FAQ

Applicants can apply when they reach the age of 55 but cannot play until they reach the age of 60.

Regular Member - $150
Regular Life Member - $110
Associate Member - $75
Associate Life Member - $55
Prospective New Member - $120

Have a look at this video explaining how to update your profile.

In short, sign in to the Portal, click on the "Handicap Module", click on "Settings", click on "Profile" or "Address" to make changes. Don't forget to click on "Save" after you make a change.

You can find contact information for all members on the Portal.

Two ways are demonstrated on the "How To Videos" page.

In short, we recommend that on the Portal front page, you click on "Schedule and Roster" in the sidebar. It will bring up a printable document with every member's telephone numbers and email address. You can print this to create your own booklet.

Each week when the draw is made, and you have received notification of your tee time and foursome, you will note that the first person in the draw is assigned as the "Group Captain". 

The Group Captain is responsible for recording the gross score per hole for each member of the foursome. 

You should record your own score as well. Pick up a Burnaby Mountain score card to do that. They are available in the Proshop.

At the completion of each hole, be ready to provide your gross score for the hole to the Captain.

At the completion of your round and at the turn, your Group Captain will verify your gross score with you. 

At the end of the round, you will be asked to sign the group card to verify that your gross score is correct. 

The Group Captain will take the scorecard into the Bistro and read the scores to the Scorekeeper who records your gross score in the Portal (Golfsoftware).  The software will, if necessary, adjust your score and then use your net and gross scores to identify event winners and to update your handicap.

Please Note: Whenever  you play elsewhere (including our Away Games), you are responsible for entering your scores into the Portal. Here's a video explaining how to do that.

If you are a member of Golf Canada, you will need to enter your scores into their system on your own.

We use two types of score cards: our specially designed "Club Score Card" and the "Burnaby Mountain GC Score Card".

Our Club Score Card is used only by the assigned Group Captains each Wednesday; they are available in the Club Room. However, you should have "one" copy of the Club Score Card in your golf bag for reference.  On the reverse side of the card you will see special instructions for playing each hole. 

If you are tracking your own score on a round, please use the Burnaby Mountain Score Cards provided in the Proshop.

Watch this video. It'll explain how to post your scores.

In golf, scores are adjusted primarily for handicap purposes. When you play with the Club on Wednesdays, the computer will adjust your scores for you.

However, when you play outside our regular Wednesday games, you are required to enter your score manually on the Portal to maintain an accurate handicap.

Please Note: when you enter a "total gross score" instead of posting "hole-by-hole", you must first "Adjust" your scores where necessary. 

Why Adjust Scores?

Adjustments prevent exceptionally high scores on a few holes from unfairly inflating a player's overall handicap. Here's how it's calculated:

Net Double Bogey

Your score on each hole is adjusted downward to "net double bogey." Net Double Bogey is equal to Par + 2 strokes + any handicap strokes received on that hole.

An Example

If a hole is a par 4, and you receive 1 handicap stroke, your maximum allowed score for that hole is 7 (4 + 2 + 1). Any score on that hole above 7 must be adjusted down to 7.

Adjusted Gross Score

This is your total score for the round after applying the net double bogey adjustments to each hole. It's then used to calculate your handicap. This is the score you record on the Portal when you play away from Burnaby Mountain on Wednesdays.

Sample Scorecard with Scores Adjusted

The example below shows an adjusted scorecard. The player has a handicap of 11 and is allowed 11 strokes on the 11 most difficult holes (indicated by the dots on the scorecard). You must do this manually on your scorecard before you adjust any scores. If you have a handicap above 18 some holes will have 2 dots (2 handicap strokes) on the hardest holes.

On hole 9, a par 5, he shot a 9. For handicapping purposes, the maximum allowed is an 8 (Par + 2 + handicap stroke of 1 = 8). For handicapping purposes his hole 9 score is reduced to 8 and his total Adjusted Gross Score is reduced from 87 to 86. This is the score entered into the Portal when you play outside our regular Wednesday games.

The short answer is "no".

If, for example, you plan to play golf in the BC Senior Games, you will need an official handicap recognized by Golf Canada.

