The introduction of the Registered Rounds Percentage has caused some golfers to question why their scores are dropping – we’ve investigated the matter to clarify some of the concerns.
The article introducing the RRP – read it HERE along with the comments at the bottom of that page – generated quite a response from our readers. We asked HNA Networks Africa to share their view on the matter.
‘We have had some good feedback about the intention of the initiative,’ says Brendan Barratt, communications and sponsorship manager at GolfRSA.
‘In saying that, we’ve also received a fair amount of confusion and/or criticism from people/clubs who might not have seen any of the communication prior to launch or who have been affected by clubs not opening their rounds.’
HNA appreciates that some golfers who – despite their best efforts – continue to see their percentage drop, but maintains that all clubs in the country have the ability to open rounds in order for players to keep their rating high.
‘All clubs in South Africa have the ability to open rounds; either on the system as you check in, or they may direct you to the terminal to open the round yourself – if this option has been enabled on their terminal.
‘There will, however, be instances where things go wrong, and given the challenges you have mentioned, we recognise that it is almost impossible for players to keep their RR score at 100%.’
There will be instances where clubs can’t open the rounds for a particular reason, but the RR score should not be considered as a ‘punishment’.
‘We have to go back and look at the idea behind the Registered Rounds (RR) Percentage score. We implemented it after consultation with various clubs and unions, and it is in place to strongly encourage clubs to swipe players’ cards before their round starts.
‘We do understand that some clubs have had technical challenges or may have been a bit lazy when it comes to opening rounds, and this is exactly the point of the RR score – to build up a groundswell of support for the process of opening rounds.’
Despite the initiative still being in its early stages, there has been a 9% increase in rounds being opened. The HNS would like this number to increase, which will have the added benefit of all clubs making it part of their processes.
‘It becomes a collective effort. To begin with we may lose a few battles and see our RR scores drop, but in the end we hope that clubs will adopt the process as a rule.’
The final putt, as it were, is to eradicate the scenario where players ‘forget’ to enter good rounds – or, worse, sit at home and enter invented scores in order to push out their handicaps.
The general view is that more than 98% are honest and handicap integrity needs peer review, good work by handicap committees at clubs and members entering scores correctly.
‘Once clubs get in the habit of opening rounds, it will be easy to maintain a high RR score. And those who are prone to managing their handicaps will be policed.’
