Whats your view!

[Earl]

And how about 1 particular person who I practice with regularly?

1) His handicap is 20.
2) He strikes the ball like a single figure handicapper.
3) I rarely see him miss a fairway or green in regulation when we play.
4) Putting/chipping is his weakness but 3 putts are once or twice a round when we play.
5) Off the medal tees in practise if he shoots 80 (+8) he'll be VERY annoyed at the way he's played.

Describe the above person to me and it's almost the definition of a bandit YET put him in a medal or stableford in a field of players and he'll struggle to play to his handicap.

On the flipside put him up against a single player in strokeplay/matchplay/stableford and he'll play just like he does in practise if not better!

I don't know what he is but he is totally open and honest with anybody who asks about his game and nobody calls him a bandit to my knowledge. It's almost a standing joke how he can't raise his game in competition bar singles play.

Other point don't slag off people who don't enter the comps regularly at their club especially if they're held on Sunday mornings as pretty much all of ours are. I would love to play them but combined with having to work 1 in 6 Sundays, my girlfriend works away 5 days a week 100 miles away. If I play on a Sunday moring in the comp I wave goodbye to 1/4 of our time together for the entire week.

I want to hand in more cards as I don't feel my handicap is 100% representative of what I score but give me midweek medals/stablefords to play in and I'll hand in a card at least once a fortnight. Keep them all on weekends and there will always be "bandits" who can't waste their sunday morning to play in a drawn group.

I can't see what the problem is if he can't score lower than his handicap in comps under full comp rules then a 20 handicapper he is. It is much easier to play friendly games without pressure but when it really counts he is what he is a 20 handicapper maybe not a bandit but maybe just a choker !