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What's New in HandicapMaster 7.1

Changes to HandicapMaster in Version 7.1 (2008 Edition)

CONGU Handicapping 2008

Note: The CONGU Handicapping changes apply to the Club, Premier and Network editions of HandicapMaster.
A new option to enter CONGU Supplementary Scores is added. These scores (CONGU UHS Clause 21) are scores outside of competition but counting for handicapping purposes. Supplementary Scores are recorded in player's handicap records using ident 'QSS'.
  1. A new 'Configure Handicapping Rules' item is added to allow clubs to choose whether or not to restrict players to one Supplementary Score per week (HandicapMaster defines a week as Monday to Sunday).
  2. Supplementary Scores may be entered using new Handicapping menu item 'Record Supplementary Scores' option.
  3. In the Handicapping 'place', a new list is added to display all Supplementary scores recorded.
  4. A new Handicapping report 'Supplementary Scores' is added, listing Supplementary Scores that have been recorded.
In mixed Handicap Qualifying competitions, any adjustments to player's handicaps to equalise men’s and ladies handicaps (template option 'Adjust Competition Handicaps') are now treated as REDUCTIONS in handicap allowances (for the applicable gender) (Re: CONGU Unified Handicapping System Appendix O) . Previously, players of the opposite gender received additional strokes instead.
You may now run 9 Hole Competitions as handicap qualifiers (in accordance with CONGU UHS Clause 22).
  1. A new Handicap allowance ('CONGU 9 Hole Handicapping') is added to the Competition Template wizard for this purpose.
  2. A new 'Scratch Score for 9 Holes' box is added to the Golf Courses details window, to allow entry of the applicable Scratch Score for the 9 holes.
  3. A new 'CONGU 9 Hole Competition Handicaps' report is added. This report is a handicap conversion report, allowing competitors to match their 18 hole Exact Handicap to the applicable 9 Hole Handicap for the course being played.
  4. It should be noted that the design of the 9 hole handicapping formula by CONGU prevents 'Away' players and Visitors from playing in CONGU 9 Hole Handicapping competitions.
You may now choose whether to use the Par and Stroke Indexes from the Men’s Scorecard or the Ladies’ scorecard in mixed team competitions, for scoring, through a new option in the ‘Open a New Competition’ wizard. The ladies scorecard is recommended by CONGU for mixed team Stableford or Par/Bogey competitions.
Annual Review of Handicaps; A new handicapping option Annual Review is added in accordance with Clause 23 and (Re: CONGU Unified Handicapping System Appendix M), offering three choices:
  1. Run Annual Review Report; This new report (replacing the three reports previously provided as 'Identify Players for a Handicap Review') is specified by CONGU to help committee's identify those players who may need a Handicap Adjustment at Annual Review.
  2. Enter Handicap Adjustments at Annual Review; This option allows adjustments made as part of the Annual Review to be entered. Adjustments so entered are given an 'ARA' identifier in CONGU handicap records.
  3. View a report of handicap adjustments recorded as part of an Annual Review.
A new list 'Annual Review Changes' is added to the Handicapping place.
All increases in Handicaps are immediate and therefore the 'Monthly Playing Handicap Up Revision' menu item is removed. The Configure Handicapping Rules item 'Clause 16.10a' is removed accordingly.
Competition Scratch Score calculations; The following changes are made to the way a Competition Scratch Score (CSS) is calculated (Note: These changes apply to competitions dated 1st January 2008 or later):
  1. Table B is no longer used when calculating the CSS.
  2. For Mixed Handicap Qualifiers, a single CSS adjustment is now calculated using Men's and Ladies scores combined, and this is applied to the applicable Standard Scratch Scores to create the Men's and Ladies CSS (UHS Appendix O, Note 2).
  3. In an Open Competition, if there are at least 20 members and 20 visitors playing, separate 'Home' and 'Away' CSS values are calculated (UHS Appendix B, section 2).
  4. If similar competitions have already been applied for the same day, the Apply Scores wizard will now offer the option to combine competitions for the purpose of calculating a common CSS. Competitions should be combined for this purpose when they meet the criteria laid down in Decision 3(a) of the UHS.
  5. An option to enter statistics from scores entered on other databases from competitions played on the same day is added, for the purpose of calculating a common CSS across all competitions (where applicable - see decision 3(a)).
In line with the CONGU Software Specification requirements, before the scorecard screen is displayed in Player Entry, each player is now required to confirm that they do not need to reduce their handicap for that competition.
New report 'Annual Review Changes' is added to display handicap changes made as part of the Annual Review.
Disqualified Scores; You may now identify a disqualified score in a handicap qualifying competition as either 'correct' or 'not correct' for handicapping purposes. 'Not correct' scores are now converted to 'No Return' and are treated as qualifying scores (see UHS Appendix P).
New report “Union Audit of Low Handicap Players” is added to allow clubs to produce handicap records for the range of handicaps specified by their Union for audit purposes.
Summary Of Scores Report; Count of Supplementary Scores and 9 Hole Scores is added.
Handicap Record Report; The following changes are made to the Handicap Record report:
  1. Lapsed (Starred) Handicaps are now shown with a '*' alongside the Playing Handicap.
  2. 'Handicap Record as Report Format' layout is amended to Landscape and additional columns included.
  3. New three letter identifiers are added and column title '19.8 Adj' changed to 'Stab Adj 19.1'.
You may now collect scores from players with Lapsed (Starred) handicaps through singles competitions. Scores from these players are shown in their own section on the Competition Results report, and are also included in the Handicap Record report. See help file section 'Handicapping -> CONGU Unified Handicapping System -> Managing scores to regain a Lapsed Handicap' for further information. A new report 'Number of Scores Returned to regain Lapsed Handicap' is added to help identify when players have returned 3 scores to have their handicaps restored.
If your club has more than one golf course, you may now identify additional courses as belonging to the Home Club (Right-click course in list and select EDIT). When additional courses are marked this way, scores recorded over these courses are reported as 'Home Club' scores in Handicap Records.
The name 'English Ladies Golf Association' has been amended to 'English Women's Golf Association'.
When restoring a Lapsed (Starred) Handicap, you may now enter a date to specify when the handicap was restored.
Handicaps for Players with Disabilities is added (see UHS Appendix K). This includes changes to the Handicap List report and changes to the Handicapping 'tab' of the Edit Member facility. In addition the Membership IMPORT has an extra column added to allow for importing members and visitors with a Disability Golf Handicap.

