Best scores and bandits

[jamielaing]

Following on from the cheats thread and the discussion of bandits- what is a bandit and what is your best score in competition? Also what do you believe you are capable of?

My handicap is 9.6
My best round in a comp- 74 (+5)- net 62
What am I capable of- scratch round (possibly a couple under)
What handicap am I capable of- cat 1 (3-4)

I think that all this bandit talk is down to people forgetting all about improving golfers. Most golfers are trying to maintain their handicap but forget that there are a number of guys who are improving. I left golf at 19 years old and returned at 29. I am a year back in golf and only just got myself back to where I was when I left. I also have a better outlook and mentality to the game which means I should be better than in my youth.

I shot a 62 a few weeks ago and was delighted. I came second to a net 60. I joked about bandits amongst my friends but congratulated him in person because he had a very good round. I am no bandit, people who see me practising at every opportunity and see my disappointment after every 0.1 would agree with that however I could score very low. I therefore have no definition of a bandit as I believe I could shoot a net 59. The only time I would genuine consider someone a bandit would be if I saw them though their score away intentionally. Even then, it's hard to tell if pressure has made them crumble or not!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Some interesting comments.

How long have you been playing? Quick reality check......you play off 10, you practice a lot. So, either you are new(ish) to the game or you are not realising your potential?

I play off 5, I think realistically the lowest I could expect to get to is 4, maybe 3 at the very outside.

 

[ColchesterFC]

My handicap is 18 (unofficial as not currently a member)

My best round in a comp - 86 (Level Par off 7/8 handicap, 36 points to win)

What am I capable of - +10 round (I've done +12 once and 3 putted 17 and 18 so could have been +10)

What handicap am I capable of - 18 (I've played for over 25 years and have never played off anything else. I guess that's my natural ability level)

 

[IanG]

My handicap is 13.5
My best round in a comp is 82 which at the time gave me net 67, 5 under CSS that day.
My best bounce game round (but honestly holing out) is 78 (twice) i.e. 7 over the par of 71.
What handicap am I capable of ? Time will tell .... short game, short game short game.....

 

[patricks148]

i suppose its about percentages.

Im off 5 so i should be more than capable of shooting level par in a comp, but then saying that i felt the same when i was of 9 or 10 and could reg shoot well below my handicap.

only problem is now the lower i get its harder to shoot the lights out with my limited talent.

Prob was a bit of a bandit when off 7 or higher, but Ive never protected my handicap as such and play in 20-30 comps a year sometimes more.

 

[duncan mackie]

In my opinion, a bandit is someone who knowingly, but passively, maintains their handicap above his (or her) capability .

A cheat is someone who actively creates and maintains a handicap above his capability.

The real issue as exemplified in any posts here, and elsewhere, is that few have any serious understanding of the true relationship of handicaps, normal distribution curves and the resulting performances. Overlay the difference in SSS over courses, and the way people discuss performance (the only relevant one is performance relative to SSS - the +5 in your post possibly?), and one man's good score is another's also ran.

There are also performance improvement cycles associated with UK golf in general (juniors in summer - new seniors overwinter where no Q scores occur) and what's created by the environment and what's manipulated by the player to some degree require sherlock to decipher!

A really simple way to consider it is that true bandits don't score well in Q comps...

 

[jamielaing]

Some interesting comments.

How long have you been playing? Quick reality check......you play off 10, you practice a lot. So, either you are new(ish) to the game or you are not realising your potential?

I play off 5, I think realistically the lowest I could expect to get to is 4, maybe 3 at the very outside.

I am back in golf for a year, played as a junior but my lowest then was 11. I would say I am a mix of the 2. My mental game ability is lacking and I am working on it. Also my putting is not what I want it to be. Again I am working on that. An example to give would be, playing from the medal tees, I was -2 gross after 5 holes. Bogeyed the next 2 (3 putt and bad luck with a tree in the way) and was at the turn level par. I finished +7 thanks to losing my head a bit on the next 4 holes. That however is still enough for a small cut. If I could focus more and improve my putting this would reduce further.

 

[jamielaing]

In my opinion, a bandit is someone who knowingly, but passively, maintains their handicap above his (or her) capability .

A cheat is someone who actively creates and maintains a handicap above his capability.

The real issue as exemplified in any posts here, and elsewhere, is that few have any serious understanding of the true relationship of handicaps, normal distribution curves and the resulting performances. Overlay the difference in SSS over courses, and the way people discuss performance (the only relevant one is performance relative to SSS - the +5 in your post possibly?), and one man's good score is another's also ran.

There are also performance improvement cycles associated with UK golf in general (juniors in summer - new seniors overwinter where no Q scores occur) and what's created by the environment and what's manipulated by the player to some degree require sherlock to decipher!

