Automatic penalty score process

Caddy cart

Got a email from golf Ireland stating that they will be introducing a automatic penalty score process from 31st March 2022. Also changes to the mandatory handicap on your scorecard will also come into effect on that date. Anyone know what any of this means?

spacecoyote

Think that in essence it means if you NR a round, you'll have a bad round added to your record?

Think the second one is just that your index should be displayed on your card

paulos53

This is a good diagram showing the possible outcomes when not returning a card

paulos53

I assume the bottom right blue square will be the default/automated action and the committee can then override it if necessary

billy3sheets

It's an awful thing. Not acceptable to finish up in inclement weather. You're expected to finish the round regardless.

Will be a lot of work for handicap committees and very difficult to implement.

Golfgraffix

It’s quite easy really. If a player cannot enter NP on a card or send a mail to their comps committee, I have very little sympathy for them.

My club have been applying penalty scores fir the past year, it takes very little time and has reduced the number of sign ins without a card returned

golfguy1

you don't have to finish ur round in inclement weather but you have to return a scorecard to avoid penalty scores

billy3sheets

https://static.clubhouse.golfireland.ie/clubs/1000/uploads/files/play_golf/guidance%20for%20penalty%20scores%20v2.pdf

Hole Not Played

A ‘Hole Not Played’ is only to be used in an unavoidable circumstance. It is not a ‘choice’ available to the player – a player may not just ‘decide to walk in’.

Russman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118840705#Comment_118840705

I suspect, in the middle of a downpour and a group are deciding its just too miserable to continue, nobody in the group will give two f-cks about penalty scores or whether its a lot of work for handicap committees. Expecting people to stay out, come what may, is ridiculous imo. On a real bad weather day you could easily have half the field coming in early. That said, they should always return their cards regardless.

Personally I think its a bit of rules for the sake of rules, combined with an inbuilt paranoia about handicap manipulation. I mean, lets say, for the sake of argument, the 15th green is near the clubhouse and a bit of a jumping off point if you fancy it. How can the committee decide if the guy who ends up with 28 points and has no score on the last 3 holes, bailed out early in the rain or actually played the last 3 but didn't score on them ? Its an inordinate amount of work for almost no tangible return.

blue note

I'm not sure this is a good thing. The effect that this will ultimately have is that people who decide to finish a round early for whatever reason (one that isn't allowed under Golf Ireland rules) will get a penalty score. So effectively, their handicap will be the best 8 rounds out of their last 19. It will inflate handicaps of people. But these are likely people who don't want their handicaps inflated. In fact, it's in no-ones interest for these people to have artificially high handicaps.

But if you're out and the course turns out to be playing very slow, or the rain comes, or you just fancy a quick pint and decide to come in off 15 as Russman says, you're not going to stay out with or without the penalty.

It is a problem for the very low guys of course - the ones trying to qualify for the elite amateur comps. If you have fellas playing off +3 who should be more of a 0 and they're doing this by only submitting the good rounds, that's just unfair on the honest ones.

Russman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118845724#Comment_118845724

I'd agree that scores not being submitted has been an issue (however big or small) for donkeys years, and from what I've seen during my stint on Competitions a few years ago, it fell into two broad groups, you had the young guys trying to get to scratch and didn't want 0.1 so wouldn't put in a bad card, and the oul lads who shot 26 pts and simply couldn't be ar$ed putting in a card as they genuinely thought there was no point. Obviously with a few outliers thrown in - I'm sure most of us have arrived home and found the card still in our pocket once or twice.

Having read through the document Billy3 provided above, it seems you can get a low score if they think you're trying to stay high and a high score if they think you're trying to stay low. Makes sense in a way I guess, but I'm not sure another manipulation or adjustment does anything for the sport tbh. I think there's enough potential adjustments for local or weather conditions, max score etc that it all gets a bit artificial. Purely IMO but I think when golf needs flowcharts to decide what to do, its maybe time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture but maybe that's just me. I never thought there'd be different categories of walking in 🙈.

On a practical level, if I'm a volunteer handicap secretary and I have to ring 10 guys and their playing partners on a Monday to ask why they have no score for the last 6 holes and did they come in, did they lose a ball on the 12th and not bother playing a provisional, what did they score on those holes after the lost ball, was someone sick, did it get dark, etc etc etc., I'd be seriously rethinking my position tbh. Similarly if I was going well and had no score on the last 3 holes and got a call wondering if I'd come in early or what happened, I'd be pretty pi$$ed off and might start questioning whether entering competitions was worth it.