COMMUNITY

Good idea ... but you will still have to determine if the information is correct. As chairman, I have members checking that they have played with a member ... but who was the member? And if it is a member, did they post a score on the same date and same course? You can't just take the information at face value. You have to check each member's information. If you go to the SCORE LIST page, it will show that information ... who attested the round and you can see if they also played a round on the same date and course.

Yes, I agree with everything that you mentioned. However, I do not think a score should be included in the handicap index calculation if the PWM option was selected until the score was verified with attestation. According to the USGA, the person attesting the score does not have to be another player. I can have my wife, who does not play, and as long as she witnessed the round she can attest the score. If a player is going to mark that they played with another member, then they can at least get it attested by the other member. As a player posting the score, they should be accountable for ensuring that their score is accurate and verified. The Handicap Chairman should be responsible for ensuring that the USGA rules are followed in competition, ensuring that the players have a reasonable opportunity to play together, and that exceptional scores are adjusted correctly under the handicap manual, and addressing any rules questions that the players may have. We should not have to double check that they have a PWM attested. Otherwise, I might as well enter the scores for them after they have mailed me a paper copy of the score card with signatures.

When I host a club sponsored tournament, I require each player to exchange cards and attest their own score. The player turns each card into me and I post the scores to calculate the round. This is the only true way to verify the scores. That is partly why the USGA is putting emphasis on not posting scores that are played alone as in a truly single round.

What I would really like to see is a feature where the scores do not get included in the handicap index calculation until it is accepted by the handicap committee or chairman. The Handicap Trend could calculate, but not the Handicap Index. This would give the committee and chairman more control on what is an acceptable score.

All of this verification business is non-sense. Two players can collude to write bogus numbers (say too high), sign each other's card and turn the cards in and then you verify it's all good and you have enabled two sandbaggers. Think it can't happen, or doesn't happen?

How as a handicap chairman are you going to verify scores before they are posted to the handicap system? Based on the fact that a 12 handicapper can shoot 78 one day and 98 the next (I certainly can do that), what score would sound fishy to you, or maybe anything in between? How do you police things for which you have no witness? You can't.

Golf is a game of honor. You turn in the score you shoot and you count all the strokes you used to make up your score (apply ESC as necessary), without fudging the rules, to the best of your ability. That's all. Anyone can fail at any of these stages voluntarily or involuntarily, .

I really don't understand what the USGA has in mind with this playing alone rule, as you can turn in a bogus score alone or with fellow players (or spectators) just the same: do you think I watch every stroke of everyone in the foursome to see if their ball moved or if they failed to apply a rule properly? Nobody can do that, and that's why golf is a game of honor, even with referees present in high-level tournaments.

I think anyone who is caught sandbagging, should be tea bagged.

I agree that there will always be cheaters and thieves in this world. The is nothing that we can do about that. The USGA believes that score verification is a method of validating a persons score and honor. Very similar to having a good reference when seeking employment or hiring a contractor for a project. Humans rely on good quality feedback, otherwise, there would not be a need for websites like Trip Advisor and Angies List. Attestation essentially serves the same purpose. The truth will always prevail though. Data does not lie. One observation that I have seen is that the players that do not get their scores attested typically do not play in competitive events. That is probably because the truth will come out in a competition.