'Short Course' Handicapping changes

Handicapping for 'Short-course Competitions' (Competitions played over less than 18 holes each round) has been changed.
  1. The number of handicap strokes to be received is now allocated using the available Stroke Indexes for the holes being played. For example, if a player is to receive 5 strokes, these will be taken at the five holes with the lowest Stroke Indexes of those being played, even if holes with Stroke Indexes 1 to 5 are not being played.
  2. The number of “Strokes Received” displayed on the Score Card screens for Par and Bogey competitions is brought in line with Medal competitions and is now shown as a proportion of the 18 hole handicap. E.g. a player with a 18 handicap playing a 9 hole competition will show as “9 Strokes Received”.
  3. For some Greensomes and Texas Scramble competitions, 18 hole handicap allowances are no longer rounded to the nearest whole number prior to applying a proportional reduction for the short course.
  4. A new Handicapping allowance 'CONGU 9 Hole Handicapping' is added to CONGU editions of HandicapMaster, which calculates handicaps for 9 hole competitions differently (see Clause 22 of the CONGU Unified Handicapping System 2008).
IMPORTANT:
These changes mean that existing Competition Templates using Limits on Handicap Allowances may now result in different stroke allowances being received.
YOU ARE ADVISED TO REVIEW CURRENT COMPETITION TEMPLATES ACCORDINGLY.

Other Handicapping changes

There is no longer any distinction between a Competition being 'Handicap Qualifying' for ladies and 'Handicap Qualifying' for Men. All competitions are now just 'qualifying' or 'non-qualifying' for handicapping, whether or not they are open to Men, Ladies or both genders.
Revised Exact and Playing Handicap columns in Handicap records for non-qualifying competitions are now amended when preceding handicaps are modified (Not Society edition).

