1st place in AM 1=4th in Pro-$350, embarrassing?

DISCLAIMER: This does not pertain to me!

I'm not sure if I should feel bad for this person or be congratulatory toward him, but the hero of this story just won 1st place in AM1 in our annual b-teir tourney, by 8 stokes(with 2nd place shooting his #1+#2 P.B.'s in two of four rounds).

If he would have entered open, he would have placed 4th=$250 + a guaranteed spot in a 5 hole safari skins match @ $100/hole.

Is this a good example of how "sand-bagging" sometimes doesn't pay off in the long run? or Should we think that we all have the potential, as am's, to beat a field of pros on any given day? 

[David Sauls]

Of course, I could be wrong, as I am about so many other things.  Maybe sandbaggers are real and playing with better players really improves our game.  I ought to track down some of these baggers and thank them profusely, for their sacrifice in staying down and providing me better players to compete against, and thus improving me.

[Bruce Brakel]

There is a very small amount of sandbagging in this game, but you'll rarely find it at the tournament that prompts the sandbagging post on the internet.  No one group of players cries "sandbagging" more than the intermediates who choose to play advanced.  If you have a 917 rating and you choose to lose in Advanced, the only thing you should be saying about that afterwards is "Congratulations, you played really well today," to the winner.  For an intermediate to call sandbagging at another intermediate who beats him in Advanced, that's just a pathetic display of no class and no sportsmanship. 

 

I've learned some things by playing up in the pro divisions and paying attention.  You cannot learn much by playing up in the amateur divisions because so are the majority of the other players you'll play with.  But if you want to learn to keep your cool on the lead card, and to make every throw count when every throw matters, you ought to play where your rating puts you. 

[Grassidy]

C'mon your talking about some magic number that you pay some corporation to pull out of a hat for you based on the most stressful round of golf you can play(in my case, once a year). Thats how good you are(b.t.w., 917 was my rating three seasons ago when I stopped paying my yearly dues to the PDGA, I am the definition of an advanced player)? Get over it, and get off your high horse, your the sore loser/whiner with no class! This wasn't about sandbagging, this was about an up-and-comer who didn't realize his own ability, sold himself short, and missed an opportunity to more profitable than expected(due to the skins match).

[John]

well said Bruce ,people dreambagging out of there division  doesn't mean that that guys a bagger.

play to your rating and not above it 

[ROBEY the one.]

You want to talk about sandbagging, I seen Plenty this weekend. But most of them shit all over the course and it didn't matter in the end.

  The problem here is there is a am weekend and a adv/open weekend for this tourney, but the adv/open weekend fills many weeks in advance. this forces players to move up to open and lose their money to the likes of Cale L. and Tim G. or drop down and tear up intermediate (which they can do because only the adv/open weekend is sanctioned), not many move up to donate.