Vanity Handicaper Causes Issues With Other Members in Tournaments

[snow bird]

I am a member at Cranberry Valley in Harwich Massachusetts and we a player who claims a 7 handicap but very very rarely breaks 90 and often tops 100. He enters bogus "corrected scores"  of anywhere from 77 -81. Now I could care less but he enters the club championship and is flighted into the 6-9 groupings. This means some unfortunate foursome is tasked with counting a player who is shooting a hundred shots which include many 7,9 and 10 shot holes. It is pretty hard to stay tournament competitive when you have to both watch and keep track of a total hacker. Any suggestions on what could be done to correct this? Does the handicap associations have a review of these "Vanity handicap players"?

[DaveP043]

2 minutes ago, snow bird said:

Does the handicap associations have a review of these "Vanity handicap players"?

Your club's Handicap Committee has the authority and the responsibility to review every player's handicap, and adjust it if appropriate.  Sadly, many public courses don't really have a committee, so the responsibility falls to the staff, and the staff is often hesitant to take any action that would turn away a customer.  I'd suggest that his most common playing partners should be encouraged to "help" him post proper scores.  The problem affects the overall population of players, its the players who need to take the steps to correct it.  Its an "us" problem, not a "them" problem.

[measureoffsetinnm]

Someone should just throw a fit during one of those tournaments or flat out refuse to play if paired with him.

[snow bird]

8 hours ago, measureoffsetinnm said:

Someone should just throw a fit during one of those tournaments or flat out refuse to play if paired with him.

Many players have lodged complaints but the head pro refuses to do anything. He merely needs to put him in a flight for 20 handicap players. His tournament scores have averaged around 100 and he has been playing this tournament for at least 15 years. Obviously they have reasonable grounds for moving him to a more appropriate flight. 

 

[measureoffsetinnm]

30 minutes ago, snow bird said:

Many players have lodged complaints but the head pro refuses to do anything. He merely needs to put him in a flight for 20 handicap players. His tournament scores have averaged around 100 and he has been playing this tournament for at least 15 years. Obviously they have reasonable grounds for moving him to a more appropriate flight. 

 

15 years?! I am actually surprised no one has flat out refused to play when paired with him.

It is a shame the head pro will not do anything about it. What purpose does he serve if not to resolve issues such as that?

Also this definitely counters the idea that vanity handicaps hurt only the individual gaming the system.

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, measureoffsetinnm said:

Also this definitely counters the idea that vanity handicaps hurt only the individual gaming the system.

This goes beyond that. If he’s been doing this for 15 years he has naked pictures of someone or something.

[Greg 504]

22 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

The problem affects the overall population of players, its the players who need to take the steps to correct it.  Its an "us" problem, not a "them" problem.

Agree with this wholeheartedly, Dave. I have no issue at all calling people out or being the "dick" when need be. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why people do this, other than their ego is larger than life. It's a freaking number that they clearly cannot play to. 

For me, vanity cappers are equally as frustrating as sandbaggers. Especially in our "friendly Thursday morning league" where there is really nothing to win. Seems some people get well hung up on "look at me" instead of enjoying the game or camaraderie. 

[TourSpoon]

You should play with him only if he agrees to a 20 dollar Nassau. If he doesn’t, call him out. 

[Club Rat]

I believe the USGA addresses issues with Vanity Cappers in qualifying events, such as Open Qualifiers, ect.
An example: Players must be less than a certain HDCP in order to participate in US Open Qualifiers. 
Then if any players scores higher than a certain score, they would not be able to participate / enter
into another qualifier for a certain time period. 

I do not recall the guidelines, but I am certain these exist.

Also, I have heard of some situations where only "Competition Scores" are used and players must meet the criteria 
used based on their HDCP from only completive scores.

This system is also use by many Mens Clubs as where they maintain a players HDCP based on Scores from their games.

[ChetlovesMer]

28 minutes ago, Club Rat said:

Also, I have heard of some situations where only "Competition Scores" are used and players must meet the criteria 
used based on their HDCP from only completive scores.

This is what I am used to.

[snow bird]

5 hours ago, measureoffsetinnm said:

15 years?! I am actually surprised no one has flat out refused to play when paired with him.

It is a shame the head pro will not do anything about it. What purpose does he serve if not to resolve issues such as that?

Also this definitely counters the idea that vanity handicaps hurt only the individual gaming the system.

Yes 15 years at least . That is not a typo.  Also you are right about the head pro not taking control of the situation. This vanity handicapper has become somewhat of a legend at the club. He has a nickname of the "Blizzard of 78" because that is one of his favorite "corrected scores".  So much so that the women who play in the club championship have setup a money pool every year as to what the Blizzard of 78 will shoot in the tournament. 

 

2 hours ago, Club Rat said:

 

Also, I have heard of some situations where only "Competition Scores" are used and players must meet the criteria 
used based on their HDCP from only completive scores.

 

This would be the simple solution and I have actually suggested it to the head pro. 

[mohearn]

42 minutes ago, snow bird said:

Yes 15 years at least . 

This is insane, is it at all possible he thinks he's doing it right? You're talking more than a stroke a hole, every hole,

[Vinsk]

Sorry…but If this guy has done this for 15 years it sounds like he’s surrounded by a bunch of pansies. Why no one has gone to this clown and called him out directly and to the point is beyond me. Don’t like confrontations? Then deal with his ass-clownery and stop complaining. Period.

[snow bird]

8 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Sorry…but If this guy has done this for 15 years it sounds like he’s surrounded by a bunch of pansies. Why no one has gone to this clown and called him out directly and to the point is beyond me. Don’t like confrontations? Then deal with his ass-clownery and stop complaining. Period.

He has been called out by players but the players don't setup the flights. Not worth getting into fisticuffs over Vinsky.

 

 

not 

[billchao]

14 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Don’t like confrontations?

I’m perfectly fine with confrontation as long as you’re going to be there to back me up 😉

[snow bird]

31 minutes ago, mohearn said:

This is insane, is it at all possible he thinks he's doing it right? You're talking more than a stroke a hole, every hole,

Yes it boggles the imagination. I have  never seen any vanity handicap even close to it. Also most severe vanity handicappers would never expose themselves by constantly entering tournaments and shooting 100's.

[caniac6]

7 hours ago, snow bird said:

Many players have lodged complaints but the head pro refuses to do anything. He merely needs to put him in a flight for 20 handicap players. His tournament scores have averaged around 100 and he has been playing this tournament for at least 15 years. Obviously they have reasonable grounds for moving him to a more appropriate flight. 

 

Mabye time to get a new pro.

[Billy Z]

Yes a tournament committee should probably address problems like this and surprised they have not in this case. Although, I think more people need to complain about it and take a stand. Funny thing is with vanity handicaps, it's the stupidest thing in the world if you play in tournaments. Trying to impress others with your handicap instead of actually winning or placing high in a tournament is silly. The handicap that would bother me more is the one who sandbags and then wins every net tournament. There are probably many casual golfers who do not play by all the rules of golf and fudge their scores one way or the other.