The Handicap system introduced in May 2008 has now settled down and is generally accepted as a fairer method of managing handicaps for Spanish Federated Members, Non-Spanish Federated members and guests.
The system we are using is as follows:
1) For those members who have both a Spanish license and another official handicap in a different country, they will be asked to present at the beginning of the year a current handicap certificate to review and evaluate if any adjustment must be made. This player will play off the Official Spanish Federation Handicap.
2) For members and guests not affiliated to the Spanish Federation, they will be asked for an official handicap certificate every time they wish to enter a Desert Springs Club Competition. If the player records a round where the handicap is lowered, a downward adjustment will be applied. Subsequent rounds where there is an addition to the handicap can only take an adjustment back to a maximum of zero. In other words, a person not affiliated to the Spanish Federation will not play at a higher handicap than their handicap certificate states, but can play at a lower handicap if their scores allow for a handicap reduction.
An example:
| Competition Date | Adjustment |
| 19/10/2008 | -1.1 |
| 25/10/2008 | -0.2 |
| 04/04/2009 | 0.2 |
| 12/04/2009 | -0.2 |
| 16/05/2009 | 0.1 |
| 09/10/2009 | 0.1 |
| __________ | |
| Competition | -1.1 |
This adjustment is the one that is updated after each tournament and posted on the club notice board and is added to the competitors club handicap.
The reason that we have to use this system is that there is no reciprocation between the Spanish Federation and other handicapping systems.
The system does favor, slightly, the Spanish Federated members and we do encourage all members to join the Spanish Federation.
Some benefits from joining the Spanish Federation are:
- Insurance on all golf courses in Spain.
- No need to present your handicap certificate on every competition.
- Handicap can go up and down.
- It is the committee’s policy to move towards a position where only Spanish Federation Handicaps are accepted for Club Competitions.
Reminders:
1) All Spanish Federated Members are requested to provide their Non-Spanish (if the have one) Handicap Certificate once a year – this is used, as stated above, to carry out a review to ensure that the two are kept reasonably in line, as appropriate.
Please submit your non-federated 2010 handicap certificate ASAP.
2) All Non-Spanish Federated Members are requested to produce their handicap certificate prior to entering a competition – we are now checking the handicap certificates of prize winners before awarding any prizes.
For further information contact: Paul Taylor -Handicap Committee
Email: paul.f.taylor@btinternet.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 7899 755 321
