News Letter Covid-19 Level 4
Club President Report Course Closure Update
Well we have made it through three weeks of the four week Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown period, so well done everyone - I hope John Garner’s Home Pro-tips are helping you through!
With just under a week remaining now, it is not yet certain that the country, or perhaps some regions, will come out of Level 4 at midnight on 22 April. But even if so, a reduction to Level 3 is unlikely to allow golf to resume – we will rely on guidance from NZ Golf for that. And at Level 2, which I guess it is possible for Taranaki to go to straight from Level 4, we should be allowed to play again but there will almost certainly be some restrictions in place.
For example, our course is open to members only, a playing register will need to be set up to enable contact tracing if necessary, we may have to play only in pairs with social distancing and 10-minute tee times, and our clubhouse might need to remain closed. Unfortunately, it seems it will not be plain sailing for some months yet.
On the positive side, however, we received overdue and very welcome news last Thursday afternoon when NZ Golf was advised by the Minister of Sport that the exemption sought for essential golf course turf maintenance had been granted. And late on Monday this week we learnt the details of the exemption: such course maintenance will be allowed under Level 4 provided appropriate lockdown protocols are followed. We are obviously very pleased with this outcome as it allows our course staff to carry out essential maintenance of greens, green surrounds, fairways, rough and tee areas.50th Anniversary CelebrationsYou will be aware from previous newsletters that our course reached its 50th anniversary at the Wills Road location on Easter Saturday 11 April, but that unfortunately we had to postpone our special golf day to mark that occasion - a bit later in the year we hope ...
Well, on 11 April one of our ladies also reached an important 50th anniversary milestone, as a member of the Manukorihi Golf Club – life member Kath Alvis, who is the oldest and has the longest continuous Club playing membership of any of our current ladies. Hearty congratulations Kath, for all that you have done for the Club over the years and on your inspiring ability to still be playing the full 18 holes! Kath has shared a story and a couple of observations from these 50 years for us:Ladies Day: The Club used to hold a special day when the ladies played a round of golf while the men provided lunch as a thank-you to the ladies for all that they did for the Club, in particular catering, cleaning and gardening. The annual subscription for ladies was also less than that for men at the time for the same reason, but the ladies finally twigged that they would rather pay the full subscription and not have to do all those chores!
Kath has naturally seen numerous social and golf equipment changes over this time: there were many more lady members back in the day when very few women went to work; also, golf equipment has changed dramatically to enhanced clubs and balls today as well as flash designer golf shoes - which seem to leak after just a season or two now!
Also celebrating 50th anniversaries as Club members at the Wills Road location this year are three of our men: life members Duncan Elliott and Harry Williams, and Cliff Oxenham. Duncan actually joined the Club as a teenager back in 1956, at its first location, so is achieving a massive 64 years with the Club this year, wow!
Harry joined the Club at its previous location too. Life member Bob Crow worked at the new course for a contractor for a year or two before taking up membership in about 1972. Also, Blue Davey was a member back in 1970 but took a break from golf for a while before getting back into it. Finally, Bill Watson was a member when the Club moved to Wills Road but let his membership lapse a couple of years ago now.
Congratulations guys, a great achievement by each of you, and many thanks for all that you have done for the Club over so many years.(P.S. Apologies to anyone I have missed above but unfortunately I have been a member for only nine years so don’t have the extensive knowledge of Club history that many of you have!)Until next week all the best for the remainder of Level 4 lockdown.
The Handicapper
Hello to All,Hope all is safe in your Bubbles and hopefully not long before we can get out on the course and test our skills.
On the 14th April all our handicaps went international and with that nearly all your handicaps caught a virus of their own.
This virus is recoverable but you will find it is going to more likely over twelve months to be back where it was before the lock-down. I have looked over most new handicaps and there are quite few have lost four shots. Just remember everyone is in the same boat so really everyone could suffer a little for a while.
When we are out playing 36 points will be a great score so it's goodbye to those mid-forties plus.
