Posting abnormal handicap scores

[JoelCochran]

I'm reading the article http://thesandtrap.com/b/thrash_talk/a_gentlemens_game about cheating and the section on the vanity handicap got me to thinking.

I have what I believe to be an honest 10 handicap.  In fact, I really think it should be lower as it is the result of a season of relatively mediocre play. Specifically, lots of three-putts that lead me to rarely break 80, but otherwise I stay under 84.  But that isn't really my point: I've been posting all my scores, mediocre or not.  Until yesterday.

I played 4 days in a row and was physically exhausted.  I mentally checked out around the 7th hole and struggled to an 89 (surprisingly low all things considered).  I felt that it would be sandbagging to post it so i didn't.  this happens a few times a year and i don't post the scores because I think that such outliers shouldn't count, but is it really just vanity?

[Mr3Wiggle]

Originally Posted by JoelCochran

I'm reading the article http://thesandtrap.com/b/thrash_talk/a_gentlemens_game about cheating and the section on the vanity handicap got me to thinking.

I have what I believe to be an honest 10 handicap.  In fact, I really think it should be lower as it is the result of a season of relatively mediocre play. Specifically, lots of three-putts that lead me to rarely break 80, but otherwise I stay under 84.  But that isn't really my point: I've been posting all my scores, mediocre or not.  Until yesterday.

I played 4 days in a row and was physically exhausted.  I mentally checked out around the 7th hole and struggled to an 89 (surprisingly low all things considered).  I felt that it would be sandbagging to post it so i didn't.  this happens a few times a year and i don't post the scores because I think that such outliers shouldn't count, but is it really just vanity?

Not posting a few really bad scores a year could be considered reverse sandbagging.  Technically if you shot it, it counts.  But you're not hurting anyone, so who really cares.

[Kapanda]

Surely, the only correct answer here is 'yes'...

[Beachcomber]

If you've posted enough rounds to establish a legit handicap - and the 89 is higher than all the previous posted rounds... I don't think the 89 would even be used anyway?

[hendog]

If you shot it, post it. As Beachcomber said, it won't even factor in more than likely.

I have a friend who for years would cheat because he was embarrassed about his high scores. I finally convinced him that he was only hurting himself since he would not get the strokes he needed if we played a serious tournament.

This does not sound like you but the point is your Index should reflect every round you play if for no other reason than full disclosure. Everyone has bad rounds and you can't be the decider of what an outlier is. Let the system work for you. Plus if you for some reason get in a funk and shoot some bad scores over the next couple months, this score very well may count and you may want it to if you play in a Net stroke event.

IMO :)

[wolfsburg2]

I post all my scores. Right now I range from 86 (PB in FLorida!) to 99. I post em all. I want a real handicap.

[Tuflehundon]

I post all of my scores, good or bad. Before I broke my foot a couple of years ago, I was about a 15 handicap. Now it has gone up some (only been playing again for a month and a half), but my game is coming back to were it was. I also use and app on my phone that tracks club distance on the course, FIR, GIR, # of puts, and a lot of other info. That has really helped me figure out were I need work, and has helped my game start to come back.

Now that I have payed a few rounds again, and am getting back into my grove, I'm going to take some lessons. The app, and being honest to myself about my scores gives me a good starting point of what I want to work on with the classes.

The way I see it, I'm only cheating myself. I don't play in a league or in tourneys, so it won't make a difference to anyone but me. That and I don't really care what anyone else thinks about my handicap. I play because I enjoy the game, not to impress anyone else.

[Chris Stewart]

I post all of them as well. Just this past weekend I went out and shot a 55 over 9 holes. 3 weeks earlier, the first time I played the course, I shot a 43. I really had a bad day (which unfortunately continued today...) and knew it wasn't very representative of what I'm more likely to do, but, I shot it so I felt like it was right to post it. I certainly wasn't sandbagging, even if the net result would suggest so. I wasn't sure if I should post it, for that reason, but I also didn't want it to look like my hcp was lower than it should be assuming that score is used anyway.