New - European Golf Association (EGA) Handicapping

New HandicapMaster products are introduced – These editions are for Golf Societies and Golf Clubs that require competitions and handicaps to be maintained in accordance with the European Golf Association “EGA Handicap System 2007”.
See http://www.ega-golf.ch/
Some highlights are
  • Playing Handicaps based on “Slope rating” as well as “Course Rating” of course being played,
  • Men's and ladies exact handicaps up to maximum 36,
  • 9 Hole qualifying scores,
  • 'Inactivation' of handicaps where players return less than 4 qualifying scores in a year,
  • Players with inactive handicaps may be included in qualifying competitions “Hors Concours” (entry allowed but not competing for prizes).
An 'EGA-CLUB' edition and an 'EGA-PREMIER' edition is being introduced. The EGA-PREMIER edition includes the Player Entry option.
Please note: organisations affiliated to the Home Golf Unions will continue to be supplied with our CONGU licensed editions.

Birdie Trees

It is now possible to report players who have scored the most Birdies (or better!) over the course of a series of competitions. Typically known as 'Birdie Trees', these reports can be split by gender, and/or Handicap range. The reports may be published to MasterScoreboard.co.uk web site.
The wizard (called the 'Number of Good Holes Played' Report) can also be used to report Eagles, Pars (or better), Holes in One, or Twos over a series of competitions.

Competitions

It is now possible to delete templates, even when already used for competitions. In this case, the templates will be hidden from view.
When playing competitions over less than 18 holes, you may now choose any combination of holes to play. These holes need not be contiguous. For example, a 9 hole competition may now be entered using holes 10 to 18, or a 12 hole competition could be holes 1 to 6 and 13 to 18, etc.
The description 'Card Not Returned' used when entering scorecards where all 18 holes are 'NR' is retitled 'No Score Recorded'.
A New Handicap Allowance of 90% of Handicap is added for Four Ball Best Ball competitions.
A new User defined handicap allowance is added for Texas Scramble competitions.
You may now choose whether a competition will display on the Player Entry Leader Board (if enabled), when running the 'Open a New Competition' wizard.
The 'First 9 Holes Result' and 'Last 9 Holes Result' competition reports are now only available for competitions played over 18 hole rounds.
Apply Scores Wizard; The following amendments are made to the wizard:
  • You may now mark a competition as a non-qualifier when applying scores without amending the competition template.
  • Disqualifications; You may now identify the reason for disqualification in many common cases. In the CONGU editions, you may also choose whether a disqualified score is 'correct' for handicapping purposes.
  • Some reordering of the pages in the wizard have been made, along with some cosmetic improvements.
You may now choose whether the Two's list is displayed on competition results (through the competition template).
To make it easier to navigate the list of closed competitions are now separated onto different 'Tabs', based on date.
The list of Competition Templates now identifies whether the templates are set up to allow Men, Ladies or Visitors to play.
If no scores for any players are entered (all entrants in a competition are marked 'No Score Recorded'), the competition may now be applied.
You may now reset or change the 'Use First Round Handicaps' option after a competition has been opened through the Configure Competition ('Config' button) facility.
A new option 'Suspend Player from Competitions' has been added to the Competitions menu to ban (suspend) a member from playing in competitions up to a specified date (Premier, Network and EGA editions).
The 'Set Competition Fee' box has been removed and replaced with a new system for recording and managing Competition Fees. The new system (available in the Premier and Network editions of HandicapMaster), allows up to three separate accounting items to be configured for each competition. Fees payable may then be recorded and records viewed or exported to external accounting systems.
The 'Admin Area Password' is renamed 'Administration Button Password' and moved alongside the Player Entry items on the Competitions Menu, for improved clarity.

Integration with external Membership systems

Note: These changes ony apply to the Premier and Network editions of HandicapMaster.
You may now choose to collect Bookings for competitions using external Tee Bookings services.
Accounting for Competition Fees may now be integrated with HandicapMaster from an external membership system.
Improved checking and message text for invalid database details.
You may now use Database Stored Procedures as part of the 'Remote Requests' interface to HandicapMaster (Network edition only).

