One of the unique (and enjoyable!) parts of golf is that skill can be identified with a number.

One of the frustrating parts of golf is how that number can be manipulated.

Handicaps, in theory, allow any two golfers to play against each other on equal footing. They provide a universal system for understanding how good someone is at golf, with variables like yardage and course difficulty taken into account. They give us parameters for tangible improvement (or lack thereof).

In a perfect world, there would be no debates about handicaps. Everyone would enter their scores and receive a number. There would be no sandbagging in tournaments or matches.

There would be no “vanity” handicaps—something Riggs of Barstool Sports is accused of having.

Over the past few years, Riggs and his Fore Play crew have built up one of the larger platforms in golf. A big part of that platform is the Fore Play YouTube channel where Riggs plays everything from solo golf to matches against internet trolls.

Ah, yes, the internet trolls.

The short summary here is that Riggs claims to be a 4-handicap.

“That’s not what I say I am,” Riggs stated in a recent video. “That’s what the USGA says I am.”

And a large swath of the online golf community that is inclined to comment on his videos feels that Riggs is not a 4-handicap golfer. Many argue he’s closer to double digits than his claimed handicap.

The haters use video evidence of his recent play—both his scores and his perceived “homemade” swing—to support that notion.

There is so much momentum for this hate that the first result that pops up when you Google “Riggs Barstool” is … “Riggs Barstool handicap.”

There are Twitter accounts dedicated to tracking his handicap based on all of his results in YouTube videos. I regularly get sent videos of his swing with some disparaging comment about how there is no way he is a 4-handicap.

It’s become something of a sport to dunk on Riggs.

Are the haters right?

Who is Riggs?

Let’s back up here.

Sam Riggs Bozoian is from St. Louis, Mo., and played college hockey at Harvard.

After college, he ended up with a day job in sales at Chase Technologies Consultants and was moonlighting as a political blogger. He eventually parlayed his blogging skills into a job at Barstool. By February of 2017, the Fore Play podcast was launched, developing into an irreverent golf brand that runs a tournament series, sells boatloads of merchandise and produces a steady stream of content.

Riggs has been all over the online golf world in the past handful of years, including when he stayed 99 days at Pinehurst during the pandemic (creating content during his quarantine). Fore Play, while polarizing, is undoubtedly a mainstay in the new golf media world (as evidenced by the recent Internet Invitational).

Riggs plays a lot of golf on camera for Fore Play’s 620,000+ subscribers. A quick look at 2025 shows he has been a part of a couple dozen rounds on YouTube, though many of them are scrambles or match play where you can better hide deficiencies.

You’ll also see a lot of putting or chipping videos from him. He gets roasted for those, too, because his putting stroke is, let’s say, a little unconventional.

“Oh no not another nine putts! I can’t watch,” Nick Faldo wrote on Twitter back in 2020. “Please tell me how it went? Or where they all went a-wandering.”

That is on the kinder side of the equation when it comes to criticism of Riggs and his game. Usually the words “fraud”, “liar” or “sucks” are involved.

And there are, shockingly, a lot of people invested in chirping Riggs.

Much of it comes down to jealousy. He is an online personality, making plenty of money, who gets to create golf content for a living. That is a dream for some people—a dream he earned, but I digress.

His swing should be a little nicer and his handicap more realistic, his doubters say.

The most famous handicap in the world

You could probably make a compelling argument that no handicap in the world is discussed more.

I’m not sure who else would be in the running. I barely know my own handicap (it’s a 9.4 but my game feels like a 19.4).

I think one thing Riggs has going against him here is that the vast majority of golfers don’t comprehend how a handicap is calculated.

Most people see a 4-handicap golfer and assume they shoot 76 every round. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Handicaps are your best eight rounds in your last 20 so you can toss out your worst scores. You can even toss out some of your average scores.

Golf handicaps are representations of your best golf.

And, to be fair, we have seen Riggs shoot in the mid-70s, or be on pace for it, on camera. It’s hard to argue the visual evidence. He did so here, here and here.

We’ve also seen him shoot 106 at Oakmont and regularly venture into the 90s. His ugly golf is ugly.

Those rounds don’t really matter, though. What matters is the best golf he can play.

His USGA handicap has fluctuated around a 3-4 handicap recently, but this spreadsheet of recent rounds suggests Riggs is around a 6.3 handicap on YouTube (though I’ve seen other trackers suggest he is around a 7 or 8).

Then there is the question of on-camera golf versus off-camera golf. He is probably playing some off-camera golf that isn’t as pressure-packed as doing a YouTube video for everyone to judge.

Would that be enough to make up the difference of jumping from a 6-8 handicap up to a 3-4 handicap?

It’s definitely close enough to be possible but Riggs has a lot of experience playing YouTube golf.

What’s the final verdict?

The eye test and some back-of-the-napkin math from his recent videos suggests Riggs is a little worse than a 4-handicap golfer. I think that 6-8 range is fair.

At the same time, the discrepancy between “real” and his actual handicap is overblown.

His swing and overall game aren’t aesthetically pleasing but he’s a decent golfer. I’ve seen way worse in terms of vanity handicaps.

The Fore Play “H8ter” series where he plays internet trolls in matches has been a bit hit or miss. They’ve brought on some guys who say they have low single-digit handicaps but clearly aren’t anywhere close to that. Many of the guests play the character of villain as Riggs is meant to be painted in a better light (though the tactic hasn’t always worked).

Those videos have been match play, which can quickly mask the level of golf being played.

It’s kind of impressive that Riggs has built such a brand around his handicap and how people hate his game. Honestly, it would be worse for him content-wise if he had himself down as a 7-handicap or something more believable.

What do you think? Does Riggs have a vanity handicap?

Let me know below in the comments.

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