Maintaining a handicap playing by yourself

[Bucket92]

I am 19 year old student and i recently joined my local golf club (woodlake park) with my 16 year old brother. But the trouble is that my brother is rarely able to play with me, and i do not know any of the members yet, which means that i have to play with some mates or on my own which both mean that i am not able to maintain my handicap. I think that the honest golfer like myself who wants to measure his golfing ability accurately against the handicap system is at a disadvantage if they have no other member of their club to play with. I cant understand why golfers arent allowed to maintain their handicaps when playing with non members, as i always make sure i write down the correct score on my scorecard whether it be a 2 or a 10. Obviously there would be some idiots out there that would score themselves inappropriately but in the end they are only cheating themselves! I was wondering if i could get people's views on this matter, and whether a change allowing golfers to maintain a handicap playing by themselves or with a few non members should be brought into golf?

 

[Hendo007]

Bucket, do you not play in the medals ? or is it a case that everyone plays with there mates in the medals and don't allow you to join ? Seems strange.

 

[Bucket92]

I have only recently joined and i missed the monthly medal for this month! But i mean just by playing 2 rounds or so a week and handing in my scorecards to maintain my handicap in that respect

 

[Heidi]

anybody with a congu handicap can mark your card - they dont need to be a member at your club!

 

[Bucket92]

My mates that i usually play with don't have handicaps, they just play for fun, while i've started taking it a bit more seriously

 

[Hendo007]

I have only recently joined and i missed the monthly medal for this month! But i mean just by playing 2 rounds or so a week and handing in my scorecards to maintain my handicap in that respect

Doesn't really happen that way bucket. You can hand in supplementary cards I believe but not too sure of the ins and outs of that. You really need to play in the medals for it to be official.

 

[Bucket92]

Ah ok, thanks mate

 

[SocketRocket]

I think I have played Woodlake Park. Is it in Usk? It was a nice course.

 

[Bucket92]

Yeah, it's very near usk; very nice course, especially in the weather we're having at the moment!

 

[Slab]

The OP has a kind of valid question here, we are expected to call penalties on ourselves but not trusted to provide our actual score!

And how many times do players end up telling the marker their score for the hole anway?

 

[Imurg]

It's been on my mind for years.
We are expected to abide by the rules, we are trusted to not cheat when our "marker" is on the other side of the fairway - or even further - yet we cannot be trusted to return a completed card whilst playing solo.

Anyone purposely putting in a good score to get a handicap cut is only fooling themselves. Why manufacture a low handicap if you can't play near it.....
It'll never happen, we'll never be allowed to put in a solo card but if it's an honest one - why not?

 

[Bucket92]

That's exactly my point! Golf is meant to be a game of honesty, and who's to say that if two players with handicaps were playing together that they wouldn't both cheat and let each other get away with it? Silly rule in my opinion

 

[rosecott]

The rules as to who can sign your cards for handicap are set by your club. All CONGU says is that the cards should be signed by a responsible person acceptable to the club.

 

[DeeJay]

I have a similar problem where I've just joined my first club and don't really know anyone, could've had a handicap if I did as I've had about 8 rounds on my own/with a guest. First medal on Sunday though so there will be my first card in, hopefully the guys I'm going round with are nice (one of them is an 18 handicapper the other is a 3 but is part of the shop staff so should be nice enough knowing I'm a new player) and then hope I get speaking to a few chaps in the clubhouse after and get some names for playing partners in the future.

 

[Bucket92]

That could be true at my club then, i never really asked about that part

 

[Bucket92]

I'll need to be doing the same thing as you then. Hopefully im paired with a few high handicappers, don't want to embarress myself too much!

 

[SGC001]

As someone said earlier I think it allows for a person authorised by the committee to mark a card, at one of my old places they liked it to be someone familiar with local rules and weren't too flexible.

In regards to getting people to play with or marking a card for handicap purposes my last club used to have a contact list of members willing to mark a card displayed ont he notice board. I thought that was good. The incentive for the members was that they'd be allowed to play off the whites which normally were competition only. They wouldn't even allow players representing to practice (including foursomes) off white pots. I didn't think that was so good and argued they should allow practice with a donation to the captains charity and a free practice round for representative teams preceeding the match.

 

[DeeJay]

I'll need to be doing the same thing as you then. Hopefully im paired with a few high handicappers, don't want to embarress myself too much!

I was the exact same in regards to playing with low handicappers, didn't want to hold them up! We have a totally online booking system where you find a slot in the "comp tee times" with a playing partner, as I didn't know anyonea handicap I asked the club manager if he knew anyone suitable, he paired me with the guy on staff so he hopefully will be understanding and I'm glad the other player is an 18 handicapper. My current ability going on my previous practice rounds put me in around the 21 or 22 mark so hopefully I can perform like this on the day.

 

[Bucket92]

You might even get a few tips from the 3 handicapper if you're lucky!

 

[GB72]

I have always wondered this as competitions effectively become a tax on keeping your handicap. My old course charges for comps and you need to play in them to maintain an accurate handicap but what if you do not want to enter them. My brother, for example, is a social golfer only but wants to maintain a handicap. The club make it so awkward to put in supplemental cards that he has to pay to enter comps that he does not want to just to keep an up to date handicap.