Myth 1
Myth …..'If all club handicap competitions were 'open' i.e. no handicap classes or divisions, the single figure handicap player would stand no chance of winning.'
Research
· The analysis covers 750 club handicap competitions reported in the Herald in the months May to September. The competitions selected had a minimum field size of 75 competitors.
· All competitions were evaluated as 'open' i.e. there was one overall winner of the competition irrespective of handicap.
· The winners of the 750 competitions were grouped into the four handicap categories. The distribution of winners by handicap category is shown below:
Outcome
· The winners by handicap category were as follows:
| Category 1 (Handicaps 5 or less) | 10% | Category 2 (Handicaps 6-12) | 33% |
| Category 3 (Handicaps 13-20) | 38% | Category 4 (Handicaps 21-28) | 19% |
· On face value this would suggest that the probability of winning a club competition is heavily and unfairly biased in favour of Category 2 and 3 players.
However, the story is incomplete ……….read on!
If the above findings are related to a typical club entry (average over a number of clubs in a range of competitions) a different picture emerges:
· When the distribution of winners by handicap category is related to their representation in the field, it can be seen that all handicap categories win in reasonable proportion to their entry i.e. Category 1 and Category 3 players typically comprise 8% and 40% of a club competition and in a 'single class' competition win 10% and 38% of the time.
· This would suggest that handicapping is acceptably fair and equitable throughout the handicap range.
The distribution of 'Winners' with respect to playing handicap, assuming all competitions were run as a single class handicap event, can be looked at another way:
· Club handicaps are typically distributed as below (aggregate of the handicap distribution of players playing in three or more competitions p.a. in a range of golf clubs)
· The average playing handicap of the players in the sample was 14.
· Below is the distribution of winners by handicap derived from information published in the Herald Club Golf Returns over three years and embracing 2622 competitions (approximately 250,000 rounds of golf!)
· It can be seen from direct comparison of the two distributions that there is good correlation between the number of players at a given handicap and their winning frequency.
· The average handicap of the winning player was found to be 13.3 which bears very favourable comparison to the average club handicap of 14 (discounting those members playing less than three qualifying competitions p.a.)