Dear Member,
Currently members are required to hold a current RFEG handicap if they wish to enter Desert Springs Golf Club Competitions.
This will be reviewed as and when the WHI / RFEG systems are updated. This newsletter summarises why you need to have an RFEG handicap.
The WHI was implemented worldwide before the necessary software was in place to link different countries to the same system. Currently this means that if you enter a score in a different country from your home club then it does not automatically update your WHI handicap.
There have been a number of different proposals to overcome this, however all cause different issues depending on the clubs you are members of. Some clubs endeavour to overcome the issues, others insist you have a handicap for each club you are a member of.
The RFEG, for example, does not fully process scores for golfers who are not members of the RFEG and therefore the PCC (playing course conditions) are only based on the golfers on the day who are RFEG players – which in itself can create a difference of up to 4 shots for the score differentials.
An option adopted by clubs such as La Manga, is to require members to bring out their last twenty cards for input into the RFEG system so that the RFEG handicap can be adjusted (implicitly requiring membership of the RFEG before this can happen) and then take their last 20 RFEG cards back to their other club to update their other handicap. If we were to implement this at Desert Springs and 50 members came out at Easter, this would mean 1,000 cards would need to be entered in a short space of time. We do not have the resources to do this, and many UK clubs will not do this.
We have also considered allowing members who have clubs that will process cards to enter competitions with their WHI handicap, return each card immediately after the competition to their home club and wait for an update to be returned so that they can enter the next competition.
This has been ruled out at Desert Springs because:
- They will not return their card with the correct PCC
- Another system would have to be set up to manage these members to flag that their handicap is not valid until Desert Springs has received confirmation that their home club has updated their handicap – and this has to be back two days before the next competition
The fact that a member can have two (or more) widely different handicaps is vexatious, but it should be remembered that if their scores from both (all) clubs were applied to their WHI then it is likely that their lowest handicap would be higher.
Members are requested to complete as many qualifying rounds as possible, so that their handicap at Desert Springs reflects their playing ability at Desert Springs. (Handicaps are calculated from the last 20 rounds some of which go back five years or more!). Additional competitions have been added to the calendar this year so that members can do this, plus it is possible to enter one “extra day” card a month. For a group of six or more it is possible to set up a qualifying competition.
For the above reasons the committee continue to require members to maintain an RFEG handicap.