A really simple way to consider it is that true bandits don't score well in Q comps...

I would agree with this but there are so many that hear net 63 or less, must be a bandit! I think if we are all honest we are capable of those scores. For me a high handicapper more so.

 

[jamielaing]

i suppose its about percentages.

Im off 5 so i should be more than capable of shooting level par in a comp, but then saying that i felt the same when i was of 9 or 10 and could reg shoot well below my handicap.

only problem is now the lower i get its harder to shoot the lights out with my limited talent.

Prob was a bit of a bandit when off 7 or higher, but Ive never protected my handicap as such and play in 20-30 comps a year sometimes more.

It is all relative. No one would call you a bandit because your handicap is at cat 1 status and you play in so many comps. If you came in at level or under par there would be talk of your amazing round, not your banditry. This is how it should be in my opinion.

 

[Spear-Chucker]

Agree with the OP that shooting a few good scores either as you're improving or occasionally has little to do with banditry. That's a much more sinister offence perpetrated by those who deliberately falsify hcp's to win the important pots or money in friendlies - sure we all know a couple.

Can't say I shoot many under my hcp these days, 3-5 on a good day, seems to get harder as time goes on. As for potential, I guess scratch is within reach and maybe better but that would be down to playing a bit more and one helluva good run.

 

[jamielaing]

Agree with the OP that shooting a few good scores either as you're improving or occasionally has little to do with banditry. That's a much more sinister offence perpetrated by those who deliberately falsify hcp's to win the important pots or money in friendlies - sure we all know a couple.

Can't say I shoot many under my hcp these days, 3-5 on a good day, seems to get harder as time goes on. As for potential, I guess scratch is within reach and maybe better but that would be down to playing a bit more and one helluva good run.

There are those that do this but surely a few good scores should not make us jump to that conclusion. We all know who they are but there are so many genuine golfers that get tarred with that brush.

 

[Rooter]

My handicap is 16
My best round in a comp- (+11)
What am I capable of +8
What handicap am I capable of 10-12 if i could get some game time

 

[Spear-Chucker]

There are those that do this but surely a few good scores should not make us jump to that conclusion. We all know who they are but there are so many genuine golfers that get tarred with that brush.

Totally agree - I've always believed that a majority of golfers are as honest as they come, just trying their best with what is a tough game. Always a few bad apples though...

 

[MendieGK]

My handicap is 16
My best round in a comp- (+11)
What am I capable of +8
What handicap am I capable of 10-12 if i could get some game time

What am I capable of - looking after 3kids and tweeting about it.

Thats the real answer

 

[MendieGK]

I am back in golf for a year, played as a junior but my lowest then was 11. I would say I am a mix of the 2. My mental game ability is lacking and I am working on it. Also my putting is not what I want it to be. Again I am working on that. An example to give would be, playing from the medal tees, I was -2 gross after 5 holes. Bogeyed the next 2 (3 putt and bad luck with a tree in the way) and was at the turn level par. I finished +7 thanks to losing my head a bit on the next 4 holes. That however is still enough for a small cut. If I could focus more and improve my putting this would reduce further.

This is perfectly normal - its well known that our minds are trained to bring us closer to our expectations.

How often do you start terribly, and still claw it back to respectable? or start brilliantly, and only end up with a 'good' round?

Its a barrier we all have to try and break - and it isnt easy!

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Official handicap 17.3
My best round is a +11
What am I capable of +9
Handicap capability 10

I don't play comps, have little to no interest in playing comps and have decided I will keep my handicap current by submitting supplementary cards.

 

[Rooter]

What am I capable of - looking after 3kids and tweeting about it.

Thats the real answer

4... + me = 5.

 

[jamielaing]

This is perfectly normal - its well known that our minds are trained to bring us closer to our expectations.

How often do you start terribly, and still claw it back to respectable? or start brilliantly, and only end up with a 'good' round?

Its a barrier we all have to try and break - and it isnt easy!

It does tend to be one or the other. One round I was on track for a 73 and bogeyed the last two (easy pars) for a 75. I am now trying a number of techniques to try and limit this and improve my mental golf. And it is improving. I think breaking 75 was a good stage because it is then in your mind that it is possible after all. Reading some psychology books to try and help, was disappointed with Rotella's Unstoppable Golfer though!

 

[Keeno]

I play off 5 and my best medal round is +1.

In regards to what I am capable of, its has to be +1 as its the best I've done. The proof is in the pudding.

I agree with mentality being the hardest part of the game, especially when playing better than normal.

 

[hovis]

I don't play comps at my place because we only have one division and the high handicapers take it every time. Eg below 21 handicap won