SSS

With the sss on your score cards, why is there a 3 to 4 shot difference between white and yellow markers. Yes I no your going to say less yards, but to me you've got to look at the score card to see where have they lost those three to four shots on the card. Have they made the entire par 5's par 4's.Take me yesterday at Tamworth; hit 91 gross, 70 net. Scoring 39 points. The sss is 73, but off yellows its 69, WITH 227 YARD DIFFERANCE. FOUR SHOT DIFFERANCE. My h'cap as not been reduced. The only way you can play to the 69 is to make the entire par 5's par 4's. I've been playing in comps at my club off whites. I like this as you play to the sss, and that sss can move up or down in a comp' relating to how the field has played. This gives you a true reading of your h'cap.  

Nice to see that someone else is seeing the stupidity of the SSS system.

The Pros play only to par, why can't we.

Today I played Trent Park and they had the yellow tees where the Red tee disk is on the tee box.  How stupid is that.  And to make matters worse, I shot my worst round of the year today.  So what do I do, put my score down as playing from the Red tees where the SSS actually is more difficult 72 vs 68 rather than less?  Wierd.

What I don't understand is how the SSS system works when compared to the USA system of Slope/Rating.  At least with the slope/rating system, you have two numbers to work out the difficulty calculations.

The slope system as used in the USA is certainly much better than the SSS system we operate.

There are so many different factors that contribute to the degree of difficulty of a particular course, yet our system is based mainly on total length.

Stephen,

Your handicap is adjusted based on your strokeplay score, the SSS (standard scratch score) of the course, a buffer zone and an adjustment factor.  Let's assume that a course has a par of 72 and an SSS or 70 and your handicap is 28.  As your handicap is in the range of 21 to 28 then your buffer is 0 to 4 shots and the adjustment factor is 0.4 (I'll explain these in a little while)

You play the course and go round in 98.  98 minus your handicap of 28 = 70.  As this is the SSS it means that you have played to your handicap. 

Next week you play again and do better, going round in 95.  95 - 28 = 67.  Superb!  This means you are 3 shots under the SSS so your handicap will be cut.  This where the adjustment factor kicks in.  For every shot below the SSS, your handicap will be reduced by 0.4.  So in this case, 3 shots means a reduction of 3 x 0.4 = 1.2 shots.  Your new handicap is therefore 28 - 1.2 = 26.8, a playing handicap of 27 (rounded to the nearest round number)

Next week you play again and have a stormer (like Mark did at Tamworth!) and go round in 90.  90 - 27 = 63!  That's 7 shots (bandit!).  7 x 0.4 = 2.8.  Hang on.  That's a huge cut.  Fortunatly for you, the maximum cut in one go is 2.4.  This means that you new handicap is 26.8 - 2.4 = 24.2 (24 playing handicap). 

OK, back to reality.  Following week after a heavy night you have a hangover and go round in 105.  That's not good.  105 - 24 = 81.  11 over!  That's an increase.  However,  the maximum increase per round is 0.1 so your new handicap is 24.2 + 0.1 = 24.3 (still a 24 playing handicap). 

You don't drink the following week and manage to go round in 96.  Much better.  96 - 24 = 72.  Hmmm, 2 shots above the SSS.  However, this is what the buffer zone is for.  As you are 0 to 4 shots above the SSS after your playing handicap was taken into account, your handicap will not be adjusted.  You are still off 24.3. 

Hope this helps as the handicap system is a pig to understand.  It's weighted so one good round means you come down a long way but it takes forever to go up again. 

If anyone wants me to let them know the buffers/adjustments for their handicap let me know. 

Thought you were giving up due to turning into Miss Piggy?

Ahhhh, now I understand the pink get up!!!