More than 80 per cent of those who responded to our World Handicap System survey say the system is “very easy” to manipulate.
And nearly half of you also told us you were reluctant to submit general play scores because you feel casual rounds shouldn’t count for handicap.
These are the latest headlines to come from a huge WHS questionnaire that was filled in by thousands of you.
Shared across our daily email newsletter and social media channels, a total of 3,390 of you answered a series of wide-ranging questions around WHS, giving us valuable insights into how club golfers really feel about the way handicaps are calculated.
We’ve already revealed your wider feelings about the World Handicap System, and what you think about rolling back to the old CONGU system.
But it’s fears about manipulation and the role of general play scores that seem to be at the heart of concerns.
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We asked, “How easy is it to manipulate a handicap under WHS?” More than four fifths of you – 83.5% – said it was ‘very easy’, while 16.5% maintained it was ‘very difficult’.
Drilling further, we asked to list you to match which statement best described your view of the World Handicap System. While 45% of you said the system “works if honest”, just under a third believe it is easy to manipulate and 15% of you maintain it is “fundamentally flawed”.
Asked whether golfers had a reluctance to submit general play rounds, and with the ability to select multiple responses, 45.5% of you said casual rounds shouldn’t count for handicap.
Some 38% added that gimmes, and the fear your handicaps would rise, were also concerning, while nearly 29% cited trust issues around other players as a factor.
And given the statement, “WHS only works properly if golfers submit…” Just under 30% of you replied ‘competition only’, with 26.5% saying “most rounds” and 21% arguing “every round”.
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What do we think these World Handicap System results reveal?
General play rounds are undoubtedly at the heart of lots of golfer concerns about the World Handicap System. While some of you appreciate the freedom the ability to submit a score whenever you want provides, it is also clear the concept feeds fears of manipulation.
Would more than 80% of you really feel WHS was “very easy” to manipulate without general play in the system’s armoury? We would say it’s unlikely.
A hardcore might express concerns about elements of Course Rating, or the various calculations within the system, but most golfers we speak to within golf clubs care little about those technicalities.
General play, though, and how it interacts with competition rounds are a source of frequent correspondence into our inboxes.
And if you consider some of your answers to other questions within our survey, they all lead back to general play. A preference for competition only counting rounds is focused on general play, as are trust fears.
But with handicaps now purposely designed to be much more inclusive than those who use them simply to play competitions – think of WHS as the equivalent of Strava for golf – it’s difficult to see how these two conflicting viewpoints are going to be reconciled any time soon.
Now have your say on WHS
Is the World Handicap System easy to manipulate in your experience? Leave us a comment below, email me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com, or get in touch on X.
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