Join the fight against cheats

29/05/2003

THE Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) is keen to get to the root of the
handicap cheating phenomenon, but until there is cooperation from all 200
golf clubs in Malaysia, MGA will remain just advisors.
MGA deputy general manager J. Rathakrishnan said yesterday that only 98
clubs are registered with their National Handicapping System (NHS) while
102 clubs keep their own scores and hand out handicaps.
"We can only monitor the handicaps of players from the 98 clubs which
subscribe to the NHS system. That is why we need the cooperation of the
rest of the clubs to become NHS members to enable us to hand out the
correct handicaps to golfers in Malaysia," said Rathakrishnan.
"And until this is done, we have no way of saying whether the handicaps
of non-members are genuine or not."
The issue of unrealistic handicaps arose at the National Press Club-
Pharmaton Golf Championship gross team title at the Nilai Springs Golf
Club in Negri Sembilan last Saturday.
One of them who declared a handicap of 16, finished his round on a gross
74, scoring 50 stableford points, while his partner declaring at 24 had a
gross 86 with 46 stableford points.
Which means the 16-handicapper played a superb 14-under.
But since his club, Seri Menanti, does not subscribe to the NHS, there
is no way of finding out about his true capabilities.
A.S Khamis, who was voted in as the honorary secretary a few days back,
said they did discuss the matter on his first day on the job yesterday.
"Our priority is to get all 200 golf clubs to subscribe to the NHS so
that there will no longer be controversies in the sport. It is a difficult
task, but we aim to achieve it," said Khamis.
The veteran golf administrator also blamed lucrative prizes being
offered by tournaments in Malaysia as the main cause why some golfers
cheat on their handicaps.
"Golf tournaments in Malaysia are one of the best in the world because
they shower the winners with loads of goodies. I have played in Australia,
New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the only prize the winner gets
there is, maybe, one golf ball.
"The prizes in Malaysia are lucrative enough to make some players nurse
their handicaps," said Khamis.
And the fact that nobody loses his or her amatuer status by collecting
the lucrative prizes fuels the desire to cheat further.
So what is the solution?
"Golf clubs must subscribe to the NHS and police their members. The club
captain or general manager can also make sure that there is no more
cheating if they insert a clause which makes it compulsary for a player to
have an NHS membership number before allowing him/her to take part in any
championship.
"Once this is implemented, there will no longer be any disputes, and I
am sure members will push their clubs to become NSH members and the
problem will be solved," said Rathakrishnan.
The cost of becoming a golfer with an NHS account is pittance - RM12
per-year.
"Every golfer can afford to pay RM12 a year and have an NHS account
which can be checked on our website. But then again, we can't force
anybody, and it is up to the management of the golf clubs to make sure
that their members benefit from the NHS," said Rathakrishnan.
(END)