The World Handicapping System update has been completed at all clubs using Golf Magic. The updated software has been installed, communications with the new GolfLink servers established, and the member’s handicap updates have been downloaded.

You probably won’t notice huge changes initially, except maybe for the new maximum handicaps, and the way Stroke (Medal) events are now being handled, and the new “maximum hole score” option for stroke rounds. There are several other less obvious changes too that we’ll send out more information about shortly.

The maximum handicaps can now be set up to 54 and beyond, rather than being limited to 36 and 45 for men & women. However the maximum handicaps will not change in your system unless you specifically want them to. They will initially remain at 36 and 45. We will publish a document showing you how to make this change soon, but if you want to get a head start on it, please ring technical support and we’ll show you what to do.

There have been some notable changes to the regulations about the way Stroke events (both Net & Gross) are to be handled, that were not well publicised. The results of all stroke events are now sorted by the score-relative-to-par, rather than just by the net-score.

This won’t make much difference in a normal stroke round, except the score-relative-to-par is now displayed right next to the net-score {in braces} to make it easily visible - e.g. 73 {+3} or 68 {-2}.

In a multi-gender round, playing off two courses (and soon also in a multi-tee rounds as well), the effect of sorting the result by the score-relative-to-par between multiple courses with different par will be more significant. The results may no longer be quite in the same order as the net-score, but rather in the order of the score-relative-to-par instead. This is a part of the multi-course adjustments that have been introduced in the World Handicapping System rules.

Here’s an extract relating to this from the new publication titled: WHS Official Reference Guide for Australian Administrators – OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE & SUPPORTING REGULATIONS.  It is available for download from Item 20 on www.golf.org.au/whs (right at the bottom). It was only published there very recently (in the last few days):

Medal Play formats.  Under the WHS in Australia, all results should be determined by using a player’s score relative to par.

  • As a player’s net (or gross) status versus par for the round is compared directly against that of every other player, no additional strokes are added to the standard calculation of the Daily Handicap when the par is different between tees.
  • For example in a handicap medal competition, a course is par 74 for women and par 72 for men.  Michelle has net 76 which is 2 over par, and David has net 75 which is 3 over par.  2 over is better than 3 over so Michelle finishes ahead of David.
  • Your competition management software has been configured to automatically determine the finishing positions in a competition in accordance with this process.
  • For gross competitions, it is a player’s gross score in relation to par that should be used.  After taking this into consideration, the Committee should set the tee markers in positions that it believes are most likely to achieve equitable outcomes.

The main difference you will immediately notice is the score-relative-to-par in braces after the net-score in stroke rounds. However there are other differences, for example as a spin off effect of the way this works with countbacks, the messy fractional countback scores in stroke rounds will now always be simple whole numbers.

If you are having any problems, or have any questions, please feel free to send us an email ( to helpdesk@thymesoft.com.au ) or if it’s more urgent then please call the helpdesk support line on 1300 720 102 and we’ll be glad to help.

Everything is going well with the World Handicapping System Update. The GolfLink servers are coming back online, bit by bit through the afternoon.

We’ve been testing with the reactivated upgraded GolfLink servers, and we are just tying up some loose ends before getting you all up and running on the new system.

We will be installing the updates on your systems throughout this afternoon and evening, trying to avoid interfering with any rounds you may be playing today.

We will also be overseeing the process of downloading all the new member handicaps from GolfLink to make sure that doesn’t cause any problems in the morning.

Please make sure that you leave your systems running this afternoon and evening, so that when we get to your club we can connect and get everything upgraded smoothly. We want to make sure we handle this process carefully to avoid the possibility of there being problems in the morning.

As you would be aware, GolfLink are about to upgrade their handicap processing for the World Handicapping System. This also involves upgrades to your Golf Magic software.

For more details, please see the summary of changes below.

Timing of the upgrade

  • Down time: GolfLink will be taken offline from the early morning hours (i.e. before 1am) of Monday 27th Jan
  • Up time: GolfLink will not come back online until sometime Thursday afternoon 30th Jan - the actual times from GolfLink are in flux, and differ from state to state
  • We will notify you when GolfLink is back online for your club, and all the necessary final settings have been adjusted in your system

What you need to do to prepare

  • Please finalise all your events & tournaments, right up to and including Sunday 26th Jan
  • Please also upload all your events to GolfLink, right up to and including Sunday 26th Jan
  • Do this by Sunday night - GolfLink will NOT be online on Monday morning, so that will be too late

After the update, some of the score calculations will be made using slightly different rules, and so may end up with slightly different results.

If you have finalised your events and uploaded them to GolfLink, then you don’t need to worry about this, as the already calculated scores will be used.

If you haven't finalised your events, the will be recalculated using the new rules, sometimes resulting in slightly different scores and/or or different placings.

Note: Tournaments that include events from both before and after the upgrade, will have the results for all their rounds recalculated using the new rules - including any rounds from before the upgrade. This is required for consistency.

