Thanks Very Much to Mortgage Architects, for being the first Sponsor of the 2010 Men's Night!!!

http://www.mortgagearchitects.ca/michaelschaffer

____________________________________________________________________________________

If you're caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron.  Not even God can hit a 1-iron.  ~Lee Trevino

The first time I played the Masters, I was so nervous I drank a bottle of rum before I teed off.  I shot the happiest 83 of my life.  ~Chi Chi Rodriguez

It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits.  I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.  ~Hank Aaron, 1971

Well, I'm One under. One under a tree, one under a bush, one under the water.  ~Lee Trevino, describing how he was one under during a tournament

Actually, the only time I ever took out a one-iron was to kill a tarantula.  And it took seven to do that.  ~Jim Murray

____________________________________________________________________

How Are League Handicaps Calculated?  

     One of the wonderful features of the scoring system we are using is that it calculates a separate league handicap based solely on your league scores.  The staff in the shop have absolutely zero influence on handicaps.  Most importantly, the "system" should be recognized as an inanimate, unbiased mechanism to track, record, calculate, allocate,tabulate and publish numbers attached to names - nothing more.  The triggering device to set it in motion is the input of a player's score; how many strokes they took to complete 9 holes of golf.  The first calculation, with respect to determining a handicap, is to deduct the pre-determined course rating from the player's score.  This "index" or number is the basis for determining a league handicap.  League handicaps are determined by taking a players best four scores out of
their last seven, adding them together and then dividing by 4.  The system then subtracts the league course rating which, in our case, is set at 36.  That number is either rounded up or down.  In the case of players that are new to the league, the program produces three "dummy" scores to establish a handicap for each player.  This reduces the possibility of wild swings in handicaps for the first few weeks until a new player has established a league handicap that is representative of his skill level. 

Here is an example...

Jon Smith (New to the league in 2010)

     Because Jon was new to the league in 2010 and we didn't know his actual handicap he was set-up in the system with an 18-hole handicap of zero.  Every league handicap is calculated the same way.  The system produces three "dummy" (D) scores to help Jon establish a league handicap.

     Jon's scoring history looks like this...  36(D), 36(D), 36(D) plus his actual scores of 45 on July 16th, 51 on July 17th, 55 on July 18th and 44 on July 19th.

     Jon's four best scores are 36(D), 36(D), 36(D) and 44 which, when we add them together, equal 152.  The system divides 170 by 4 to get 38 and then subtracts the course rating (36) to get 2.  The system either rounds up or down so Jon's league handicap for his next round will be 2.

     Important - once Jon posts his 8th score the "Dummy" scores will gradually disappear from his history and be gone from his scoring history forever. Like his regular GAO handicap, your league handicap will carry forward
from year to year. 
 

Second Example – Bill Doe

     Unlike Jon, Bill was set-up with an actual starting handicap of 4 and, also unlike Jon, Bill played in the league last year so he has much more of an accurate scoring history.

     Bill's last 7 scores in his scoring history looks like this...  40, 38,42 and 43 from 2010 and 36, 35 and 40 from 2009.  Like his regular GAO handicap, Bill's league handicap carries forward from year to year.

     Bill's best four scores are the 35 and 36 from 2009 and the 38 and 40 from 2010 which, when we add them together, equal 149.  The system divides 149 by 4 to get 37.25 and then subtracts the course rating (36) to get 1.25.  The system either rounds up or down so Bill’s league handicap for his next round will be 1.