What Category Are Your Bandits Hiding In?

[Hobbit]

Had an obvious one at a previous club. Used to pick up winnings in team comps and opens. He holiday'd down south one year and word got back that he'd won a couple of comps with ridiculous scores, e.g. 51pts. About the time he returned from holiday he won a couple of good pairs opens.

Unfortunately for him he shocked his matchplay partner around the same time, when playing in a singles medal, by insisting that he deliberately knock his tee shot on the 18th OOB. Heated words were had and it came to a head at the club.

Rule 19 was applied, which was forcibly challenged. A discussion was had about his away scores not being returned and his insistence that his playing partner hit OOB in a recent medal to protect his handicap. He was given the choice of accepting the cut or his handicap be suspended till the County Union could act. Solicitor's letters were swapped but, thankfully, the whole thing fizzled out.

Last I heard he'd swapped sports for another with a handicap and was doing rather well at that too.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

He'd become a racehorse?

 

[Hobbit]

He'd become a racehorse?

He had the looks

 

[duncan mackie]

First define the term 'bandit'.

You will generally have more fast improves in cat 3/cat 2 - they will have all the attributes of a bandit for a period of time before they stop improving and their had cap catches up. Those that are going to improve significantly will rarely start in higher handicap categores.

Enter non qualifying events with prize tables and you will meet many who manage their handicaps - and many who don't of course.

There absre also others whose capabilites vary significantly from round to round - or even hole to hole. They can appear to be a bandit in 4BBB play (matches or AM /AM events)!

 

[Deleted member 16999]

First define the term 'bandit'.

You will generally have more fast improves in cat 3/cat 2 - they will have all the attributes of a bandit for a period of time before they stop improving and their had cap catches up. Those that are going to improve significantly will rarely start in higher handicap categores.

Enter non qualifying events with prize tables and you will meet many who manage their handicaps - and many who don't of course.

There absre also others whose capabilites vary significantly from round to round - or even hole to hole. They can appear to be a bandit in 4BBB play (matches or AM /AM events)!

Anyone who manages their handicap to suit the events they enter for more than just the koudos of entering.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

For me bandit is a phrase that’s used regularly but poorly used

There are many types of golfers that get the tag aimed at them

1. The guys who play a few society days but then join a club and they are better than their handicap - win a few comps early and their HC comes tumbling down - whilst that happens they get called a bandit - incorrect imo

2. The guys who have mid to high handicaps but in medals or single comps have those two or three holes where they just crumble and have horrors - but in Matchplay or in 4BBB comps those holes can be glossed over and they do well and win - they also get called bandits but again imo it’s unfair. There are loads that just can’t do it in a medal or Stableford

3. The guys who have great rounds in roll ups and swindles - have far low social HCs but again when it comes to Comp rounds - struggle - again these guys get called bandits incorrectly - there are loads that just can’t seem to handle the pressure of a Comp - they aren’t bandits

For me the bandits are the guys that just play the 3 Q comps , then go away and play the National 4BBB comps or KO where your handicap doesn’t get touched - we all know the comps and the suspects and there have been many threads on them - not many clubs have those players. There are also the ones who look to enter comps just to get .1 back and manufacturing their HC high ( and some times low ) - clubs will have a few of them

That’s the real bandits - far too many other golfers get accused of banditry

 

[Deleted member 16999]

For me bandit is a phrase that’s used regularly but poorly used

There are many types of golfers that get the tag aimed at them

1. The guys who play a few society days but then join a club and they are better than their handicap - win a few comps early and their HC comes tumbling down - whilst that happens they get called a bandit - incorrect imo

2. The guys who have mid to high handicaps but in medals or single comps have those two or three holes where they just crumble and have horrors - but in Matchplay or in 4BBB comps those holes can be glossed over and they do well and win - they also get called bandits but again imo it’s unfair. There are loads that just can’t do it in a medal or Stableford

3. The guys who have great rounds in roll ups and swindles - have far low social HCs but again when it comes to Comp rounds - struggle - again these guys get called bandits incorrectly - there are loads that just can’t seem to handle the pressure of a Comp - they aren’t bandits

For me the bandits are the guys that just play the 3 Q comps , then go away and play the National 4BBB comps or KO where your handicap doesn’t get touched - we all know the comps and the suspects and there have been many threads on them - not many clubs have those players. There are also the ones who look to enter comps just to get .1 back and manufacturing their HC high ( and some times low ) - clubs will have a few of them

That’s the real bandits - far too many other golfers get accused of banditry

Good post and I totally agree, bandit means different things to different people.

 

[Grant85]

For me bandit is a phrase that’s used regularly but poorly used

There are many types of golfers that get the tag aimed at them

1. The guys who play a few society days but then join a club and they are better than their handicap - win a few comps early and their HC comes tumbling down - whilst that happens they get called a bandit - incorrect imo

2. The guys who have mid to high handicaps but in medals or single comps have those two or three holes where they just crumble and have horrors - but in Matchplay or in 4BBB comps those holes can be glossed over and they do well and win - they also get called bandits but again imo it’s unfair. There are loads that just can’t do it in a medal or Stableford

3. The guys who have great rounds in roll ups and swindles - have far low social HCs but again when it comes to Comp rounds - struggle - again these guys get called bandits incorrectly - there are loads that just can’t seem to handle the pressure of a Comp - they aren’t bandits

For me the bandits are the guys that just play the 3 Q comps , then go away and play the National 4BBB comps or KO where your handicap doesn’t get touched - we all know the comps and the suspects and there have been many threads on them - not many clubs have those players. There are also the ones who look to enter comps just to get .1 back and manufacturing their HC high ( and some times low ) - clubs will have a few of them

That’s the real bandits - far too many other golfers get accused of banditry

Completely agree with this.

