" You are playing better than your h/c"

[patricks148]

Dont want to hand my £3 to dirty,cheating, handicap protecting badits.

I use supplementary cards instead

But Shirley if they are winning they will be cut and so not protecting their handicap as such?

Protecting in my book is not playing comps and just the odd comp where you go up 0.1 then clean up in matchplay and TS with your mates.

 

[garyinderry]

many at my last club as i could never make comp day

Don't you find that there is the same buzz as teeing up in a proper competition? the prize may be minimal, but just knowing you are competing against everyone in the field creates an atmosphere that is hard to recreate with a sup card.

Its also nice to compare your round with others. See how they got on with certain holes etc.

I've done a few, even got a cut off one. Shot an, at the time, equal pb. It still wasn't the same feeling as being in a comp.

Maybe that's just me.

Plus, the course can be set up differently for a comp than it would on a normal day. Lee park where I am hides the pins a lot more on comp days.

 

[Foxholer]

Interestingly I've read on here that people should play to their handicap or beat it less than 40% of the time (someone will tell me the correct figure I'm sure).

I don't understand this, I would say a true handicap should be played to most weeks. My last 3 carded comps were 34pts, 40pts, 36pts. I came 15th, 2nd, 1st.

At H4H this year I played like a spanner, at a corporate day 2 Fridays ago I scored 36pts.

So I've only played over my handicap twice in last few comps. Granted, I got my handicap over the summer so it is coming down (from 22 to 19.8 currently), but I'd be pretty depressed if every week I was a good few points / shots away from even hitting buffer?

Much less than 40%! And certainly not 'most weeks' - except for someone who is improving.

Congu stats, in support of the Annual Review, indicate that the average net score over the season should be about 25% plus 1,5 shots above Finishing handicap. So a 'stable' 20-capper should be scoring on average 29 points (provided SSS = Par). There will be the occasional good score that will counter the bad ones that are likely to happen around 4 times as often!

You seem to be in the 'improving' category, so cuts should come.

 

[hovis]

But Shirley if they are winning they will be cut and so not protecting their handicap as such?

Protecting in my book is not playing comps and just the odd comp where you go up 0.1 then clean up in matchplay and TS with your mates.

There is a large group of members that only play in comps if there's a lot of players and prize money

 

[woody69]

I play off 21. Was having a good round (for me) and ended up with 39 points, so the equivilant of playing to 18. Halfway round the person I was playing with said, "you should be off 15 the way you are playing". He was off 5, so I said to him "you should be off 12 the way you are playing". He laughed and saw my point.

 

[patricks148]

I play off 21. Was having a good round (for me) and ended up with 39 points, so the equivilant of playing to 18. Halfway round the person I was playing with said, "you should be off 15 the way you are playing". He was off 5, so I said to him "you should be off 12 the way you are playing". He laughed and saw my point.

I didn't know we had played together

 

[b1lly13]

After playing golf as junior I rejoined a golf club last year I got given a handicap off 24 and have managed to get cut to 16 I was told constantly I was a bandit I think it's just people being jelous as they can't play to there own handicap golf is a game you play against yourself and the course and is about trying to drop your handicap if u win a couple of medals while doing that great but it's really about getting handicap lower than enything else.

 

[Val]

Interestingly I've read on here that people should play to their handicap or beat it less than 40% of the time (someone will tell me the correct figure I'm sure).

I don't understand this, I would say a true handicap should be played to most weeks. My last 3 carded comps were 34pts, 40pts, 36pts. I came 15th, 2nd, 1st.

At H4H this year I played like a spanner, at a corporate day 2 Fridays ago I scored 36pts.

So I've only played over my handicap twice in last few comps. Granted, I got my handicap over the summer so it is coming down (from 22 to 19.8 currently), but I'd be pretty depressed if every week I was a good few points / shots away from even hitting buffer?

A true handicap is a measure of ability not form so as such you probably shouldn't play to it week in week out, probably 1 in every 3 or 4 games.

 

[daymond]

One in every 3 or 4 games. If only!

 

[Sir Scoop-A-Lot]

I've been trying to get a cut for 22 months. Play well in friendlies (36-44 points) just can't do night I a comp. I just seem to bottle it. Did a supplementary card today and shot 16 over gross. (22 over using usual css). Sometimes it's just pressure that makes it difficult.

 

[Foxholer]

After playing golf as junior I rejoined a golf club last year I got given a handicap off 24 and have managed to get cut to 16 I was told constantly I was a bandit I think it's just people being jelous as they can't play to there own handicap golf is a game you play against yourself and the course and is about trying to drop your handicap if u win a couple of medals while doing that great but it's really about getting handicap lower than enything else.

Again, almost certainly not your 'fault' - it's the way the system works! It's possible that the 3 initial scores were higher than 'normal', but , unless you really are 'managing' your handicap, this should have been seen and adjusted.

It's actually an area where the US system works better than the Congu one, though there are areas where Congu workorks better than the US one.

