As the late 1965 USPGA champion, Dave Marr, once famously said: “Never bet with anyone you meet on the 1st tee who has a deep suntan, a 1-iron in his bag, and squinty eyes.”
We all understand the sentiment and humour, but while golf’s real handicap bandits, sandbaggers – or whatever else you want to call them – can be less easy to spot with the naked eye, they are actually no laughing matter as they are manipulating the World Handicap System (WHS) by finding ways to keep their handicap index artificially high so they can plunder the treasure when the biggest riches or most prestigious titles are up for grabs.
For all the issues professional golf has been going through, this is one that can’t be levelled at the paid-for ranks, as the absence of handicaps there means the best man or woman on the day always wins – no questions asked.
Club golf, on the other hand, depends on accurate handicaps for competitions to work fairly and effectively. While most golfers readily accept that every dog has its day, far outperforming general ability as a genuine one-off, it is the dogs who engineer things so they have way more than their fair share of days that undermine a system, which relies on honesty, integrity and good intentions.
So, what are the four main tricks bandits use to keep their handicaps artificially high, ready to pounce when the big prizes are on offer?
Deliberately throwing good scores away
This is one I can write about with confidence for it’s the one I have genuinely heard someone admit they were about to do halfway through a round. Having reached the turn well under handicap, this fella, who I’d only met on the day in a competition at his home club, said to me, “It’s the senior club championship this weekend and the last thing I need is a handicap cut before that. I’m going to have to start dropping a few shots coming home.” He proceeded to do just that, thus keeping his handicap intact for the weekend’s big event. Unlike this chap, though, most wouldn’t tell you they were about to do it!
The game that seemed so solid suddenly turns to dust down the stretch as the bandit looks to deliberately spill shots with the clubhouse in sight
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
So, the first trick bandits use is to deliberately hit bad shots or putts down the stretch with a good handicap-reducing score going, to ensure that, come the end, their handicap won’t be dropping ahead of the big event they have in their sights. Some may even go to the…
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