How can you compete

[justhitthething]

there are still a lot of false assumptions about handicapping.

1. it does <u>not</u> create a 'level' playing field. there is an in-built bias (in both CONGU and USGA) toward the lower handicapper. it's not much but it is there.

2. in any competition with a large enough entry the odds are that a high handicapper could shoot a low score.


3. in any one-on-one or low entry competition the odds are that a low handicapper will win.

it's simple statistics. on a par 4 the range of scores for a low handicapper is likely to be 2 to 6 (average 4.?). for a high handicapper the range is 2 to 9 (average 6.?). but both are capable of scoring the 2's and 3's just as both are capable of scoring 5's and 6's.

I do agree, however I cant think of a better way, can you?

Ive played cricket for years before starting golf, and I was only ever able to compete with players of similar ability. Now I can go out in a three ball with a scratch golfer and a 28 handicap golfer and have pretty much an equal chance of winning or losing within that three ball.

Your right about the big field favouring a high handicapper winning. Just as a high turnout means a Labour victory, not everything in life is completely fair.

 

[Pants]

Shouldn't the handicaps have been adjusted after the 1st round? If so he should be disqualified for playing off the wrong handicap on the 2nd round.

 

[Dodger]

pants,36 hole tournament so cut at the end of play.

 

[justhitthething]

Tigers just shot gross 63. No idea what his nett must be, but hes clearly been protecting his handicap while we all thought hed had an operation.
My cousins best friends nephews next door neighbour said he thinks he saw his ball move at address on the 15th.
Flamin cheat.

 

[kid2]

I can understand how higher handicappers can get away with it in stablefords but in a medal its a different ball game. He obviously played well you can't argue. It was interesting to see him this afternoon though. He got pinged with an illegal drop at the 1st. He was adjacent to a molehill and just picked the ball up and dropped it (admittedly within a club length) but hadn't marked the original point or ascertained the nearest point of relief. Fortunately he had time to add the penalty shots onto the score before signing!!!!







The group he was in started two groups in front but by the 12th they were in front of us having let others through. He seemed to take hundreds having driven into bushes, swished around, dropped (under penalty) hacked it back into the same bushes, taken a line of sight drop and then got back onto the fairway.

At the end of the day it did make the second round a bit anit-climatic as most felt it was only a contest for 2nd place. I'm presuming he checked and signed his card correctly and won't get D/Q'd so well done to him.

Hey Homer....I agree totally with what your saying...... As a high Handicapper myself ( 21 ) Trouble with me is i know im actually better as do my playing partners....They reckon i should be off around 14 - 16 and say that im good enough to be playing off that..... I only recieved my handicap in may as i wanted to learn the rules the course and not to embarrass myself in front of other players and have only played in the 1 Comp last weekend as i told you i finished with 34 points being out of 2 holes and having a 7 on a par 3. Now im not saying that the person that you witnessed today was pulling but its one thing i cant abide by even though im new to the game i HATE CHEATS.
I would get satisfaction out of telling people that i was off single figures instead of playing to an exaggerated handicap and conctantly being in the prizes....... I think that golf is the only game whereby your handicap is a measure of your ability....Its a crying shame that some people are promoting themselves worse than what they actually are

I have to say this is probably the thing that iritates me the most about golf.
Why when someone plays well and shoots a good score is there an immediate assumption that hes cheated. In cricket, duck today, 100 tomorrow noone bats an eyelid.
The handicap system is what makes our game great. In no other sport can people of such wide rangeing abilities compete with each other as equals.
Like most people I started on 28 handicap and the majority of my prize winning was as I was improving faster than the handicap could cope with. Now im off 9, I very rarely win. not because higher handicappers are cheating, but because I reached my level and spend my time maintaining my handicap and they havent yet.-
Live with it fellas and celebrate his success.

I hope people didnt pick me up wrong or misinterperet what i was trying to say.....As a high handicapper myself im not saying that the chap Homer was playing behind was pulling all im saying is that there are golfers doing it iv seen it myself.I would like nothing more than to shoot a score like that it lets the player know what they truly are capable of doing and gives a sense of achievement.
Also if he is that good time will tell as he'll keep getting cut bringing in scores like that.......Im sure people playing with him will obviously keep an eye on his actions.....You never know he might be a star of the future.......

 

[HomerJSimpson]

To be fair to the guy he hits it miles and on his day can be streaky hot. However as his 2nd round shows he can be pretty ordinary too. It just happened that his hot streak was scorching. Still better to do it in a major like that than some monthly stableford.

 

[golf_bug]

I play off 16 and have been labelled a bandit for some time...mostly in good humour in must be said. The reason being that my swing looks much better than a 16hcp, and my GIR stats suggest I should be playing off low single figures. But I can't putt! On a day where my putter actually works, I would be capable of shooting a very, very low score.

In the 2 years that I have been playing golf I have not met a single person who has a desire to hold onto their handicap in order to increase their chances of winning. Everyone (myself included) has a burning desire to reduce their hcp as this is the measure of how good you actually are. I can sit here and say "I'd be brilliant if I can putt", but my handicap suggests otherwise doesn't it!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Golf-Bug

Surely the answer is simple. Get a cheap putting lesson and spend a few hours practicing what you learn and away you go

 

[RGDave]

We had a guy today off 23 who went round in gross 79 to card a first round nett 56!!!!!!

Par 70. 14 under par. Could that be 50 points? (maybe)

His h'cap must have been nonsense.

Players off 23 don't fluke gross 9 overs.....not in my experience.