A Member/Guest tournament has a condition that if a player’s
combined age and handicap equals 90 or higher, he can play the forward
tees. The Tournament Committee explains
the inclusion of age as a determinant of the tees played is intended to
increase participation from an increasingly older membership. (This begs the question of why the tee prize
for participants is a quasi-walking golf bag.)
This attempt at affirmative action for the elderly is misguided
for two reasons. First, it is
“tacky.” In a Member/Guest, do you
really want to inquire about your partner’s age? And how would you vet the age of a
player? Require a photo-id like he is
checking into a Motel 6?
Second, to ensure equitable competition, golfers should be
measured by their ability (i.e., their Index) and not some extraneous attribute.
An example should demonstrate why age is
an inappropriate criterion:
Assume Lance and his twin Larry are
16-handicaps from both the back and forward tees—there is only a small
difference between the two Slope Ratings. Since they are both 75, they qualify to play
the forward tees. There is a one stroke difference in the Course Ratings so
each would be assigned a 15 handicap for the tournament. Since the event consists of a series of nine
hole matches, Lance and Larry would each be assigned an 8 handicap for each
match (15/2 = 7.5 which is rounded to 8).
Twins Justin and Jim are a couple
of years younger than Lance and Larry, but are also 16 handicaps. They too would play the back tees as 8
handicaps for their match. Both teams
are of equal ability and handicap, yet Lance and Larry would have the advantage
of playing from the forward tees. This
would not be fair on its face. (Justin and
Jim could be assigned ½-stroke, but that presents other problems in equity,
ease of administration, and user friendliness not discussed here.)
Competitions between players from different sets of tees are
inherently inequitable. The handicap
adjustment under Sec. 3-5 , Players
Competing from Different Tees, may not be equitable even for singles stroke
play, and there is no evidence its makes
for equitable competition in four-ball.[1] To obtain the best chance for a fair
competition, all matches within a flight should be played from the same set of
tees. This would eliminate the need to
invoke Sec. 3-5, increase equity, and ease the burden on tournament
administrators.
If there is a playoff
among flight winners for an overall championship, it too should be conducted
from one set of tees. If three sets of
tees are used, for example, the middle set could be selected for the playoff. This would minimize grumbling from those who
might otherwise have to give a stroke and distance to their less skilled opponents.
[1] The theoretical problems with Sec. 3-5 are
discussed in “The Problems with Section 3-5,” www.ongolfhandicaps.com, March 4,
2014. A small empirical study reports
Sec. 3-5 did not correct for the difference in tees. In this case, the players competing from the
back tees were at a disadvantage--see “Is Your Tournament Equitable,” www.ongolfhandicap.com,
October 22, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment