Captains email 2nd December 2020

Dear Braids United members,

On Saturday, we move on to the winter composite course, which will be in play until the end of February. Course ratings for the white and yellow tees were received from SG today, which means that we have now been able to make final decisions on how the winter competitions will run.

Winter League and Winter Eclectic

The Winter League will begin on Saturday and run on Saturdays throughout December, January and February. As usual, rounds will be played off the yellow tees and scoring will be by stableford points.

You will be allocated an initial playing handicap as follows. Your handicap index will be used to calculate a course handicap with reference to the slope rating of the course (which is 107). As is now the norm for singles play in WHS, your playing handicap will be 95% of the course handicap [Neil and Alan will enter all playing handicaps into the system this week – so you don’t have to do anything]. Your playing handicap for the Winter League will then change week by week, depending on your score.

Score 43 points or above -3

41-42 -2

39-40 -1

37-38 -0.5

35-36 no change

31-34 +0.5

30 and under +1

These changes are slightly different to last year. They will be applied automatically, but you will probably find it useful to keep track of your handicap on a weekly basis (changes will be shown on the weekly results) to know what your new handicap will be and so when you can pick up after a bad hole!

Except for calculation of the initial playing handicap, the Winter League falls totally outside of WHS. However, as long as the course layout continues to be acceptable for handicap purposes, you will have the option of pre-registering and submitting a general play score for some or all of the rounds. If you take this option (which is not compulsory), note that it will be your current course handicap (NOT your Winter League handicap) which is used to determine net double bogey and your adjusted gross score.

Score entry as in previous years will be via the club website NOT Handicap Master, and Alan has configured the system for remote score entry. Log into the club website and select “Record a score for Winter League 2020/21”. The current round will be open. Check that it is your name that is showing, then click on Add Card and enter your score. Results will be available by clicking on “View Winter League 2020/21 Results and Standings”.

Each round of the Winter League will be an individual sweep. The overall winner of the Winter League is the player with the best aggregate points score over four rounds (from a maximum of 11 rounds possible).

In parallel with the Winter League will be the Winter Eclectic competition, which is decided by the aggregate of your best net score (strokes not points, so lowest total wins!) on each individual hole during Winter League rounds. Your handicap for this is two-thirds of your initial playing handicap and will not change throughout the competition. Again, the software does the hard work of calculating and updating your score as the weeks go by, but you will be able to keep track of it via the link to results and standings. If you don’t get to the low 50’s, if not high 40’s, you have no chance!

Medals and Seasonal Competitions

The December medal next Sunday will be off the white tees, as will the January and February medals and the seasonal competitions – Hind Cup and Currie Bowl. Medals will be stroke play, while seasonal competitions will be stableford.

For these competitions, your handicap index which is current at the time will be used to calculate a course handicap with reference to the slope rating of the course (which is 111), and your playing handicap will be 95% of that (all worked out by the sofware). As long as the layout of the course continues to be acceptable, these competitions will count for handicap purposes. Score entry will be on Handicap Master in the way that we have become used to throughout this year.

Dates for the monthly medals (all Sundays) are 6^th December, 10^th January and 7^th February. The course will be closed 25^th/26^th December and 1^st/2^nd January, so the seasonal competitions will be played on 27^th December and 3^rd January (again, both Sundays).

Winter Foursomes

For ties played on the winter course (white tees) your current handicap index will be used to calculate your course handicap. You will need to know what that is at the time. Strokes received are then half of the difference between the combined course handicaps of each pair.

Club House

Whether the clubhouse is open, and what can be served, will continue to be dictated by national guidelines. However, we have taken the decision not to hold the traditional “bring a prize – win a prize” in association with the Hind Cup, or the curry lunch following the Currie Bowl, as these are not compatible with current clubhouse capacity and social distancing. We hope to see these festivities return next year.

Regards,

Wilf

(Captain)