"Golfer sues over handicap adjustment"
Thanks to Lawrence Donegan for re-Tweeting Mark O'Regan's Independent story on "Irish pensioner" Thomas Talbot's multimillion dollar suit against the Hermitage Golf Club, which reduced his handicap by 7.8 shots between 1999 and 2004. And seems to have cost him his family, who haven't spoken to him in six years.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Talbot explains the personal toll the past few years has taken on him.
“This case has been going on for the past six years,” he said. “It has been hugely stressful. I didn’t care so much about the handicap issue, it is more the principle of it.
“I’d turn up for a competition and there would be nobody to play with. I have learned the hard way that friends are a funny species - they’re never there when you want them.”
Or maybe they don't like giving 5 a side to a sandbagger? Just wondering...
Hermitage GC says under GUI Rule 19 it had to reduce his handicap if it believed it was too high relative to his ability. A ruling is expected within two weeks.
Mr Talbot concluded: “I went up to Portmarnock Golf Links on Saturday and joined as a five-day member.
“My handicap is now 21.”
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 06:47 AM
Reader Comments (30)
His mixing up with "need" and "want" says it all.
"I want my friends to play the role of patsies so I can sandbag them."
TRUE “tour” Review
Scale 1-5 (5 = high)
I have played three full rounds (walking) in my new White/Green True “tour” shoes. Ask and ye shall receive:
Are they worth the money? Do they live up to Rob Rigg’s, uh, enthusiasm? In a word, yes.
Comfort: 5
What has already been said here is true (heh). They are probably the most comfortable golf shoes I have ever worn.
Fit: 5
Rick asked me about this. The shoes do seem a little long, but I like that. I have narrow feet but still like the extra room in the toe area, length + width. I was able to lace them up snugly and feel that my entire foot was taken care of. Looking down at these shoes, one would think he is wearing a pair of the original Earth Shoes from the 1970s; you had to be there, I suppose. But form follows function, except when it comes to Bauhaus and apparently Rees Jones and Tom Fazio, but those are rants of a different color.
Playability: 5
During the first weekend (Super Bowl Sat-Sun) I played 36 holes and proceeded to hit 22 of 28 fairways, and the misses were playable. Nothing has changed except the shoes, so according to my scientific reasoning powers, it must be the shoes! Didn't hit as many greens, but that is due to my being a lousy golfer and maybe hitting the ball off damp, dormant Bermuda with 7-year-old blades with S300 shafts that are entirely too heavy now that I am a Senior. Time to move up (or down) to something a little more forgiving. Scores were better than I should expect this time of year. Once again, it must be the shoes! The real test was on Northern Trust Sunday. On Northern Trust Saturday we got several inches of rain. Sunday was gray and drizzly most of the time, and the ground was absolutely saturated. Nevertheless, I walked 18 holes in 3:10 and saw nobody else on the course (as Mrs. Ghost said, “That should have been my first clue”). I was even reduced to playing “lift, clean, and cheat” on fairways where there was no escape from casual water. The shoes came through like a champ. My rain pants were saturated from the knee down but my toes remained warm and dry. Footing was never a problem and I cannot say that about my Icons or DryJoys under similar conditions. One good thing about the sole is that the array of “cleats” is very easy to clean, and the shoes do not pick up mud and thatch like conventional soft spikes. My FootJoys would have weighed 4 pounds apiece by the time I got to the second tee. When I cleaned the shoes after the round they looked good as new despite being covered with mud much of the afternoon. Part of their playability is that my 50-something-year-old feet did NOT hurt after schlepping my bag over a very hilly 18 holes after any of the rounds. This is a very nice change from before, with Wally’s product. And I hit 12/14 fairways and chipped in for a birdie on the 17th in the mud. Again, it must be the shoes. LOL.
Aesthetics: 5
OK, they look funky but in a good way. Of course I was wearing white golf shoes with navy blue rain pants, so I looked like a mall walker in St. Petersburg. We know that is a no-no in ShackLand, at least as long as you-know-who keeps wearing those horrible white Nike kicks. But ever since Billy “White Shoes” Johnson started the tradition, I have tended toward white (I still have the kangaroo leather white adidas football shoes I wore many, many years ago in high school; Mrs. Ghost is not amused, but she should smell them when they get wet). For another thing, most of my golf is played in shorts, and brown/black shoes plus shorts looks magnificently dorky, and just about as bad as black socks with shorts (another St. Petersburg thing). I think I’ll probably get a pair of white/black or white/brown “saddles” next. I used the optional pair of green shoelaces, which are a nice touch.
Durability: We’ll see.
The shoes seem to be very well made.
