Be careful what you wish for again

[bobmac]

Try again
What do you honestly think when you see high h/cappers win a major club net comp or an Open at other courses? (eg Trilby Tour)

Do you think well done or bandit or should have been a scratch comp.

The reason I ask is that most people who play golf strive to get as low as they can not realising that when they do get good, they're limited to only a few scratch comps a year they can actually win.
I know the Congu stats say otherwise but then you can make stats prove anything.

I understand the h/cap system is there to create a level playing field but does it do this?
Finally got to the poll

 

[bobmac]

getting fed up with this
It said you could vote from 8.30

 

[ianshearin]

Cant vote yet..
Anyway, I am sure this is a topic fraught with debate and bound to set low handicappers against high handicappers.

In my limited experience I have observed the following, high handicappers 18+ tend to be happy with their handicap and welcome a card that adds points to thier hcap, lower handicappers are striving to get their handicap down.
There is 2 distinct goals here:
One player wants to win competitions above all else and the other wants to get as low a handicap as possible. Both these goals are an indication of success for the player but obviously both goals do not follow the same path to get there.

My own opinion is that my success is measured by my handicap figure and not how many competitions I win, I have seen players in my own clubhouse though that walk tall and puff out there chests having won a Stableford comp with 45+ points, I think anyone who scores 45+ is clearly playing with an advantageous handicap imho of course.

 

[GB72]

I believe that comps favour the high handicapper simply because there is more chance of one playing 5 or even 10 shots under their handicap each week.

I actually think that it is unfairest on the mid handicapper who is unlikely to play far below their handicap and also not of a standard to complete for any lowest gross prize.

 

[hovis]

i'm not even good enough to have a handicap yet. i played a regonal competition through work (stableford) i dont know what happened but i only managed to score well on the stroke indexes 1-10. not only that but chuck a birdie and 3 pars in there too. they let me play with a 28 handicap.

i had a 1 off amazing game and scored 38 (second place) my locker at work is now covered in photo's of dick turpin.

 

[AliB]

Good point about mid-handicappers of whom I consiider myself to be one. Okay, I know 23 is high for a man but amongst the women I play with it's pretty much in the middle. I feel a higher handicap has the edge over me in getting mega points for e.g. a parring a short hole, whereas I don't really have the length to par anything long on a regular basis.
However! I would still much rather go lower than higher as that's the indication of what kind of a golfer you are.

AliB

 

[Philm]

I vote that it helps/benefits high handicappers, which it undoubtedly does.

its not fair, but if you want a friendly competition and you want lots of people to enter it they need some sort of hope of winning.

im a h/capper myself but for it to be a even playing field obviously everyone would have to play off scratch, which in sporting terms is 100% fair.

that way the good players win and the bad players lose.

but then the bad players wouldn’t enter.

its much easier for a h/capper to be inconsistent and personally I think inconsistency should be something that hampers someones chance of winning rather than help.

for me personally I hope to dive down into the teens and ruin any chance I have of racking up 25stableford points over 9hole haha but that’s what my aim always was,
I don’t mind if I never win another comp so long as I can play better. After all when the real matches with my mates come up we only count strokes, handicaps don’t count.

Phil

 

[pokerjoke]

I scored 45 points in our stableford comp 2 weeks ago when my handicap was eleven,i am in no way a bandit as every card goes in regardless of score.I am now off ten,however i still believe i can score 45 points as at some stage i have played to single figures but messed up.My objective is to get my handicap lower,so surely im becoming a better player i have just as much chance to win a comp as a high handicapper.The difference as i see it,is that a high handicapper will shoot nearer to his handicap more often than a single figure.

 

[madandra]

I think a handicap is only a fair one if that golfer participates in a minimum of 6 medals each year.

 

[Robobum]

I genuinely don't care if I'm playing against a 15 or 20 or 28 h'cap who should really be in single figures.

Golf is my past time, my hobby, something I do for enjoyment. It's (primarily) an individual sport and all I'm trying to do is get the ball round and in the hole in as few a shots as possible. If that's enough to win, great. Let's go to the bar and i'll buy you a beer. If it's not, so be it. let's go to the bar and you can buy me a beer.

No doubt that the handicap system is imperfect. But the only way to make it 100% representative is to log every single round.......but then you'll never be able to just "go for a knock" again.

