Anyone man enough to own up to....

Kellfire

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I briefly got to 13 once and then subsequently fell apart due to lack of playing and ended up at 18. I’ll be entering the Trilby Tour any year now.
 

Lord Tyrion

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I'm desperate to get down, not up. I gave a shot back in the last qualifying comp of the year, I was hovering on a .4, and that is going to irritate all winter.
 
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User62651

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I dont play anymore but when I did I tried my best to reduce my handicap every game, I practiced really hard and punched above my weight in terms of handicap v my true ability. That was my main goal when competing, getting down a whole figure say from 6 to 5 gave me more enjoyment than winning some handicap cup which was very rare. I tended to just play the course and not the opposition because there's always a 14/15 handicapper who can hit it miles and play stellar golf occassionally who'll clean up on the day. If it's not him it's another doing the same. Then after getting to 13 he'll have a run of blobs so the handicap never moves. Not deliberate as such but he'll pull the big dog out on every hole and have a lash, no course management and then runs up a few 7s. The handicap system rewards mediocrity - you have some natural talent but you dont practice, you dont take lessons, you dont course manage. You could be a 7 handicap with some effort and thought but instead choose to sit at 14 handicap and have a great chance to clean up the trophies on a 'good day'.
Handicap protection does go on.
 

Rlburnside

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I'm desperate to get down, not up. I gave a shot back in the last qualifying comp of the year, I was hovering on a .4, and that is going to irritate all winter.

Similar to me I was on 18.4 second last comp. went up to 19 and no time to get it back until start of another season.

Annoying thing was 1st game in our winter comp. n/q I had a good enough round to get a small cut.
 

trevor

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I’m playing off 17 at the moment but I certainly don’t play to a 17, not even close, so I enter qualifiers at the moment knowing that I’m going to go up every time and hopefully eventually get to a h/c that is more realistic of my ability. And no, I can’t wait for the h/c alterations next year as I’m leaving the club at the end of this year. So yes I am man enough to own up!
 
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Then after getting to 13 he'll have a run of blobs so the handicap never moves. Not deliberate as such but he'll pull the big dog out on every hole and have a lash, no course management and then runs up a few 7s. The handicap system rewards mediocrity - you have some natural talent but you dont practice, you dont take lessons, you dont course manage. You could be a 7 handicap with some effort and thought but instead choose to sit at 14 handicap and have a great chance to clean up the trophies on a 'good day'.
Handicap protection does go on.

On the days that they are scoring well or normal days, do they take driver still or is it a change of tack to ensure an increase happens ?

I only ask, as everything you say above describes me tbh, no course management, no lesson, no practise, tend to hit driver everywhere(this/last year I have played about not doing this sometimes, but it just isn't golf/fun to me) as I enjoy hitting it even when it goes wrong. Last year and a bit this year, I did implement some course management. So for example I hit a 7 iron off the 18th(when normally I would always hit a driver) to try to secure a par when I knew I was scoring well, Off the 17th I sometimes hit a PW off our 17th to lay up on the right of a par 3 green to hopefully chip/putt for a par(again would never do that normally, would just aim at the pin and take the high score that comes with it as a risky short hole), did a similar thing last year on the 16th if I am scoring well. Certainly nothing to do with handicap protection, its just that I like to hit driver and taking the non risk route is not the way I like to play golf but do realise if I want to score consistently then you have to take the high scores out of play. As I read this back it sounds more and more like handicap protection or cheating, oh :censored:

Not everyone plays to try to get their handicap as low as possible as such, I just play for fun and if the scores happen then that's great, if not I tend to score badly as I play risky golf all the time.
 

Bunkermagnet

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...protecting their handicap ?

Over the course of the season I tried very hard to reduce my handicap, and to a degree successfully but when I see others almost give up a point one with ease it makes me think some are at the Buster Keaton.
So do you, you haven’t said if you do or not?
 

jim8flog

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I have had 2 periods in my life when I have been playing so badly that I have had a handicap review that has put my handicap up once 6.7 to 9 ( I had gone from 5.4 to 6.7 in consecutive comps) and the other 7.4 to 8.5. With the second one I had put in some supplementarys to show what my game was like but I always play to the best I am able to.
 
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User62651

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On the days that they are scoring well or normal days, do they take driver still or is it a change of tack to ensure an increase happens ?

I only ask, as everything you say above describes me tbh, no course management, no lesson, no practise, tend to hit driver everywhere(this/last year I have played about not doing this sometimes, but it just isn't golf/fun to me) as I enjoy hitting it even when it goes wrong. Last year and a bit this year, I did implement some course management. So for example I hit a 7 iron off the 18th(when normally I would always hit a driver) to try to secure a par when I knew I was scoring well, Off the 17th I sometimes hit a PW off our 17th to lay up on the right of a par 3 green to hopefully chip/putt for a par(again would never do that normally, would just aim at the pin and take the high score that comes with it as a risky short hole), did a similar thing last year on the 16th if I am scoring well. Certainly nothing to do with handicap protection, its just that I like to hit driver and taking the non risk route is not the way I like to play golf but do realise if I want to score consistently then you have to take the high scores out of play. As I read this back it sounds more and more like handicap protection or cheating, oh :censored:

Not everyone plays to try to get their handicap as low as possible as such, I just play for fun and if the scores happen then that's great, if not I tend to score badly as I play risky golf all the time.

I dont have a problem with that approach, it's very common, loads of people just want to rumble up on a weekend and have a knock, just saying that's where the handicap system falls down a bit, it perhaps doesn't encourage players enough to improve, the higher the handicap the better your chances of winning cups and vouchers, golf is about lowest scores but that gets forgotten as 90% of club comps are handicapped. It's never going to be a perfect system of course.
 

patricks148

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I dont have a problem with that approach, it's very common, loads of people just want to rumble up on a weekend and have a knock, just saying that's where the handicap system falls down a bit, it perhaps doesn't encourage players enough to improve, the higher the handicap the better your chances of winning cups and vouchers, golf is about lowest scores but that gets forgotten as 90% of club comps are handicapped. It's never going to be a perfect system of course.
yes, i agree that it encourages mediocrity and handicap protection, esp those who think its all about having a handicap that allows you to win on a reg basis
 
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I believe the level of people who “manipulate” their HC is actually very small and a good number of them get swept in bans or AR

Clubs have all sorts of players from the guys that will always be high HC and just won’t have that blinding day and be chuffed with a 36 points , then the guy who takes up the game but struggles early but then suddenly hits a spot and shoots the lights out for a couple months until the HC settles. And the common one is the mid HC chap who on any given day have that blinding round but the HC doesn’t come down because it happens rarely

I found that 99.9% the HC people have is a true reflection of their ability on a golf course and I think it’s actually rare that people look to keep it high to win comps
 

Liverbirdie

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I believe the level of people who “manipulate” their HC is actually very small and a good number of them get swept in bans or AR

Clubs have all sorts of players from the guys that will always be high HC and just won’t have that blinding day and be chuffed with a 36 points , then the guy who takes up the game but struggles early but then suddenly hits a spot and shoots the lights out for a couple months until the HC settles. And the common one is the mid HC chap who on any given day have that blinding round but the HC doesn’t come down because it happens rarely

I found that 99.9% the HC people have is a true reflection of their ability on a golf course and I think it’s actually rare that people look to keep it high to win comps

I wouldnt put it anywhere near 99.9% - 90% if I'm being kind.
 

User 99

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We had a guy at our place who made the final in all 4 matches our club run, put me out of the semis in 2 of them, coincidence?
 
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