FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Handicap Guide
Handicap Leveling or “Equitable Stroke Control”
Tiebreaker
Course and Bogey Rating
Courses We Play
Quick Access to Frequently Used Reports


Handicap
Q: I’ve played 5 rounds but my Handicap Guide hasn’t changed? Why
not?

A: Each score is individually run against the formulas used by OurGolfStats.com formula. Then the 8
best of 16 are used. But with under 16 scores, there are heavier weights
applied to your better scores:

1 to 2 rounds (No Handicap – use best score ONLY)
3 to 4 (1 best)
5 to 6 ( 2 best)
7 to 8 (3 best)
9 to 10 (4 best)
11 to 14 (5 best)
15 (6 best)
16 (8 best)

So it is reasonable to see little change until you post more rounds.


Handicap Leveling – “Equitable Stroke Control”
Q: I understand Handicap Leveling -“Equitable Stroke Control” is used on our scores. What is
that?

A: Handicap Leveling similar to the Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) used by USGA keeps an exceptionally bad hole from changing your Handicap Guide too much and sets a maximum number that a player can post on any hole depending on the player’s Course Handicap.
For handicap purposes, after the round our handicap system will adjust your hole scores when they are higher than the maximum Handicap Leveling number you can post. Scores are adjusted as follows:

Course Handicap Maximum Score per Hole
  
up to 9 Double Bogey
10 through 19 7
20 through 298
30 through 39 9
40 or higher 9 ***

All scores, are adjusted for Handicap Leveling. There is no limit to the number of holes on
your score that can be adjusted.

***  Starting in 2017 – we are limiting maximum scores on any hole to 9 strokes (actual plus penalties).  This is to help speed play.  At 8 total strokes and not holed out, we recommend that player stop play, pick up, and score a 9 for the hole.  They can then move on to next hole.


Courses We Play
Q: Why don’t we play at _______________ golf course?

A: The Tournament Committee that sets the courses we play and negotiates rates, about a year in advance. The committee receives input from members on which course(s) to drop and which to pick up. The committee tries to take into account a diverse set of greens fees (not all more expensive, not all cheaper), a diverse geographic area (good mix of East, West, North, South and Central), plus other factors. Your input is considered, so contact the member from your Division who is on the Tournament Committee.


Tiebreaker
Q. How does the tiebreaker work in determining results in our weekly tournaments?

A. The Tie Breaker is based upon where each player falls in their handicap guide range for the course played. This is best shown in an example.

Playing at Clinton Hill, both Player A and Player B shoot a net 69. Player A has a Handicap Guide of 11.4 while Player B has a Handicap Guide of 6.7.  Player A is in the range of 11.7 – 10.7. Subtract the bottom of the range (10.7) from the person’s handicap (11.4 – 10.7 = 0.7). Subtract the 0.7 from the person’s net score (69 – 0.7 = 68.3) resulting in the Tie Breaker Net.

Player B is in the range 7.6 – 6.7. Subtracting the bottom of the range from Player B’s Handicap Guide (6.7 – 6.7 = 0) and subtracting 0 from the net 69, results in a Tie Breaker Net of 69.0.

Player A wins on the tie breaker.

Should this process end in a tie, then the person with the lowest Handicap Guide would win. In this example, that would be Player B.


Course and Bogey Rating
Q: What do the course and bogey ratings mean?
A: The USGA Course Rating™ is the USGA® mark that indicates the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers. It is based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that they affect the scoring difficulty of the scratch golfer. Example: 68.5

The Slope Rating® is the USGA mark that indicates the measurement of the relative difficulty for the bogey golfer compared to the Course Rating. the Course Rating. The lowest Slope Rating is 55 and the highest is 155.
Example: 125

The Bogey Rating is the one number every golfer worse than a scratch should check before deciding which tees to play. This rating is the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for the bogey golfer. It is based on yardage, effective playing length and other obstacles to the extent that affect the scoring ability of the bogey golfer. To figure out this number, other than from looking at this database, the bogey golfer should take the Slope Rating®, divide it by the set factor (5.381 for men, and 4.24 for women) and add that to the Course Rating. The result is a target score for the bogey golfer, and is a truer yardstick of the challenge that lies ahead for the particular set of tees. Example: 96.3 – which predicts the bogey golfer’s average of his ten best (out of twenty) scores would be approximately 96.3 from this particular set of tees.


Quick Access to Frequently Used Reports
Q: I just want quick access to the Weekly Results. How do I only go there, rather than logging in to OurGolfStats.com?
A: The best way is just to create a desktop shortcut to the web address of the Weekly Results. To do that, follow these steps (on Windows computers):

  • Place your mouse on a vacant portion of your Desktop
  • Right click on your mouse, hover the mouse over “new” and left click on “shortcut”.
  • In the box for the location of the item, type http://ourgolfstats.com/ms_weekly_results_dir2017.php

Now, all you need to do is double click on the desktop icon for this shortcut, and you go directly to the Metro Seniors Weekly Results Directory. Click on the link (which is the name in colored ink) for the week you want, and you get the results.

This is the web address for the Weekly results for 2017. For 2018, just change the year at the end of this address to 2018. Repeat every year.