Since many golfers like to wager a few dollars, or much more, on matches, deciding the outcome of a putt or several putts by four players across 18 holes can lead to squabbles with financial implications.
Dominic Namnath, who routinely plays with a group of 12 golfers at the Santa Barbara Golf Club in California, said such arguments are settled with common sense.
“If it hits the cup, it hits the cup. That’s it,” Namnath said.
But George Young, the longtime owner of the Bluffton Golf Club in Ohio, said golfers there have suspended their big money golf games for now.
“I don’t want to gamble a lot if someone doesn’t have to worry about the break of a putt and can just ram it in there and then say, ‘Well, I hit the hole,’” Young, a P.G.A. golf professional for 47 years, said. “That’s a big advantage.”
Counting those putts as holed has unquestionably lowered the scores of thousands of golfers in the past few months, according to dozens of course operators and golfers interviewed last week. Lower scores might seem like a good thing, but in golf, there is always a consequence. When recent scores are recorded to calculate a golfer’s handicap, the approximation of a golfer’s average score over par, the handicap number will drop, which could give a false impression of the golfer’s ability.
But that can only happen if a golfer enters those recent, lower scores. This spring, many golfers, cognizant or disapproving of the changed hole conditions, are declining to enter their scores. Their handicaps have not dropped. Golfers are expected to record virtually every round played to keep competitions, or regular foursome matches, fair. Golfers who do not post good scores are called “sandbaggers,” which sounds nicer than “cheater” but carries much the same connotation.
