The discourse around the World Handicap System continues to take place at golf clubs all over the world on a daily basis. While tools like iGolf have allowed those with no fixed abode to submit general play scores, there’s a clear divide developing between nomads and members.

Many who pay a membership believe handicaps should only be forged during competition rounds, some don’t see the point in nomads having official indexes at all and others believe the current system is more open to manipulation than its predecessor.

However, cheating isn’t solely confined to the unattached ranks, and some efforts to manipulate are more flagrant and offensive than others – like the one below.

I’ve personally witnessed a member play a casual round with no handicap pressure, shoot a good score, decide to submit a scorecard as a result and sit in the bar for a couple of hours afterwards until it was accepted. I’m sure many others have too.

I’ve also seen plenty of golfers not holing out on every green during general play rounds. Many members and nomadic golfers have stories of dubious submissions, ‘impossible winning scores’, handicap inflation and more.

I was recently contacted by a golf club member, who shared details of his friend’s duplicity.

“I don’t think I'm the only person who is sick of the World Handicap System,” he said. “Not the system itself, which is probably fairer than the old system! But allowing individuals to manipulate their handicap however they like by adding cards which are often played from the comfort of their home.

“My friend was cut to 21.2, but he then put in a card at his and my home club (he lives close enough to the golf course for that to work).

"He was at work and there was no booking on the sheet! It is ridiculous. If they are allowing cards for general play, another member must surely sign as verification.

“I’m a 62-year-old trying hard to keep his handicap down at 10.2 when his friend cheats to put his handicap up.”

Naturally, I followed up and informed the reader that someone has to attest your score when you put in a general play card. He’d never done one – being firmly of the belief that handicaps should come from competition scores only – so was unaware of the process.

I explained he must have been sending his cards to someone else to sign off, meaning another person was in on it. Whether that person knew he was submitting cards from the comfort of his own home or not is another matter.

Not an isolated example

I’ll admit to having attested friends’ cards in the past when I wasn’t playing with them, because I know they’d never cheat. While I acknowledge this is wrong – and it’s not something I’ve done since being investigated by England Golf – it shows how the system can be manipulated if someone is determined to artificially inflate or lower their score.

“I’ve never done a general play score so I don’t know how it works, but I do know that while playing in a four-ball with me and two others, he put in a card without the knowledge of any of the group.

“He put a wrong score in on 18 and, more importantly, putts were being given. He always does stuff like this to increase his handicap.”

Such blatant cheating would surely lead many to stop playing with the person in question, but I assume the bond of friendship in this case is strong enough to preclude that from happening.

I presume the same reason is why he hasn’t been reported to the club and formally investigated. Either way, it’s shocking behaviour.

“We tell him he’s a cheat to his face, but it’s water off a duck’s back.”

While particularly egregious, I’m sure it’s not an isolated example. I’d be shocked if others who live close enough to a club to trigger a potential submission haven’t done the same thing.

Hopefully it’s a very small number of people, but this sort of behaviour does happen, especially in the summer. You’ve probably seen WhatApp messages from someone at your club that are accusatory in nature.

I subsequently took to X in search of more anecdotal evidence. I asked our followers this question: “Are you aware of anyone submitting a general play scorecard when they’re not on the golf course but are in the vicinity for the purposes of handicap manipulation (could live/work nearby)? Some 68% replied ‘no’, but a startling 32% said ‘yes’.

Cheating, banditry and sandbagging in golf is nothing new, but has the introduction of the World Handicap System made these practises easier? You’d struggle to argue it hasn’t.

I know it doesn’t look like it, but I’ve been a sports journalist for just about 27 years. And in that over-a-quarter of a century I have been lucky enough to get ‘fitted’ for a few different things with the aim of making me better at the sport I was writing about. This has included custom-moulded insoles for running shoes and fancy road bikes.

I’d even include undergoing strenuous, vomit inducing scientific tests to help create running and cycling training plans as a form of ‘fitting’. Oh, and there was the time I undertook a ‘scrawny to brawny’ body transformation for a men’s health magazine. (Got a spray tan from the wife of an ex-England cricketer…)

The thing is, I went into all of the above – apart, perhaps, from the spray tan – feeling very much within my comfort zone. I can’t say that I carried the same confidence heading into my first ever fitting for a set of golf clubs.

As I’ve mentioned in my articles on the golf lessons I’m currently taking with Golf Monthly Top 50 coach Josh Mayo, I am a relatively new ‘serious’ golfer. I’ve only had my (high) handicap for a year or so and I’m struggling to lower it thanks to my incredibly inconsistent game.