Value: 3.5
Now I will proceed to leave the reservation for a moment. I know everyone is surprised! “TRUE linkswear” is in Scottsdale. The shoes are made in China. As is practically everything else, including this MacBook Air, except for my Allen Edmonds work/dress shoes and the occasional other article of clothing, my Pelikan pen, and the antique (aka “junque”) furniture we are furnishing our old house with. I just deleted most of this section, but suffice it to say that unless the people who make the shoes are also included in the profits from designing and developing the shoes, there will eventually be too few golfers to make much of a difference. In this country anyway, and it’s extremely unlikely that China will take up the so-called slack in the global golf market.
Overall: 5
I’d have to say that those here who have praised these shoes are dead on the money, not that I had any doubt about that ;-). It would be nice to see a small, well-run company do well in the Business of Golf. Good luck to Rob Rigg and his coworkers, who play at least 18 holes during the workweek as part of their jobs! Poor things have a rough life.
Thanks for the detailed review sir ... I wore mine around the house the other night for a few hours. Couldn't even tell I was wearing anything after about 15 mins, lol.
I agree with everything you posted except if the shoe gets 5.0 in all categories except one, where you give it a 3.5, then how does the overall score become a 5.0? Do you drop the high and low scores and then average? Did you mean 5.3 instead of 3.5? Was it a subversive signal indicating you are being held hostage?
Excellent threadjacking! I did get an exchanged pair of the True phx model, which then matched my Footjoy size. As you said, lots of room in the toes. However, the phx are nowhere near as comfortable as the original True Tour model that I still wear, and clearly not as comfortable as your new True Tour model. I think whatever they did to lower the price to $99 for the phx has for sure affected comfort, which is disappointing. I'll continue to wear this phx model to break them in gradually, but I wasn't expecting to have to do this. In fairness, the Devdog loves his new pair of the phx shoes and didn't complain of discomfort, so it may just be my feet or the exact shoes I got. Should have gone for the Tour but I loved the electric blue model... Thanks for the info. Rick
I think Ky's math indicates he has reviewed so many NIH/NSF proposals that the total doesn't always equal the sum of the parts.
Still can't get used to the whole look when setting up to the ball. Grew up with Foot Joy Classics and find it impossible for some reason to get over the look. I know it sounds ridiculously silly and maybe even dumb or stupid, which I have been accused of before. I just wish someone could come up with both, the comfort and the classic look, is that too much to ask for ?
Grip feels pretty good on the kitchen floor, lol.
But RickABQ is also onto something, too. The typical reviews I get for my grants at one agency in particular are:
(2 reviews) This is great; give him the money.
(2) This is nearly great; give him the money.
(2) This is not too bad; give him the money.
(1) I don't know how this guy remembers to breathe.
There is no way to please 7 different people. The final reviewer almost always "wins," and if I were conspiracy-minded I'd think the Program Officer picked that one for insurance if I wasn't on the pre-selected list ;-) Right now I have one pending. Think good thoughts! LOL.
Kevin, you make a good point. The Classics were, well, classic. But my Icons were bought in August 2010 and are falling apart even though through most of last summer I wore a pair of New Balance multipurpose shoes because of mild case of auto-diagnosed plantar fasciitis. And changing the spikes on those things is a royal pain in the ass. Since my feet did not hurt even a little bit after wearing the TRUE's this early in the year, I'm not looking back.
They pick up mud and can't shake it. The entire bottom of the shoe becomes a flat surface of mud and rye grass. I use my divot tool on every tee box to clean the treads, and by the next hole, they are packed full again. Combine that with dew or rain, and I would be better off barefoot. It's slightly better than playing on ice in buster browns, but just slightly.
On the good side, they are extremely comfortable. But bunny slippers would be extremely comfortable if I didn't care how they look or contact the ground.
where do you play golf where your shoes get packed with mud every time out? please let me know so I don't accidentally play there...thanks...btw, I've really been enjoying my new trues...
trying to keep things green for tourists. I wish people could be happy with dormant bermuda.
Never had the mud problem like this with normal soft spikes, just the Trues. Haven't tried other spikeless for comparison.
You're the first person I've heard about having an issue with the Trues in wet weather (not disagreeing, just an observation) ... i hope you're wrong, 'cuz I'm looking forward to using them in a month or two (or 3) ... and I can't afford a new pair anytime soon, lol.
I've been experimenting with Non-golf shoes on the course for the past few (10?) season and I've found that any sort of of low-cut light hiking shoe that has waterproofing is a great alternative to almost 99% of "real" golf shoes. Merril makes a few nice models as does Oakley and even Ecco has some.
All that said, when it comes to teeing it up in any sort of tournament...I'm sticking to my FJ Sports, Icons, and classic Dryjoys....old habits (like dragging the clubhead inside too F'n early) are hard to break. Got a pretty good record with my reel-fit Icons...so far only 2 rounds over par when they've been strapped to my platypus feet!