A cover-up of monumental proportions has been revealed by scientists in the US who have discovered what golf duffers have known for years - the handicap system is rigged.
The system is supposed to level the playing pitch, so to speak, allowing the weak golfer to compete on an equal footing with the best.
Those in the high handicap camp know, however, that the match begins to become uneven when they approach the first tee. The big prizes evade their grasp and repeatedly land in the laps of those "low-score golfers", known as the low handicappers.
Now, thankfully, Dr Lawrence L. Kupper from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his colleagues can tell us why this happens. When the existing US Golf Association handicap system is used, the good golfer still enjoys a 60 to 70 per cent better chance of winning.
Dr Kupper and the group used theoretical statistical arguments and detailed analysis of score data from almost 200 players. They publish their findings in the February issue of the research journal, Chance.
"The reason for this bias is that the USGA system uses only the lowest 10 of a golfer's last 20 adjusted scores for handicap purposes," he explained. While the good golfer is usually nicely consistent, the duffer will go down in flames one day and fire a blistering 30 over par the next.
This inconsistency is his undoing, Dr Kupper explains. "This means that the poorer golfer gets a handicap that is less representative of how he typically plays than does the better golfer."
The Irish handicap system seems a bit fairer than the US, but it can still catch the duffer off guard. Once a handicap is established after three score cards are submitted, it is adjusted up and down each time a new card is brought in.
