staticline
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That depends on whether the handicap thus obtained gives you an unfair advantage in competition. If that's is the case, then you are not employing the handicap system as it's supposed to be used, and your handicap does not reflect your true playing style. If you don't do it enough to have a significant impact on your index, then no problem.
If it happens often enough to start effecting their handicap, then I'd argue that it is that players true playing style.
Not if they never play that way in competition. The point is that playing differently in competition in order take advantage of what is essentially a manipulated handicap is sandbagging. This is not an accusation because I don't know you and have no idea what your playing style is. It's just a general statement on sandbagging. What we are discussing is essentially the definition of sandbagging. It doesn't matter whether you deliberately chunk shots to add strokes, outright lie about what you shot, or play a significantly different style of play. Anything you do to artificially raise your index is still handicap manipulation.
I've taken risk shots in past years rather than play safe, but never to the point that it affected my handicap or my tournament results. In fact I'm almost as likely to take the risk in a competition as in a casual round, especially if I actually feel that I need to take the risk to be in the hunt, or if I'm already out of the running and the tournament just becomes another round of golf. I'm not talking about padding my score, but something more like going for a par 5 in 2 where the safe shot is a layup. With my game, a layup can be as hazardous as going for it, so my score is rarely much different for taking the risk.
Keep in mind that if someone is regularly playing competition (tournament) rounds, GHIN will take those tournament scores into effect and the tournament committee will adjust the handicap accordingly, if those tournament scores are 3 or more shots better than their index.
http://www.usga.org/rule-books/handicap-system-manual/rule-10/
10-3. Reduction of Handicap Index Based on Exceptional Tournament Scores
Using the definition of a tournament score (see tournament score and Decisions 10-3/1 through 10-3/6), the Committee (preferably the Handicap Committee in consultation with the Committee in charge of the competition) must determine in advance whether a score is to be designated as a tournament score that is to be identified by the letter "T" when posted (e.g., 82T). These scores are often referred to as "T-Scores" as in Section 10-3c.
The following procedure must be used as an alternate calculation of a Handicap Index for players with two or more eligible tournament scores. A player's Handicap Index may be reduced under this procedure when a player has a minimum of two eligible tournament score differentials that are at least 3.0 better than the player's Handicap Index calculated under Section 10-2.
The Handicap Committee or handicap computation service must apply the following steps to determine if there is a reduction in Handicap Index calculated under Section 10-2.