WHS - Has it made it easier for Handicap “manipulation”

[Captain_Black.]

Golf has always been pretty much self regulating.
It's always been possible to manipulate a handicap
I do think it's a minority that are doing it, but that minority are making the handicap system into a bit of a mockery.
Is it easier now under WHS?
Absolutely yes, of course it is.
But, I have gone past worrying about it now because nothing fundamental is going to change.
I just have accepted the fact that there are some players who for whatever reason are playing off of a false handicap.
One thing that does annoy me though are those who advocate that the club / handicap committee should be more proactive in identifying & dealing with such individuals.
In reality for reasons of avoiding confrontation & difficulty of absolute proof this rarely if ever happens in my experience
I'm afraid it's just something that we will just have to learn to live with.
It's a massive shame though, because of the manipulation & the ridiculous hiking up of the max handicap allowance pre WHS have both combined to make the game less attractive for many

 

[Swango1980]

Are there really that many players around that only play for pots and manipulate their 20th score? In my experience by far the majority play because the enjoy the game.

I've no idea how many do that. But it was simply one specific example where players can manipulate handicap, not the only one. I've given 2 more, and others could probably give other examples where players find a way to manipulate handicap.

Even if only 1% of golfers manipulate handicap (most cases, not definitive cheating, but just choosing when to submit scores) that is 5 golfers in a club of 500 members. 5 golfers that find ways to manipulate handicaps can still cause a stir within a club

 

[Backsticks]

I'm afraid it's just something that we will just have to learn to live with.
It's a massive shame though, because of the manipulation & the ridiculous hiking up of the max handicap allowance pre WHS have both combined to make the game less attractive for many

But it has solved the problem that plagued British golfers before WHS, which was lack of worldwide portability. You couldnt play a weekend game without someone complaining about how they were here or there on holidays or had their friends visiting them, and they couldnt play golf with each other. This very forum archive is full of endless threads where people are crying out for a unified world handicap system so that the game can be enjoyable for them. Think of the numbers that have been lost to this weakness over the decades. I couldnt count the number of friends who gave up golf because their handicap was only usable in these isles, and so having a handicap at all was almost pointless. It was ill conceived in the beginning. Was destroying the game here. Until finally, the authorities acted, and brought in WHS. This scourge that ravaged handicap golf has been eradicated, leaving most golfers finally able to enjoy the handicap system they had always dreamed of.
Oh wait...
What ?
It was self important union reps look for something 'important' to do and 'leave their mark' on the game ?
Fixing something that wasnt broken ?
Ah..