5. DSR (Daily Scratch Rating) [yet to be implemented] How will the new DSR (Daily Scratch Rating) system work? Under the new DSR system, we will assess a current course rating for you each day. This rating will be appropriate to the conditions you actually experienced. GOLF Link will do all of the work and publish the DSR immediately after the scores are processed. The formulas used to assess the DSR are complex as our statisticians have advised that simple formula options are not efficient enough to produce reliable ratings this was the problem with CCR. Through GOLF Link, the DSR system will establish each of the following: The average net score for a field. The average handicap of a field. The field size. The type of competition (Stableford, Par, or Stroke). The gender of the competitors. Once it has established each of these factors, GOLF Link will compare the ACTUAL average net score on the day with the average net score GOLF Link EXPECTS for this precise field composition. (The EXPECTED average is determined by GOLF Link from millions of prior rounds.) GOLF Link will then determine the DSR by using the difference between what ACTUALLY happened on the day and what was EXPECTED to happen. Will the DSR system mean more work for clubs? No. GOLF Link will do all of the work and provide the DSR immediately after the scores are processed. Why do we need course ratings? In order to process a player s score for handicapping, we need to know how hard the golf course was. If we don t, the score itself is largely meaningless and is unusable. For example, 82 on a very hard golf course is a much better achievement than 82 on a very easy golf course. For this reason, every set of tees on every golf course has a Scratch Rating assessed for it by a group of State/Territory Association experts. What is the benefit of changing the course rating from day to day? Course ratings currently stay the same day after day, ignoring all daily shifts in conditions. We all know that the difficulty of a golf course can vary substantially from day to day. This means that on many days the Scratch Rating will not currently reflect the course difficulty. In a computerised world, clubs and golfers are becoming increasingly expectant of improved service standards. Utilising technology to provide ratings more closely aligned to the difficulty of a course is an innovation that will increasingly be seen as a basic requirement. With the vast majority of our golfers playing in coastal cities that are prone to variable weather conditions, it is particularly important for Australia to have a handicap system that is sufficiently flexible to cater for daily movements in course difficulty. If we don t, we end up processing scores against inaccurate course ratings, and that makes handicaps inaccurate. DSR will lead to more stable and comparable handicaps than if the vagaries of fluctuations in conditions from day to day and season to season prevail. Can the DSR strategy be summarised in one paragraph? DSR will provide golfers with a rating that is a reflection of the conditions they played under. The complex formulas will determine whether the difficulty presented at the time by the playing conditions was normal or different to normal.AA
Author: Golf Australia