It's been a problem for years, but it seems to be getting worse.

The issue is sandbagging.

Sandbagging is doing whatever is necessary to get a higher handicap to give yourself an advantage in competitions where handicaps are used.

It can be a lucrative endeavor because local tournaments pay the winners of net divisions as much as $750 in golf merchandise.

As Utah Golf Association Executive Eirector Thomas Pagel said, it's "the allure of money" that makes people cheat.

In covering golf for 30 years, I've seen it done tournament after tournament. Inevitably there's a golfer who will post a net 59 while golf pros and fellow golfers shake their heads in frustration.

Pagel is well aware of the sandbagging problem, saying he gets calls on a daily basis about it.

He said the handicap system is based on two parameters — that golfers will try their hardest on every shot, and that they will post every score.

However, his organization can't solve the problem of golfers not posting scores or posting incorrect ones.

"There's only so much I can tell by looking at scores," Pagel said.

He believes golf courses need to take more responsibility for correct scores and believes "peer review" is another solution. In other words, don't let your fellow golfers get away with cheating on their handicaps.

Just in the last month, I saw a couple of obvious examples of sandbagging.

In one, the winner of the B Flight — which was for players with handicaps of 9 or higher — would have been in the top 20 in the championship flight after the first day when he shot a 73. The next-best score in the flight was 77 and the next-best was 80, which is about where the best score should have been, not seven strokes better.

The next day he shot a 76 and hauled off $700 worth of merchandise. His handicap coming into the tournament was 10.3, higher than mine, but I can tell you I've never shot a 73 at this course, let alone in a tournament.

At another tournament, the winner of the net division shot a 74 with a 15 handicap, giving him a net 59.

All you 15 handicappers out there, how many of you have shot a 74 in your life? How many have even broken 80? Not many, I'm sure.

The biggest problem is golfers not reporting all of their scores. If a golfer reports a bunch of scores in the mid-80s, but can shoot in the mid-70s and doesn't report those scores, his handicap will obviously be skewed.

The most egregious method of sandbagging is to simply make up scores and put them in the system.

"I'd like to think it's a small number of individuals who are doing this," said Pagel.

We all aren't perfect when it comes to our handicap index, perhaps forgetting to adjust our score properly or not reporting an occasional score.

However, golf is a game of integrity, and we should treat our handicaps the same way we'd play a round of golf — honestly.

As Bonneville pro Steve Elliott puts it, "it only takes one" sandbagger to spoil it for everyone else.

E-MAIL: sor@desnews.com