Here's what I've learned, courtesy of Mr. Greg Schimoler, PhD:  When you all play from the same tees the handicap is based on course slope.  But if you are competing from mixed tees you have to make a handicap adjustment for the difference in course rating.

It takes the USGA four pages to explan that and it took me a week to understand their explanation.  You can try for yourself here (Competing From Different Tees).  The net result for us is that if you choose to play the Weeklies from Red/White tees you need to (i) use your Red/White handicap and then (ii) subtract strokes based on the rating vs Blue.  The adjustment looks like this:

        Start With                     Par 72        Par 71
        White Tee Handicap         -1               -1
        Red Tee Handicap            -4               -4

So at Par 72 someone with a 15.0 Index would play as a 17 from the Blues.  Let's say he moves up to the Whites (where he stays a 17 hcap), he would then have to deduct a stroke for the lower course rating and play off 16.  Or if the same guy moves up to the Reds (16 hcap) he would play off 12 (16-4).  Remember this adjustment only applies when a single competition plays from mixed tees.

The sheets on the first tee will show the adjusted handicap for eligible players, but isn't fun to know that someone at the USGA has all that time to work out ways for math to confuse us?

Something interesting here is that while we're limiting forward tee play to age groups, we really don't have to.  This formula is intended to equalize play at all levels.  So, theoretically, anyone could play from any tee in any event.  Just some food for thought - theoretically.

If you're interested in how your handicap would look for weekly play from the other tees, try this calculator:

Enter Your Index:

	Par 72	Par 71
Blue Tees
White Tees (adjusted)
Red Tees (adjusted)

Feel free to email your comments to Tournaments@TheSaxonyClub.com