“T” Scores – What are they and Who Decides?

The USGA Handicap Department recently issued this FAQ which your club can use as a guideline in determining whether a club event or tournament should be designated as a “T” (Tournament) score. Although the USGA sites team matches as an example of a “T” score, WSCGA Team Rules for Division II designate only semi-final and final matches as Tournament scores. Division I team play scores are not to be posted as Tournament scores. In any event, you should review the definition of Tournament score on page 12 of the “USGA Handicap System Manual.”

Tournament Score (T) Designation and Reduction
Q: Our golf club holds weekly events for our members. There is discussion whether these events meet the definition of a Tournament Score (T-Score). Should they be posted as T-Scores?

A: Weekly events are not recommended to be designated as T-Scores because they are not significant events. A reasonable analogy is the PGA Tour conducts a tournament nearly every week. These weekly tournaments are similar to the competitions conducted at golf clubs and are not significant in the traditions, etc. of the golf club. The four “major” tournaments conducted throughout the year on the PGA Tour do meet the definition of a T-Score and should be posted accordingly. On the golf club level, the Committee should also limit the designation of T-Scores to the major events conducted by the club (e.g., member-guest competition, club championship, team matches). When too many scores are posted as T-Scores, especially those that don’t necessarily meet the definition of a T-Score, the automatic reduction built into the USGA Handicap System loses its effectiveness in identifying those who perform exceptionally well in tournaments.

The T-Score reduction, outlined in Section 10-3 of “The USGA Handicap System” manual, identifies any player who has demonstrated a certain level of performance in tournaments that is not representative of the player’s normal playing potential. A player’s Handicap Index® may be reduced if the average Handicap Differential™ produced from the two best T-Scores is at least 3.0 below the player’s Handicap Index as calculated under Section 10-2. An automatic reduction of Handicap Index is conducted at each handicap revision date.

“The USGA Handicap System” manual is available online to view via: http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/manual/manual.html.

Deb Long, WSCGA Handicap Administrator

Eclectic Tournaments - Selecting the Best

Any golfer who is serious enough to belong to a golf club, has a handicap and plays in tournaments or guest days has probably played in a tournament called an “eclectic”. Few golfers understand what this means for purposes of posting.

First, what does eclectic mean? It is not defined in the Rules of Golf nor does the word actually appear in the USGA Handicap System Manual. The definition found in the Webster-Merriam Dictionary defines “eclectic” as “selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods and styles.” In golf, the term “eclectic means just that, ‘selecting what appears to be the best’ hole scores over two days of play over the same course. Many avid golfers better understand the format in the context of either the ringer board – where individual players record their best hole scores made on a particular course over a period of time (a quarter or a year, for example) or as a format described in the Rules as Four Ball Stroke Play or Match Play but commonly referred to as ‘better ball of partners’ or ‘best ball of partners’ where only the score of one partner counts. In an eclectic format, you are your own partner and you are scoring your best score on each hole over two days. The same holds true whether it is an individual eclectic or a partner eclectic. For the tournament, low score wins the prize!

Somehow, many golfers believe that because you cannot better your score the second day and pick up your ball that only the first day counts for posting. The principles of the USGA Handicapping System should logically lead to the conclusion that BOTH rounds must be posted! Under the USGA Handicap System Manual the following are true statements:

1. If you skip a hole, you record your ‘net par’ – par plus any strokes you would receive on that particular hole.

2. If you start a par 5 hole, hit two balls out of bounds off of the tee and are laying 5 in the fairway, your equitable stroke is 7, and you scored a 5 the previous day, you may determine:

► Your most likely score would be two more to get on the green plus two putts for a 9! If you play out the hole and make the 9 that is what you would record, adjusting your score by subtracting two strokes from your total score for posting purposes only. If you decide to ‘put your ball in your pocket’ and record your equitable stroke score for the hole, you would write in a 7x.

► If the tournament also sold you a mulligan which you used to make a birdie 4 on that par 5, that score would be used for the ‘game’ or tournament score; but for posting purposes, you or the Tournament Committee would adjust the 4 to net par, which is par plus any strokes you would have received. Example: Your course handicap is 10 and the par five is the #9 handicap hole; you would record a 6 on that hole even though you made a 4 with your mulligan. If the hole was the #15 handicap hole, you would record a 5, as a 10 handicap would not be entitled to a stroke on that hole).

The USGA requires that both rounds of an eclectic be posted even if a player failed to lower or complete every hole on the second day. The reasoning is that there is a way for you to equitably post a score for each hole even if you do not complete each hole that day. (It does assume that you holed out on each hole on the first day of the competition or in a partner format, that either you or your partner holed out on each hole.)

Furthermore, either both days are posted as Tournament scores or both days are posted as regular scores. How the rounds are classified is up to the Tournament Committee. The first day cannot be a T score and the second day a regular round. The Committee in charge of the tournament should declare in advance, preferably in its Conditions of the Competition or tournament notice what the status of the rounds will be – either “T” scores or regular rounds. Posting eclectic rounds is never “optional” or at the option of the player. The eclectic score (your best ball score over two days) is not acceptable for posting purposes and this is mentioned only because it has happened where the eclectic score became a posted score. Ouch, especially if it was posted as a “T” score!

Whether you’re a player or the chair in charge of a tournament, eclectics score the best hole scores from two rounds of golf. As such, both rounds must be posted in accordance with the principles of equitable stroke control utlizing ‘most likely score’ and ‘net par’ if a hole is skipped or a mulligan is used to make the score.

Deb Long, WSCGA Handicap Administrator

Curing Victimitis

The following article was written by Michael Josephson (www.charactercounts.org/michael) and applies to golf as well as life. We all need to take responsibility for our actions and attitudes. Don't forget to enjoy the journey.

Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes.
Watch your attitudes; they lead to words.
Watch your words; they lead to actions.
Watch your actions; they lead to habits.
Watch your habits; they form your character.
Watch your character; it determines your destiny.

These words of unknown origin tell us that our silent and often subconscious choices shape our future. Every aspect of our lives, at home and at work, can be improved if we use our power to think, reflect, and make conscious choices about our thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, and habits.

Instead, many of us think of ourselves as victims. We complain about our circumstances and what others did to us. Whatever psychological comfort there is in feeling powerless and blameless when things aren't going right, in the end, victims lead unsatisfied lives.

We're most vulnerable to victimitis when we're under the influence of powerful emotions like fear, insecurity, anger, frustration, grief, or depression. These feelings are so powerrful, we believe our state of mind is inevitable. Our only hope is they will go away on their own. Yet it's during times of emotional tumult that using our power to choose our thoughts and attitudes is most important. We can't make pain go away, but we can refuse to suffer.

Even when we don't like any of our choices, we do have some -- once we realize we can take control. It isn't easy, but what we do and how we choose to feel about ourselves has a profound impact on the quality of our lives. Victims may get sympathy for a while, but that isn't enough.
Taking personal responsibility for our happiness and success can be scary, but the payoff is enormous. Although we can't make our lives perfect, we can make them better -- usually a lot better.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

*(Editor's note: The opening poem is widely attributed to Frank Outlaw on the Web, but we've found no confirmation that this is the correct source. Popular quotation books including Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Roget's International Thesaurus of Quotations, and The Harper Book of Quotations don't include it or any reference to Frank Outlaw. In 2003, we received an e-mail message from a reader who claimed to have penned the verse and sent it in 1998 to members of an e-mail group of people living with lupus. Another e-mailer, however, noted that he first came upon the poem in 1996 at a workshop in the UK.)