Golf handicap 'cheats' targeted by The R&A, with WHS 'here to stay'

Golfers who “manipulate” handicaps through the use of general play scores within the World Handicap System (WHS) have been branded as “cheats” by The R&A, with golf clubs being encouraged to play their part in calling out such offenders.

Just over five years after it was rolled out by The R&A and USGA - the game’s two governing bodies - the St Andrews-based organisation is undertaking an “educational campaign” in collaboration with the golf unions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that will essentially target players and club handicap committees in terms of their “responsibilities within the Rules of Handicapping”.

Under WHS, which calculates a handicap using the best eight scores from 20 and was created to provide a better measure of a golfer’s current playing ability than the old system, the use of general play scores is permitted, which, in other words, allows someone to submit scores outside competition play - the predominant yardstick previously in terms of a player’s handicap.

The R&A has launched an “educational campaign” in tandem with the four Home Golf Unions about the World Handicap System | The R&A

While insisting it doesn’t believe the issue is widespread in Great Britain and Ireland, “concerns” around general play scores is at the core of The R&A, in tandem with the organisations that deal directly with club golfers in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, deciding it is time to remind players about their responsibilities through a nationwide educational awareness campaign.

“WHS was launched in 2020 and it is now being used in over 130 countries across the globe, providing golfers with a single consistent measure of playing ability worldwide,” Grant Moir, executive director - governance at The R&A, said in a media briefing ahead of e-newsletters being sent out on Thursday by England, Golf, Ireland Golf, Scottish Golf and Wales Golf to members. “Inclusivity is at the heart of WHS, with one of the main aims being to encourage as many golfers as possible to obtain and maintain a handicap and that has been one of its great successes.

“But The R&A, along with the USGA, need to monitor WHS closely and, through our research, it is clear that in Great Britain and Ireland, there are some specific concerns around the system and particularly the perception that there are maybe a small minority of players who are manipulating the system.

“So this social media e-newsletter campaign we are conducting in collaboration with England Golf, Ireland Golf, Scottish Golf and Wales Golf is intended to address these concerns, the purpose of the campaign being to raise awareness, particularly among golfers but also handicap committees as to what their responsibilities are within the rules of handicapping.

“I would like to emphasise that we don’t think for a minute that there are many golfers abusing the system to gain an unfair advantage, but we recognise that, even if a small number are doing this, then it can impact on the enjoyment of competition golf and it negatively impacts on the golfer opinion of WHS.

“The aim here is to help golfers better understand the behaviors and actions that are a breach of the rules and to emphasise that deliberately breaching these rules is unacceptable and to call out deliberate manipulation for what it is, which is cheating.

“The Rules of Handicapping, just like the Rules of Golf, rely to a certain extent on player integrity and we all need to be prepared to challenge behaviour that lacks the type of integrity that we all expect. That is the purpose and emphasis of this campaign.”

“Concerns” have been highlighted by Grant Moir, The R&A’s executive director - governance | The R&A

Though the Mauritius Golf Federation tried to implement a ban on general play scores that didn’t add up to par or better in a bid to stop handicap manipulation, that was deemed “unacceptable” under WHS, but, according to Moir, clubs themselves have a key part to play in “calling out” offenders.

“Club handicapping committees are encouraged to review all members’ handicaps at least once a year and the system should flag up any abnormalities, if you like, or anything that could be considered to be suspicious and that doesn’t mean that it is suspicious,” he added. “People improve or get worse for various reasons. But, if there is a concern, there is the ability to raise that with the player and to seek explanation why there may be these discrepancies.

“Also, the national bodies are there to provide resources and support to the local handicap committees. It is not easy being on a handicap committee and dealing with difficult situations like that. But people need to be prepared to raise the difficult situations should something out of the norm arise.”

Introduced at the beginning of this month, Golf Ireland is piloting a change to the WHS regarding playing handicap allowances, giving clubs the option to adjust the allowance used in competitions. They can keep the current 95 per cent allowance or either reduce it to 90 per cent or 85 per cent and, alternatively, increase it to 100 per cent.

Depending on its success, this could be rolled out in the other home nations next year, with one of the biggest groans about WHS being that low-to-mid handicap players don’t win as many events as they used to due to the system favouring higher handicappers.

“I’m not sure their perception is necessarily reality, but I understand the concerns,” said Moir. “The perception of what a high handicap golfer might be is maybe slightly inaccurate. The average handicap of golfers in GB&I for males is 17 and for female it is 29 and I think there is a perception sometimes amongst low handicap golfers that a 14, 15, 16 handicap player is a high handicap player, which isn’t statistically correct.

“But, also, if you have, as is often the case, more players in the higher handicap category playing in the competitions, it is far more likely one of them is going to win. And also simply based on the quite common inconsistency of handicap players. Their good golf is so much better than their bad golf so, when they do have that day in the sun, then they are likely to come in with a low net score whereas the more consistent lower handicap player is more likely to be around the par net score. I think all these things add to that perception, but that’s not because anybody is doing anything wrong under the handicap system.”

The importance of “pre-registration” in terms of general play scores is one of the points that is being highlighted. “We are hugely encouraging of people putting in general play scores, but picking and choosing and timing that suit simply isn’t acceptable,” warned Moir, who insisted that WHS is “here to stay” but can be “refined” and “improved”.