Handicapping
The club's weekly competitions are conducted in three grades - A, B and C. There is also a prize for the best score on the day, irrespective of handicap.
| A Grade | handicaps to 14 inclusive |
| B Grade | handicaps 15 to 19 inclusive |
| C Grade | handicaps 20 to 36 inclusive |
Golf Australia Introduces New Handicapping System
In recognition of the need to improve the current handicapping system, Golf Australia has determined that Australia will move to the USGA handicapping system by progressive phasing in of the components of the system. For full details of the new Australian Handicapping System click the following link which will take you directly to the appropriate section of the Golf Australia website - Australian Handicapping System The decision was made with the following objectives in mind:
- To provide a system that may be administered and applied uniformly and efficiently throughout Australia
- To encourage participation in social and competitive golf amongst males and females of all ages, and foster golf as a game for life
- To enable as many golfers as possible (males and females, amateurs and professionals, club members and non club members) throughout Australia to obtain and maintain a fair handicap
- To make the game of golf more inclusive and enjoyable by enabling golfers of all abilities to compete against each other on as equitable a basis as possible
- To produce fair handicaps which reflect golfers' ability based on better performances and which may be applied validly and reliably from course to course and from different sets of tees on the same course.
The first phase of the system begins in February 2010 with the abolition of the CCR, and the introduction of handicaps calculated from a statistic called the moving or rolling average. The calculations will be done by the Golflink system.
From 1 February 2010, handicaps will be determined from the arithmetic average of the best ten scores from the player's last twenty scores. In this system, each time a score is recorded the most remote of a player's last 20 scores drops off and the most recent score is included. The best 10 are then averaged and from this average the handicap is determined. The great advantage of the system is said to be that it allows for smoother downward adjustments and more rapid outward movement than is afforded at the moment where an outward increase can only occur in increments of 0.1 and a substantial inward movement can occur if a player has one lucky round. The new system is said to provide more timely and more realistic adjustments to a golfer's handicap than the current system allows. Later, all Australian courses will be evaluated and the Course Index and Handicap Index will be introduced. There are some other important changes that will take place later. For more information, see the Rules and Handicapping tab in the Golf Australia website at http://www.golfaustralia.org.au
SGC Members should note that this change is binding on our Club.