Golf Bandits: What Are They And Are You In Danger Of Becoming One?

Have you ever played the round of your life in a medal or Stableford and been met by numerous comments in the clubhouse afterwards about being a bandit? Even though many of those jibes are likely in jest, some aren't. And being labelled a bandit is not desirable. So what is a bandit and what does the term mean?

The term golf bandit is often misused. It is common for someone doing better than usual to be jokingly accused of being a bandit, especially if they are a high handicapper. But a golf bandit in the true meaning of the phrase refers to someone more sinister and underhand than someone having an unexpectedly good round or executing an unlikely shot surprisingly well.

A golf bandit is someone who deliberately and cynically keeps their handicap at a higher level than it should be so as to improve their chances of winning competitions. There are various ways to do this. 

Most of them rely upon either the player not having a home club, them moving home clubs often or them simply not playing in many qualifying events. Golf bandits look to hoover up prizes at away clubs, somewhere they are not known and where any success may not filter back to their home club and affect their handicap index.

With general play scores now able to count towards a handicap, putting in general play cards of high round scores is another way to keep a handicap artificially high. Or just by deliberately playing badly at crucial times, a practice known as sandbagging.

But there are also ways of playing in competitions at your home club and not have your success in them reduce your handicap. Basically, this is in any format which does not return an individual score for a player, so match play, or foursomes, four-ball better ball, greensomes, Texas Scrambles and the like.

Some people also take joy in winning casual games. I'm sure we've all heard conversations like this on the 1st tee: "What are you off John?" "Oh, I don't have an official handicap and I rarely play, so put me down as an 18". John then proceeds to par the first three holes and tell you he used to play off 5 before family got in the way. John, you're a bandit. 

This is how someone who had no intention of being a golf bandit may be in danger of becoming one simply because they have not ensured that their handicap reflects their current playing ability. They are not maintaining their handicap by handing in general play scorecards or entering Stableford or medal competitions, but only match play or team ones.