LINDA Trotter had mixed feelings about her handicap rising from 36 to 40 under the revision which came into effect in February and allows women a ceiling of 45.

''It was nice to get the extra four shots but it sounded worse,'' said the Dumfries and County member who earns the bandit-of-the-week title just over a year after taking up the game.

Those four shots, however, have counted this week with her gross 99 in the club's May Medal representing a net 59 and a Parbusters score of minus 13, the best of the year so far and a strong contender for a place in the final at Haggs Castle on September 16.

It is a shame only for Bothwell Castle 35-handicapper Carol Lindgard, whose net 59 and Parbusters minus 11 on the club outing to Auchterarder might have been a weekly winner any other time, but whose score might also give her a final berth.

It was the first time Linda, a 40-year-old languages teacher, had broken 100 in a competition and it was a personal best by 13 shots. ''I had played every evening the week before and my game must have improved with all that practice,'' she said.

Unlike hardened club golfers who could bore for Scotland with blow-by-blow accounts of their best rounds, Linda's memory is hazy. ''I think I had pars at all three par-3s but I couldn't be sure and that's about all I can remember,'' she recalled, or, more accurately, didn't recall.

However, she is aware that her handicap is down to 34, a figure which will command more respect especially from husband Alistair and teenage sons Craig and Gordon.

''They all play golf and after walking round watching them so many times I decided I would have a try myself.''

Was this a case of: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

''Not really, I want to beat 'em,'' she said, displaying a mastery of the quick retort that matches her golf swing.

The new upper limit replaces the old maximum of 36*P, the asterisk indicating that 36 had not yet been played to and P that the player had not come within nine shots. The revision in its entirety is aimed at bringing the system into line with the rest of the world so that handicaps reflect current form rather than the previous method of averaging scores over as long as two years.

This week's leading scores:

HANDICAP

Men

-9 - D Clarkson, Bothwell Castle (28); K Hunter, Cathcart Castle (18); R R Mitchell, Douglas Park (26); F McLatchie, West Kilbride (28).

-8 - A Richmond, Cawder (15); C W Adams, Cochrane Castle (10); E A Miller, Eastwood (21); C McGowan, Troon St Meddans (4); P Callaghan, West Kilbride (21).

Women

-13 - L Trotter, Dumfries & County (40).

-11 - C Lindgard, Bothwell Castle (35).

-6 - R McArthur, Airdrie (30); E Greenan, Cathkin Braes (32); L Walls, Dumfries & County (22); J Green, Gourock (25); J Barclay, Lamlash (20), L Johnstone, West Kilbride (27).

SCRATCH

Men

-4 - I Campbell, Cardross; C McGowan, Troon St Meddans.

-3 - S J Graham, Douglas Park; D A Smith, Falkirk Tryst; J Bauer and S Crolla, Lanark; J Callaghan, Largs.

-2 - P McKechnie, Hayston, over Falkirk Tryst; H Anderson, Callander, over Falkirk Tryst; A Hodge, Golf House Club, Elie; J K Crawford, Haggs Castle; A G F Sharp, Portpatrick; D P Ireland, Southerness.

Women

+2 - P Silver, Prestonfield.

+3 - A Wilson, Williamwood.

+5 - F Prior, Cawder; H Faulds, Douglas Park; J Mack, Erskine; P Hutton, Lanark; K Murray, Stirling.

Note: scores based on CSS for men and SSS for women.