There is an info sheet BELOW, with the news letter explaining on how the new system works and when a card needs to be handed in, also adjustments on holes not completed.
Please remember if you do play and fail to hand card in for handicapping it not only effects your own handicap, but all those who played the same day.
I suggest if you haven't already setup your own login and password on mygolf,co,nz, as there is a lot of info about your own progress and how the system works.
Also setup your phone for texting your up to date handicap as you may need this when playing on other courses that do not have the auto card printing available.If anyone has any further questions, please let me know and I will find the answers.Looking forward to seeing you all at the golf club (I think I will be wearing a hard hat and metal undies) - Robert
WHS information bulletin.
Dear Member
On Tuesday 14 April New Zealand joins over 40 countries that have already introduced the World Handicap System (WHS). This email is to inform and prepare you for some of the changes. Together, the R&A (our governing body) and the USGA govern the game worldwide, including writing and interpreting the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status and Rules of Handicapping.
The two bodies have now collaborated to issue the Rules of Handicapping which introduces a new WHS which they will oversee jointly throughout the world. New Zealand Golf has used the USGA Handicap and Course Rating system for the last 20 years and we are fortunate that the changes introduced under WHS are minimal however some of the changes need explanation.
1. YOUR HANDICAP INDEX MAY CHANGE ON 14 APRIL You may have seen that for some weeks now we have been running a parallel WHS calculation on your My Golf section of www.golf.co.nz this is to give you an indication of your expected handicap index on 14 April.
Points to note include:
• All historic scores will be recalculated using the new formulas.
• Your new WHS handicap index on 14 April is more likely to reduce slightly but if you are a higher handicapper it may increase.
• An exceptional score component will be in effect which is referenced in the formula section below.
• Your low handicap index will show and this will determine the upward movement of your handicap index based on this figure, as explained in the formula section below.
2. LIVE HANDICAPPING Under the current handicap system your handicap index is renewed every two weeks. Under WHS we move to daily updates of handicaps which means each time you submit a score; your handicap index will be updated the following day. Daily handicap updating, points to note include:
• It is unlikely your club will be printing out a daily handicap listing, therefore, particularly if your club does not have a scorecard printing system, it is important you know your current handicap index before competing in any competition, especially if competing at another club.
• If your club uses a scorecard printing system, updated handicaps will be printed on the day of play.
• We are planning to add a ‘playing handicap’ calculator to the New Zealand Golf app, which will assist members to easily calculate their playing handicaps when playing at courses which do not have a score card printing system.
• You will still be able to text your membership number to 3673 to get your latest handicap index.
3. NEW PLAYING HANDICAP What you now know as your ‘course handicap’ will change to be known as your ‘playing handicap’. A new formula will be used to determine your playing handicap - handicap index x slope number of the tee marker being played ÷ 113 (which is the average slope number) + course rating - par of the relevant tee marker.
The advantages of this change are:
36 Stableford points will become the true measure of playing to your handicap.
You can compete against other club members playing from different tee sets and the result is equitable – no more having to give/receive shots in a Stableford competition.
Example: Joe Handicap Index 18.0 Par 71, course rating 69, slope number 120 Joanne Handicap Index 23.0 Par 73, course rating 74, slope number 124 Joe’s playing handicap becomes: Joanne’s playing handicap becomes: 18.0 x 120/113 = 19.12 23.0 x 124/113 = 25.24 + (69-71) + (74-73) 19.12 – 2 = Playing handicap of 17 25.24 + 1 = Playing handicap of 26 IMPORTANTLY:
If the course rating is higher than par, your playing handicap will go UP If the course rating is lower than par, your playing handicap will go DOWN
4. 9-HOLE SCORES, ELIGIBILITY OF A SCORE FOR HANDICAPPING PURPOSES Whether you’re a 9-hole member or 18-hole member, you have the opportunity to play nine holes and submit a score card for handicap purposes. (Note: All nine holes must be played for a 9-hole score to be acceptable for handicapping purposes). The process has been to combine two 9’s previously, but under WHS a 9-hole score will be scaled up to an 18-hole score eligible for handicapping. The advantage is that an exceptional score over 9 holes, will have an immediate effect on a handicap index. The un-played holes are treated as: 1-8 holes played Not eligible for handicap purposes 9 holes played Un-played holes are entered as nett par, plus one 10-13 holes played Un-played holes are entered as nett par, plus one 14-17 holes played Un-played holes are entered as nett par New Zealand Golf still expect all 9-hole scores, whether twilight or casual golf, be entered for handicap purposes.
