Playing Partners that Cheat - long

[alf174]

Many of my golfing friends play like they were in a scramble - fluff the ball up, roll it to a nice lie, don't observe OOB stacks properly, exchange balls in the middle of a hole, etc. The only ones I play competitively are the ones that follow the rule book and I have a dog eared copy in my bag to show for it (I'm on my third copy). The glaring exception is that we ask each other questions about rules if we are unclear about the definition; playing the role of an official for each other.

[hrspear]

I think a lot of people, when they start this game, bend the rules. It makes the game less frustrating, not to mention that the rules are complicated. I play with several people who bend the rules. I won't play for money unless we are all playing by the same rules. Otherwise, if someone wants to say they beat you, and they have taken some liberties, who cares??? Doesn't bother me in the least. We are playing two different games...

I'm still fairly new to the game, but have always played strictly to the rules, at least as far as I know them (haven't read a rule book, but have asked a lot of questions of experienced players and done some reading). I rarely move the ball to improve my lie, unless my round is going to total cr@p, in which case I stop keeping score and just try to practice some fundamentals. If I do move my ball I take a penalty stroke for it (unless it's moving it from a cart path or something like that where it is allowed).

I am definitely in the camp of cheating is only cheating myself. Of course I rarely play for anything more than loser buys lunch or loser buys a round for the foursome. So, perhaps I would think otherwise if I were betting $100/hole, but then that would my own fault for agreeing to the bet...of course with my handicap I'd probably stand a decent chance if we were playing net.

[bigoak]

Establish the rules before the first tee ball. " are We are playing in Down today?" If not then its just for giggles today. Don't hold up play with your mulligan(s) If it gets really bad I ask the playing partner "Ok what do you want on this next hole?" " your score seems to be your preference."

[Lange]

I have a few friends that i generally play with about once or twice in a year, they stayed at the Country Club i choose to leave, because i wasn't a fan of the people there, but that's a long story in itself. Anyways these two friends of mine they join up for every tournament possible and hang out with these really good golfers, and they call themselves great. Well they claim they shoot rounds of low 70's etc. and even do so in tournaments where as i've watched them as i play with them on the course and they cheat the whole time. Bad tee shot... throw up another one with no extra strokes what so ever. Bad lie.. try and make it look like they found a different ball when it is theres, and nudge it over a few feet and play it. Then by the end of the hole i count with there provisional shot and then however many strokes they took and ill count a double or a triple bogey. So we walk to the next tee box and everytime it is the same "that was a bad hole" so i say what did you get? "They go i got bogey" I can't believe it!!!! Then if they have a day where they shoot a 81 they say it's terrible! By the end of the round i have there two scores along with mine on my own score card and there shooting high eighties. Absolutley ridiculous! It makes me so mad to see them do that and yet think there so great, winning prizes in tournaments that they should have never got... etc. It's really sickening... but what im getting to is, How can you live with yourself if you do that??

[crazygolfnut]

I play with a person that likes to roll his ball before he hits. Ok, so our fairways are not very good during part of the season and if the rule of the day is to move your ball in the fairway, I can go along with that but I dont do it. The one that bothers me the most is the way he marks his ball on the green. He slides his coin under the ball as far as he can so that there is no room between the ball and his mark. When he replaces his ball there is usually about a ½ inch or more between the coin and the ball. It is only a ½ inch but come on let’s play be the rules. By the way, he avoids real competition like the club tournament where he would have to follow the rules.

[Uthinkso]

I encountered this with a few guys from work. I typically don't play some of the cow pastures they do, but I decided to tag along one saturday with them. What a mistake this was.

I'd be on in two, sometimes three. I played well for my skill that day and shot an 84, I had two of them beat me when they weren't even on in four shots on most greens. I was going to leave it alone, but I just couldn't. So on the back, I stopped and asked a couple different times how many shots they had, or what shot they were on. Moral of the story they got the idea I was keeping tabs now and played 15 strokes worse on the back that was much easier from a skill point of view. I shot 39 on the back, and 45 on the front for a reference.

I know what you mean, and I'll just stick with my golf crew from now on.

[$2 Nassau]

Let them cheat, who cares, it's their problem not yours.

Unless you are playing a match against them. But then again, if you know the person regularly cheats, why would you play a match against them in the first place?

Find a comfortable golf crew (as mentioned above) and stick with it. If other people cheating themselves bothers you, avoid them like the plague.

I play in a semi-regular sunday morning foursome. We just play golf, nothing competitive at all. I'm a little more competitive with myself than they are with themsevles. I'm not as liberal as they are with giving myself putts. They roll it in the fairways sometimes, which I never do (although I used to when I first started playing). Doesn't bother me, I'm not even sure if they all keep a handicap.

But if we ever played a competitive money match, which I doubt we'll ever do, I would certainly start asking some questions.

