So you've gone and won the Captain's prize. Well done, after all, you've been nursing that handicap all year. But in honour of your achievement, the Committee have decided to cut you two shots. Can they do that?
Well, you'll probably find the answer to this and a myriad of questions at this site, set up by a man in Cheshire, Nick Perkins.
It can get complicated: How do handicaps change after a Handicap Qualifying Competition? How is the Competition Scratch Score calculated? What is Stableford Adjustment? How is a Nett Differential calculated if the competition is played as Stableford format? What is a Buffer Zone? How does the Committee decide what adjustments to make under General Play?
In 1992 Nick was elected handicap secretary at a new club, and to administer the handicaps he developed a solution using a desktop PC. HandicapMaster has continued to be developed as new requirements have been identified. In 1996 another course requested access to the software and have operated the software since.
Two years ago, a golf society in Ireland was the first to acquire the system over the Internet.
Nick explains his method and purpose on the site:
"HandicapMaster is not a `commercial' software package, in view that I cannot always provide immediate support, and support is only available by e-mail. It is not my intention to compete with the commercial products. It is written by a genuine enthusiast, however, and provides facilities equal to many (and better than some) of the professional packages in the area of Competitions and Handicapping.
"I have no intention for HandicapMaster to be profit- making; hence I would be delighted for your club or society to use the software at limited cost, in the hope that it can be of benefit to you. I regret that it is not viable for me to provide software or manuals by post.
"Much of 2000 has been taken up with supporting HandicapMaster, due to the unexpected demand. In May 2000, a small charge for registration was introduced to overcome some costs. A new version of HandicapMaster has been started, and amendments are being made to HandicapMaster on a continuous basis to further refine its functionality." If you're overseeing the handicaps in your society, this could be just what you are looking for.
Also, the site offers information about handicapping in Britain and Ireland, presented in the form of questions and answers. For men, the Council Of National Golf Unions (CONGU) scheme is discussed, while for women, the Ladies Golf Union (LGU) system is discussed.
