Would I be cheating?

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minty18

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Right this could be a long one...

My official club handicap is 27 however we only have competitions every other weekend which usually fall on a weekend i am working so i dont get to play in many club competitions. We are enccouraged though to hand in social round cards for "handicap adjustment".

The par for our course is 69 and i'm usually around the 90 mark for most rounds, however over the last few weeks i've played really well and on saturday I carded a 83 in a social gathering (my mates make me play off 20).

I want to get my handicap down so want to hand in the card however i'm playing a stableford at the end of july (its the first comp that has fallen on a weekend i'm not working in ages) and would love to pick up my first bit of silverware.

I'm more than likely going to hand in the card anyway but would me walking in to the club house with 45+pts really be such a bad thing?
 
For handicap purposes you will lose a few shots yes, but walking in next week with 40+points anyway should still see you get something.
Id want to stay on the moral side and not risk being called a cheat.
 
Its not cheating as such, but it is your conscience that will be nibbling away at you as you could win but you will have won as a bona fide bandit....no other words for it.

The game is as much about integrity than it is anything else, and if you know you're not a 27 handicapper then you shouldnt play a comp to 27 handicap either.

Just my two penneth!
 
Don't put the card in I have never in 26 years put a social card in - where is the fun in your handicap coming down and not winning, you will soon start coming down plus you get to enjoy picking up some silver. If the club don't hold enough comps its hardly your fault also there will be others in the club of higher than actual handicaps.
 
Ok i'm handing in the card.

I consider myself a very honest golfer and have called many a penalty on my self that others didnt see.

Time for a cut then.
 
Ok i'm handing in the card.

I consider myself a very honest golfer and have called many a penalty on my self that others didnt see.

Time for a cut then.
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Well done.
If you didn't, then you would knowingly play in a competition with a handicap that doesn't reflect your current playing ability and in my humble opinion, that is not the spirit in which golf should be played.
 
Ok i'm handing in the card.

I consider myself a very honest golfer and have called many a penalty on my self that others didnt see.

Time for a cut then.
Click to expand...

Well done.
If you didn't, then you would knowingly play in a competition with a handicap that doesn't reflect your current playing ability and in my humble opinion, that is not the spirit in which golf should be played.
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Good call Minty, your conscience will be clear.

If the rules say that they can not change your h/c that's up to them, personally I think your h/c secretary can make the change, but I believe there is a limit.

Now go and win the comp whatever they come up with for your h/c.
 
You can hand the card in but they are not allowed to cut you under the CONGU rules as it was not in a compeition...
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Our club would cut me. I think it is to stop the bandits, thats why they encourage people to put social rounds in as long as its signed by another member.

Either way I'm handing in it, i've worked hard to get a cut so this should see me reach this years target, if i get cut to say 25 and shoot 83 in a comp i'll still be called a bandit.

lets just hope i can do it in a comp.
 
where is the fun in your handicap coming down and not winning
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I've been cut dozens of times down the years and not necessarily won anything. I play the game for enjoyment and to get my handicap as low as possible. If I win something along the way its a bonus.
 
are you sure it's social cards and not supplementary?

supplementary's are designed for people like you who can't play sufficient comps, but they should, I think, be played off the whites and, if as ours, declared before playing.
 
Minty, well done for doing the right thing, slated you will get, but honest you will feel.

You could have not done the right thing and messed up the comp game altogether, who would have been the winner then :(

Well Done :)
 
I will be stunned if they do anything until the xmas review, when they can cut on general play. Mid year, off a social card, they should leave it alone. Everyone is entitled to the odd hot round out of competition, without putting the card in.

Do you put all the poor cards in too? Other wise you would only ever come down. How would that work?
 
If you hand in your card and they wont chop you, as least you have tried.
If they do chop you it would be to about 22.2 if you are presently off 27.0
Thats still 2 shots higher than your mates rates h/cap.

If the rules state that someone cannot hand in a card and be chopped in general play, then the rules should be changed. In my opinion.
 
are you sure it's social cards and not supplementary?

supplementary's are designed for people like you who can't play sufficient comps, but they should, I think, be played off the whites and, if as ours, declared before playing.
Click to expand...

They dont have to be played off the whites but you do have to mark what tee's you play off as the par is different for each.

No idea if its completely legit but if other members do it to make sure they are not being bandits i think i should follow suit.
 
Minty.....you've done the right thing but I suspect nothing will happen. A social game is a social game. If I handed my *fully completed and signed social game* cards over to the sec' and he cut me on the basis of those cards, I'd be off about 8.

If I was running my club, I'd stipulate that all golfers playing less then one qualifier a month are expected to hand in any cards, good and bad...but (unless I've got it wrong)...I think general play adjustments have become extinct.

t.b.h. If I handed in a 75 and got cut according to a 75 off yellow SSS I'd complain bitterly.....they see me play enough off whites to know I'm not as competitive on the longer course.
 
Well done fellah for doing the right thing. Whether or not you are cut and people call you a bandit, you can quite rightly say that you have put cards in.

We had virtually the same discussion last month and I posted a link to the CONGU site. Obviously no-one bothered to read it so I have copied it below.

A committee CAN adjust handicaps at any time of the year under "exceptional" circumstances.....

Quote

Q. Clause 23.7 of the CONGU UHS states that ‘In exceptional circumstances the Handicap Committee may adjust the handicap of a player in the period between Annual Reviews if there is compelling evidence that his Exact Handicap does not reflect his current playing ability’.

What are ‘exceptional circumstances’?

A. Circumstances that may be regarded as ‘exceptional’ include:

* Impaired golfing ability resulting from extended illness or injury.
* The need to correct a handicap that was allocated at an inappropriate level.
* The return of a series of good scores in Qualifying Competitions within a short timeframe by a hitherto infrequent competitor.
* A number of, probably three or more, good playing performances in Non Qualifying competitions by a player who otherwise may not participate with any regularity in Qualifying Competitions. Examples of Non-Qualifying competitions may include Mixed Foursomes, Four-Ball Better Ball events, Corporate and Society days, at the discretion of each Union/Association. The specific examples, of acceptable Non-Qualifying events to be used, is left to each Unions/Associations to decide as they wish.

Note:- Society days included.
 
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