Membership Subscriptions Invoicing and Payments

Note: These changes do not apply to the Society Edition of HandicapMaster. In addition they only apply to editions of HandicapMaster with the Membership Option installed.
A 'Default Method of Payment' is added to Edit Member. There is a corresponding report that displays this information. An extra column is added to the Member IMPORT file to support this new feature.
New Record Payment Wizard is added. This saves time by allowing for the recording of payments for a number of members without having to enter details for each member.
You may now raise Subscriptions for the following additional payment periods; Quarterly, two 6 month periods and 3 per year.
New menu item 'Export' on the Accounting menu allows export of Subscriptions, Invoices and Payments records.

Player Entry

In the Premier and Network editions of HandicapMaster, 'Sign In' is now treated separately from entering scores. See “Configure Player Entry” to turn on or off this service on specific PC’s.
You may now split the functions of signing in and entering scores across separate PC’s in a Network.
You may now set a minimum number of minutes that must pass after a Player has signed in before they may enter their score.
A new option to display player’s Playing Handicaps and Strokes Received as they sign-in is added.
For Foursomes and Greensomes Competitions, Players are now displayed in Player A and Player B rows on the Scorecard, along with each player's Playing Handicap.
A 'Test Print' button is added to the Configure Score Entry wizard to help you test positioning of data when configuring printing scorecards as players sign in (Premier and Network Editions).
With the Premier and Network editions, you may now print 'Strokes Received' information to Scorecards as players sign in.
A clock is now displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

Reports

To make it easier to navigate the list of reports shown in the Reports 'Place', the reports are now separated onto different 'Tabs'.
Menu item 'Print Setup' is replaced with 'Print Report'. Pressing 'CNTRL' + 'P' keys together is now a shortcut to printing the currently displayed report.
Handicap List Report; The 2 and 3 column format of the handicap list report now lists names down the page rather than across columns.
Competition Results; The following changes are made to the results reports:
  • Results for Multiple-round competitions now shows each round in columns, with 'R1', 'R2', etc, headings.
  • Players are now sorted into order with No Returns being displayed ahead of 'No Score Recorded' entries, followed by Disqualified scores.
  • Where a player is disqualified, his score is now displayed. An annotation of 'DQ: Rule XXX' is placed alongside the score. You may identify the rule breached by selecting the applicable rule in the Apply Scores wizard.
  • Competition Results; Player names and scores are displayed in a larger font when there are no countback details on report.
Competition Scoring Analysis; You may now analyse the scoring for more than one competition, in one report. For example, you may now analyse how difficult each hole on the golf course has played over a full season, say.
Handicap Certificate; You may now generate a Certificate for a player with a Lapsed ('Starred') Handicap (Scotland only). Also, you may now change the way names are displayed on the Certificate, to a format like 'Mr A. N. Other'.
Scorecards from a Competition; This report now includes Par and Stroke Index information from the course played.
Competition Scores Returned; This report is renamed 'Number of Scores Returned'. An extra column is added reporting the number of Supplementary Scores each player has returned. You may now select an end date as well as a start date for this report.
Summary of Scores; You may now select an end date as well as a start date for this report.
Most Improved Golfer; You may now calculate the Most Improved Golfer using the United States Golf Association recommended formula ('(Original Handicap + 12) / (Current Handicap + 12)').
Handicap Record Report; New landscape layout for CONGU handicap editions (see above).
A new competitions report 'Players suspended from Competitions' has been added to list players who are banned (suspended) from playing in competitions (Premier, Network and EGA editions).
End of Season Low Handicap Records report; This has been replaced with the “Handicap Records (Selected Range of Handicaps)” report which allows handicap records for a user specified range of handicaps to be included in the report. Note: The Handicap Reports “Limit End of Season Low Handicap Records to Equal or below” option has been removed as it is replaced by the new report.
Improvements to the wording of the reports selection screen.