 

[Scott1505]

I genuinely don't care if I'm playing against a 15 or 20 or 28 h'cap who should really be in single figures.

Golf is my past time, my hobby, something I do for enjoyment. It's (primarily) an individual sport and all I'm trying to do is get the ball round and in the hole in as few a shots as possible. If that's enough to win, great. Let's go to the bar and i'll buy you a beer. If it's not, so be it. let's go to the bar and you can buy me a beer.

No doubt that the handicap system is imperfect. But the only way to make it 100% representative is to log every single round.......but then you'll never be able to just "go for a knock" again.

Couldn't agree more with this. This should be what golf is all about! In my eyes you are only playing against yourself and the course some days you will win and plenty others you wont but least of all you should enjoy it!

 

[19th]

I would agree with Robobum .. it is a social game.

If we are all to behave like policemen and assume all are guilty until proved innocent ..that is, score 36 points or less .. what a sad golfing world we would live in.

I am disappointed/embarrassed when my handicap goes up but playing at least 30 medal rounds, not stableford, allows my historic scores to be evidenced by all members.

Would I therefore dance on the bar counter if I produced a net 64 (7 under par, 4 under CSS)to win a big one - you bet I would!

 

[JT77]

I think it may seem that that the h'cap system favours high handicaps, because there are a lot more of them about. If you look at the hansicap range there is always more higher than lower, so therefore the high handicap group have a better chance to win.

 

[bobmac]

It seems that most just play golf for fun and if they win something then great.
but...
Are there any out there who, unless they win something it's been a bad day?

 

[CliveW]

Perhaps we should adopt the system they use in the USA where you put in a card everytime you play and not only a minimum of three a year.

 

[JT77]

Bob

If I play to h'cap or better then I win regardless of the comp results, I realise not everyone is the same. I do play for fun, but I am very competative, I love winning, but it is not the be all and end all and if I can get low, thats my ultimate aim. I just need to make time to get out and practice!

 

[brendy]

This forum software is pants! I tried to remove the iffy poll and its went and pulled to good one! lol.
Apologies Bob, voting was 14 high and 11 low for what it was worth.

 

[Basher]

Golf is a game...... is it not?

Of course, there are ultra competitive types out there who play to win at all costs. Then there are those who play to enjoy the game, the surroundings and the company.
I fall into the latter category.

As a high handicapper I get the chance to compete with much better golfers on relatively equal terms. Consistency is the key though. We may both hit good drives from the tee, but what are the chances of me following that up with a sweet fairway shot onto the green and close to the pin? This is where a lower handicap golfer gets the better of me.

I won a competition in my division a couple of months ago. You would not believe the number of guys who used the phrase "bandit" when we discussed it.
I just referred these people to HDID and my previous scores to see how much of a bandit I was.
It annoyed me as I knew I'd had a Red Letter Day and what I can only consider to be petty jealousy from bad losers almost took the joy of my winning away from me.

I admire low handicap golfers. I do however get a bit miffed when the same low handicappers start to have a go just because you experience a bit of golf success through more luck than judgement.

I love the game and try to play in as many club comps as possible during the season. From a hig handicappers point of view, I get fed up of entering comps with an 18 max handicap. What chance do I and other high handicappers have of competing then?

Rant over, let's all enjoy the game. The handicap system is there for a reason.

 

[USER1999]

This is why I like medals to be divisional, Cat 1 and 2 lumped together, and cats 3 and 4. This levels the field a bit, and gives a better chance of winning for each division, with less moaning about whether the higher h/caps or the lower ones have an advantage.

Where there is a board involved, the results are combined, and the top 16 go into a knock out. The medal result is still divisional though.

In my club, the average h/cap is 12, so there are pretty much as many lows as highs.

Qualification for the knockouts tends to favour the lows. This is more because we don't play many stablefords, so the lows do have an advantage in stroke play. Stableford tends to suit higher handicaps, as it allows for the odd blow up, which better golfers don't have.

Just don't mention Bogey.

 

[bobmac]

I admire low handicap golfers. I do however get a bit miffed when the same low handicappers start to have a go just because you experience a bit of golf success through more luck than judgement.

This is the point of the thread.
If the low h/caps are always complaining about being beaten by a high h/cap, why do people strive to become a low h/cap?

Did anyone in single figures vote that the h/cap system was fair?