Important announcement from the Pattaya Amateur Golf Series

Dear Golfers,

I hope this email finds you well.

As you all know we have been running the PAGS for 6 years now and we are always looking for ways to improve the series. Over the years have introduced long drives divided into age groups, separated the ladies from the men, added a low gross and improved the food all by listening to you guys, our customers.

One problem that we hear is the subject of handicaps and fair play. Golf is unique in that anybody of a different playing ability can compete against another player but this is only the case if both players have an accurate handicap. We have always had a relatively easy going approach to handicaps as ultimately the PAGS is about having fun but in a bid to make the competition fairer we feel will need to adopt a slightly harder approach in this area.

As most of you know there are 2 main handicapping organisations within the Pattaya area, the Pattaya Sports Club and the IPGC. These organisations use 2 different handicapping system known as the USGA and the CONGU system. If a player enters scores into both systems there is often a handicap difference so straight away we are not playing on a level playing field. I know the pro's and con's of both systems well but in the golfing environment that is Pattaya where the majority of golfers do not belong to a club, the USGA system is better.

So, from January 2017 all PAGS golfers will need a USGA handicap or a Birdie handicap to play in our tournaments.

You can get a USGA compliant handicap through the Pattaya Sports Club www.pattayasports.org or a Birdie handciap through our own website Birdie www.birdie.in.th

Many thanks

Shane & Dave