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Golf Lifestyle: My first run-in with a worthless piece of… sandbagger

By Christopher O'Day

NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 22: Patrick Reed of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the third round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 22, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 22: Patrick Reed of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the third round of The Northern Trust at TPC Boston on August 22, 2020 in Norton, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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For the first time in my life, I played in a stroke-play tournament. This also means that I had a run-in with one of the worst people on earth… a sandbagger.

Now, we have talked about how to deal with a sandbagger before. I wish that I would’ve actually played with the son-of-a-gun because I would’ve been able to take some of West’s advice to heart.

Instead, I was left dealing with watching one of the worst people in the world get away with cheating 35 other guys and walking away with the cash.

I’m a decent golfer, but not someone who belongs in the championship flight at any event. I’ve shot in the 70’s a handful of times, and usually am in the low to mid 80’s. I have a handicap of 7.6 or so. The chances of me putting together the two best rounds of my life, in a row, just isn’t something that would happen.

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The sandbagger that showed up at the tournament I played in was in the mid 9’s for his handicap. You wanna know what he shot?

72-75. He won the gross by a good amount and the net by 17 shots. He was -17, and second place was dead even.

Yeah… something doesn’t seem right there.

I decided to look him up on the GHIN site, to see what kind of scores he had posted. Guess what I found?

HE DID THE SAME THING AT ANOTHER TOURNAMENT THIS YEAR ALREADY!

Every normal round he posts is in the mid to high 80’s. Any tournament he plays in has a score in the low to mid 70’s. You don’t just magically get better by 10-15 shots every time you play in a tournament.

I’m guessing he plays eight to ten rounds, then enters a two-round tournament. This way, he never has more than one tournament entry when they pull his handicap for an event.

What a scumbag.

What stinks is that, unless the course catches it, there isn’t really a way to prevent it. Maybe the handicap overlords could institute some kind of rule that prevents you from being eligible for a tournament if your championship scores are far enough away from your handicap. Or, even better… you get locked into that handicap number the rest of the year.

He shot 72-75? You are a scratch golfer for the next 12 months, and get to play with the big boys all the time.

If there wasn’t money on the line, it would just bug me a little bit. Taking hundreds and hundreds of dollars from guys who are out there being truthful though? That just isn’t cool.

Unfortunately, golf is a sport that has two very opposite sides to it. On the one, it is a “gentleman game”, with strict rules, codes, dress codes, and an air of superiority. On the other, there is cheating nearly everywhere you look. From high school to college to Patrick Reed to your local club.

I wish there was something that could be done about it. Maybe you have an idea about how to prevent these sandbagger waste of spaces from ruining a great weekend.

On the other side, maybe I’ll just hold a handicap right above the line of the next flights, get in with the lower competition, and win some money.

Next. US Open : Fox Losing Broadcast is a Big Loss for Golf Fans. dark

Just kidding, that would make me one of the worst people on the planet. A sandbagger.

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