I played a charity match yesterday and every one had their handicap cut by 1/4. The winner of the day scored a 48 points in stableford and said he played of 26 he went round in 74 shots with 72 being par so that's 24 shots under his handicap. Why do people bother to lie about there handicap all he won was 6 lessons.
Why do people lie about handicaps
Handicaps can be pretty amusing. Goes something like this for many:
Significantly lower when BS'ing with the boys.
Significantly higher when entering a tournament.
People then think I'm a good golfer when talking to them and when I win I look like a stud......and a cheater (but they don't think of that when signing up with an inflated index).
Appearances are all that matter to some....that is the reason they lie.
Significantly lower when BS'ing with the boys.
Significantly higher when entering a tournament.
People then think I'm a good golfer when talking to them and when I win I look like a stud......and a cheater (but they don't think of that when signing up with an inflated index).
Appearances are all that matter to some....that is the reason they lie.
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What Cookie said plus some people could care less how they win as long as they do. Hence significantly sandbagging to enter a tournament. I have actually heard golfers discussing how they were going to get there handicaps up 3 or 4 points before a tournament. These were good low to mid single digit players. This is the reason I play in very few tournaments that use handicap. Honest golfers typically don't stand much of a chance of winning those type events.
cpljohnst
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I'm playing in my club championship today and tomorrow. I know before putting a tee in the ground I stand no chance to win due to sandbagging. I'll be in the third flight probably with my 8 index, with guys who are supposed to be 6 to 10. Problem is we have no handicap committee to speak of and there are many guys that intentional post scores 3 to 5 strokes higher every single time they post to pad their index for tournaments. I'll be happy if I finish 4th in my flight. That will be a success.
jhstew1
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a 26 shooting 74 is nuts, does anyone call him out about it?
emart2173
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This sums it up right here. Some people feel the need to cheat so they can win and feel good about themselves
jhstew1
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funny how those "Good Days" seem to always come on Tourney days
HBirdman80
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I think a lot of time it is to make them feel better about themselves due to some lingering issues or other problems they might have. I've noticed most of the people who do this were never really competitive in another sport, or they played another sport but weren't that good at it. Golf handicaps are the one area they can easily cheat by sandbagging followed by a 'good day' and thereby feel better about themselves.
jamant12
Member
People will do anything to win especially when there are prizes involved. I played in a 4 man scramble where all the par 3s had closest to the pin prizes. I watched a guy walk up close to the pin, spike his ball down and then proceed to move the marker to that spot. He ended up winning the prize for that hole, which was a Titleist stand bag. The course pro was alerted to the fact that the guy cheated but he didn't want to create a scene during the awards luncheon so nothing was done about it. It's disgusting what people will do to win.
I hate cheaters. Outside of formal high school and college athletics, I have never won any contest (luck, chance, competition). I enter things all the time, and among everyone who knows me we all joke that the only certain thing is that I won't win. I'm one of those people who wants to do my best straight up by the books. If I ever do win anything, I figure it will be that much sweeter, more significant to me. But in today's win at any cost attitude, I just try to remind myself to enjoy participating regardless of outcome.
And handicap is an interesting thing. I turn in every score. I shoot well and people will ask me if I'm going to turn it in because it might "hurt my handicap." Then I shoot poorly and people ask if I'm going to turn it in because it might "hurt my handicap." Huh? Sometimes I think I live in a different world from others.
And handicap is an interesting thing. I turn in every score. I shoot well and people will ask me if I'm going to turn it in because it might "hurt my handicap." Then I shoot poorly and people ask if I'm going to turn it in because it might "hurt my handicap." Huh? Sometimes I think I live in a different world from others.
GenErr
Well-known member
It makes you shake your head sometimes in disbelief. Longest Drive holes are also sometimes hilarious. I watched a guy tee off on the first hole at a local charity event. He almost whiffed, he swung so out of control - guess who won the Longest Drive?
If somebody needs to lie about their handicap to win a charity golf event, then they need the win more that you. Their souls are empty and their life is devoid of meaning. Let them have the win
Martsy
New member
Honestly in the instances where I've seen it be so blatantly obvious that there was no doubt the handicap was not valid, I also observed the cheaters were so deep into their deception that I think they actually convinced themselves. Sometimes winning at all costs is more important than integrity to people. Nothing you can do about except avoid events that don't do anything about it.
