ARCHIVES

ARCHIVES

UPDATE: the New System is rolled out nationally with effect from 2016. See the CA website
for details. Though essentially the same as the new national scheme, the 2015 EACF trial details
are retained here as a matter of record only.

To: all players in the EACF area who appear in the GC Rankings


Subject: GC Handicap System for 2015


Dear players,

The EACF AGM and the CA Council have agreed to trial the GC handicap 'New System' in the EACF area for 2015, prior to a national rollout in 2016. You should get details of this via your club or they can be found on this website. This email is to explain how to work out your handicap under the New System and also what to do if you play in a level play event outside the EACF area during 2015.

You will be aware that in 2014, the CA trialled a revision to the GC handicap system that introduced Effective Handicaps for low players. These were not popular and will not continue in the New System. This winter, the CA Handicap Committee has collected results for 8,300 handicap singles games under both the 2014 trial and previous systems. From an analysis of this, a New System has been developed which it is believed will be stable over the long term and will treat all players fairly.

While the rest of the country will continue with the 2014 trial system for 2015, we in East Anglia will use the New System. The good news is the New System works exactly like the previous ones – only the handicap range and trigger points have altered. There are no longer Effective Handicaps to worry about.

How to work out your new handicap

If your current Actual Handicap is 3 or higher, then you keep that same handicap as you go onto the New System. Look up in Table 1 below to find what your new starting Index is.

If your current Actual Handicap is between 2 and -2, then to find your new handicap and index, we will be using the CGS Ranking System, as research has shown a good correlation between ranking and handicap. So, go to http://rank.wcfcroquet.org/gcrank/rank.php and enter your first and surnames under Player Full Record. Make a note of your most recent 'Grade' from the table – that will be your starting handicap index. Next, check this index against Table 1 below - take the handicap of the next trigger point at or below your grade:

Table 1 - New System trigger points

Handicap Trigger Point   Handicap Trigger Point   Handicap Trigger Point
-6 2800   2 1800   10 1200
-5 2650   3 1700   11 1150
-4 2500   4 1600   12 1100
-3 2350   5 1500   14 1050
-2 2200   6 1400   16 1000
-1 2100   7 1350   18 950
0 2000   8 1300   20 900
1 1900   9 1250      


So for example, if your CGS Grade is 2383, checking the above table, your new handicap will be -3 with an initial index of 2383. Note however that if this method would result in your handicap increasing, then instead keep your existing handicap but with the new index taken from Table 1 for that handicap. If you are uncertain, ask me for help.

You use this handicap directly for handicap games and also for keeping a record of your level play games. Effective Handicaps no longer apply.

As before, keep a record of all your qualifying games on your handicap card. If you are continuing a card from last season, please rule a line across and write 'New System', so we can analyse the results correctly at the end of the season. We will be sending to clubs an insert for the card (PDF 70 kb) giving the new trigger points, points exchanged in level play table and so on – this can also be downloaded from the link here.

What to do if playing in a level play event outside the EACF area

The one real difficulty for this year only will be dealing with games where the players are on different systems. If you are involved in any handicap games outside the EACF area, the website explains how to deal with this.

And for level play results where the players are from the two different systems, please use the following table to convert the opponent's handicap into its New System equivalent to record on your card and make your index calculations:

a) Handicaps 12 to 3 - just use the opponent's handicap directly

b) To convert Existing System Actual Handicaps 2 down to -2 to New System EITHER [accurate method] find their CGS Grade and use Table 1 OR [approximate method]:

  •  2 becomes 1;
  •  1 becomes 0;
  •  0 becomes -1;
  • -1 becomes -3;
  • -2 becomes -5


If you have any queries or problems with the New System or its documentation, please contact me at: ; 07718 630804; 01473 288448. I will do my best to help you. Many thanks.


regards

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