Handicap question

macgabhs

I am currently getting back into golf having not played for a few years. To give some background I was a junior, then student then intermediate player in a club near Dublin for 15 years. Then about 2 years back I was told that if I wanted to continue as a member I would have to pony up 6,000 plus subs which needless to say I didn't have. At the time I joined another club in the west as a country member and transferred my handicap there. Now as I wasn't playing regular weekly comps and only really played opens the odd time I stopped playing and didn't renew my country membership.

My question is what happens to your handicap if you are no longer a member of a club? Does it lie dormant and become active once I join somewhere again or will I have to play 3 rounds and go through the whole process again?

This is important as I'm hoping to rejoin my original club sometime in the near future when they eventually get realistic about the joining fee (i.e. get rid of it altogether!) so if I can reactivate my old handicap I can join somewhere very cheap down the country. If I can't do this then I'm looking at Citywest or Elmgreen to get myself a handicap again.

p.s Sorry about the long post!!

markie4

If your handicap has lapsed, I think it would be a case of submitting 3 cards, when you join a new club.
You could try checking gui website to see if your old number is still active on their handicap tracker

keane16

As far as I am aware your handicap stays valid for 3 years, after that you would have to play 3 rounds but also on your membership form inform them of your previous handicap.

PhilipMarlowe

My handicap lapsed because I didn't continue a membership and basically gave up the game for 4 or 5 years. When I joined a (different) club, I informed them of my previous handicap (as well as the 3 cards) and basically got awarded 8 which was where I had left off in my first club.
I put a letter in with the 3 cards saying that I would like to resume with the same handicap as I had previously...

highlight100

Would it be possible to get a gui handicap through a golf society?

macgabhs

Thanks for the info I'm going to get on to the handicap secretary at my old club to see if I can bring my old handicap to a new club.

aster99

How would you go about finding out handicap details from about 10 years ago...contact the club?

4 for 3

Your old Handicap records will remain on file some where INDEFINITELY! You could try tracking your last official handicap down with your old club and try get a Handicap Cert from them. However, the Club will more than likely have deleted it/you from "their records" though. Your Local Provincial Branch of the GUI would be able to track it down for you but it could take a while. I would suggest telling the new club your story - handicap secretary probably won't give you more than what you finished playing with last time - and you'll have your official handicap quickly - same result either way I wreck on - where you left off...

macgabhs

Ok I have an update on my original post. I contacted my old club and was told that my handicap lapses the moment I cease being a member of an affiliated GUI club. There is a 6 month period after leaving a club where I can get a handicap cert in order to transfer my handicap to another club. After this period I must join a club and submit 3 cards again to get a new handicap.

Mister Sifter

4 for 3 wrote: »

I would suggest telling the new club your story - handicap secretary probably won't give you more than what you finished playing with last time

Not in my experience, i was given a handicap based on my three submitted cards, not the handicap which had lapsed three years previous.

4 for 3

I believe macgabhs played off 8 a while back. While macgabhs may be a little rusty after the break from golf - he/she still played off 8 - and should get back into the swing of things a lot quicker than someone hitting the ball for the first time! macgabhs 3 new cards "could" get an 18 handicap issued to him/her - same as the person hitting the ball for the first time! I don't think so!! The new club / handicap secretary should be told the full story!! run risk of becoming a bandit with a hidden past? There is enough of them out there...

Nemesis

Submitting 3 cards is usually the way most clubs sort out your handicap.

Having a chat with the handicap sec and been 100% honest is probably the best way.

If a guy was once 8 and then handed in 3 cards which showed +18 over par I'd still give a guy 10

Unless he was 8 handicap at 18 and was now a 65 yr old.

A good rule of thumb I use for guys with no handicap (usually in charity events) is to ask them what their best round was in the last year.

macgabhs

8 you must be joking! I'm doing well to keep an 8 of my card