Mystery Meat
Ben Hogan Fan
Sorry to say but every event (especially a club championship or county tourney for example ), need to have an 18 hole qualifying round. Stroke play straight up no handicap lowest score wins; and flighted by qualifier score. If your playing a fun outing / charity event than handicaps will have to be used. Nature of the beast , and yes will be tons of sandbagging. Just how it goes and no way around it. Will probably be like that forever really
just enjoy the day and the company and figure you probably will never ever have a chance of winning or placing in these type of events. No matter how good you play. But you can always win a long drive hole / closest to the pin etc
For example , i play in a yearly charity outing every Memorial Day weekend. A few years back a group of 4 strangers to us joined up for the outing. They turned in their verified handicap and beat the whole field by at least 6 shots or more. They won everything , I mean everything. They were bombing it off the tee and just knocking it close all day long .. Ironically when the chairman mentioned to one that the team seemed better than their intended handicap they failed to show up ever again. Each member of their group easily took home a thousand dollars each in winnings and golf equipment...
just enjoy the day and the company and figure you probably will never ever have a chance of winning or placing in these type of events. No matter how good you play. But you can always win a long drive hole / closest to the pin etc
For example , i play in a yearly charity outing every Memorial Day weekend. A few years back a group of 4 strangers to us joined up for the outing. They turned in their verified handicap and beat the whole field by at least 6 shots or more. They won everything , I mean everything. They were bombing it off the tee and just knocking it close all day long .. Ironically when the chairman mentioned to one that the team seemed better than their intended handicap they failed to show up ever again. Each member of their group easily took home a thousand dollars each in winnings and golf equipment...
Sandbagging is not going away. I really haven't played more than a handful of tournaments that use handicaps in the last 30 years. I does baffle me how anyone can get excited sandbagging to win a tournament. Can you imagine if we applied handicaps to bowling, pool, softball or any other sport!
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Mystery Meat
Ben Hogan Fan
It makes no sense ... It's a joke really . It rewards people for not getting better at times. I so love when the event criteria reads " no handicaps" allowed. If I shoot a bad score than I deserve it .. If I shoot good than I deserve to place well or respectable
TheCrest4
#UrbanLumberJack
I have never played in a handicapped tournament but it doesn't surprise me that people would lie about it. I never saw the point in fabricating a handicap doesn't make sense to do that but that's me I guess.
I think this is great. Public humiliation and collectively publicly letting him know it's BS are very good things.
Also, there are degrees of cheating. I almost expect people to fudge a score or two that drops or raises them a stroke. Okay, whatever, it's in the margin of error for what they may shoot any given day and it's not worth worrying about. But shooting 74 off a 26 cap is virtually impossible. Absurd.
I have a match coming up next week. I noticed my opponent has posted 4 or 5 of his worst scores in a long time and his cap has gone up a stroke. Hmm. I will admit it was a little tempting to hold back a round that drops my cap and makes me lose a stroke against him. I posted it correctly. Eff it - it's just a stupid tournament and my integrity is worth more than one stroke. If I want to win I just need to play better.
UglySwing
New member
In such cases where there's going to be a tournie based on handicaps, wouldn't it be better to use the players score from previous tournaments to see how many strokes he does/does not get.
In this case the guy with the 26 handicap who shot a 74...in next yr's tournament his 74 would be the relevant score.
But I agree that it should simply be the best golfer wins. No handicaps.
In this case the guy with the 26 handicap who shot a 74...in next yr's tournament his 74 would be the relevant score.
But I agree that it should simply be the best golfer wins. No handicaps.
I just looked up the odds of a 26 HDCP shooting that score and its completely off of the charts, literally!!!!! The odds are better for him to hit the lottery twice than they are for him to shoot 26 under his HDCP.
I know! I didn't look it up but I remembered that the odds for a 16 course handicap breaking 80 are literally in the thousands to 1 range so a 26/74 is virtually impossible. That takes cheating to a shamefully overt level.