5. WHEN A HOLE IS STARTED BUT PLAYER DOES NOT HOLE OUT When a player starts a hole but does not hole out for a valid reason, the player must record their most likely score or net double bogey, whichever is lower.
The most likely score is:
The number of strokes already taken to reach a position on a hole, plus;
The number of strokes the player would most likely require to complete the hole from that position, plus;
Any penalty strokes incurred during play of the hole.
6. PLAYING CONDITIONS CALCULATION (PCC) The WHS introduces a daily analysis of scores known as the playing conditions calculation (PCC). PCC is a statistical calculation that determines if conditions on a day of play differed from normal playing conditions to the extent that they significantly impacted players’ performance. Examples of conditions that could impact include course conditions, weather conditions and course set-up.
A PCC adjustment could be:
• -1 indicating the playing conditions are easier than normal relative to the course rating.
• 0 indicating the playing conditions are normal relative to the course rating.
• +1, +2, +3 indicating the playing conditions are more difficult relative to the course rating. Your handicap record will show a column ‘PCC Adjustment’.
If a PCC adjustment is applied, the adjustment will show in this column and your handicap index calculated accordingly. The PCC will be an automatic calculation in the DotGolf system and be calculated based on scores returned for the day’s play. If you don’t hand your score in on the day of play, it will not be used in the calculation of PCC but if there is a PCC adjustment applied for the day of play, your score will be adjusted accordingly when the score card is submitted. The PCC adjustment applies to all players who submitted scores on the day.
7. COMPONENTS OF THE NEW FORMULA
• A player new to golf can gain an official handicap after playing 54-holes of golf.
• The lowest 8 of the most recent 20 handicap differentials are used to calculate your handicap index.
• A reduction of -1 is automatic if you have an exceptional score 7.0-9.9 better than your handicap index.
• A reduction of -2 is automatic if you have an exceptional score 10 or more better than your handicap index.
• The system looks back 365 days preceding your last score and identifies your low handicap index. There are then controls on upward movement. If a handicap index is calculated to be over 3.0 higher than the low index, then outward movement slows. A handicap index can only move up by 5.0 in comparison to the low index.
For more detailed information visit: www.golf.co.nz/whs
We are confident that the overall result of WHS is a system more equitable and inclusive providing more enjoyment for all.
Good golfing.
Kind regards Phil Aickin Handicapping and Golf Services Manager
PRO – TIP
1. When swinging the 2 clubs do them slowly & just 5 at a time then relax.
The great Bobby Locke said
“if you don’t have time to do 20, do 10 & do them well 👍👍
2. Chipping. When you have practiced a good Address Position, next is -
Direction & Feel. How? Through a good Routine.
Make sure you aim a Square Club Face to target, not nearly but exactly !!
Have 2 practice swings, the 1st to find the FEEL the 2nd to confirm.
THEN GO. Have the same ROUTINE on all chips. = CONSISTANCY.
3. When Putting notice which side you miss them on ??
If left - your hands maybe back so Push your hands 1 degree forward.
If right - make sure your eyes are over the ball, Always Putter to Target.
4.Time to clean the Clubs, they’re expensive so look after them 😀😀
Use warm soapy water, scrub both grips & club faces in the grooves.
Clean those shoes & check that the spikes are OK or replace them.
Great news that Paul can now mow the course, & the Driving Range 😀😀
Keep Well & Stay Safe.
Good Luck & Good Golfing.
Professional John Garner.