As a result, I arrived at Callaway’s European Performance Centre in Surrey very much not in my comfort zone – surely a golf club fitting really isn’t the kind of thing a golfer like me should bother with. I should really wait until my handicap is far more respectable or that I’ve earned the right to call myself a ‘proper golfer’.

The fitting session is carried out by Callaway’s master fitter Keith Simmonds – who has years of experience fitting golfers of all levels, and is a PGA Professional coach to boot – in a state-of-the-art simulator equipped with Foresight hardware and software that uses sensors on the Callaway clubs to deliver more information about my golf than I thought possible.

All of this gadgetry doesn’t calm my nerves. Every time I go near a sim I’m convinced that’ll I shank a ball into the display on the wall or, worse, the £20k or so launch monitor.

So, was I right to worry? In the first of a short series on my fitting experience with Callaway, here’s what I learned…

A fitting is (mainly) all about you

Keith starts the session by talking to me about my golf and taking a look through my bag which is a mishmash of two package sets, a Honma driver and some wedges handed down to me by other GM team members, and a second-hand Callaway 5-wood that I recently purchased to replace one that I, erm, accidentally snapped.

“Fitting isn't just about looking at numbers,” explains Keith. “I follow a specific order when I’m working with someone and the the player’s feedback is prioritised at the top. Your personal feedback — how a club looks, feels and even sounds to you — is often more important than the technical data. The data is important of course, so your feedback is followed by analysing ball flight and strike data. This maintains the fitting process hierachy of player-ball flight-strike."

You definitely don’t need to be a low-handicap golfer to get fitted

During our initial conversation I mention to Keith that I’m worried that I’m not yet good enough to warrant a fitting. Thankfully he doesn’t buy this. “There is a common misconception that fittings are only for elite players, " he says, "The perception is, 'Oh, I'm not good enough to get a fitting.' But everyone, regardless of skill level, can benefit from having equipment that fits their individual build and swing.”

Golf is supposed to be fun, and using clubs fitted to you can only increase your enjoyment

I also admit to Keith that, like many newer golfers, I can get incredibly frustrated – angry even – with my golf. “The clubs in your hand should make you enjoy the game first”, he tells me. “Hopefully, as we go through the fitting process it’ll help you understand your game better and that will then make frustrating moments on the course more manageable.” As Keith cleverly pointed out, if you’re in the game for the long run – it’s got me, I am – then a fitting is simply “a long term investment in enjoyment!”

You get the opportunity to experiment with different equipment builds…

I wasn’t being modest earlier when I said I was worried about defiling Callaway’s fitting studio. And things didn’t get off to a great start when Keith asked me to hit some balls with the ‘trusty’ 7-iron from my bag. Keith uses the seven as the ‘control’ club on which to base all of the irons, so I was convinced that my spraying it around was going to make his life very difficult!

Luckily Keith is a patient man, and eventually I calmed down and the Foresight equipment could record some base numbers which would allow Keith to compare my current club with different combinations of Callaway heads and shafts – there are drawers and drawers of the brand’s hardware to sample in the studio.

…And that experimentation is eye-opening

As I said at the start, my core irons are a genuine ‘mixed bag’ – a combination of steel shafted MacGregors and Cleveland irons with graphite shafts. I tell Keith that I feel more comfortable hitting the graphite clubs. “That makes sense - generally, much less shock is transmitted back through a graphite shaft and they can help performance if you have a lower swing speed.”

However, Keith then explains that just because a shaft is graphite, it doesn’t mean it’s the right graphite shaft for you. “One of the biggest influences on the weight of a golf club is the shaft,” he explains. “If a shaft is too light for you it can lead to you releasing the club too early which will have a negative impact on your ball strike.”

Using the data from my 7-iron, Keith suggested that we tried heavier shafts. At the same time – and this is another benefit of a fitting – Keith swapped between Quantum Max and Apex AI clubheads. Being able, in real time, to feel the differences between the different combinations, and confirm genuine improvements was impressive.

A fitting can boost your confidence (and your ball speed)

After the irons, we moved to the woods. I hit my pre-owned Callaway 5-wood – coincidentally, considering my location, the club I’m most confident with – and started to find my groove. As with the irons, Keith tried combinations of shaft weights with different Quantum Max heads and I’ve got to admit I fell a little bit in love with the kit I was trying. From 3-wood upwards the trace on the simulator was making me feel like peak Xander Schauffele. And the data was backing up my feelings.

