I played golf a couple - 3 times a month in the early 80's and fell in love with it.  I finally had time to play, and got a membership (and a new set of clubs) in 1985.  Sadly with the amount of time spent travelling for work and working, I was only able to play golf a few times from 1986 until 2009.

In 2009 I was able to get a membership once again and have been playing as often as possible since.  2013 I played my 1st real tournament and felt even more confident this past season.  I played very well in a match play tournament and in fact scored some impressive points for a year end competition our course has with another course.  As the year went on, I played in other tournaments, not doing as well, but still finishing respectfully.  I also built up standing in a web community I belong to.

The points I earned for the year end competition got cut in half each time they posted new results ... I also lost % points in the community I joined.

I love Golf!  Now that my game has improved though, I feel like everything outside of the actual game is made up ... and the points don't matter!  

I totally understand if the people in charge don't feel you can play in the tournament ... but I also firmly believe that if you have earned points, they should be yours to keep.

Next season I will play to better my score, but I have unfortunately lost interest in the rating systems I have been subjected to ... it seems very similar to the "Whose Line" system.