardless of scores posted, due to formula changes in the World Handicap System. Each CGA Member with an email address will be notified on Jan. 6, 2020 of their first Handicap Index computed using the WHS formula.

[Halebopp]

Newby's thread about scoring in the U.S. and how holes with no scores are marked just brought up something that hadn't occurred to me before.

 

With the WHS there actually needs to be two different ways to mark a "no score" into the system. One for holes not finished, resulting in a no score (0 points in Stableford, NDB for handicapping) and another one for holes not played, resulting in either net par or net bogey, depending on the situation (at least for us in Finland).

 

Just an interesting oddity in the brave new world some have already entered.

[DaveLeeNC]

 

I have assumed that you enter zero (or a blank) for a hole not played (please correct if I am wrong). But there is another type of 'x'. And that is a hole where you take your most likely score that happens to be less than NDB, but because you did not hole out that score cannot be counted as part of the team score.

dave

[davep043]

For handicap purposes alone, you'd almost certainly enter your "most likely score". Yes, its "6x" on your card, but the Handicap Rules require that most likely score, so that's what you should enter. And this won't apply for much of the rest of the world, where scores from formats where you might pick up before you reach NDB aren't posted for handicap.

Edit: I think this is a good time to thank all of the posters from around the world. Through this thread, and a few of the others about the WHS, I've learned an incredible amount about the differing handicap cultures, both within the USGA and around the world. This increased understanding will certainly help me to explain the reasoning behind many of the changes in the new system to members at my home club.

[nsxguy]

"Database Admin" ? Programming experience ? Website experience ? Optimizing web pages for all sorts of browsers and smartphone apps ?

I expect it's "scale".

While the USGA is a very big "organization" it is not Bank of America. It seems unlikely they have anywhere near the same size IT staff either.

Golfwrx is miniscule compared to both BoA and USGA and it's been what, 9 months ? And there are STILL lots of issues,,,,,,,

[Halebopp]

@DaveLeeNC our set of handicapping rules isn't out yet so I won't comment on how it's actually done but that makes it just even more complex. Maybe a hyphen for holes not finished and NDB max for handicapping purposes, an x for hole not played and a 5x for a hole with a most likely score.

Talk about confusing to the average player. I'd like to hear how this would go over at Blade's club. :)

[DaveLeeNC]

FYI - https://www.golfdigest.com/story/voices-the-flaw-in-the-new-world-handicap-system-dean-knuth

Which is Dean Knuth's (mostly negative) take on the WHS (WRT the US).

His biggest grip seems to be the CR-Par adjustment which (among other things) he seems to feel is inequitable. I just don't get it at all. It would seem that he prefers that a very low handicap golfer get the same strokes whether he is playing the 7600 yard "when the PGA is in town tees" or the 5000 yard 'when I play with my wife' tees.

LIke I said, I really don't understand that perspective.

dave

[Roadking2003]

Does anybody know where to find the USGA table for converting CH to PH for team formats such as best two out of four or one out of three? I have it for last year but cannot locate a new one.

[KevCarter]

Rules of HandicapingAppendix C Handicap Allowances

[Newby]

Appendix Chttps://msga.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Rules-of-Handicapping_USGA_Final.pdf

[Roadking2003]

Thanks.

[bladehunter]

I’ll tell you exactly how. If it was a good round. No post at all. If it’s a bad one. Well. Make something up for that Hole or holes.

 

i actually heard a player say today “ this round is so bad if I post it , it won’t help my handicap “ meaning it was too high to even factor in. Would get kicked out. So he follows it with “ I need to make 3 birdies on the back to get it low enough to post “. These guys know how to work it from both ways.

[bladehunter]

Read that quickly and I must agree with his logic in several places. Seems to have described what several of my seniors figured out this morning. That their CH was about to drop 2/3 shots.

 

im going to read it again and think some on what he’s saying. With those credentials. There has to be some truth in there somewhere.

Sounds like Great Britain ?? did the smart thing and waited to see what we lab rats say after swapping over. Smart.