Re: Cheating

I'm glad to say that I don't play golf with anyone like that. At the end of the day they are cheating themselves. It sounds like it's affecting you and your game so, if it was me, I'd just refuse to play another round with the guy.

Re: Cheating

The guys I usually play with, we will use the foot wedge every now and then but never anything like the person you desribed. None of them have ever golfed in competition so aren't familiar with all the rules, but I am teaching them bit by bit, year by year.

Most people like the fellow you described don't know the rules, don't participate in competitions and are not concerned about become a better golfer. They don't go to the range, they don't repair divots and don't have respect for the game. Unless he's your best friend, ditch him because he is cancerous to your own game. Just knowing he is doing these things gets your mind off track and makes your time on the course less enjoyable.

Re: Cheating

A great story about my great uncle:

Erol was a very good player, and during a competition he was paired with a known cheater. So he showed on the tee box that morning with two caddies.

"What Erol, two caddies today? Plan on having a bad day?"

"No, one caddie to keep my score, and the other to keep yours."

Re: Cheating

My buddy and I got paired with a guy once who spent most of the afternoon thrashing around deep in the woods then would get to the green and say he was putting for par.
I’d just shake my head in disbelief and thank God there was no money involved.

Re: Cheating

Yeah, I've played with a few of those, yes indeed. Despite the fact they're really cheating themselves which is one thing and I don't really care about that but they're a disgrace to the spirit of the game of Golf if they do that in competitions.

I've seen all of those examples and then some. The club I was at before I changed clubs had a 'cheaters list' and anyone could put your name down if you cheated. That way, everyone knew and wouldn't want you to play. The club even banned 2 or 3 guys who cheated far too often.

It really pisses me off and I have spoken to everyone of them after the game and spoke my mind. Normally I don't sign their card as marker and I never play with them again.

Fortunately, cheaters are in the minority and our games aren't spoiled by the cheats.

Now sure about Greg Wills, but I've seen a few cheats on the tours too. Nothing blatent but where you'd expect a horrible lie - there the ball is, clear of all the trees, a nice lie ... um ... luck??? I refused to accept a player's version of events once in Johannesburg ... he said he scored 5 when I knew he'd taken a number of swings (I counted 4 of them) in the rough. He said they were practice swings. Um ... no, I don't think so not when you swear and look at your caddy.

Re: Cheating

I have know of some! but when they play with other people there just alod of C**P! and yes at the end of the day your cheating yourself and you get no better

Re: Cheating

Yea I had a nasty experience with this in a competition last season. It was the semi final of the handicap match play singles.

First off I shouldn't have had to play the match because the guy never put his name up after the quarter final anyway which means disqualification as I am aware which he seemed to be but then about a week before the semi final tie had needed to be played by his name magically appears, I enquired and was never given a suitable explanation, but never mind.....I wasn't after a cheap bye but im sure if I had done the same the disqualification would have stood.

So on with the match...

Eighth hole: im 10 feet away in 2 and he is 5 yards off the green in the semi with a testing little chip. I have my back to him pulling the putter out. As I turn round I see his ball moving as he addresses it. Now personally I would have called a foul on myself or at least enquired as to whether it was a foul or not....but he says nothing and plays his chip, badly as it turned out and missed his putt so I just cosy it up and take the par....

16th hole: I'm 20 feet away in 1 and he is in a greenside bunker. He then proceeds to break the same rule twice. He goes and gets the rake before he plays his shot taking time to rake the mark where the rake was lying. Now that is against the rules because its testing the surface of the bunker before you play your shot. Then he walks to his ball and ****es the rake into the bunker about 2 feet from his ball thereby testing the surface near his ball, he then proceeds to knock it to four feet and gets a half.

17th hole: this isnt really a rules thing more an etiquette thing. Its a windy night but sunny and late in the day the 17th drive is blind round a corner into the prevailing wind into the setting sun so visibility wasnt good. He has the honour and I stand behind him and watch his drive and inform him that its good. Only polite after all. So I stand up and get ready for mines, what does he do, puts his driver back and stands by his bag looking in pretty much the opposite direction. So I hits my shot, didnt see it at all cos of the sun and ended up losing the ball the hole and the match. i know I should have hit the fairway but thats not the point. If I knew roughly where to go I could have found it in the 5 mins.

So this really steamed me up. I checked his club returns for the year because I didn't beleive his handicap for a minute. He was off nine but putted like a pro and could hit a 7 iron 160 yards out of a deep-ish bunker to 15 feet of the cup after just one drive. So I finds that he has handed in the minimum amount of cards required to keep a handicap and the only ones he has handed in have took his handicap from 8.3 to 8.6.

Justice was served in the end because he lost the final but it left a sour taste in my mouth. I have resolved to take less interest in the match play stuff (handicap at least) this season.

I agree with the cheating yourself bit but I am amazed that people do it, I cant see the point myself. I play golf for one reason only, to do my best and improve year on year. Still I suppose it takes all sorts.

D.

Re: Cheating

If I'm playing a serious comp, or just a practice round by myself where I'm trying to figure out how I can realistically expect to play, I try to adhere to all the rules (at least, all the ones I know of.)

I don't have a practice facility (my town is only 5500 strong, and no driving range), so I'll often play a round and use it to practice (I tee off after 7pm when it's pretty dead). These are rounds I'll use to see what my 'perfect' score would be - sometimes taking two dozen shots on a hole, playing at least two balls (my original 'round' ball, and my 'boy, if I didn't flub that shot' ball).

Is it cheating? No. There's no scores submitted, nor do I brag about scores I could have had if I had shot perfectly.

As for people who cheat? If I was in a comp or playing for $, I'd be refereeing if necessary. But if I'm just out and get paired with a cheater, I laugh about his/her game, and just try to play mine.

Re: Cheating

I have never cheated in golf, the reason is I used to play tenpin bowling with friends and cheated my score, when i joined a legue and play my best bowling my scores weren't asgood and i felt robbed. Even tough I ended up with a 212 average.

So with my golf I never cheated my first round of golf was 147, and it took me 8 months to break 100. today after playing for 20 months I shoot mid 80s.

I joined a new club last week and need to put in 5 score cards to get a new handicap, and a guy I saw today who knew me from the last club said to me just bring 5 of my cards to him and he will sign them because he knows I do not cheat every time when we played practice rounds together at the old club he couldn't beleve that I would walk back to the tee when I found my ball was outof bounds to tee for my third shot. I do have to admit that once I did kick my ball out from under a tree that I couldn't hit but I counted the kick as a shot.

Re: Cheating

I played a matchplay competition once and caught a guy cheating, I watched his ball go out of bounds and he said "its ok" when we got down the fairway he waited untill I was facing the other way and "found it" in play.

I felt very awkward for the rest of the round and wanted to say something but couldn't bring myself to upset my game by causing an atmosphere you could cut with a knife.

The problem was I had given him a lift to the course because it was our golf society matchplay and we played at his course, When we had a drink in the clubhouse all I could think about was his cheating so I excused myself to the loo, and jumped into the car and left him there.

I resigned from the society giving my reasons for his cheating, three other players came forward and said they also had witnessed him cheating on different occasions.......I am now back with the society and he has been expelled.

It is very difficult to confront a cheater on the course and enjoy the rest of the game, but what I have learned is that you don't enjoy the rest of the game anyway so next time a blazing row will start immediatly......


Ian.

Re: Cheating

That also reminds me of a guy who put down 32 cm on the closet to the pin, and the other 3 guys with him told the club house about it that his ball was at least a metre from the pin, he said to the clubhouse sorry I meant to putt 32 inches. he was not allowed to go to these comps after that.