Ever been called a Bandit and how did you react?

[JezzE]

I'm not disputing that the two are intertwined. What I'm saying is that in my case I get branded a bandit because when the brain's not getting in the way I play good golf. In fact for 13 or so holes a round the grey matter is very well behaved. People judge your golfing ability on what they see technically. The problem with accusations of banditry is that it is implied that you deliberately play bad holes if you don't think you can win/don't want to win.

In my case my concentration issues are quite possibly related to my MS rather than getting ahead of myself and certainly not to preserve my handicap

While I agree the mental side is important, I think you need to be a bit careful about overstating its potential benefits in those who don't swing the club consistently well enough to reap full advantage (I would certainly class myself among them!)

I can be as mentally strong as I like, but if I don't have the ability to make a consistent, repeating swing then there is a limit to the amount good mental fortitude can do me

 

[Tiger]

I hear what you're saying Jezz but there's a difference between a guy who plays off 12 but could play off 6 if he sorted his head out and a guy off 23 who could play off 12 if he sorted his out. As an example my last comp round I scored 8pts from the first 8 holes through stupid lapses of concentration, then played the next 10 holes +5 gross for 27pts. On another occasion I was +5 gross through the front 11 and then blobbed 5 consecutive holes.

When people see you play like that in stretches they unfortunately start to question your integrity.

 

[mcbroon]

I played in a corporate thing a few years back when I wasn't a member anywhere, didn't have a handicap and only played half a dozen times a year. I gave myself a h/c of 13 before play, which I thought was pretty reasonable. We were playing betterball pairs - I went out in about +15. and my partner was hot and cold, so it looked like we were going to be well out of the prizes. Then I found my game and came home in level par gross.

Our opponents, and one in particular, who had been very friendly and pleasant on the front 9, had pretty much stopped talking to us by the 16th. They called me a bandit (actually, the guy called me an effing cheat) and complained to the organisers. I spoke to the organisers myself after the round and offered to DQ myself but, to their credit, they refused the offer and we finished 2nd.

The two guys we played with didn't hang around for the meal afterwards.

 

[Stuey01]

If someone called me a f'ing cheat I think I might chin him. What a ****. It's not even like you shot under your handicap.

 

[mcbroon]

If someone called me a f'ing cheat I think I might chin him. What a ****. It's not even like you shot under your handicap.

I tried to explain that to them but they weren't having it.

I might have chinned him but he was bigger than me. And I'm a total fanny.

 

[markgs]

yes off a idiot who did not like losing to me, even said that he had been on the committee for years and was going to have a chat about my handicap to them!! i said i have come down 13 shoots in 5 months what the hell do you want i have been playing golf for 6 months. That made him even more nasty calling me a lair and that was no was on earth that was true. Every shoot i took i could hear him saying no way he could learn that in 6 months. I would like to play him now as i am now playing totally crap and he would then say god you have not been playing long have you.

 

[Foxholer]

I don't agree with that. My playing ability is anywhere between a 12-14 handicap the problem is the six inches between my ears. If I was on my game I'd be close to racking up a half century of points...

You are interpreting 'playing ability' in a different way to most of us. I'm with Rosecott and SLH's Longhurst quote.

What you are calling 'playing ability', I'd classify as shot-making (or possibility ball-striking) ability. The fact that you have a far greater variance with your bad shots/holes from your good ones is simply a characteristic of your golf - and you have figured it's that 6 inches! If that really is how you play, I'd never call you a bandit if you shot mid 40 points or more on one of your good days. I knew a guy off 24 (now about 18) who was the same! Unless you go AWOL on consecutive holes, I'd suggest that you could be in big demand as a 'Wild Willie' partner for a 'Steady Eddie'.

As for McBroon's unhappy opponents. They had the wrong attitude to the Corporate Golf Day. The Golf is normally the least of the reasons to be there imo!

 

[Tiger]

I knew a guy off 24 (now about 18) who was the same! Unless you go AWOL on consecutive holes, I'd suggest that you could be in big demand as a 'Wild Willie' partner for a 'Steady Eddie'

Let's just say I'm a popular pick for betterball and scrambles and have my name on the Honours board for the latter

 

[Jaymosafehands]

I was a bandit off 24, of 18, of 15 and am now one off 12.

These people haven't seen the hours I've put in on the range or the putting green, or the 12-13 qualifiers I play a year.

I'll live.

 

[malek988]

yep every time i have 3 good holes in a row, which happens the odd time but then the other 15 arent so good, if they have a problem the adjudicator and the GM are upstairs take it up with them

 

[wookie]

I get it a bit in a mainly jokey way and it doesn't bother me as I know that there is no one who wants my handicap to be lower than me and ill keep playing as many qualifiers a possible. For some reason I struggle to do it when the handicap is actually on the line but not in match play or non qualifying rounds. Probably try too hard I guess.

The only time it's actually upset me (upsets probably a bit strong) was in a foursomes match where I'd driven the ball very well and after my 9th long straight drive of the round was told by one of our opponents that I "won't make many friends round here driving like that off 20". He obviously had not watched the third of my other shots which went wrong and sadly I haven't driven that well that consistently since

 

[HawkeyeMS]

While I agree the mental side is important, I think you need to be a bit careful about overstating its potential benefits in those who don't swing the club consistently well enough to reap full advantage (I would certainly class myself among them!)

I can be as mentally strong as I like, but if I don't have the ability to make a consistent, repeating swing then there is a limit to the amount good mental fortitude can do me

That's true Jezz but the reason I say there is a physical and mental h'cap is because you read things all the time about people who can't play well with a card in their hand or put themselves in a good position to score well and collapse on the last few holes. It may not be quite so valid at high h'caps when the consistency of swing isn't there but someone in Cat2 or close to it who plays well for 15 holes and doubles the last 3 is almost certainly thinking themselves out of a good score and are playing to their mental h'cap.

