Maintaining the integrity of Club Honours Boards & Major Comps

[hovis]

Ok ill put this out there.
The handicap secretary who also organises the comps at my place said "how come you're not playing in the club champs this year?"

I said i was done with comps until I'm good enough to play in scratch comps. When he asked why i told him that 3 members (all friends) take no shame in admitting that they play their mandatory 3 comps at the beginning of the season and then practice their tits off for the club champs due to the generous prizes. He rightly said that although it may be bad sportsmanship, its not against the rules and nothing he can do.

I know people on this forum will say "well at least they'll get cut when they storm the club champs". this is true but when one of them is on a good score the other two just happen to have a horrendous second round!!!! Coincidence? Maybe.

Other than spit my dummy out there's nothing i can do other than work hard and get to cat 1

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Ok ill put this out there.
The handicap secretary who also organises the comps at my place said "how come you're not playing in the club champs this year?"

I said i was done with comps until I'm good enough to play in scratch comps. When he asked why i told him that 3 members (all friends) take no shame in admitting that they play their mandatory 3 comps at the beginning of the season and then practice their tits off for the club champs due to the generous prizes. He rightly said that although it may be bad sportsmanship, its not against the rules and nothing he can do.

I know people on this forum will say "well at least they'll get cut when they storm the club champs". this is true but when one of them is on a good score the other two just happen to have a horrendous second round!!!! Coincidence? Maybe.

Other than spit my dummy out there's nothing i can do other than work hard and get to cat 1

If they've been doing this for years, why can't they be pulled up for manipulating their handicaps and easier said than done, have you spoke about your frustrations to them?

 

[rosecott]

The one thing that concerns me on this thread is the number of tales of players with recently allocated handicaps cleaning up in major comps. Shouldn't Handicap Committees be doing more to fully investigate the playing and handicap history of a new member? A short face to face chat asking for all history, including society activity, should give enough information to go with the 3 cards submitted. A proforma asking him to sign and confirm the information given should do the trick, just in case he's been a bit sketchy with the details. A few phone calls based on his submission might be very productive.

 

[rosecott]

Ok ill put this out there.
The handicap secretary who also organises the comps at my place said "how come you're not playing in the club champs this year?"

I said i was done with comps until I'm good enough to play in scratch comps. When he asked why i told him that 3 members (all friends) take no shame in admitting that they play their mandatory 3 comps at the beginning of the season and then practice their tits off for the club champs due to the generous prizes. He rightly said that although it may be bad sportsmanship, its not against the rules and nothing he can do.

I know people on this forum will say "well at least they'll get cut when they storm the club champs". this is true but when one of them is on a good score the other two just happen to have a horrendous second round!!!! Coincidence? Maybe.

Other than spit my dummy out there's nothing i can do other than work hard and get to cat 1

And you will continue to regard them as friends?

 

[Imurg]

The one thing that concerns me on this thread is the number of tales of players with recently allocated handicaps cleaning up in major comps. Shouldn't Handicap Committees be doing more to fully investigate the playing and handicap history of a new member? A short face to face chat asking for all history, including society activity, should give enough information to go with the 3 cards submitted. A proforma asking him to sign and confirm the information given should do the trick, just in case he's been a bit sketchy with the details. A few phone calls based on his submission might be very productive.

In reality, how many times does that actually happen..?
I know it should but does it..?
It wouldn't at many.....

 

[hovis]

And you will continue to regard them as friends?

Sorry. I meant the three of them are friends with each other

 

[fundy]

You would have even less chance if someone comes in with a hooky handicap. :rofl:


You can still play, get cut, lift the nominal prize money but won't get your name on the trophy as far as I know.


I played in one or two of them in my first year. Didn't trouble the podium. No big deal.

Each to their own but wouldnt sit right with me, I have 25+ years of handicap history, most of which can be ascertained with a couple of clicks of a mouse or by a phone call, see no reason that I shouldnt be allowed to win by what would appear an old boys club not wanting the newcomer to win "their" comps

Even worse would be coming second and being told my name was going on the board! How embarrassing must that be for some

 

[hovis]

If they've been doing this for years, why can't they be pulled up for manipulating their handicaps and easier said than done, have you spoke about your frustrations to them?

They're not breaking any rules and not manipulating their handicap. Nothing i can do.

 

[USER1999]

I have an inherent dislike of boards. There should be four, and that's it. Club champs, open, singles matchplay, pairs matchplay. Anything else is just meaningless wastes of wood. There are too many, and that are rubbish.

 

[lobthewedge]

We have three boards - club champ, women's champ and junior champ. All scratch comps, scratch winners and reserved for the best of each section. Cuts out all the nonsense surrounding dodgy handicaps.

 

[Old Skier]

A short face to face chat asking for all history, including society activity, should give enough information to go with the 3 cards submitted. A proforma asking him to sign and confirm the information given should do the trick, just in case he's been a bit sketchy with the details.

This is exactly what we do but obviously we have to trust the individual to give us the facts.

 

[Slab]

I'm in two clubs without a specific home course, so no board comps in that sense, but club champs/trophy comps etc has minimum 4 (i think) comps entered from current year to be eligible

But isn't any manipulated handicap issue just as big a problem whether its a box of balls or some golf letters on the line

 

[Old Skier]

I'm in two clubs without a specific home course, so no board comps in that sense, but club champs/trophy comps etc has minimum 4 (i think) comps entered from current year to be eligible

But isn't any manipulated handicap issue just as big a problem whether its a box of balls or some golf letters on the line

Your handicap must be maintained at one of the clubs which would be considered your home club.

 

[rosecott]

Your handicap must be maintained at one of the clubs which would be considered your home club.

Things in Mauritius may well be different.

 

[Capella]

The only board comp we have is the club championship (and the senior club championship, held on the same day) with separate rankings for men and women, two rounds of gross strokeplay (used to be matchplay on day two, but that changed last year). So handicap does not come in; to get your name on the board you have to be the best player on that weekend. Everyone with a category 1 or 2 handicap is qualified to enter. There is a two round netto club championship as well, held on the same weekend (and even a 9-hole comp for the newbie players with handicaps higher than 36), so that nobody has to feel left out, but the space on the board is reserved for the best players. (Only way a mere mortal can end up there is by playing a hole in one ... there is a category for that).

Most if not all other club competitions we have have a netto and a gross ranking and prizes for both.

And despite average handicaps in Germany being really really poor compared to most other countries (I think the average handicap is somewhere in the low thirties, but that is mostly due to the fact that every German golfer has to keep a handicap if he or she wants to be allowed to play anywhere in Germany), we don't have many bandits. If Germans cheat the handicap system (which some of them undoubtly do), it is generally to get a lower handicap than what they actually play to, not a higher one, because the handicap is seen as kind of a status symbol. Occasional high Stableford scores come from beginning players who have not been cut to the appropriate handicap level yet (because everyone starts on the same handicap here, -54 ususally, you don't hand in any cards to start you off). But that levels out after the first few comps they play, so no one is bothered too much and people just cheer for the talented beginner.

 

[Slab]

Things in Mauritius may well be different.

Indeed. Here its very much like a variant of the US or SA systems

off topic: my scores across 6 or more courses can all go towards (or against) getting my handicap down
Quite tough as despite playing weekly I very rarely play the same course three times in a row (even twice in a row is unusual) so always adjusting to different layouts/course types, climates, ground conditions, grass types, green speeds etc is all an added barrier to getting reductions (even learning the subtle/hidden breaks etc in the greens is a prolonged process because there's over a hundred instead of 18)