The forgotten role of the marker in the World Handicap System – National Club Golfer

When we think about people manipulating their handicaps, why do we forget a playing partner’s starring role? England Golf’s James Luke tells Steve Carroll why the marker is as responsible as the player Manipulation is the World Handicap System complaint that never seems to go away. It doesn’t matter whether it’s just an urban myth, or whether club committees are constantly on patrol looking for players fiddling their general play scores, whenever a WHS story appears so does the ‘cheating’ chatter. But when we think about what it takes to do that, and the lengths players might go to, we tend to neglect a really important factor: the marker. Yes, it takes two to tango. For a golfer to put in a score that would send handicap chiefs into a rage, someone else must be a willing party – both to agree to mark it, and then to certify it. It’s right there, written in Rule 3.3b in the Rules of Golf and Rule 4.4 in the Rules of Handicapping. When, though, does the golf scorecard marker ever come up in conversation when people complain about golfers bending the rules? Hardly ever. It’s something England Golf have been looking to
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