“Wow, look at the numbers on the screen,” said Keith. “They’re pretty impressive – you’ve increased the ball speed by 10mph, a pro would be happy with that kind of improvement!” Not only that, Keith pointed to my swing path numbers. “You're only one or two degrees either side of a neutral swing path. That’s a really solid foundation. Once you’ve got your new clubs, you can stop worrying about the mechanics of the path and work with your coach on stabilising the club face alignment at impact.”

Fitting isn’t a coaching lesson

While Keith is an experienced PGA Pro and offered some very welcome words of wisdom, he was keen to point out that his role wasn’t to watch me swing and then pick my game apart. “It’s very much about trying to fit you as a person,” he explains. ‘The goal of a fitting is to match you with the equipment that works with your current, natural swing, not to fix your mechanics.”

You might walk away surprised with what ends up in your bag

It’s always good to end on a cliffhanger right? Once my new set of clubs arrive, I’ll explain more but the findings from my time in the main fitting studio with Keith mean I’ll be carrying a bag with a slightly non-traditional make up, with the potential for me to - at a later date - really mess with tradition. And I haven’t even mentioned what happened when I went next door for a putter fitting!

The golf grip plays a huge role in the success or failure of any golf shot, so perfecting the position of the hands is a crucial step towards better ball striking.

Some of the best ball striking lessons link directly to fundamentals, as many amateur golfers struggle with a strong or weak golf grip that cripples their consistency on the course.

Below, in the instructional video and article, Top 50 Coach Alex Elliott shares a handy step-by-step guide that will not only improve your golf grip but also transform your ball striking...

Perfect Golf Grip: A Step-By-Step Guide

While there is some room for personal preference when it comes to how you grip the golf club, there are key fundamentals that will ensure your hands work in partnership effectively.

For beginners, the neutral grip is something you should be aspiring for, as this will help you to deliver the club squarely at impact and hit shots without too much side spin.

It's important not to get disheartened when working on your golf grip, as similarly to understanding how far to stand from the golf ball, it can take a little time to get used to and being resilient on the driving range will pay off in the long run.

Step 1: The Left Hand

Initially, I want you to focus on the left hand (or right for left-handed golfers). This should sit on the grip, holding the club only in your fingers.

To achieve this, start with an open hand and ensure the grip runs from the middle joint of your index finger through to the fleshy pad at the bottom of your hand (as demonstrated in the image below).

Finally, wrap the fingers round and roll your thumb into place.

With your left hand on the club, you will notice you've created a line between your thumb and forefinger which should point towards your right ear.

Ideally, you should see between two and three knuckles on your lead hand as you look at your grip from above.

This is a great checkpoint that you may notice professionals using, and is something golfers of all levels should adopt in their pre-shot routine to ensure their hands are in the correct position at address.

Step 2: Interlock or Overlap Grip?

This is where you have the choice of overlapping, interlocking or employing the baseball grip.

There is no right or wrong here, it's all down to personal preference. There is one key to remember, though: make sure you grip it in the fingers.

The interlock variation, famously used by Tiger Woods to pretty devastating effect, involves interlocking the index finger of the left hand with the little finger on the right hand, as shown below.

Arguably the most popular, the overlap sees the little finger on the right hand sit between the index and second fingers on the left hand whereas, as should be quite self-explanatory, the fingers underneath the club are completely separated in the baseball grip.

Step 3: The Right Hand

Whatever your preferred method, it's important to get the right hand in the appropriate position so the two can work together as a solid unit - this will help you get more power in your golf swing.

Place the fingers on the underside of the grip and then wrap the hand over so the left thumb is sitting cosily beneath the palm of the right hand.

Once again, a line will be visible between the thumb and forefinger that should point towards your right ear. The finishing touch is to shift the index finger down the grip slightly which will act as a trigger.

Put all this together and you have the perfect golf grip. If you can get this right and also find the perfect ball position with every club, you should be able to achieve a centred strike more often.

That's not to say that you can't play good golf without a neutral golf grip, however, as even some top professionals have a tendency to be a little strong or weak with their grip.

But, a word of advice, If you are going to play with anything other than neutral it's important to match your grip to the correct release style.

Matching A Release Style

If you are someone who wants to stick with more of a strong or weak grip, you will benefit from learning how to effectively release the club.

A strong grip favours more of a roll release, where the club face moves back a little bit open and then rolls through impact (right image below).

A weak grip favours a release where there is more flexion in the lead wrist, preventing the toe of the club head from rotating as much as the roll release through impact (left image below).

Matching a release style with your grip can help you to feel more in control of your swing and understand a little better where the golf ball will travel off the face - but there isn’t a one size fits all approach.

Think of it more as a sliding scale - a little experimentation can help to match your grip to the appropriate release for your swing.