Start Sheets

Start Sheet Wizard;
  • You may now pre-select the number of games to be displayed on the Start Sheet Grid as you start a new competition Start Sheet.
  • You may now save your preferred configurations for Singles, Pairs and Texas Scrambles Start Sheets as defaults for future Start Sheets.
  • When the start sheet is reordered in player handicap order, players with the same exact handicap are now arranged in increasing alphabetic name order rather than in a random order.
Start Sheet Report; When Home Club of players option is selected in 'Spreadsheet' report format, the Home Club details and player details are no longer split between page throws.
Start Sheet Report; Report now shows the 'Day' alongside the date of the forthcoming competition.
You may import Bookings collected for a forthcoming competition from external Tee Sheet services (Premier and Network editions).

Bookings

You may now choose to use external Tee Booking Services to collect bookings into HandicapMaster. A new option to divert collection of Bookings away from the HandicapMaster Player Entry system and to an external service is added. When selected, the Configure Bookings wizard allows details of the forthcoming competition to be exported (Premier and Network editions only).

Match-play Knock-outs

You may now include Visitors in Knock-out Draws.
The full list of matches are now displayed within the main HandicapMaster window when a Knock-out Competition is selected. Results may now entered by selecting a match in the list.
You may now change
  • the results of Matches that have already been entered,
  • the name of players already drawn, and
  • the name of a Knock-out Competition.
The option to display (or hide) results of Matches is moved to the Reports 'Layout and options' window.
Tasks relating to Knock-out Draws are now displayed in the Tasks box when the list of Knock-out Competitions is displayed.
When Home Club of players option is selected the Home Club details are kept on same page as player details.

Eclectics

You may now combine competitions played over different combination of holes into the same eclectic (e.g. it is possible to combine a 9 hole competition with an 18 hole competition into the same Eclectic).
'In' and 'Out' totals have been removed from the Eclectic report.

Master Scoreboard

The 'Publish to Master Scoreboard' wizard now publishes Competition Scoring Analysis reports for competitions to the web site (provided either the competition was applied using HandicapMaster version 7.1 or the report has been viewed using HandicapMaster 7.1).
Notes assigned to competition reports are now uploaded to MasterScoreboard.co.uk.

Letters

You may now modify or remove the Salutation ('Dear') line included in Letters.
You may now include the Member's 'Title' (Mr, Mrs, etc) in the body of letters, by using a new 'Field Code'.
You may now generate a Letter of Introduction for a player with a Lapsed ('Starred') Handicap (Scotland only).

Golf Courses

To make it easier to navigate the list of Golf Courses, the courses are now separated onto different 'Tabs', based on Country.
You may rename the 'Other' region and tab.
The 'Add a New Club' window now displays regions with their local Flags.
Two additional Tee Colours (Black and Green) are added to the Premier and Network Editions.

General

The “Handicapping” tab on the 'New Member' and 'Edit Member' windows has been redesigned, making it clearer whether a player is a Home or Away member for handicapping purposes. Handicap awards are now entered by clicking a new “Issue Handicap” button. These changes have been made to ensure compliance with the CONGU Unified Handicapping System 2008 Software Specification.
To speed up entry of more than one General Play adjustment, a 'SAVE AND MORE' button is added. This button is also added to options 'Update an AWAY Player's Handicap' and 'Handicap Notes'.
During IMPORT of membership records, if the Home Club of an Away Member is not recognised, HandicapMaster will now prompt for the intended club to be selected from the Golf Courses list.
Past Members list now displays the date the member was deleted.
When editing a member the Handicap Award section is no longer displayed when member already has a valid handicap.
IMPORT of membership records now deals with export files that surround Column headings with double quotes.
Settings for Publishing to GOLFnet (Ireland) (FILE -> OPTIONS -> NATIONAL SYSTEMS) are now maintained separately for each user in HandicapMaster, allowing Men's and Ladies data to be managed separately, in Premier and Network editions.
During the first run of a new installation HandicapMaster will detect an internet connection and ask for confirmation to turn on automatic software updates.
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