Protecting a Handicap or Me Being Over Suspicious

[GB72]

A bloke joined our group on Sunday to enter a comp. He knows one of my playing partners and played with him in the winter medal so and I have played with him a couple of times before though he is very, very slow so I do not really enjoy playing with him that much. Anyway, he is semi retired, plays loads, goes abroad for months in the winter to play and apparently clears up in the senior roll up most weeks off his 24 handicaps.

He plays the first 6 holes well enough for a decent cut but not really good enough for a win. Comes to the par 3 6th, hits it into the reeds and plays a provisional. I find the ball and walk off to mine. He then has a swing at it, says it went a few yards forward, still in the rough but cannot find it, calls an NR and ends his card and plays on with his provisional for practice. He then goes on playing bogey golf for the rest of the round. I reckon he was on for a couple of shot cut.

Now, the fact that it was only a third of the way into the round meant that I did not take it any further but the actions were so odd and out of character left me thinking that there may have been bit of handicap protection going on.

Right to think it or being over suspicious?

 

[golfstick]

I NR'd on our 17th from a lost ball and couldnt be arsed to walk to the tee. Some people just find enough is enough if they feel the standard has dropped.

 

[Region3]

Still ought to be recording his score for handicap purposes really. Very easy to get a cut off 24 with one nett double bogey.

 

[golfstick]

region, i hate ur binary joke! everyone in our office used to do it, AHhhhhhhhhh

 

[RGDave]

Too "grey" if you ask me. If it was a half decent comp, why would he not want to keep up his card if he'd started well?
Was it medal or stableford? (sorry, I did read it twice).

 

[stevek1969]

played with a guy like that last week in the medal,never met the guy before ,seemed a decent enough guy and was playing of 19 ( we thought he missed a point in between).
he was +6 on the par 5 16th and smashed a drive right down the middle,then the swing changed and he walked of with a 9 he then proceeded to play exactley to his handicap.

we said when when we went in for a drink to him about it and he said he got nervous,my arse more loke a feckin chancer ,hate playing with guys like that surely the object is to get your handicap as low as you can.

 

[sweatysock41]

Sounds a bit like an old guy who regularly plays with us. Constantly wins the pot in our friendlies but always seems his club handicap increases each year. He doesn't take part in competitions though only maintains his handicap for this 'friendly' golf.

It was heard said that in the past some members had entered cards on his behalf when you could enter general play cards because they were so P'd off with him scoring 39+ points and saying he wasn't putting the card in.

 

[Losttheplot]

I'd of thought if he was protecting his handicap he'd N/R more often and it would be obvious on his stats. Check out his howdidido website page.

Does he clean up in the non qualifiers and the bounce games you've played with him before???

 

[dangermouse]

He dropped 13 shots in 4 holes having been about 9 under his handicap to that point? I'd be a touch suspicious to say the least.

We've all thrown away good rounds on the last couple of holes before (even Rory McIlroy will testify to that), but that is ridiculous. Even I'd struggle to make such a mess of that situation.

 

[stevek1969]

He dropped 13 shots in 4 holes having been about 9 under his handicap to that point? I'd be a touch suspicious to say the least.

We've all thrown away good rounds on the last couple of holes before (even Rory McIlroy will testify to that), but that is ridiculous. Even I'd struggle to make such a mess of that situation.

it was 3 holes mate,16,17,18 it stuck out like a sore thumb his putting went pete tong he 4 putted 16 and 3 putted 17 and 18 from no distance at all, he was looking like a net 61 at worst

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We've a couple in our roll up who have regularly cleaned up in recent months but to be fair they have both put some good competition cards in and started to be cut. The OP doesn't say if it was a medal but I'm assuming so if he NR'd as it would only be a zeropoint hole in stableford and he could have carried on. On the one hand I can understand where he is coming from. I lost a ball on the 15th yesterday in the medal despite everyone in the group seeing where it went into the rough. With the course stacked up and me being well outside the buffer already there seemed little point holding proceedings up. Even if we'd let the group behind through, resumed the search for the remainder of the five minutes, I doubt it would have been found.