What you need to do during the upgrade period

  • Please make sure that your application server (the main system that we connect to) is left on for the whole duration of the upgrade period, as we may need to access your system to adjust settings at any time

What won't work during the GolfLink down time

  • Anything to do with GolfLink, e.g.: Handicap enquires & updates, Visitor details downloads, Competition results uploads, Adhoc scores, etc

What can be done during the GolfLink down time

  • Any non-handicapped competitions (e.g. Ambrose) can be run as normal
  • Any handicapped competitions can still be played, but will have to wait until late Thursday, or Friday, to be uploaded to GolfLink, and may have their scores recalculated under the new rules before that upload occurs

Golf Magic updates

  • We will be installing several updates to your Golf Magic software at different times during this period
  • During this period things will be in a state of flux
  • Some of the new features will not be enabled until the final update on Thursday afternoon, when GolfLink comes back online. Other of the new features will be enabled at various times during this period
  • Due to things being in a state of flux, some things will still be working with the current GA rules, and some things with the new GA rules, some of the new features will be enabled, and some will not
  • Competitions played during this period may have their scores calculated, and placings evaluated, be using the current or the new rules, based on the state of the system updates at that time
  • On Thursday afternoon will things stabilise on the new rules and features

Summary of changes to GolfLink and Golf Magic

  • Daily handicap calculation has been revised according to the new GA regulations

Also GA will be adjusting everyone's GA handicap by a small amount as part of this change.

The new GA handicaps will be available only once GolfLink comes back online on Thursday afternoon.

  • Equitable score adjustment option is now obsolete

The new Daily handicap calculation now includes this effect automatically

  • In accordance with new GA regulations, all references to "female", "ladies", etc have now been changed to "women"

 

  • DSR has been replaced by PCC

The DSR (Daily Scratch Rating) that GolfLink used to return for a competition, was a number similar to the course Scratch rating, but adjusted for playing conditions.

GolfLink have replaced the DSR with the PCC (Playing Conditions Calculation), which is a smaller number which can be + or - depending of the playing conditions.

  • Maximum daily handicap for your events can now be set higher than the previous limits 32 for men and 45 for women

Your current settings will continue to apply until you change them.

You can change the default setting for new events, but if you are interested in changing this at your club, please note that you will also need to change the settings in your saved event templates. If you need assistance with this, please contact the Thyme Software helpdesk.

Note: While the new limit for the GA handicap is 54 (for both men & women), it is possible for the daily handicap to go higher than this, depending on the course being played on.

  • Evaluation of scores and placings for Stroke rounds now uses Pro-Score

This effects not only the order of the results, but also the calculation of the Net Scores and Countback.

Pro-score, Net Score & Countback are now evaluated using the Stroke Index, just like Stableford & Par rounds.

This means that even with factional handicaps in stroke rounds (e.g. 9 hole rounds, Ambrose rounds, Foursomes, etc) the calculated Net Score & Countback will now be whole numbers, rather than fractional.

In the results of stroke rounds, the pro-score in now shown alongside the Net score.

It is the pro-score that now fully determines the placings in the results, including in the countback.

In most cases the results will be very close to the previous system, but there are occasionally some surprises.

  • New event type: Stroke round with Maximum hole score

When you set up a Stroke event (Net or Gross), you now have the option of specifying a Maximum hole score.

This caps the number of strokes that can be recorded on each hole. This also effectively allows a wipe to occur in a stroke round, without invalidating the score.

This can be specified in many different ways, and can include factors such as the hole Par and the player's handicap.

The maximum you set is used during hole-by-hole score entry, and applied individually to the strokes played on each hole.

Coming soon

  • GolfLink are introducing the capability to upload hole-by-hole scores to GolfLink

It's not working yet on GolfLink's end, but will be available once the teething problems have been sorted out by GolfLink.

We won't be uploading the hole-by-hole scores to GolfLink unless you explicitly enable that feature, at least initially.

  • Full support for multi-tee events

This goes beyond our current support for multi-gender events, to allow multiple tees for each gender.

This feature is currently being extensively tested, and should roll out in the next month or so.

  • Copy bookings from one booking sheet to another

This will be especially useful when the same players are playing multiple rounds.

  • New bookings entry process

We are in the process of rolling out an improved booking entry process for all clubs that are using our Member Portal. The changes are:

  • Easier to use and quicker to make bookings
  • More intuitive for new members
  • Totally mobile friendly/responsive design
  • Greatly improving and simplifying playing partners

Before we update your web site with the new bookings process, we will contact you  to show you the improvements, and provide information that you can pass on to your members to prepare them for the changes.

  • The ability for members to update their contact details directly on the Member Portal

The changes members make will be imported directly from the member Portal into the member details in your Member Magic database.

  • Easier support for long rounds (e.g. 27, 36 holes, etc)

Linking multiple events into a single long round will soon be much simpler than setting up a tournament to get that result.

Later in the year

  • Explicit booking of 9 and 18 hole rounds
  • Booking of equipment (e.g. buggies, etc)
  • Score card reading - automating the score entry process
  • Mobile app for score entry and other club communications

If you are having any problems during or after the upgrade period, please feel free to contact the Thyme Software helpdesk on 1300 720 102