Dawn Patrol Summer Season – A Season of Change and a Dramatic Finish

The Dawn Patrol summer season, which ran from 1st April to 30th September, proved to be another interesting and, at times, challenging season as we fine tweaked the rules aimed at spreading the winning opportunities across the whole field.

We started the season with our normal Dawn Patrol handicap system and this season we also introduced changes to the Wednesday team competition. Every member of a winning team received a one-shot cut, and when attendance reached 20 players or more, a second-placed team was introduced, with each member receiving a 0.5-shot reduction.

The overall objective is straightforward, to try to distribute the winning across as many Dawn Patrol players as possible and prevent the same players from dominating the results.

However, as is often the case with golf handicaps, there was an unintended consequence. Some of our lower-handicap players found themselves trying to compete off +1 and +2 handicaps, making it increasingly difficult for them to feature among the winners.

To address this, an overriding Fairness Safeguard was introduced. The existing handicap system remained in place, but with one additional protection:

A player’s Dawn Patrol Handicap cannot be reduced below 75% of their current Playing Handicap.

This seemed to have an immediate effect, with some of our lower-handicap players once again appearing among the winners, while still retaining the principle of rewarding consistent success.

And then came the final result of the Race to Devizes…

For much of the season, Stewart Menzies looked to have the competition firmly under control. He established an early commanding lead and, despite the “Triple Lock System” hitting him hard with successive handicap and winnings reductions, his total of £91 looked almost impossible to catch.

But never write off the rest of the field!

In the final two outings, Steve Haresnape produced a remarkable late charge, taking an individual win followed by a team win to overhaul Stewart right at the death.

Steve finished the summer season with £98.50, just enough to take the title.

Congratulations Steve – a very worthy winner!

And commiserations to Stewart, who looked to have done enough for much of the season and was finally caught on the very last stretch.

Two other players who deserve a special mention, and who were very much in contention during the season, were Alex Annal, who finished with winnings of £86, and Tom Robertson, who ended on £80. Both were well in the mix and kept the pressure on throughout what proved to be a very competitive season.

Another summer of early starts, good golf, questionable weather, plenty of banter and, of course, the occasional argument about handicaps comes to an end.

Reset for the Winter Season

With the summer season now concluded, all Dawn Patrol handicaps have been reset ready for the winter season. In addition, the Starting Cuts have been applied in accordance with the rules. At each handicap reset, an additional starting reduction is applied where a player’s winnings in the previous season reached the relevant threshold:

• • £90 or more – 2-shot Starting Cut
  • £75 or more – 1-shot Starting Cut

So, as the new season gets underway, those who enjoyed the biggest share of the summer winnings will have a little extra work to do to get their hands on the prize money again.

Let the winter games begin!