IT takes effort to shine a light through the fog shrouding golf’s handicapping system and eliminate cheats, who thankfully are in a vast minority.
But then golf club managers and secretaries tend to have a hands-on approach and, as is so often the case, the Northern Region of the Golf Club Managers’ Association is leading the country in showing the way forward.
Before talking about the solution, let’s look at the problem. Oddly enough, players who have never belonged to a club and have never had a handicap are the last people the rest of Britain’s four million golfers should worry about.
Whether clubs like it or not, and most do not turn away custom in these hard times, there are groups – and sometimes large groups – of people from all walks of life, whether friends or relatives or work colleagues or a mixture of all three who, on a regular basis book a succession of available tee-off times at any club and pay green fees. Often, they negotiate a favourable rate for large parties to play these ad hoc competitions and they form a significant amount of the 72% of golfers the English Golf Union estimate are not members of clubs.
Sometimes none of them have handicaps and they all play off scratch, even if some of them are going round in three figures and hacking lumps out of the course. By and large they know the etiquette of the sport and golf needs their money.
But if you belong to a club, you have an exact handicap, even if you belong to a golf society who have their own handicapping system.
Your society handicap should not replace the one you have at your club – although, perversely, many golf societies wrongly insist that they do.
Where the big trouble starts is when a club golfer has an inactive handicap – that is he or she is not playing in three competitions a season – but is improving and is playing in other clubs’ open days.
Even if he or she is no longer a member, they will play off their last handicap at their most recent club. If he or she is a better golfer than their last handicap, they are cheating.
And in a sport which always relies heavily on self-regulation, what can happen is that the cheats prosper and win prizes with silly scores off their false handicaps.
It had been hoped a new system brought in by the EGU this season would solve the problem at a stroke.
They have introduced a Central Database of Handicapping. Now, on a weekly basis, every club in the country is supposed to update every golfer’s handicap and, where a handicap is inactive, an italic letter i will stand against the name.
Companies who provide software to golf clubs have amended it to make this easier (although what anybody can do about the few clubs who don’t even have email yet is uncertain, apart from howling at the moon!).
Putting the dinosaurs aside, there is an unexpected problem. An exchange of emails between the Northern Region of the Golf Club Managers’ Association and the EGU has revealed that the latter have given the clubs no teeth with which to bite back at the cheats.
For while the EGU “recommend” that all clubs refuse to give prizes to players who “win” them in club opens with inactive handicaps, there is no firm mandate for the clubs to do so.
Happily, common sense prevailed at the annual meeting of the GCMA’s Northern Region at Ponteland, after the issue of EGU guidance was raised by Whitley Bay’s Frank Elliott.
Terry Minett, the region’s representative on the national committee and the general manager of Morpeth, said: “The general consensus of opinion among the secretaries and managers attending was that players with inactive handicaps should not be allowed to win any prizes in any club’s open competitions this year and that they should be told that when they enter.
“I consider that the EGU, having introduced the inactive handicap system for this year, have been slow to issue a definitive statement about how inactive players should be treated.
“At my club, Morpeth, we offer members every opportunity to put in three qualifying cards to ensure their handicap remains active. Members with inactive handicaps can play in competitions and after returning three cards the inactive i will be removed from their record.
“Players with inactive handicaps will not be allowed to win prizes in any of our club or open competitions. With tongue in cheek, I have told the EGU they couldn’t decide what fence to sit on.
“But as the EGU have given the clubs the choice, it is the fervent hope of the Northern region of the GCMA that every club in the region will make it clear to anybody with an inactive handicap entering any open tournament that they can play, but they can’t win any prizes.”
Minett added: “As clubs have an option, the GCMA can’t think of any logical reason whatsoever that any club would think of doing anything else.
“It is odd the EGU have not set it down in stone, but that should not stop any club exercising the common sense option and doing the right thing.”
ANYBODY who wants to join the GCMA, or know more about their training courses, should ring secretary Ed Stephenson on 01434 682671 or email gcmanorthern@btinternet.com