Let’s try this…
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- August
- 18
Okay, so I’ve gotten a comment that I should try to liven up this blog by talking about subjects local golfers can get involved with. I think this is a great idea.
Since Rich S suggested we talk about sandbagging, let’s go with it.
So what can we say about sandbagging. Many of us have either been accused of it or have accused others of it.
As a joke, I was even once tossed an actual bag of sand by a friend with whom I often play with. He is an Earth Science teacher so he had the sand on hand, but nevertheless, I was impressed with the effort.
Ironically, that same person has been accused a couple times of sandbagging himself, including today. He also once shot so far below his handicap in a club championship that it was deemed statistically impossible (A net 57!) and a couple of his friends had to be called in to testify that he was in fact that bad… true story.
In case you’re reading this and you don’t know, a sandbagger is someone who misrepresents his/her handicap to gain an advantage. Why would someone do this? Simply to win some money by being given more strokes by a competitor in a round.
Obviously, this goes against the integrity of the game, but it definitely happens. However, I have noticed that when it comes to inflated handicaps, it usually seems that people exaggerate how good they are in the opposite direction, making them sound much better than they actually are (I’d probably be more likely to be accused of this now being that I’m a 5.9 thanks to playing 95% of my rounds on the shortest course in the county…)
Sure you can have a bad day, but if you’re a single digit handicapper, you shouldn’t be in triple digits. Unless you were that guy who won the contest to play Torrey Pines under U.S. Open conditions with Justin Timberlake, Tony Romo and Matt Lauer…
You can also have a career day as a high handicapper, as was the case with my friend. In any event, if you do that, make sure I’m your partner.
Anyway, I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on this and if they have any stories. Maybe we can get a discussion going. In the meantime, I’ll be at the Country Club of Fairfield tomorrow for the first round of the Met Open. Back with more from that.
Hey Alex, I got a story for you. I was playing in this net handicaped tournament down in South Carolina with my buddy, and one guy comes in with a 67 with a 9 handicap! They go look at his handicap card again and the Golf Professional that signed it has been out of the golf buissness for at least 3 years and now lives in Scotland! Obviously, he was DQed. I thought that was an intresting story, so i decided to share.
Regards,
Joe
I once played in a member-guest at a local club and all the members knew who the sandbaggers were.
there was parimutuel betting on the flights (winning tickets divide up the pot) and there were 2 teams that won and had $2 win tickets pay $2.10!!! the pro said it was because almost ALL the money bet in the flight was bet on the sandbaggers, so there was nobody else’s money to pay off with!!!
how do such cheaters remain members? dont the other members get sick of losing to them, knowing its like betting against loaded dice.
Wow, those are two incredible stories. What a scam that one guy tried to pull!
To answer one question, I guess these guys can remain members as long as they are able to spread out their efforts to hustle members to the point where no one member is getting seriously hurt. Maybe certain members feel bad that they take to doing that or maybe some people can even get a kick out of them. But the sandbaggers themselves certainly aren’t worried about their image because they obviously have no shame when fluffing up their handicaps.
The whole purpose of the handicap system is to create a way to make things interesting amongst players of different skills. Is the system perfect? No, but it’s pretty darn good. For example, the other day a Journal News buddy and myself each shot a career-best round. With me giving him nearly a shot a hole, I wound up having to make a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18 just to push the hole and win the match 1-up, which made for an even more exciting round.
The bottom line is that you should enter your scores and let your handicap come out where it may (They came out again today and unfortunately, I’ll have to give a few more strokes to the normal crew for at least the near future.). It’s a good way to liven up a round and a tangible way to track your progress as a golfer. If there are any other ulterior motives, then you’re just plain missing the point.
Most of the serious sandbagging goes on when the club pro is in the pocket of a few members who are either in on it, or are best friends with the sandbaggers.
Members fire and hire pros all day long. What club pro wants to make an enemy by taking a stand against a member? The real problem is that at many clubs with sandbagging problems (like the club high on a hill that claims to be among the country’s oldest) the biggest sandbaggers are themselves club governors….who make the hire/fire decision, so the pro has their back.