Though our "Golfsoftware" handicap module uses the same World Handicap Method of calculating your Handicap Index it is not recognized by Golf Canada as "official".  

If you need an official golf handicap, you will need to join Golf Canada and record your scores in their system.

Calculating Your Handicap

At the end of this response you will find a link to a video explaining how our Portal calculates handicaps. But please read the rest of this note beforehand.

This can be a complicated topic. If you use the internet to understand how handicapping is done, you will encounter a wide range of explanations using a lot of terms that are often used interchangeably and sometimes incorrectly. Here are the basic terms, their definitions and the corresponding terms used in our Portal.

Course Rating –the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions. It’s expressed as number of strokes (e.g. 72.5)

Our Portal uses a different term. Course Rating = “Scratch Par”

Tee Course Slope Rating – How more or less difficult is the course and tees played compared to a standard golf course? (The lowest Slope Rating is 55 and the highest 155. A course of standard playing difficulty will have a Slope Rating of 113). So, this calculation is shown as
Tee Slope Rating/113
which results in a number slightly higher or lower than 1. (For example 121/113 = 1.070)

Our Portal uses a different term. Tee Course Slope Rating = “Tee Difficulty.”

So, getting back to the question…

How is my handicap calculated each week?

Here’s the formula that our Portal uses to do that:

iCap = Number calculated based on your recent golf scores (it is not your handicap!). If you wish, you can learn how an iCap is calculated here.
Tee Difficulty = The slope of the tees you play divided by the average course slope of 113, (Tee Course Slope Rating/113)
Scratch Par = Course Rating
Par = Par for the course as stated on the scorecard for the tees you play.

Here is a Burnaby Mountain Golf Course example from our Portal using an iCap of 26.9.

Your iCap will be different and will change throughout the season depending on how well you play.

With this in mind, now watch this video to see how your handicap is calculated each week.

Winnings are tallied throughout the year and awarded in the form of ProShop Vouchers at end of season. These vouchers can be used like cash to purchase merchandise, lessons and range balls etc.

Regular members and Regular Life members are eligible to win any and all prizes throughout the season.

Though PNMs can sign up to play on any Wednesday they cannot compete for prizes in any of the Club’s Major Trophy Tournaments (Club Championship, Age Group Championships, Spring and Fall Handicaps, Charter Members Memorial Cup, Match Play, Putting Contest, Air Canada Trophy). However, they are eligible for other weekly prizes.

Each week the draw is set using the default tees a member has chosen. 

However, you may vary these tees on a weekly basis by simply informing your Group Captain on the 1st Tee.

The Group Captain will inform the scorekeeper in the Bistro of the tees you played that day. 

However, if you wish to make a more permanent choice of tees, inform either Steve Chow the Head Drawmaster (schow1959@gmail.com) or Peter Lagroix, Technical Administrator, (peterlagroix@gmail.com) and they will make the change. 

The tee choice is very flexible and you should always play the tees from which you get the most enjoyment.

There are many ways to fulfill your volunteer responsibility, such as: Board and Director roles, starter, weekly scorekeeper, prize committee member, competition committee member, fundraising to support Prostate Cancer research and First Tee junior golf,  putting contest coordinator, lesson organization, away game coordinator, winter golf coordinator, sale of club merchandise like hats, towels, and shirts.  Contact any Director on the Board for more information.

By design, the Club randomly assigns tee times and the members you play with each week.

However, if you have a legitimate reason to request a specific range of tee times, please email or phone the Head Drawmaster, Steve Chow (schow1959@gmail.com) and explain your situation.

Attendance at the October AGM is restricted to voting members only. There is no fee to attend.

Only Regular and Associate Members have voting privileges.

Prospective New Members do not have a vote and cannot attend. Likewise, spouses, partners and friends cannot attend.

We no longer have access to a Club Room. We are working with Burnaby Golf to arrange for future, secured storage for our archived records, equipment, supplies and trophies.

The Spring Luncheon is a social event and all Regular, Associate and Prospective New Members are welcome to attend. There is no fee to attend.

The luncheon is a "plus one" event and for an extra fee, spouses and friends are welcome.