Penalties and handicaps

[CheltenhamHacker]

I've just had a random thought re: penalties and handicaps, and was wondering if anyone knew the answer.

When playing your 3 cards for handicap, I assume that any penalty strokes you get are included in the counting for handicap? I can't see how they wouldn't be, as you just write a number in a box, the handicap sec doesn't know either way!

Now my query is, wouldn't this result in too high a handicap? Say your penalty is for nudging the ball, so you replace it and add a stroke, but you wouldn't expect to do that regularly? So to include that shot in your handicap would be accidental sandbagging? Or am I talking nonsense (would not surprise me if I was!)

 

[Joff]

You could just as easily miss 6 putts on purpose.

 

[Alex1975]

I've just had a random thought re: penalties and handicaps, and was wondering if anyone knew the answer.

When playing your 3 cards for handicap, I assume that any penalty strokes you get are included in the counting for handicap? I can't see how they wouldn't be, as you just write a number in a box, the handicap sec doesn't know either way!

Now my query is, wouldn't this result in too high a handicap? Say your penalty is for nudging the ball, so you replace it and add a stroke, but you wouldn't expect to do that regularly? So to include that shot in your handicap would be accidental sandbagging? Or am I talking nonsense (would not surprise me if I was!)

Your handicap will be the best of the 3 cards you hand in so unless you do something silly on all 3 cards its as fair as it can be.

 

[AmandaJR]

I've just had a random thought re: penalties and handicaps, and was wondering if anyone knew the answer.

When playing your 3 cards for handicap, I assume that any penalty strokes you get are included in the counting for handicap? I can't see how they wouldn't be, as you just write a number in a box, the handicap sec doesn't know either way!

Now my query is, wouldn't this result in too high a handicap? Say your penalty is for nudging the ball, so you replace it and add a stroke, but you wouldn't expect to do that regularly? So to include that shot in your handicap would be accidental sandbagging? Or am I talking nonsense (would not surprise me if I was!)

Interesting question. I'm sure they are included BUT early this year marked a card for a new member. He was a lovely lad and one hell of a golfer. Never been a club member or had a handicap despite playing for a few years. Anyhow, he did address the ball quite closely but on 3 occasions (or could have been 4) told me he had touched the ball with his putter so added a stroke to his score. I asked each time if it had moved and he said he thought it had...I did have a question in my mind as to whether he was deliberately adding shots as had told him he was playing very tidily and probably heading for single figures and he wasn't sure he was that capable...

Put it to the back of my mind as me over analysing but...easy enough to add a few to the initial handicap this way?

 

[Alex1975]

Interesting question. I'm sure they are included BUT early this year marked a card for a new member. He was a lovely lad and one hell of a golfer. Never been a club member or had a handicap despite playing for a few years. Anyhow, he did address the ball quite closely but on 3 occasions (or could have been 4) told me he had touched the ball with his putter so added a stroke to his score. I asked each time if it had moved and he said he thought it had...I did have a question in my mind as to whether he was deliberately adding shots as had told him he was playing very tidily and probably heading for single figures and he wasn't sure he was that capable...

Put it to the back of my mind as me over analysing but...easy enough to add a few to the initial handicap this way?

I thought the ball could move but is it went back to its original position it was not a penalty stroke?! I think they call it "oscillation". Happy to be corrected.

 

[AmandaJR]

I thought the ball could move but is it went back to its original position it was not a penalty stroke?! I think they call it "oscillation". Happy to be corrected.

I think so too but he was sure it had moved and stayed moved. I could be wrong but something just didn't feel right. I'm so intent on getting as low as I can though that I always struggle to believe anyone would want their handicap to go the other way!

 

[Alex1975]

I think so too but he was sure it had moved and stayed moved. I could be wrong but something just didn't feel right. I'm so intent on getting as low as I can though that I always struggle to believe anyone would want their handicap to go the other way!

Yep I feel the same... I would rather be low and struggle than win anything ever...

 

[CheltenhamHacker]

Your handicap will be the best of the 3 cards you hand in so unless you do something silly on all 3 cards its as fair as it can be.

All it takes is your cards being, say 100, 99 and a 95, but the 95 included 3 penalty strokes.

Amandas situation sums up perfectly what i was thinking! I appreciate you could miss a couple of putts, but that could look a bit more suspicious, especially if you've been putting well! Would it not make more sense for these penalty strokes to be highlighted seperately, and not included for handicap calculations?

 

[Alex1975]

All it takes is your cards being, say 100, 99 and a 95, but the 95 included 3 penalty strokes.

Amandas situation sums up perfectly what i was thinking! I appreciate you could miss a couple of putts, but that could look a bit more suspicious, especially if you've been putting well! Would it not make more sense for these penalty strokes to be highlighted seperately, and not included for handicap calculations?

Ye but in reality if your of that mind set you could do the same in the first comp you enter too.

 

[pbrown7582]

All sorts of ways you can manipulate the score if you so wish you getting your initial handicap if your that way inclined.

 

[TheClaw]

Think this is over-complicating things. Penalties are part of the game and count to your score. A missed 12" putt doesn't happen every time (well it shouldn't) but you wouldn't consider having a special section on a score card for this.

If we're talking about deliberately playing poorly then surely there are 1000s of ways (I've accidentally tried most of them) to wreck your card without nudging the ball repeatedly.

 

[nemicu]

It's the age-old story with scorecards - you don't draw pictures, you just write down the number.