However even if he's started well even off 24 on any given day there is the potential for a disaster so it isn't a given he'd have played well throughout. However if he is cleaning up regularly in the roll ups it does have a whiff of something strange although I doubt the kitty will really top his pension fund up by much

 

[GB72]

It was a medal (should have mentioned that). It was the situation that was strange to me and I have not described it that well having re-read my post. I found his first ball and it was playable though may have needed to chip out, there was not that much trouble in front to lose a ball in. The other 2 of us have walked on to our balls as I was a bit left and the other guy was way right. By the time I have reached my ball he has taken a swing, declared his ball lost and is off to have hit with his provisional. All this before we have had the chance to offer to look for his ball. In fact I think he had even hit his provisional before I had any chance to say a thing. By my recollection he was averaging no more than bogey golf for the rest of the round so was looking at a possible round 6 under his handicap and a 2.4 shot cut.

As I said, it could be me being over suspicious but if I were on for a handicap cut I would everybody looking for my ball for the full 5 minutes even if I had to call the group behind through to do it.

 

[fundy]

I NRed in a medal last week on the 9th (didnt find tee shot walked back, didnt find rehit refused to walk back again). I then played the rest of the round as if I was still in the medal and recorded a score on every hole, just because he has one NR hole doesnt mean he should auto NR every hole from then on imo, if nothing else its not overly fair on the guys youre playing with

 

[Twire]

You can still be cut from a NR Medal round, he should have carried on with his card, and the bad hole will count as a net double for handicap purposes. Next time you play with him, tell him he must carry on with his card.

 

[Tiger]

How do your social games work? The group I play with modify handicaps based on who wins. We start on club h/caps in April and play front, back and full 18 quid in for each. You get cut one shot for each thing you win or four shots if you win the lot. Works well in spreading the wealth.

 

[AyrHead]

Every club has these characters! They put in the minimum of 3 strokeplay cards a year (making sure they don't get cut).
And then you notice they have entered all the matchplay comps, tri ams and Texas Scrambles etc with their dodgy mates and clean up. If they aren't winning them they're runners up. Our H'cap secretary knows exactly whats going on but admits he is powerless to do anything - personally i'd break their legs - absolute scum!

 

[MashieNiblick]

Don't think the "playing a blinder for 6 holes then blowing it" or even the "well on for a win/cut after 15 and tanking it" scenarios are that rare or in themselves suspicious. I have done and seen both (with players I know and trust) plenty of times.

But in both situations that's what the net double bogey rule seeks to iron out. Even the guy who blew it after 15 should have been cut as the worst those last 3 holes can cost him is 9 shots (off 19 I'm guessing he'll get a shot a hole making them gross trebles for h/c purposes). If he was only 5 over at that point he's still under his h/cap.

At our place we have good prizes for most of our comps and plenty of kudos for a win or a place and I don't think anyone would blow a good score just to keep up a handicap in the hope of bagging a bigger prize another day. The fields are just too big and too competitive. And I can't see the point of protecting a handicap just to take a few quid off your mates.

Maybe I'm naive but I'd be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Leftie]

I found his first ball and it was playable though may have needed to chip out, there was not that much trouble in front to lose a ball in.

By the time I have reached my ball he has taken a swing, declared his ball lost and is off to have hit with his provisional.

Cheat - or has no knowledge of the rules (or both).

a) Declaring a ball lost has no meaning or validity under the rules of golf (how many times do I have to repeat that statement? )

b) He found the original ball and played it. The provisional ball should have been picked up, not played.

His card should still have been completed and handed in (unless he walked off the course). N/R on one hole will mean that he won't win anything but he could still be cut on his performance on the other 17 holes.

 

[richart]

I found his first ball and it was playable though may have needed to chip out, there was not that much trouble in front to lose a ball in.

By the time I have reached my ball he has taken a swing, declared his ball lost and is off to have hit with his provisional.

Cheat - or has no knowledge of the rules (or both).

a) Declaring a ball lost has no meaning or validity under the rules of golf (how many times do I have to repeat that statement? )

b) He found the original ball and played it. The provisional ball should have been picked up, not played.

His card should still have been completed and handed in (unless he walked off the course). N/R on one hole will mean that he won't win anything but he could still be cut on his performance on the other 17 holes.

Calm down Leftie or you will never get back off to sleep. Happy 2500 post.

 

[Region3]

region, i hate ur binary joke! everyone in our office used to do it, AHhhhhhhhhh

I'll try to find a new one