Reply To: How do you get DQ'd playing within your handicap

[Jeffrey Barbas]

Tommy, well aware of the T scores effect, and yet, it has never had an effect on my handicap. I have never had an “R” for reduction on my handicap. Here is info for that process.

Q: How come some reductions don’t take effect until months after the T-scores were recorded?

A: Remember, the first step in the process is the best 10 of 20 calculation. The gap between this figure and the two low T-scores will remain narrow as long as the T-scores are among the 20 most recent rounds. In many instances, it is not until they work their way out of the most recent 20 that the gap widens and a reduction kicks in.

Q: I just seem to concentrate better in tournaments and produce lower scores. Why should I be penalized?

A: Baloney! The System is based on the concept that a golfer is going to attempt to score his very best on every hole of every round played. It does not contemplate a golfer who can call upon a “higher gear” at will. The problem with the logic of such a golfer is that they want their handicap based on the higher scores, which would give them a distinct advantage over the rest of the field when they call upon their “A” game. Why do such golfers object to an Index that reflects this “A” game?.

My thoughts are that in the last 17 years that I have played in the World Am I have never posted more than the 1 even par round. Should you be effectively taken out of the running for that one round? Me and the other guy never even came close to that the next 3 rounds. I would have probably placed 3rd that year and he wouldn’t have placed at all. All the other rounds for both of us were 82 and higher. We didn’t set up the course. We didn’t make the par 5’s set up so you had a chance to reach them in 2. And I don’t even have a 3 wood in my bag. One par 5 was less than 175 in with a decent drive. I’m definitely not a fan of the “retroactive adjustment process”. It’s almost like telling the New England Patriots that they didn’t win last years Superbowl because Robert Craft got a hooker. Sorry Bob, we are going to have to take points off the board for that.

So in the efforts that the World Am is trying to make to curb the sandbagging, it has also taken out many of the players who don’t bag. And then the adjustment process has also brought into play the idea that a guy who has a good round going has to back off and throw a few strokes in the end. It’s gotten out of hand, really. Like I said, I’ve never won a flight before and probably never will. That’s why I always go into this event telling myself that I’m already out of it before I even hit the first tee. Just relax and go play golf and have fun. They can keep their gift card and salad bowl or give it to someone else that needs it more than I do.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Jeffrey Barbas.