BEWARE THE BANDITS

The vast majority of club golfers are honourable. Sadly, some are not, finding ways to keep their handicaps artificially high for the biggest events. But how do they go about doing it?

- Jeremy Ellwood

As the late 1965 US PGA champion and former BBC TV commentator Dave Marr once famously said: "Never bet with anyone you meet on the 1st tee who has a deep suntan, a 1-iron in his bag, and squinty eyes."

We all understand the sentiment and humour of this comment, but while golf's real handicap bandits, sandbaggers, or whatever other unprintable names you may wish to call them, can be less easy to spot with the naked eye, they are no laughing matter as they set about manipulating the World Handicap System (WHS).

They do this by finding ways to keep their handicap index artificially high so they can plunder the treasure when the biggest riches or most prestigious titles are up for grabs.

For all the issues professional golf has been going through of late, this is obviously one that can't be levelled at the paid ranks, as the absence of handicaps there means that the best man or woman on the day or week always wins, no questions asked. Club golf, on the other hand, depends on people's handicaps being as current and accurate as possible for competitions to work fairly and effectively.

Most golfers, other than those with short or selective memories, will readily accept that every dog has its day and can far outperform general ability as a genuine one-off. But it is the hounds who cynically engineer things so they have way more than their fair share of 'days' who undermine a system that relies on honesty, integrity and good intentions.

So, what are the four main tricks bandits use to keep their handicaps artificially high, ready to pounce when the biggest prizes are on offer?

Deliberately throwing away good scores