Rika85

This is a really interesting topic in terms of the effect the handicaps will have on results in club competitions. As was stated earlier, if all competitions were played in grades then the handicapping issue wouldn't be much of a problem. The A Graders would battle it out amongst themselves with a relatively lower score taking out the competition (obviously a generalisation) while the B and C Graders also have their own competition where huge scores (40+ points) are routinely racked up. This is fine, aside from the awarding of balls to participants who have not placed in the competition (generally those with 33 points or more). I can see both sides of this. I usually play in the Saturday competition which is graded and so events being scooped by higher handicappers doesn't affect me too much. I do however look at the results from the Wednesday professionals' competitions at my club which are not graded, and it has literally been months since an A Grader has won it. Under the system it is a huge disadvantage to have a low handicap when trying to win these non-graded tournaments. Natuarally it is not always practical to run events in grades, particularly at small country clubs which have small competition fields but this in turn means there is little chance of a low handicapper winning unless they have a career round, even then that might not be enough. I recently played in a monthly medal at a coastal course and while I was not eligible to win not being a member, I was quite confident that my nett 64 would be competitive (Par 72 - ACR - 68). I came 5th and was the only A Grader anywhere near contending. I am still sceptical about whether or not this new change will have much of an impact on making things 'fairer'. I feel somewhat disadvantaged by having lost strokes off my handicap for having done nothing (8.6 - 7.9) while I'm sure higher handicappers feel even harder done by. A solution had to be looked into and Golf Australia has done that, fingers crossed it works or lays the groundwork for future tweaks to handicapping methodology. I think the system will have more relevance when the slope indexes are introduced to Australia as is it in the States. It must also be noted that this handicapping system is primarily focused upon stroke events rather than stableford which is by far the most common form of competition in Australia, a fact that I feel was neglected prior to its adoption. The winning scores across the grades certainly even out when it's a stroke event rather than stableford or par. I'll certainly have a keen eye on if this impacts upon scoring across the grades and hopefully it results in a fairer golfing experience for all. At this stage, and it must be noted I'm yet to play with my new handicap, I am still somewhat sceptical. Interesting to hear what others think. Cheers.

Surely a lot of the attention Senden draws for his quality ball striking is the result of his poor putting. It always makes for a more interesting story and attracts more attention when someone excels in one element yet has some sort of deficiency in another. Obviously in Senden's case, leading the GIR stats on Tour is countered by his poor putting and further leads to people highlighting his ball striking skills. It creates the classic 'what if' and 'if only' scenarios regarding his putting and the impact it could have had on his career. In Australia, Senden rarely gets much attention and invariably when he does, i.e. if he is leading after the first round etc, attention is drawn to his GIR stats over the years and his inability to get it done with the flat stick. I for one hope he manages to find some sort of putting stroke so that he racks up a few victories on Tour and the attention can move towards celebrating his game rather than being tainted by these negatives connotations regarding one crucial facet of his game.

Geoff Ogilvy with -11.

Hi All, Long time reader, first time poster here. One of the necessary evils of maintaing putting surfaces is the process of coring and top dressing the greens with sand. It seems as though my club (in Australia) is undertaking this very process at present and I will be enjoying all it has to offer this weekend in competition play. In your experience, what effect does this have on the ball? It's been a fair while since I've played in these conditions but I seem to remember that putts don't break quite as much. Has anyone recently played on greens which have been verti-drained and how did you find it on full shots, chip shots and putting? I won't have the chance to get out there and see how it's playing prior to the competition so any feedback/experience from others would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.