Handicap unchanged for 3 years!

murphdogg11

I've become aware of a golf club member whose handicap has never changed in 3 years despite the fact that he plays most weekends. He is hardly in the buffer zone every competition! I think that he would also receive .1 for non returned cards so my theory is as follows..... I think that he must sign in every competition but not swipe in on the computer. The reason I say this is because his name never appears in the "HowDidIDoI" results but he does play. I think he is happy to tell people that he plays off his existing handicap but would feel embarrassed to play off a higher handicap. Has anyone experience of a situation like this?

stringy

he's not in the prizes, leave him at it. If his handicap hadn't changed and he was on the roll of honour most weekends, then I'd have a problem.

AldilaMan

I know someone off 24 who played 4 competitions till he got to 24.4 and then stopped entering the competitions (but played during competition time) to avoid going to 25. He should be off 28 but pride seems to get in the way.

Russman

murphdogg11 wrote: »

I think that he must sign in every competition but not swipe in on the computer.

This is fairly widespread IMO, certainly in my own club, particularly amongst Category 1 players.

Jul3s

murphdogg11 wrote: »

I've become aware of a golf club member whose handicap has never changed in 3 years despite the fact that he plays most weekends. He is hardly in the buffer zone every competition! I think that he would also receive .1 for non returned cards so my theory is as follows..... I think that he must sign in every competition but not swipe in on the computer. The reason I say this is because his name never appears in the "HowDidIDoI" results but he does play. I think he is happy to tell people that he plays off his existing handicap but would feel embarrassed to play off a higher handicap. Has anyone experience of a situation like this?

Wow you really have way too much time on your hands.

charlieIRL

my handicap is going up like the price of oil and while i'm a bit embarrased by it, i have never doctored it.

Jasonw

stringy wrote: »

he's not in the prizes, leave him at it. If his handicap hadn't changed and he was on the roll of honour most weekends, then I'd have a problem.

That's all fine in theory but the problem with this behaviour is that it alters the CSS. It's a rule in our club that you must swipe into the computer before the round. Persistant offenders may be suspended from playing in competitions.

stringy

Jasonw wrote: »

That's all fine in theory but the problem with this behaviour is that it alters the CSS. It's a rule in our club that you must swipe into the computer before the round. Persistant offenders may be suspended from playing in competitions.

I think it's the same in most clubs, including mine. In fact we "name and shame those" who entered but then didn't enter a score. Their names are on a list and posted on the notice board after each competition.

Although it may affect CSS, it very rarely does, as the limited numbers involved wouldn't have a significant effect on the overall CSS.

dnjoyce

murphdogg11 wrote: »

I've become aware of a golf club member whose handicap has never changed in 3 years despite the fact that he plays most weekends. He is hardly in the buffer zone every competition! I think that he would also receive .1 for non returned cards so my theory is as follows..... I think that he must sign in every competition but not swipe in on the computer. The reason I say this is because his name never appears in the "HowDidIDoI" results but he does play. I think he is happy to tell people that he plays off his existing handicap but would feel embarrassed to play off a higher handicap. Has anyone experience of a situation like this?

From this comment I'll assume this guy is a reasonably low handicapper. Singles comps theses days are being won with mid-forties in points and mid-60's in strokes and these are tough scores for any single figure golfer to achieve on any sort of regular basis, so it doesn't naturally follow that just becuase your friend's handicap is not changing means that he is not returning cards if he isn't in the prizes regularly - perfectly plausable that he is hitting buffer zone or cutting .1 only to get it back the following week. My own situation is similar - 21 returned scores on Golfnet this year and my handicap is .1 higher than when I started, much to my own frustration! It might just mean that his handicap is accurate...

DoctaDee

dnjoyce wrote: »

....... Singles comps theses days are being won with mid-forties in points and mid-60's in strokes and these are tough scores for any single figure golfer to achieve ........

Glad to hear our place isn't the only one you need 45pts or 62 nett to win .. it's a tad frustrating ..CSS is nearly always 38pts

murphdogg11

He is a high handicapper playing off 21. My own feeling is that he would be embarrassed to play off higher.

stringy

DoctaDee wrote: »

Glad to hear our place isn't the only one you need 45pts or 62 nett to win .. it's a tad frustrating ..CSS is nearly always 38pts

That's ridiculous! how frustrating! Our monthly medal last saturday was won with 68, the class winners were 69 -71, I came 3rd in class 1 with a 71.

67 or 41 points is usually a very good score.

dnjoyce

murphdogg11 wrote: »

He is a high handicapper playing off 21. My own feeling is that he would be embarrassed to play off higher.

Off that handicap I don't think he would affect the CSS either way as cat 4 scores are discarded (not 100% on this so handicapping experts correct as required), so I don't see what the issue is. Play with him and take a fiver off him if his handicap is so falsely low and then buy yourself something nice :-)

PRAF

This business of not handing in cards, not swiping in before comps, walking off the course before completing your round etc is very frustrating.

I would be more concerned about guys who are obviously 'minding' their handicaps in order to have an advantage when they play in their clubs 'majors' or when they play society golf. You hear stories of guys heading for 37-40 points but then pulling back or walking off the course because they think they'll need a 42 to win. This kind of thing is disgraceful and should be policed.