 

[NWJocko]

Been a long time since someone told me I was playing better than my handicap!

Usually when asked my handicap the response is laughter :rofl:

 

[richart]

Been a long time since someone told me I was playing better than my handicap!

Usually when asked my handicap the response is laughter :rofl:

My ambition is to be called a bandit.

 

[NWJocko]

My ambition is to be called a bandit.

I need about 200 x 0.1's to come close!! :fore:

 

[Old Skier]

I thought you had to shoot over 40 twice in a certain time frame to trigger one of those. thats how the belfry do it anyhow

The Belfry do it that way, are you sure. ESRs are triggered by the handicap software usually after a second consecutive good round. They are not controlled by a person.

 

[Brechin balata]

A simple "no way you are off your handicap" is cracking reply and usually shuts them up !!!

 

[bladeplayer]

I play off 21. Was having a good round (for me) and ended up with 39 points, so the equivilant of playing to 18. Halfway round the person I was playing with said, "you should be off 15 the way you are playing". He was off 5, so I said to him "you should be off 12 the way you are playing". He laughed and saw my point.

I love this :clap:

 

[brfcfan]

Interestingly I've read on here that people should play to their handicap or beat it less than 40% of the time (someone will tell me the correct figure I'm sure).

I don't understand this, I would say a true handicap should be played to most weeks. My last 3 carded comps were 34pts, 40pts, 36pts. I came 15th, 2nd, 1st.

At H4H this year I played like a spanner, at a corporate day 2 Fridays ago I scored 36pts.

So I've only played over my handicap twice in last few comps. Granted, I got my handicap over the summer so it is coming down (from 22 to 19.8 currently), but I'd be pretty depressed if every week I was a good few points / shots away from even hitting buffer?

I am sure it is even less than 40%. I think Cat 1 golfers play to handicap or better 1 in 3, Cat 2 1in 4 and so on.

Higher handicap golfers have higher dispersions in their scores but everytime they are over par its only 0.1 they only need a -5 CSS and they come down 2 or 3 shots.

If you go online and pick a golfer from the middle of the pack in the order of merit you will see what I am talking about. Guy in the attachment is a decent 15.5 but look at his last 10 comps, only played to or under it 1 in 10.

 

[Stub]

I have been playing again after a "break" of getting on for 30 years for about two years. In the past few months while playing in nearly every club comp my h/c has dropped from 24 to 17 and I really feel that there is a potential to get lower.
Now to my complaint. Not every time but in comps I generally play fairly close to my h/cap or sometimes better than it hence the cuts.Something you would expect to see in an "improving" golfer. Another competition format that I enjoy is friendly seniors matchplay comps with other local clubs. In not just a few of these singles matches I have been on the end of bandit remarks or from those who are trying to express the insult in a more subtle way the use the euphemism in the heading.
On each occasion I have played fairly steady golf to around my h/c. Conversely, my opponent hasn't been within a dozen shots of their own. Ergo I have come out on top.
It seems to me that it is much too easy to trot out this banditry accusation rather than for some players to confront the reality of their own inadequate performances.
End of rant - that does feel better.

I suffer the same on a regular basis and in reply refer the complainant to my Medal results...usually tragic but managed a net 72 (par) in this month's effort!

 

[duncan mackie]

I have been playing again after a "break" of getting on for 30 years for about two years. In the past few months while playing in nearly every club comp my h/c has dropped from 24 to 17 and I really feel that there is a potential to get lower.
Now to my complaint. Not every time but in comps I generally play fairly close to my h/cap or sometimes better than it hence the cuts.Something you would expect to see in an "improving" golfer. Another competition format that I enjoy is friendly seniors matchplay comps with other local clubs. In not just a few of these singles matches I have been on the end of bandit remarks or from those who are trying to express the insult in a more subtle way the use the euphemism in the heading.
On each occasion I have played fairly steady golf to around my h/c. Conversely, my opponent hasn't been within a dozen shots of their own. Ergo I have come out on top.
It seems to me that it is much too easy to trot out this banditry accusation rather than for some players to confront the reality of their own inadequate performances.
End of rant - that does feel better.

I am afraid that I don't understand the rant element at all.

You are an improving golfer riding your handicap reductions who's competing head to head with others who, generally, will be seeing their capabilities declining and neither take lessons, practice nor invest in their equipment to prevent it (I did say generally!!!). you will win and they will be disgruntled because you are compromising their paradigm - such is life.

the only thing you need to do is accept it for what it is; rationalise it and, if necessary, take silent pride in it every time it crops up.

the only real negative I can see lurking is with the 'returning golfer' bit - but you don't mention what your previous best handicap was, or if you even had one.

we have a couple of people having only taken the fame up in their senior years who have come over from tennis and other sports - they join and get stuck in; handicaps are allocated as soon as they get to the 28 level and come down consistently over the first couple of years. if they were playing/competing in the wider group they wouldn't be noticed (they do play competitions) but it's generally the matches where they 'stand out'. good on them.