| Handicap Sandbagging The usual way this is done is that golfers who enter their own scores will enter only the higher scores and not the lower scores, or they will enter falisfied scores where strokes are added to various holes or to the total, or they will enter scores for rounds that were never played. This works when scores entered are not checked. We have eliminated this as a cause of sandbagging as in our system the players are not allowed to enter their own scores. But one method is very difficult to combat. It is known in slang as "blowing off a round" or "blowing off holes." This is where the golfer intentionally misses putts or intentionally misses shots in order to record a higher score. This does happen. This is often done near the end of a round when it is obvious that the player will not be a winner, or perhaps if the player notices that he may be on his way to an outrageously low score for his handicap and needs to raise the score. Make no mistake about it. Even though some people may think otherwise, sandbagging in any form is not all right. It is cheating and will not be tolerated. Blowing off a round and blowing off holes can generally be spotted by the playing partners or by analyzing multiple scores for patterns and will be dealt with when confirmed. When a handicap is accurate, 80% of scores should be within three strokes of handicap (Net 69 - Net 75) and almost all scores should be within 5 strokes of handicap (Net 67 - Net 77) with only a very occasional score on the low side outside that range. Multiple outrageously low scores (Net 65 or lower) indicate that the handicap is not accurate per the statisticians that study this problem. When a player posts outrageously low scores (two or more scores close together of Net 65 or lower) for his handicap, the handicap manager will reserve the right to adjust the player's handicap accordingly at any time to bring it more in line with the actual play. This is within the USGA guidelines for handicap management and sandbagger control and to protect the large majority of the players in the group who do have accurate handicaps. |