Handicaps in sport, a good or a bad thing?

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I have never played competitive golf but in the past I played some competitive snooker. There used to be some events in which players were given a handicap. I would never enter these as I thought it was unfair to the good players (I was not that good) who would possibly spend many hours in practice. Why should the casual player be given an advantage? Is this the same in golf? Should the dedicated golfer who puts in the hours be allowed to lose to the one who doesn't? Can a handicap in golf be manipulated so that on paper a golfer has a high handicap, but come competition time he/she reveals their true game in order to win?

navyblueshorts wrote:

Coming back to the lack of handicap in other sports, in general, you don't play against people markedly better/worse than yourself/yourselves.

In my youth handicapping was done in some professional athletic fields, either by distance or time, one such event is still run, the " Powderhall " now called "The New Year Sprint". Gambling on such events was rife.

I dont really get your logic Scottie. Its incredibly easy to make the tennis competitive, just give yourself a point start in each game. How is it any different to the golf scenario where he gets shots ?
But at the end of the day you are better than your bro at golf and he is the better tennis player.

It's all been said - handcaps in golf are essential for it's popularity and the reason that I can compete with my 57 year old father and his 75 year old uncle on any given day. A lot of people abuse the handicap system, we all know that, but at this stage most people know who they are and if they win a handicap competition few people truly respect their "achievement". Personally I play golf to improve, concentrate solely on my gross score.

As Jeff said, it's been said. During the golf season, I play in event weekly where a handicap allows for fun competition. My experience is that I've VERY rarely had an issue with a member's handicap, and only somewhat more rarely in a member/guest situation. I plan to improve gross, let the handicap fall where it does.

There have been times where I've thrown in a pretty low score on a course unfamiliar to me. Eyebrows raised more than once. My handicap actually travels pretty well since my regular course is pretty demanding.

I have often thought that handicaps should be kept and maintained as markers of ability solely used to categorize players for competitions. Then within each category prizes are handed out based on scratch scores.

the thing is, that more often than not the winner of a handicap comp is someone who has played nearly to the extent of 'their' ability - whatever the standard of their game, and for me that is something that i am happy to show 'respect' for their achievement. it certainly isn't in the same league as a scratch victory, but it has its place. obviously there are occasions where i might have less respect for a win - for example two guys at our club got new handicaps this year and shared 5 wins between them coming down from 20 to 13, and 25 to 16 respectively. the issue here is that the handicaps they were given to start with were waaay off!

both of my clubs run an order of merit system which rewards players who consistently finish highly in handicap comps - not necessarily winning, but being consistently good. i managed to finish 2nd at my home clubs oom this year (if i'd known, i'd have turned up for the last couple of comps!), and about 20th at my away club (which considering i only played in 5 of the 15 counting events wasn't bad!). i quite like this sort of comp as it places an emphasis on week-to-week consistency, rather than flash in the pan moments of success.

I hope that I am not repeating stuff here but most sports have elements of handicapping. I have just had to stop playing rugby and fully accepted that I was no Will Greenwood so played as high up my club as possible and we then played against teams of equal ability. I guess like the categories in golf.

Most sports have similar leagues where you can find your level and play competitive games against people. The beauty of golf is that you can have a good competitive game against anyone which you cannot do in many other sports.

I fully get that lower handicappers are looking at the scratch end of things but for the rest of us we need some sort of levelling to make it worth competing.

One thing that I have always thought was a bit odd was that there is not more made of the categories as it is much easier to come in 4-5 shots under your handicap when you are off 18 than when you are off 3.

Personally I would feel a little bad (but not that bad) getting my name on a board as I am off 13. But then there are plenty of scratch matches and competitions for people who get bothered by it.

Diggers wrote:I dont really get your logic Scottie. Its incredibly easy to make the tennis competitive, just give yourself a point start in each game. How is it any different to the golf scenario where he gets shots ?
But at the end of the day you are better than your bro at golf and he is the better tennis player.

I don't think handicaps work in sports when players play each other. i.e. tennis or snooker. If there is a big difference in ability and the poor player gets a start then the better player normally changes his game to force the bad player to make more mistakes.

In golf, or darts for example, when players do not play against each then a handicap system works much better.

In most sports where you play against someone, the enjoyment goes out the window when there's a big difference in ability. Even if you get a point or two start in tennis, where's the fun in running around the court desperately trying to get your racket on the ball ? (I speak from memory here!). It doesn't affect the enjoyment in golf (for most people) -- you can lose the match but still have a great round. We don't play competitions but once in a while we'll team up and play best ball against Mr P's brother in law plus golf buddy using our handicaps -- losers buy beer afterwards. I get to join in and win the occasional hole. Without the handicap system we would probably make up something similar, but there would always be an unspoken asterisk by any holes I won!