 

[road2ruin]

I get called it quite a bit but fortunately in a banter way rather than an accusational one. My problem is very much consistency off the tee, whilst my putting, short game and mid irons are getting really reliable my longer irons aren't and my driver veers from the sublime to the ridiculous.

For example I played in an industry golf day yesterday and scored 43 points with a blob, everything off the tee when straight and pitching onto the green was a breeze, this was off my official handicap of 20. Trouble is at the weekend I played on the roll up on Saturday (27 points) and a stableford comp on the Sunday (29 points) so I rarely play consistently 2 rounds running and, to date, haven't managed to do it in a comp on a Sunday!

At least the weather is nice at the moment......

 

[Region3]

I can be as mentally strong as I like, but if I don't have the ability to make a consistent, repeating swing then there is a limit to the amount good mental fortitude can do me

The mental bit makes you determined to chip and putt well and grind a score out when your good swing has stayed at home.

That's the case for me at least, but I have to admit to not always being great at it and some days I lose the will to fight for a score if I'm hitting the ball pants.

 

[Airlie_Andy]

I wish I played well enough in comps to be called a bandit.

I have had comments about my ball striking being much better than a 16 handicap and my teaching pro says exactly the same thing but I've never taken those comments in an accusatory way. I've played with much higher handicap players and when they play well I spend my time saying great shot and complimenting them on having a good round rather than trying to guilt them into dropping there level which I think alot of the bandit accusations on the course are designed to do.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Disagree I'm with Hawkeye. To me playing ability is your ability to execute a shot technically. Mental ability is your ability to deal with issues that may happen during a round, maintain concentration and course manage. I strongly believe that if I had a caddy, a good one, I could threaten to break 80 rather than struggle to break 90.

That's a bold statement but one I feel confident enough to make.

The other question is do I play enough qualifiers? At the moment no. Should be 2/3 a month currently playing 1 a month

I honestly don't think you can separate your technique from your ability to deploy your technique. Having the best and most perfect technique on the planet doesn't matter one jot if you can't put it into practice on the golf course.

Ability = Technique + 'Mindset'

Ability is not a number. Scoring is a number

Scoring is a reflection of your Ability

Handicap is a function of your Scoring.

So Handicap cannot be a function of Ability. Handicap is a reflection of Ability.

Therefore your Handicap need not equate in any way to your ability.

When you are 'on your game' you are playing to your ability.

But from above your ability need not be reflected by your handicap

So when you are 'on your game' you may not be playing to your handicap

If you are not playing to your handicap when 'on your game' your handicap will be adjusted

Adjustments will be gradual to protect you (and everyone else) against any one round being a 'freak' round.

If your ability does not change (for better or worse) then through time your handicap will eventaually equate to (more precisiely be an accurate reflection) of your ability.

But golf for most of us isn't like that - because right at the start of this waffle - we have Mindset and Technique.

Technique can be taught and honed to be mechanically perfect.

But Mindset is a complex non-linear function of many variables - one of which is Ability.

And therein we have the challenge of golf - Ability is a function of Ability. So at any point in time your ability is partly determined by how able you think you are - rather than you actually are.

And hanging off of all of that is a number that is running around trying to grab hold of this slippery bar of soap called your ability - but it will never catch it.

Now I must go lie down and think of something simple like non-linear differential calculus as I seem to have proven that in golf 1 = 1 ...occasionally.

 

[Foxholer]

Physic approach - no Schrodinger's cat died, from hunger at least, nearly 80 years ago!

The Observer Effect (often associated with Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle) deems that as soon as you attempt to measure some 'system' or phenomenon, the system/phenomenom will change!

So a Golfer with a card in his hand isn't the same as a Golfer without one!

 

[Tiger]

Swinging it like Hogan fella mate pal and all the rest of ye

I think my perspective is driven by my personal circumstances somewhat but please let me rephrase. Banditry accusations are levied at me because of what my swing looks like, how I strike the ball, my pitching accuracy and some of the chip shots I play.

At times my execution from bunkers and my putting can be found wanting.

This is what people perceive to be my golfing ability. They would probably put that person in the 12-14 handicap bracket (possibly lower)

They see this guy start his round in fine style. He's +5/6 gross at the turn and pars the 10th and 11th holes. At this point they are getting a little agitated and the bandit comments come forward. What they don't consider is the bloke has MS and needs to be careful how he manages his mind on course to ensure he doesn't suffer from mental fatigue. These comments throw him off and he loses his way for several holes and is totally unrecognisable from the golfer you've been watching. This confirms to you he knows he's been rumbled...

Or he had a tough night with the kids and hasn't slept well. He's feeling a little jaded and gets off to a bad start. Then from nowhere he starts scoring pars and birdies as if he's a single figure handicapper

The OP was about accusations of banditry. My response is that I have suffered and the reason is my game and handicap do not look like they correlate. Partly this is my fault because I don't play enough qualifiers but in my case the mental thing isn't about handling pressure it's a medical thing as well.

So I face the same mental challenges with or without a card in my hand

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

So a Golfer with a card in his hand isn't the same as a Golfer without one!

Absolutely got it Sir! With a card in my hand, on the 1st tee (before I even hit a bsll) my ability is different because my mindset is different.

Actually I could well just be talking s**te - but I like to let my mind meander to see if it can find anything

And without a card in my hand, the mental challenges I face are different even before I start - and as the mental challenges are different then my mindset will be different &etc.