By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
Golfers
who “manipulate” handicaps through the use of general play scores
within the World Handicap System (WHS) have been branded as “cheats” by
The R&A, with golf clubs being encouraged to play their part in
calling out such offenders.
Just
over five years after it was rolled out by The R&A and USGA - the
game’s two governing bodies - the St Andrews-based organisation is
undertaking an “educational campaign” in collaboration with the golf
unions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that will essentially
target players and club handicap committees in terms of their
“responsibilities within the Rules of Handicapping”.
Under WHS, which calculates a handicap using the best eight scores from
20 and was created to provide a better measure of a golfer’s current
playing ability than the old system, the use of general play scores is
permitted, which, in other words, allows someone to submit scores
outside competition play - the predominant yardstick previously in terms
of a player’s handicap.
The R&A has launched an “educational campaign” in tandem with the four Home Golf Unions about the World Handicap System
While insisting it doesn’t believe the issue is widespread in Great
Britain and Ireland, “concerns” around general play scores is at the
core of The R&A, in tandem with the organisations that deal directly
with club golfers in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, deciding it
is time to remind players about their responsibilities through a
nationwide educational awareness campaign.
“WHS
was launched in 2020 and it is now being used in over 130 countries
across the globe, providing golfers with a single consistent measure of
playing ability worldwide,” Grant Moir, executive director - governance
at The R&A, said in a media briefing ahead of e-newsletters being
sent out on Thursday by England, Golf, Ireland Golf, Scottish Golf and
Wales Golf to members. “Inclusivity is at the heart of WHS, with one of
the main aims being to encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain
and maintain a handicap and that has been one of its great successes.
“But
The R&A, along with the USGA, need to monitor WHS closely and,
through our research, it is clear that in Great Britain and Ireland,
there are some specific concerns around the system and particularly the
perception that there are maybe a small minority of players who are
manipulating the system.
“So
this social media e-newsletter campaign we are conducting in
collaboration with England Golf, Ireland Golf, Scottish Golf and Wales
Golf is intended to address these concerns, the purpose of the campaign
being to raise awareness, particularly among golfers but also handicap
committees as to what their responsibilities are within the rules of
handicapping.
“I
would like to emphasise that we don’t think for a minute that there are
many golfers abusing the system to gain an unfair advantage, but we
recognise that, even if a small number are doing this, then it can
impact on the enjoyment of competition golf and it negatively impacts on
the golfer opinion of WHS.
“The
aim here is to help golfers better understand the behaviors and actions
that are a breach of the rules and to emphasise that deliberately
breaching these rules is unacceptable and to call out deliberate
manipulation for what it is, which is cheating.
“The
Rules of Handicapping, just like the Rules of Golf, rely to a certain
extent on player integrity and we all need to be prepared to challenge
behaviour that lacks the type of integrity that we all expect. That is
the purpose and emphasis of this campaign.”
“Concerns” have been highlighted by Grant Moir, The R&A’s executive director - governance | The R&A
Though
the Mauritius Golf Federation tried to implement a ban on general play
scores that didn’t add up to par or better in a bid to stop handicap
manipulation, that was deemed “unacceptable” under WHS, but, according
to Moir, clubs themselves have a key part to play in “calling out”
offenders.
“Club
handicapping committees are encouraged to review all members’ handicaps
at least once a year and the system should flag up any abnormalities,
if you like, or anything that could be considered to be suspicious and
that doesn’t mean that it is suspicious,” he added. “People improve or
get worse for various reasons. But, if there is a concern, there is the
ability to raise that with the player and to seek explanation why there
may be these discrepancies.
“Also,
the national bodies are there to provide resources and support to the
local handicap committees. It is not easy being on a handicap committee
and dealing with difficult situations like that. But people need to be
prepared to raise the difficult situations should something out of the
norm arise.”
Introduced at the beginning of this month, Golf Ireland is piloting a
change to the WHS regarding playing handicap allowances, giving clubs
the option to adjust the allowance used in competitions. They can keep
the current 95 per cent allowance or either reduce it to 90 per cent or
85 per cent and, alternatively, increase it to 100 per cent.
Depending
on its success, this could be rolled out in the other home nations next
year, with one of the biggest groans about WHS being that low-to-mid
handicap players don’t win as many events as they used to due to the
system favouring higher handicappers.
“I’m
not sure their perception is necessarily reality, but I understand the
concerns,” said Moir. “The perception of what a high handicap golfer
might be is maybe slightly inaccurate. The average handicap of golfers
in GB&I for males is 17 and for female it is 29 and I think there is
a perception sometimes amongst low handicap golfers that a 14, 15, 16
handicap player is a high handicap player, which isn’t statistically
correct.
“But,
also, if you have, as is often the case, more players in the higher
handicap category playing in the competitions, it is far more likely one
of them is going to win. And also simply based on the quite common
inconsistency of handicap players. Their good golf is so much better
than their bad golf so, when they do have that day in the sun, then they
are likely to come in with a low net score whereas the more consistent
lower handicap player is more likely to be around the par net score. I
think all these things add to that perception, but that’s not because
anybody is doing anything wrong under the handicap system.”
The
importance of “pre-registration” in terms of general play scores is one
of the points that is being highlighted. “We are hugely encouraging of
people putting in general play scores, but picking and choosing and
timing that suit simply isn’t acceptable,” warned Moir, who insisted
that WHS is “here to stay” but can be “refined” and “improved”.
