January
CHANGES TO THE CONGU HANDICAP SYSTEM
Retirement of the CONGU ® Club Handicap – As a result of its low impact this handicap Category has been removed and replaced by a new Category 5 for Men and a Category 6 for Men providing for a maximum handicap of 54.0 for Men.
Players will be able to maintain a Competition ‘c’ Handicap in all six categories. Upward adjustment for all categories will remain at 0.1 and downward adjustments for Net Differentials below Buffer Zones will be 0.5 for Category 5 and 0.6 for Category 6.
Up to and including 31 December 2017 the upper limit of Category 4 for Men remains at 28.0. As from 1st January 2018 the upper limit of Category 4 for Men will be 28.4. The new Category 5 for Men will commence at 28.5 with the upper limit at 36.4. The new Category 6 for Men will commence at 36.5 with the upper limit at 54.0.
Currently there are a large number of Men whose Handicaps are in the Range of 27.5 to 28.0. Many of these Men opted not to transfer to the now retired CONGU ® Club Handicap.
A small number of Men however, transferred to the CONGU ® Club Handicap and their Handicaps range from 29.0 to 36.0. These players will now automatically transfer to Category 5 on 1st January 2018 maintaining their current exact handicaps.
It is felt that a number of Men may now wish to transfer to Category 5 from the Category 4 maximum range of 27.5 to 28.0.
To facilitate this transfer, The Golfing Union of Ireland will permit Handicap Committees, on a once off basis, to apply a General Play Increase (GPI) in line with Clause 23.3 (b) ‘In the event of a Union delegating to Home Clubs the unconditional authority to increase the handicaps of players in Category 4 to Category 5, Home Clubs need not submit to the Union or Area Authority proposals in respect of any changes of handicaps of players in the nominated Categories’.
To assist Handicap Committees in this regard Players whose current handicap is in the range of 27.5 to 28.0 may grant an increase of up to 2 whole shots for such players whose Nett Differentials have been outside their Buffer Zone but in single digit figures (5 to 9) for the past 2 to 4+ years.
Players whose current handicap is in the range of 27.5 to 28.0 may grant an increase of up to 4 whole shots for such players whose Nett Differentials have been outside their Buffer Zone but in double digit figures (10 upwards) for the past 2 to 4 years.Players who have not played any Qualifying Rounds during the past 2+ years may be considered for an increase of up to 4 whole strokes.
The period in which this concession is granted will operate from 01 January 2018 to 31 March 2018. At the end of this period Handicap Committees must send a detailed list of players whose handicaps have been adjusted under this concession including their Revised Exact Handicap (REH) to their Area Authority (Provincial Branch). Thereafter all proposed increases in handicap must be submitted to the appropriate Area Authority (Provincial Branch) for prior approval.
Supplementary Scores – Relaxation of the rules to allow an unlimited number of score submissions per year and removal of the restriction of one per week. However, the restriction on Category 1 players will remain in place.
Mixed Tee Competitions – Reinforcement of the single CSS Adjustment Calculation. Having a single CSS adjustment for two or more competitions will provide a more equitable value when one of the competitions has a very low number of players. To overcome the technical IT implementation issues, the approach agreed will be to enter all scores into a single competition (and so a single CSS Adjustment Factor is calculated) with a facility within the software to allow the results to be separated for each group of competitors.
Definitions – Confirmation that cards submitted for Initial Handicap Allocation are included in the definition of Qualifying Scores for handicap purposes. Accordingly a player whose handicap is allocated on the basis of such submitted scores under Clause 16 will automatically be allocated a Competition Handicap status.
9 Hole Competitions – Introduce the option of 9-Hole Medal Competitions and 9-Hole Open Competitions. For handicap purposes, the 9-Hole Medal scores will be converted to Stableford and will appear as stableford on the players handicap record.
Handicap Adjustments – Confirmation that the adherence to Appendix M (Guidelines for Handicap Reviews) is mandatory, not optional.
There will be no new hard copy of the CONGU® Manual, but an updated online version will be available on the CONGU® website, where a full summary of the changes will also be posted.
See www.congu.co.uk for details and to download the booklet. Queries on any aspect of the CONGU scheme should be made to your provincial GUI branch office:
Winter Rules
A ball lying through the green may be lifted without penalty and cleaned. Before lifting the ball, the player must mark its position. Having lifted the ball, he must place it on a spot within 6 inches of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.
A player may place his ball only once, and it is in play when it has been placed (Rule 20-4). If the ball fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, Rule 20-3d applies. If the ball when placed comes to rest on the spot on which it was placed and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, unless the provisions of any other rule apply.
If the player fails to mark the position of the ball before lifting it, moves the ball-marker prior to putting the ball back into play or moves the ball in any other manner, such as rolling it with a club, he incurs a penalty of one stroke.