Handicap manipulation - how to address

[nickjdavis]

Are these comments meant for somebody else?


I had been on the handicap committee for nearly 10 years before we did that.

Not sure what you mean by the second para if that is aimed at me.

I think you've missed one of the biggest dollops of irony posted on this forum so far in 2026.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Not necessarily, it might not have been a 4BB stroke play single round competition - it could have been, for example, a matchplay knockout for example and the cut could have been imposed manually by the committee.

It was one of the club’s main match play KOs - a significant board comp - to win it a pair usually have to win 7 or 8 matches. I can ask our handicap sec the basis of the cut..It is a really difficult trophy to win.

My club is very keen to be on top of handicaps and where a cut is merited or obviously required we will do one…there may have been other factors. One of the guys wants to get lower - he was pleased; the other has been a fair bit lower - I think he was less pleased.

 

[AussieKB]

How do you get cut in a match play KO ?

You score 7 and he scores 8, you win the hole, does anyone put scores in ?

Putts are conceded from distance due to the other guy taking 3 to get out of a bunker etc.

 

[D-S]

How do you get cut in a match play KO ?

You score 7 and he scores 8, you win the hole, does anyone put scores in ?

Putts are conceded from distance due to the other guy taking 3 to get out of a bunker etc.

That is why automatic cuts for winning such competitions were outlawed by UHS many, many years ago and continue to be so under WHS. However performance in a matchplay competition can form part of the evidence for a manual reduction, but should not be the only evidence.

 

[jim8flog]

I think you've missed one of the biggest dollops of irony posted on this forum so far in 2026.

Some times when you are being 'bombarded' with comments it is easy to miss

 

[twrmgoat]

That is why automatic cuts for winning such competitions were outlawed by UHS many, many years ago and continue to be so under WHS. However performance in a matchplay competition can form part of the evidence for a manual reduction, but should not be the only evidence.

IMO system should be expanded to include recording of all formal match play results, so that that evidence is accessible to handicap committees.
I think there has been an increase in people keeping their handicaps high in order to have better chance in club, and even more so, inter club comps. What are the odds for example of a correctly handicapped pair winning 15 matches in a row?
And (largely) ignore the ‘I play better in match play’ brigade. In my experience close to 100% of golfers regard themselves as wily old foxes when it comes to match play.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

IMO system should be expanded to include recording of all formal match play results, so that that evidence is accessible to handicap committees.
I think there has been an increase in people keeping their handicaps high in order to have better chance in club, and even more so, inter club comps. What are the odds for example of a correctly handicapped pair winning 15 matches in a row?
And (largely) ignore the ‘I play better in match play’ brigade. In my experience close to 100% of golfers regard themselves as wily old foxes when it comes to match play.

Most ISVs now have the KOs managed on them

So a HC committee just needs to go through those results and match up with GP scores and Comp scores etc and use ad evidence

 

[D-S]

Most ISVs now have the KOs managed on them

So a HC committee just needs to go through those results and match up with GP scores and Comp scores etc and use ad evidence

In IG, at least how we have it set up, it just gives winner and loser in matchplay rounds not the score. It would be far more informative for a Handicap Committee to have the score as well. Someone winning repeatedly 6&5 is far better evidence than just who won maybe by a lot, maybe on the last.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

In IG, at least how we have it set up, it just gives winner and loser in matchplay rounds not the score. It would be far more informative for a Handicap Committee to have the score as well. Someone winning repeatedly 6&5 is far better evidence than just who won maybe by a lot, maybe on the last.

Don’t think the score has too much bearing

We will look at all the KOs and see the performances across those

 

[D-S]

Don’t think the score has too much bearing

We will look at all the KOs and see the performances across those

I do.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I do.

It’s matchplay the score in single games can have very little bearing - could be a multiple amount of reasons

But If someone wins all the match play comps they can enter - that gives a better guideline

 

[D-S]

It’s matchplay the score in single games can have very little bearing - could be a multiple amount of reasons

But If someone wins all the match play comps they can enter - that gives a better guideline

So there is absolutely no difference if someone wins all the rounds one up and someone who wins by pay a large margin (6&5, 5&4, 7&6j every time - really?

 

[Arthur Wedge]

So there is absolutely no difference if someone wins all the rounds one up and someone who wins by pay a large margin (6&5, 5&4, 7&6j every time - really?

There could be multiple reasons surely got to look beyond the result

 

[D-S]

There could be multiple reasons surely got to look beyond the result

Could one of the reasons for significant margins be that the player’s handicap does not reflect their ability? Would it be good to have as much information as possible when looking at evidence for handicap adjustment? I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t seek and want as much objective information as possible especially to inform a subjective decision. This is the very definition of looking beyond just the result (win or loss).

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Could one of the reasons for significant margins be that the player’s handicap does not reflect their ability? Would it be good to have as much information as possible when looking at evidence for handicap adjustment? I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t seek and want as much objective information as possible especially to inform a subjective decision. This is the very definition of looking beyond just the result (win or loss).

We do always look at as much as we possibly can - hence why when over the last couple of years we have seen a couple of people win multiple KO’s yet their HC has increased and no GP scores have gone in -

I have won and lost KO matches to big margins and a lot of the time it’s been down to how bad the other person has played

 

[IanM]

I beat a bloke 8 and 7 once. The other bloke had a complete shocker, I did nothing special. Several holes he lost his drive and just conceded.

No idea how you'd apply handicap adjustment to that

 

[D-S]

I beat a bloke 8 and 7 once. The other bloke had a complete shocker, I did nothing special. Several holes he lost his drive and just conceded.

No idea how you'd apply handicap adjustment to that

All results in isolation are meaningless, however it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the difference between someone who beats every player by a considerable margin and someone who scrapes through every round.
I fail to understand how repeated large victory margins tells you absolutely nothing at all and knowing nothing about a player’s victory margins is of no use whatsoever when collating evidence about a player’s demonstrated ability.

 

[IanM]

I agree, although what I meant was large margins of victory can equally be a function of poor play from the looser. How do you know what's happened?

I've always be skeptical about recording scores in matchplay as it's fundamentally different from stroke play, but that's a whole new can of worms

 

[clubchamp98]

I agree, although what I meant was large margins of victory can equally be a function of poor play from the looser. How do you know what's happened?

I've always be skeptical about recording scores in matchplay as it's fundamentally different from stroke play, but that's a whole new can of worms

Exactly if you have several shots to win a hole because op has had a mare use them!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Our handicap secretary collates information from current golfing records and performance in other comps that year when looking at whether he felt a cut of any sort is merited for main club KO comp winners - and indeed finalists. This year gone sometimes it was - sometimes it wasn't. He and the club were completely 'open' about the timing of the handicap review and any proposed cuts, and any member not happy about the club's proposed 'cut' to their handicap was free to object. He is considering the feedback he has received from a number of quarters on cuts he applied - I think he swings a sharp axe fairly freely - and will consider if there should be changes to his approach. He and the club are also very open to requests from members for handicap cuts and handicap increases.