Reader comments
Golfers need to weed out sandbaggers

This isn't new. I don't see why they even bother having these tournaments. Unfortunately even when money isn't involved, you can't expect people to provide an accurate score. Now throw in money and self rating. Come on!

I played a lot of golf in the early 1990's and kept a fair record of my play, eventually working my handicap down to about 8. Then I didn't play for a few years due to being broke and broken.
When I started playing again and re-joined the UGA, my handicap was still about 8, but due to injuries, the best I can hope to play is about 15 shots per 18 holes higher now. So the fairness thing works both ways. I can't compete as an 8 handicapper so why bother wasting money playing in a tourney? It should be based on your last 20 scores, not your lowest scores ever posted.

---It should be based on your last 20 scores---

It is based on your past 20 scores. In more detail, it is based on the best 10 of your past 20 scores. So when you "shoot your handicap" you are not playing average, you are playing much better than your average - which is even more ammo against sandbagers.

I just don't understand sandbaging. It's like the schoolyard bully picking on the little kids. I would rather loose to guys better than me than win without a challenge.

Since every club has cheaters (sandbaggers) it is their responsibility to police this problem, and it is a very big problem. They are the ones who know which players don't post scores, they are the ones who know which players post false scores, so they are the ones who should do something about it. The UGA, if it knows of associations that don't do this, should pull their handicap computers, because monitoring handicaps and providing peer review is an obligation that comes with being part of the UGA and USGA handicap system.

The UGA and Pagel are right; it is all about the money. And the UGA will never pull the computers from any club because it is all about the money to them. 30,000 members at $25 a member is about $750,000 a year for them. Maybe Mike Sorensen should ask how many times in the past the UGA has pulled a computer out of a club? Or even how many times the UGA has revoked a membership because of sandbagging???? I have it from a reputable source that it never has. It is always interesting to me to see how critical an organization like the UGA is of others when it is one of the biggest parts of the problem! Shame on the UGA!