[tbjohnston]

Quite a story. Not really on topic, but I found that my game didn't truly improve until I started following USGA rules when I play a round. I learned to hit a provisional if there was any doubt where my ball was, so we didn't slow things down too much. I was able to track my scores and learn that I could miss a 2' putt - so I started working on 2' putts.

If you post a score but didn't follow USGA rules, you may well have a vanity HCP - and I don't want you on my team if that's the case!

The other thing is that if we're not playing for $ or the club championship, I've learned not to care what other folks do - in stroke play it's me against the course. The one exception to this is when I play with one of my kids. I don't want them learning anything other than good etiquette, good pace of play and knowing the rules.

[iQuest Golfer]

I've learned over the years that there are two types of golfers:

GOLF ERS - who take the game seriously, learn the rules and try to follow the rules to their best ability, and strive to abide by the traditions and etiquettes as they learn them, and invest in the game - take lessons, work tournaments, become rules officials, etc., and...

FLOG ERS - folk who play golf backwards... Don't know the rules, or don't care about the rules, question etiquette and tradition, litter on the course, cheat, exhibit all the behavior that has been talked about in this thread.

I try to hang with those in the first category because they help me to improve who I can be in relation to the game; however, on the many times I have played with the latter, if they are friends, I tend to overlook their golf flaws, help them understand the rules, history, and etiquette of the game. For many friends, they improve because learn more; for the others, they are not golf friends anymore... at least, I don't look to play with them.

[Bourbon and Coke]

The only move that really doesn't bother me for score comparison purposes (aka not money rounds) is moving a ball from a lie that's dangerous to the club. I wouldn't ask anyone to risk their equipment for the sake of playing "properly" with nothing on the line. It's not like you can move your ball from the woods to the fairway, but moving the ball from real rocky ground to less littered pine straw doesn't bother me one bit.

I'd play it as it lies for a tournament, but I'm not damaging a perfectly good club for a perfectly meaningless round.

[colin007]

The only move that really doesn't bother me for score comparison purposes (aka

forget the club, think about what a broken wrist would feel like! to me, its a game, that i enjoy, and what others do is their business. i dont play for money, so thats irrelevent.

[justinmill14]

well, my brother just started playing and hes only played twice and he is using my first set wich was a junior set. Usually when he hits it across the ground about 5 yards he will redue it, and thats fine with me because he is just learning but when he does it about three times in a row then i will say something, but he gets all mad at me. But i guess hes just learning, but as for ur friend, thats a different story.

[cdj588]

do the same thing he deos and lower your score

[JonnyGolf]

I always play by the rules. Ball in a divot? Play it. Two footer for a triple? I'm putting it out.

I have a single digit handicap and a friend asked my "what do you want to get your handicap to?" I said 12 or 13, because then I could really win some tournaments!

Cheating just decreases my handicap. Why would I want to do that?

[rubbery]

My teammate with whom I played every match of last golf season would without fail lie about at least two hole scores per match. I once saw him turn a 9 into a 6 without the other team noticing. He even tried to lie about my scores several times.

[SiamGolfer]

The only move that really doesn't bother me for score comparison purposes (aka

'Unplayable Lie' ??

mid hole mulligan

Brilliant !

(Not heard that one before!)

I always play by the rules. Ball in a divot? Play it. Two footer for a triple? I'm putting it out.

Agreed ! A 'give' in matchplay is genuine give, but playing in a medal comp. with strict rules of strokeplay, then all those previous rounds playing from divots and tapping in 2 footers will be of benefit.

[misty_mountainhop]

Players who are genuinely learning the game (and assuming I don't catch them about to do it) I'll explain what they are doing/did wrong.

People who should know better I'm not impressed unless you're practicing on the course and hitting a recovery from a waywardish drive is not what you're about that session etc. Anyone knowingly cheating in a match, comp etc should be called for what they are - a cheat. Genuine mistakes - take your punishment i.e. 2 shots, hole concession, DQ. Ignorance is a poor excuse - get a rule book.

The game is indeed meant to be fun but I get much more of a kick out of saving par having been in cabbage from the tee and having to hack free as I ever would from a "fake" birdie having sneakily toe-poked my ball back to the fairway from that tee-shot.

On the same subject (sort of) does anyone else dislike people who deliberately keep a high handicap so that they can win some comps? I include in this people who might be about to be cut a shot in a minor comp but then they mysteriously finish 8-9 on the last two holes.

[Slim 11]

I won't say I am a strict follower of rules all the time (my playing partners and I will usually play loss of stroke but not distance on OB, mulligan off the first tee if needed), but usually I am pretty strict.

As many have said, you don't help yourself improve by cheating.

I used to play in a league and one guy was infamous for reporting lower scores. Everyone knew what he was doing but didn't call him on it (it rarely meant the difference in which two man team won the hole). After about 6 weeks, we presented him with a clicker to keep score. He got the point.

It hurt him and his partner most, because by that time his reported scores had dropped his handicap (for league purposes) and when he had to start being truthful, they had no chance of winning holes.