The other side of it is guys who are too proud to see their handicaps go up. These tend to be either really good golfers or really poor golfers. They are just self delusional. Just play the game for what it is and don't take it too seriously. If you have a bad round you deserve that .1!

DoctaDee

stringy wrote: »

That's ridiculous! how frustrating! Our monthly medal last saturday was won with 68, the class winners were 69 -71, I came 3rd in class 1 with a 71.

67 or 41 points is usually a very good score.

Yeah I dunno how it's happening really, course is no easier now than height of Summer - all the "majors" are done and dusted. I can only assume that certain players had spent the Summer months acculmulating their .1's and now are using them. Every dog has his day and some of the guys that won I know personally and was delighted to see them in the wiiners parade. Others, well every club has them ....

FixdePitchmark

"I would be more concerned about guys who are obviously 'minding' their handicaps in order to have an advantage when they play in their clubs 'majors' or when they play society golf. You hear stories of guys heading for 37-40 points but then pulling back or walking off the course because they think they'll need a 42 to win. This kind of thing is disgraceful and should be policed."


That is sick , Would not mind a guy not wanting to go up as much as somebody avoiding going down.

PRAF

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

"I would be more concerned about guys who are obviously 'minding' their handicaps in order to have an advantage when they play in their clubs 'majors' or when they play society golf. You hear stories of guys heading for 37-40 points but then pulling back or walking off the course because they think they'll need a 42 to win. This kind of thing is disgraceful and should be policed."


That is sick , Would not mind a guy not wanting to go up as much as somebody avoiding going down.

Don't think I understand you here. Are you saying it is ok to keep your handicap artificially higher or lower than it should be by not handing in scorecards, walking off the course if you are due to be cut but unlikely to win etc.

Zardoz

murphdogg11 wrote: »

He is a high handicapper playing off 21. My own feeling is that he would be embarrassed to play off higher.

21 !
Cant see how thats anything to be proud of ,he cant really go much higher .
Most clubs start beginners off at 18 irrespective of how bad they are.

As others have said he isnt doing much harm,I'd be more concerned with the people handing in cards after dumping shots on the back 6 or people only playing 12 holes to get .1 back.Far worse.

DoctaDee

While not meaning to generalise, from my own experience I find that the players in the 12 - 18 handicap range have the greatest scope to shoot low scores. I think that handicaps are "minded" with a view to the following years inter club teams - in their case Pierce Purcell.

Falling below the cutoff mark of 12 places the player in an awkward position as they fall between a rock and a hard place with the only likely involvement being in the Metropolitan/Provincial towns Cup for a Leinster pennant. They tend to play within themselves around the 13-14 mark allowing themselves a big performance but not enough to bring them below 12.

FixdePitchmark

PRAF wrote: »

Don't think I understand you here. Are you saying it is ok to keep your handicap artificially higher or lower than it should be by not handing in scorecards, walking off the course if you are due to be cut but unlikely to win etc.

Sorry, was just in shock. Walking off the course is sick in the head.

Dammo

DoctaDee wrote: »

.... Every dog has his day and some of the guys that won I know personally and was delighted to see them in the wiiners parade....

What kind of club is it you have there? I'll stick to the regular golf club myself I think.

moycullen14

DoctaDee wrote: »

Yeah I dunno how it's happening really, course is no easier now than height of Summer - all the "majors" are done and dusted. I can only assume that certain players had spent the Summer months acculmulating their .1's and now are using them. Every dog has his day and some of the guys that won I know personally and was delighted to see them in the wiiners parade. Others, well every club has them ....

+1

Came third last week with 42 pts!!! (play off 8, I hasten to add). Would have won the gross in a canter. To have won that competition I'd have needed to shoot level par!

mikeunt

moycullen14 wrote: »

+1

Came third last week with 42 pts!!! (play off 8, I hasten to add). Would have won the gross in a canter. To have won that competition I'd have needed to shoot level par!

does the gross prize come after 3rd prize in your club so?

WacoKid

Entering but not submitting is all too common. Way to stop it make people sign in before being allowed onto the course.

At my club i could play and then decide to double-swipe after the round if I wanted to submit.

DoctaDee

moycullen14 wrote: »

+1

Came third last week with 42 pts!!! (play off 8, I hasten to add). Would have won the gross in a canter. To have won that competition I'd have needed to shoot level par!

2 over is great shootin Moycullen ... sure as ya say what can ya do .. wouldn't it be worse to shoot 44 and still find yer beaten

Saw a fourball result from one of the local clubs ... where 49 won and 46 was only third ... I'd be spending in the pro-shop on the strength of 46 pts !

moycullen14

mikeunt wrote: »

does the gross prize come after 3rd prize in your club so?

1 2 3 Gross 4 (sometimes 5) Best Sat, Best Sun

moycullen14

DoctaDee wrote: »

2 over is great shootin Moycullen ... sure as ya say what can ya do .. wouldn't it be worse to shoot 44 and still find yer beaten

Saw a fourball result from one of the local clubs ... where 49 won and 46 was only third ... I'd be spending in the pro-shop on the strength of 46 pts !

TBH it's all about the score, don't care if I win or not. It would be interesting to go through the list of winners over the course of a year and see the distribution of prizes v handicaps. One thing for sure, low handicaps (< 5), never seem to win a nett prize.