Subject: Changes to our full handicap formats by adding a 1/2 handicap flight to the 2-Man Progressive
I've sent this note to a select group of players, representing a wide range of handicaps, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. This 1/2 handicap flight will be implemented for the 2-man progressive tournament. Tournaments like the Tradition, however, will remain untouched from this perspective.
Gentleman, after taking a look at the results of our club's tournaments over the past several years, we've noticed a distinctive trend where relatively few 7-14 handicap players have made it to the champions circle. Where the low single digit handicaps have the chance to win the club championship stroke and match play tournaments, and where the higher handicaps have enjoyed much success with the club's full handicap events - the guys in the middle have it the hardest.
In an attempt to make our tournaments more inclusive (where all of our golfers can have the expectation to win if he plays well), we have made a change to framework of the two-man progressive tournament. In this year's tournament, each team will record two scores in the qualifying round; a full handicap one best ball score (as always), and a 1/2 handicap one best ball score. The score which produces a better seed will be the one that counts for the qualification process. As the brackets are filled out, the full handicap bracket (Lewis Bracket) will play out to a champion (from 16 to 1).
Likewise, the 1/2 handicap bracket (Clark Bracket) will also play out to a champion. Then, each of the finalists will play for the title at 75% handicap, one best ball match play (meeting in the middle). Side note: most clubs have addressed issues related to four ball and 100% handicap allowances by having all teams play at an 80 or 85% allowance. In fact, the USGA recommends an 80% allowance for men playing four ball (one best ball match play). However, we felt that doing such would "penalize" the teams that would be too negatively impacted by such an abrupt change.
So, we think this format change addresses this appropriately. By making this change, more teams will have a chance to advance based on exceptional play, we can make the case. In fact, we back-tested the format change to last year, and the results are compelling (also only two teams were affected with respect to qualifying in the back test - meaning that 30 teams were unaffected with respect to qualifying). Using last year's handicaps and respective qualifier scores, we found that the teams that filled the 1/2 handicap bracket had an average cumulative handicap of 10 points lower than the full handicap bracket. This means that the match-ups are much closer from a handicap perspective - not likely that a 10 handicap team will be playing a 40 handicap team in the first round, which has been the case in previous years.
Of course, we'll recognize the winner of each bracket, and we're going to try to make the finals more of an event where spectators will be encouraged. Please see the attached data that shows how this format would have worked out last year (as a proxy for how it may work out going forward). This is the plan for this year. We're looking for a great year of golf with the goal to have a higher percentage of the club participating in the tournaments throughout the year. If you have serious reservations about this format change, please forward them to me with concise reasoning.
Thanks, Raj
Exhibit 1: Full Handicap Bracket: Top 16 full handicap, one best ball scores - team handicap in (brackets).
Exhibit 2: Half Handicap Bracket: Top 16 half handicap, one best ball scores
A few thoughts:
I like going to USGA recommened 80% in future years.
The 1/2 handicap bracket should be renamed from "Lewis" to "piss babies". I predict even at 1/2 handicap "piss babies" will not win the trophy.
If they do...we should add a few drops of Urine in stead of and * to the Award
I guess we need to change the rules until one of the piss babies wins!
As always
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