Competition/Rules question

Wonder if anyone knows the solution to this?

There was a (nett) medal competition at my club on Wednesday. Maintenance work was being carried out on one hole that was so significant, the hole was taken out of play.
So they only played 17 holes. However, everyones scores had their full (95%) handicap applied as if they were playing 18 holes.
I don't think it mattered to the final positions and prize money, and the correct procedure was applied for handicaps (ie everyone got a nett par).

But I think the handicaps should have been reduced by whatever the stroke index gave the players, possibly by adjusting the course rating?

Anyone know?

Never hear that one before.

My initial view would be that it's non counting die to it not being a full course but there may be local rules in place or whatever.

I have spent some time researching this and I believe that the club should inform their local Authorised Association, who will advise them if a correction needs to be made. They can advise if a change in the course rating should occur. Found this

Interesting one, I think if the hole taken out was over 300 yards then definitely a non qualifier for handicap purposes but I also think Super is right regarding an incomplete course. Also, if your club never informed the local Authorised Association beforehand  (presumably either County Union or EGU - not sure what context "local" means in the guidance) then that would be another reason for it being a non qualifier.

As to actual Nett scores returned by the competitors and determining the result of the comp, you could go round in circles all day debating this one e.g. if it was S.I. 18 and everyone in the comp was between 0 & 17  then nobody could argue . If for example though it was stroke 1 and you had players ranging from 0 to 20...in theory giving everyone a nett par is the most equitable thing to do but I can just imagine the "vocal types" at each end of the handicap scale debating how they were "disadvantaged" At the end of the day though if the players were told the situation before they went out, it was their choice to play in those circumstances.

Apologies everyone, long explanation.
Hi JAS. the point I am trying to make is quite subtle. It is nothing to do with handicapping but relates to scoring. For handicapping purposes, yes, each player will receive a nett par. But for scoring purposes is that correct? The hole in question is stroke index 3. It was not played in the competition. Lets look at a possible scenario. Player A - a two handicap player takes 63 strokes? He would score a nett 61. He does not usually receive any strokes for the hole taken out of play. Then regarding Player B who is a 24 handicap player who scores 84 strokes. Nett score is 60 and he beats the player A because full handicap allowance was subtracted by the scoring system.
But if the full handicap wasn't taken and only the handicap for the 17 holes then the Player A still scores nett 61 but Player B now scores 62. The positions are reversed.

The club admin DID inform the local association - in our case its the Berks/Bucks/Oxon Association beforehand giving all the hole yardages (from every tee). I've seen the email chain, but don't have a copy. They did not mention any changes. The Appendix G I linked to above says they should have recommended changes. I'm not sure, but I believe you can still have a qualifier without playing 18 holes.