When do you stop being a bandit?

[TWM]

I cease to be a bandit once I start the back nine.
No stamina...

 

[viscount17]

you cease to be a bandit when you're a club official

 

[GB72]

You stop being a bandit when you stop beating your mates with lower handicaps

 

[toyboy54]

To one and all on this vexing issue.
I play in every stroke/medal that I can,all I want is to get my handicap down(24.3)
The guys I play with know I can do it,I know I can do it,but I just load myself up with pressure to do it!
Result?Best eclectic prize over the past season.
Why?Because I try too hard on every shot,every chip,every putt,every chip.That's why!
SWMBO has got me the doctor bob rotella books..all of them.I've read them, all of them,but put a comp score card in my hand and I'm a gibbering idiot!
Give me a bounce game and give me the money!
I hate my handicap but it does not lie!
I go to the range a lot and one of our members(off 3)does'nt believe my handicap,he's been telling me to forget trying too hard and relax!
It's not Bob Rotella I need,it's a bloody shrink!!!!

 

[Smiffy]

Played with a bloke from Yorkshire once in a big Society "do" at the Forest of Arden.
Was a professional footballer (I think he played for Sheffield United) and had a handicap of 12.
Fooking bandit he was.
I had met his mate the previous year, nice bloke and a genuine 18 handicapper, so me and my mate had fixed up a match against the pair of 'em.
My mate was watching this 12 handicapper hit shots on the range, he was clearing the fence!
He just turned to me and said "let's just hope the fecker can't putt"....he could.
46 points he had...cleaned up, and the following year he came back to defend his cup and had been cut to 4.
He didn't come again.

 

[RGuk]

I think you stop being a bandit when you no longer play much better than your handicap would suggest, i.e., the higher the handicap the more likely you're going to get better days as the room for improvement is there.

Yep.....absolutely. When I first visited this forum, I found it odd that I was in the minority of players who played to my h'cap once in four outings or so.
As it happens, my new handicap is proving quite a challenge and I'm inconsistent around my home course. t.b.h. I've played level - 4 under a few times this last year and no-one has called me a bandit. Banditry is when the overall standard of a player's game is clearly better than the h'cap and they frequently score 40 points or more than 5 under. It's easy to play well under when your h'cap is coming down generally. Off low 20s, a freak round to 10 is quite possible. Off 12, a freak round to 2 just never happens. It's easy to be a bandit when you have a shot a hole.....

 

[viscount17]

not quite dave, it's easy to be a bandit when you can <u>use</u> the shot a hole . .

 

[toyboy54]

Viscount 17..are you saying that I'm a cheat?
Years ago I was lower,much lower but now I'm older(the ego is still there ,unfotunately,hence the probs.)
I've got the old swing..sometimes...but I just want to hit each shot perfectly(what a tisser)!
As I said in my post I just lose the plot and I do realise that this is all down to me!
Ergo,I'm the one to sort out the brain(?)and the mental(deffo)issues!
P.S.Fancy a game of full handicaps???

 

[toyboy54]

Viscount17.........Why don't I digest what I read what I see? I owe you an apology!Big time apology on the way!

 

[IM01]

Anyone can have a good day and play below their hcp but people who play on a regular basis but only seem to play 4bbb comps or scrambles are the real bandits.

 

[viscount17]

. . . is never having to say your sorry

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The definition of banditry is Jezz Ellwood (5 handicap) and John Thynne (18 my a**e). Five birdies on the spin against Dave (realgolferuk) and me in our challenge match. John never missed a green or fairway all round and Jezz knocked into a different county off each tee

 

[RGuk]

not quite dave, it's easy to be a bandit when you can <u>use</u> the shot a hole . .

Yes, that's what I meant......of course!

 

[billyg]

The second category is that which I believe this forum represents - people who can't wait to get out on the course, who love the feel of a ball singing off the middle of the club, nestling on the green, want to get their handicap down to represent their best golfing ability and generally love it when their mates play well. I think that's where the best banter comes in - I've no problem when my mates call me a bandit on the days when it all comes good, because I know they mean it as a compliment, would love it if it were them, and I know my handicap is a true reflection of where I am at in my golfing life.

What an excellent statement and one I heartily endorse.

Mrs. BillyG a wonderful approach shot on the 17th this Sunday. Must have been about 135 yards- good contact, great arc, plopped down 10 feet from the pin. 'Shot of the day' I said.

Neither of us are great at golf but enjoy it when we make a passable attempt at the shot we have in mind.

As far as handicaps it all a bit foggy to me.

I play off the yellows which is a par 72 on both tracks.

I haven't got an HC partly because I don't break 100 regularly enough and anything over 100 puts me over the maximum handicap for a bloke so why turn the cards in?

Even if I did it's not that important to me as I don't play comps. or many strangers anyway.

I'm more of a boom and bust underachiever player than a consistent under achiever eg

boom and bust front 9 example - 9, 5,4,6,3,10,4,5,5
Dribbly under achiever front 9 example - 6,6,7,5,6,5,6,5,7

However, as a result of this my 'eclectic' over the first year puts me at a 10 handicapper so if one of these days I turn out and manage to put the bits of a puzzle together i'm a bandit?

Furthermore, how is it fair that I would play off a nominal 28 on the yellows against a guy playing a nominal 28 off the whites? Of course ive got an advantage- but am I a bandit?

too many loopholes , inconsistancies and therefore scope for arguments over what is after all a game. Personally lifes too short.

I know in theory, the beauty of the HC system permits different ability players to have a healthy competitive game but when your all around about mid-teens then a shot here or there turns into far too much of a big deal.

I would be quite happy to swing well and score badly for the rest of my life.

BillyG