Around 60 players were refused entry to England Golf’s top tournaments last year because their handicap records included too many general play scores.
The players fell foul of a pilot Championships Entry policy that has now become a permanent fixture of the governing body’s competition procedures after being judged a big success.
Last year, NCG reported how the scheme applied to major competitions that were over-subscribed and where a ballot was required.
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Aiming to protect the integrity of elite amateur competitions and ensure tournament play was a major factor in entering the most prestigious events, it filtered entrants who had more than four general play scores in their most recent 20.
They were then assessed to look at the difference between their ‘Competition Score differential and the General Play differential’.
Where a difference of more than two strokes was identified, a player was told their entry into the championship was denied, and their club and county were informed.
James Crampton, England Golf’s director of championships, said the policy was well received by clubs, counties, and players, and would continue this year – with a new provision requiring entrants to have at least four competition scores in their record.
“We implemented it because we’d had enquiries from people about perceived manipulation of handicaps – not only players but also from some of our counties,” he said.
“Parents were concerned other players were gaining an advantage by submitting general play scores.”
England Golf general play policy: ‘We were very keen not to restrict players from submitting scores’
Asked how many entries had been initially revoked, Crampton added: “We haven’t got exact numbers, but we probably think we denied in the range of 50 to 60 players across the season from entering our championships because that differential was greater than two shots.
“Obviously one of the main fundamentals of the World Handicap System is it allows players to put general play scores in to maintain their handicap. There’s no restriction on what handicap level you have to be do that that.
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“We were very keen to not restrict players from submitting scores. What we wanted to do was highlight that if they were going to put in general play scores then make sure those were an accurate reflection of their playing ability.
“By all means put in general play scores, but if you put in more than four, then you will be assessed and those scores will be compared to your competition scores.
“If there’s a differential of more than two, then we will consider your handicap is probably lower than it should be.”
Crampton said there were no plans to introduce the policy to England Golf’s handicap events and he advised clubs against bringing in terms of competition that punished players for submitting general play cards.
He explained: “This only applies to our championship events. We didn’t implement it at any of our handicap competitions – and we didn’t propose to golf clubs they do it for theirs.
“It’s worked really well. The reaction from players who have been flagged within the system is that they understand the reasons why it was done and they’ve accepted the reasons why their entry was denied.
“We contacted players and gave them the opportunity of rectifying the handicap, or the scores they’ve got within their record. We didn’t leave it until the end of the closing date to inform them.
“We ran the report prior to the closing dates and, where anybody was flagged, we contacted them, advised them of the situation, and gave them the opportunity of rectifying it.
“A few managed to do that by the submission of competition scores. That was seen positively as well, because while we had this entry policy, we were trying to proactively help the players to get their handicaps into a situation that allowed them entry into the events.”
Crampton said England Golf were now looking to make the Championships Entry policy available to counties to use in their elite events.
He explained: “We’re aware of some counties putting their own policies in place around general play scores so we’re just trying to provide some guidance and assistance for them to create a bit of consistency across the country in terms of how it’s going to be applied.
“I think there are examples where terms of competition have been put in place that actually restrict people from entering if they have general play scores in their record. We’re not doing that by any stretch.”
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