A proposal to the golf groups of Chiang Mai
One handicap, wherever you play
Put every group’s scores in one place, and every player carries a single WHS Handicap Index — whoever they happen to be playing with that week. Nothing else changes. No new club, no new society, no cost.
The problem, in one sentence
A golfer who plays with two groups in Chiang Mai has two handicap indexes, because each group keeps its own scores and neither sees the other’s. Both are calculated correctly. Both are wrong, because each is working from half the evidence.
The proposal
From a memo by a former Handicapper, Webmaster and President of the CMSG — developed with Fred and C1.
What is the reason for a unified scorekeeping platform?
The main — and only — reason is that players play at multiple locations with various groups in Chiang Mai, which results in separate score recording that is not shared among the groups, which results in different Handicap Indexes with the different groups. That is wrong, and can be fixed easily by keeping the scoring in one place, since all groups are using the WHS as the basis for their handicap calculation.
What is the downside?
There is none.
Does this mean more work for the scorekeeper in each group or society?
No — because if the scores are already recorded in each group or society in their own way, those scores can simply be uploaded, with no need to re-enter anything.
Does this mean all registered players in the different groups automatically become members of the other groups, and can take part in their competitions?
The simple answer is no. Individual group and society rules apply.
Why does a combined platform make sense?
For players who are members of different groups in Chiang Mai but want their Handicap Index to be the same everywhere — which matters more still when the same player competes with several of them. The Little Man Trophy, played between the North Hill group and CMSG on various occasions, is one example. The monthly Stableford at Highlands is another.
What does it cost?
Nothing. This is free for anyone interested in taking part.
This is not designed nor intended to create a new club or society. This proposal only secures a uniform Handicap Index for each player, regardless of where or with which groups he plays — and ends the conversation of “what is your handicap index?” when playing with any group or society.
What is already working
The proposal is not a plan. Most of it is already running, and these figures come from the live records rather than an estimate.
One index, not one per group
The handicap engine has no concept of a society at all. A player’s index is worked out from every round they have played, whoever they played it with. Two groups cannot produce two answers because there is only one calculation.
The same man, spelled three ways
Scorekeepers write names differently, and every export so far has spelled somebody two ways. Names are matched on a normalised form, so “Bob Green”, “R Green” and “Green, Bob” are one golfer with one record rather than three strangers with a third of a handicap each.
Upload, do not re-key
Whatever your scorekeeper already uses, its export can be brought in as a file. Rounds already on record are recognised and skipped, so sending the same export twice does no harm. Exactly as Fred says: no additional work.
Fourteen years, not this season
46,401 scorecards are loaded, across 17 courses and fourteen seasons. A handicap means more when there is history behind it.
What it does not do
Worth being just as clear about, because a proposal that only lists advantages is not one you can trust:
- It does not merge the groups. Your competitions, your rules, your membership, your prize money. Sharing a scorecard archive is not sharing a club.
- It does not decide who may play with whom. That stays entirely with each group, exactly as Fred sets out.
- It cannot rate a course nobody has rated. A round only counts toward an index where the course rating and slope for that tee are known. Where they are missing the round is still kept and still shown — it simply does not move the handicap until the rating is on file.
- There is no self-service upload yet. Today a group sends its export and we load it. A sign-in of your own, so your scorekeeper can upload without seeing anyone else’s data, is the next piece of work rather than something already finished.
Interested?
Send whatever your scorekeeper already produces — a spreadsheet, a CSV, an export from whatever app you use. We will load it, match the names against the players already here, and you can see for yourself whether the indexes come out where you expect before anyone commits to anything.
Email admin@lannagolf.com.