What is a sandbagger in golf? All you need to know

A sandbagger is essentially a person who presents a false handicap in golf. Sandbagging can be done by influencing one's handicap to keep it higher than usual. But there are also extreme forms of cheating like writing a wrong score on the card. Such people aim to bag the biggest trophy or earn the highest prize in a golf tournament by showing a high golf handicap. As an instance of manipulation, it is frowned upon by the golf community.

There are some ways to spot a sandbagger. The first one is by tracking their GHIN. If history shows only one or two tournaments then there may have been poor performances that were erased to keep the handicap high. Another way to spot a sandbagger is through their dressing. They won't dress themselves to look like professional golfers like Brooks Koepka or Xander Schauffele. This will keep eyes away from them and make them unnoticeable.

Another instance can be not registering their low scores. This keeps their overall handicap index high. One more way to spot a sandbagger is when a golfer is trying to lose a hole or secure a bad score, they will do it subtly. For instance, if a golfer needs to hit a ball 170 yards to clear a hazard, he'll only shoot for 165 yards. Or perhaps choose the wrong club on the greens in spots where easy putts can be made.

There have been stories in the past regarding sandbagging but USGA tries to keep the names private.

Stories of sandbaggers from Dave Wells

Dave Wells once shared two stories of sandbagging from his golfing experiences. The first one was about an English couple he and his wife met at an international couples golf tournament. The two couples were paired together at the Port Royal Golf Course. There the couple was hitting "lights-out" shots and Wells commented to the English husband that it looked like sandbagging.

The man replied that they called it "trophy seekers" in England. Illustrating different names for similar practices, depending on where you were playing.

Wells shared another story which was told by former PGA Commissioner Deane Beman to him over lunch. Beman was explaining that the handicap system was important to make the game both enjoyable and competitive for people of all skill levels. Then, he added that an analysis showed the most common handicap on winning teams in ProAm events was 11, which appeared to all at their table to be a clear case of sandbagging.

“We did a quick analysis one year of all the Wednesday ProAm events in the PGA Tournaments to see which handicap showed up on the winning team the most. That handicap for that particular year was 11,” Deane Beman said.

Wells signed off in jest by adding that a player with a handicap of 11 could be a sandbagger.