At a club I was at, it seemed that any time someone won a sweep everyone referred to him as a bandit as if he cared about winning £8 on a Sunday morning to the extent that he would intentionally keep his handicap a couple of shots higher.

In the main, all non-bandits are in 2 categories - they want to play in competitions / sweeps / matchplay and enjoy competing with what they feel is their handicap (and don't necessarily do much to improve it) OR they care more about their handicap and are happy enough working hard to become a better golfer and realise that the chance of shooting a load under par to win anything is less likely.

 

[Rlburnside]

For me bandit is a phrase that’s used regularly but poorly used

There are many types of golfers that get the tag aimed at them

1. The guys who play a few society days but then join a club and they are better than their handicap - win a few comps early and their HC comes tumbling down - whilst that happens they get called a bandit - incorrect imo

2. The guys who have mid to high handicaps but in medals or single comps have those two or three holes where they just crumble and have horrors - but in Matchplay or in 4BBB comps those holes can be glossed over and they do well and win - they also get called bandits but again imo it’s unfair. There are loads that just can’t do it in a medal or Stableford

3. The guys who have great rounds in roll ups and swindles - have far low social HCs but again when it comes to Comp rounds - struggle - again these guys get called bandits incorrectly - there are loads that just can’t seem to handle the pressure of a Comp - they aren’t bandits

For me the bandits are the guys that just play the 3 Q comps , then go away and play the National 4BBB comps or KO where your handicap doesn’t get touched - we all know the comps and the suspects and there have been many threads on them - not many clubs have those players. There are also the ones who look to enter comps just to get .1 back and manufacturing their HC high ( and some times low ) - clubs will have a few of them

That’s the real bandits - far too many other golfers get accused of banditry

Yes that’s a good assessment, I wouldn’t say that we have any of what I would term bandits.

But we have many lads from 18 to 35 age range that don’t get to play in many qualifiers due to family commitments, and they stay around the same h/cs , if any of these lads played regularly they would be 3/5 shots lower and it’s hard to compete with them if they play well.

But I wouldn’t term them as bandits as some do.

 

[chrisd]

A past captain who told me that he liked to keep his handicap to mid teen so that he could win a competition pretty well every year. Another, a 23 handicapper who plays in swindles and regularly scores 40 points + but plays off 18 in our clubs board comps and wins pairs comps with a 7 handicapper partner but he does all the damage and shoots into single figures sometimes, but apparently cant play with a card in a medal!

 

[Grant85]

A past captain who told me that he liked to keep his handicap to mid teen so that he could win a competition pretty well every year. Another, a 23 handicapper who plays in swindles and regularly scores 40 points + but plays off 18 in our clubs board comps and wins pairs comps with a 7 handicapper partner but he does all the damage and shoots into single figures sometimes, but apparently cant play with a card in a medal!

This is a real thing, people genuinely can't cope with the pressure. Doesn't matter if you are Rory McIlroy or Dave who can only break 90 when he's playing matchplay.

 

[chrisd]

This is a real thing, people genuinely can't cope with the pressure. Doesn't matter if you are Rory McIlroy or Dave who can only break 90 when he's playing matchplay.

Back in the day they would have been cut on known play

 

[Grant85]

Back in the day they would have been cut on known play

Not sure of the discretion that secretaries have.
I've been cut for good matchplay results, but only at the end of the season (i.e. not before I'd won a matchplay competition and finished 2nd in another).

However I've not heard of anyone being cut for playing well in social games or roll ups.

 

[bobmac]

I've always thought a bandit was a name given to someone who had just had a good day.
Someone who keeps their h/cap high to win the bigger comps is a cheat, pure and simple

 

[User20204]

A past captain who told me that he liked to keep his handicap to mid teen so that he could win a competition pretty well every year. Another, a 23 handicapper who plays in swindles and regularly scores 40 points + but plays off 18 in our clubs board comps and wins pairs comps with a 7 handicapper partner but he does all the damage and shoots into single figures sometimes, but apparently cant play with a card in a medal!

That's some going over 18 holes

 

[chrisd]

That's some going over 18 holes

😣😣🤔

 

[duncan mackie]

Anyone who manages their handicap to suit the events they enter for more than just the koudos of entering.

In which case it's generally going to be cat 1 through 3 - possibly as high as low 20's.

Above that and the disparity between play and handicap becomes blindly obvious and indefensible.

Btw, that's not my working definition; what you are describing is cheating, plain and simple. Don't deserve the sombrero or the donkey...

 

[GB72]

Seen a few, mainly cat 3. Play the minimum number of comps a year then come out for the pairs comps, am/ams, texas scrambles etc

 

[Tashyboy]

We have had a few ( new) lads over the winter months shoot some astonishing scores, 25 points plus nine holes, 45 points plus 18 holes. Every other week. They play off 20-24 hcap and listening to a few guys in the 19 th they have been " noted". Don't know what that means, but al leave it to them. At the other end of the Bandit stick, a lad I went to school with was shooting 44,42,43 40 points every other week. He found out the club were having a management meeting and asked them to look at his Hcap.He was playing off 11. He now plays of 9. He is ecstatic. Played the next 18 holer and won it with 40 points 😂

 

[cookelad]

I've known bandits in every category (and been called one in just about every category!), it was amazing how quickly the category 1 guy could get from 1 to 4 and back again depending on what he needed his handicap for - going to Portugal for the annual jolly he's off 4 then suddenly he wants to apply for some comp and he's back down to 1 overnight.