Golf is one of few sports where accurate handicapping enables players of different levels to compete against each other. Its individual nature means that an amateur golfer can challenge World #1 Scottie Scheffler and have a realistic chance at an even match. By contrast, in a physically reactive sport such as tennis, an amateur player could start each game 40-0 up against World #1 Jannik Sinner and likely lose every game. 

The current World Handicap System (WHS) was introduced to great fanfare in England in 2020; an attempt to clean up the patchwork of previous handicapping systems that varied from country to country, and an attempt to reflect more accurately a player’s current ability. Many global governing bodies have opened the possibility for all golfers to have an official handicap index with or without a golf club membership. Such inclusivity will play a big role in attracting more golfers and making the game more enjoyable.  

Competition rounds are entered in the system by the golf club or other tournament committee, and players are also encouraged to record as many rounds of “general play” as possible, which in theory produces a more accurate handicap and also provides the avid golfer with something tangible to play for each time, able to see the effect on their handicap immediately after each round.  

However, as an eager supporter of junior golf development, and father to two aspiring golfers, I am witness to a worrying trend among the younger generation; an unhealthy focus on keeping score and “managing” handicap. 

Gone are the days where a group of juniors gather at the first tee, throw golf balls or tees in the air to determine partners and play a fourball match with lunch, a chocolate bar, or even just bragging rights and pride at stake. The current generation are in grave danger of never experiencing the satisfaction of that 6-foot putt at the 18th to win a hamburger and fries from their opponents’ hard-earned pocket money, or seeing a putt slip past the hole and having to subsidise a Kit Kat and Coke from the pro shop for the victors; in danger of not learning to enjoy competing for the sake of competing. Instead, they tap at their smartphones, entering scores, sending to each other for approval and calculate their new handicap for the next day. 

A player’s handicap, particularly an aspiring youngster, has always carried kudos among the peer group and that is only magnified by today’s social-media-created culture and the clamour to be “cool,” a culture where the perception by others is far more important than the reality.  

The R&A’s Executive Director of Governance Grant Moir admitted recently that they were aware of “a minority of players that are manipulating the system” to inflate their handicaps and improve their chances of winning amateur competitions. This concept is nothing new and all club golfers have stories of “sandbaggers” and “bandits” who have shot ridiculously low scores due to a falsely high handicap, manipulation which, according to Moir and quite rightly so, is tantamount to cheating. The clear trend among the current generation of junior players, however, is exactly the opposite; to manage handicap reduction and maintain an index that is falsely low, truly cheating only themselves. 

This can be achieved by being “selective” of which scores to enter, counting only the good rounds that will see a handicap cut. A more worrying habit that I have observed first-hand, is by being selective over which shots to count! Hitting a wayward drive out-of-bounds and flippantly declaring that the shot did not count and taking a “mulligan,” missing the 3-footer and saying, “that was good anyway,” not counting the penalty strokes after hitting into a hazard,  failing to count the fluffed chips or the bunker shots left in the sand. These are all behaviours that are not acceptable within the rules of the game and in no way prepare a young player for the tribulations of tournament golf at any level, but are all slowly and sadly becoming accepted among the current generation of junior golfers.  

During my own junior golf days, it was not possible to enter a score for general play to affect handicap as only official competition rounds could count, so sometimes with only two or three competition rounds possible each month, progress could be frustratingly slow and steady. Between handicap-counting rounds, however, my generation of juniors would enjoy different match formats, fun “gambling” games and truly learn the art of competition. And in those club or inter-club competition rounds, it was possible for the fast-improving junior to win a slew of prizes while their handicap found the right level, something that the current crop of youngsters can never enjoy while boasting a handicap artificially too low for their ability. It is a sad reflection that the status of being able to say that they have a handicap of 5, 10, 20, apparently far outweighs the ability of being able to play to it. 

Governors of the game will certainly continue to monitor the effectiveness of the WHS and come with necessary tweaks but at the club level, whether teaching professional, junior coordinator, parent, or peer, all can try to assume some responsibility here for our next generation of golfers.

All can encourage them to play matches against their friends more often, learning to enjoy competition and not just keeping a strokeplay score. All can try to educate them on the integrity and honesty in counting all shots and how that is central to this most self-regulating of all sports. All can preach the benefits of having a handicap that accurately reflects ability, and the sense of true fulfilment that will come from reducing it the right way.

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