Last year, I wrote a piece detailing my concern about what I perceived to be a growing divide between club golfers and nomadic players. A year later, I’m even more perturbed about the golfing zeitgeist.
From what I can see, there’s increasing disquiet from established club members when it comes to nomadic golfers attaining official handicaps. Depending on who you talk to, somewhere between ‘a few’ and ‘a lot’ of members share this viewpoint.
My colleague Elliott Heath, who’s been a subs-payer since the age of 21, recently penned an article suggesting ‘official’ handicaps should be the preserve of club golfers who attain an index either partially or fully through competition play.
“My view is just that official handicaps should be reserved for golf club members who regularly compete in competitions.
“I guess I am somewhat of a traditionalist who grew up playing under the CONGU system, where your handicap was set based on how you played in competitions, from monthly medals and Stablefords to board competitions and the club championship.
“If I wanted my handicap to come down, I had to play well in my next competition.
“Nowadays I can find some form and start handing in as many cards as I possibly can from social rounds in a short period of time, and then decide not to do so when I’m playing badly.”
Listen, I’m not naive and I do understand some of the points he’s making. Essentially, he feels he has to work harder for his handicap as he’s forging it, at least in part, via official club competitions, which he perceives to be harder and more stressful.
What I struggle with is how nomadic golfers having handicaps affects his game and his enjoyment of the game? They’re not entering competitions at his club and scooping all the prizes.
Plus, it’s not as if non-members are the only ones able to enter general play scores – it’s perfectly possible for a member at his club to have the majority, if not all, of their counting rounds coming from general play.
If you truly believe the World Handicap System is flawed and general play scores shouldn’t count, then you should never enter them as, effectively, you’re then part of the problem. Do some – even most – club members submit general play scores at least…
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