Liars/cheats at your course..

[cougar978]

Last Saturday, I played in a $5 Nassau with two of my friends, and a guy that hangs around the course practicing, saying he's going to try out for the Nationwide Tour, etc. Anyway, we get out there, and while he has an appreciable skill set, it's obvious he's not even close to being that caliber of player. On the seventh hole, he duck-hooks his tee shot into a bunch of trees and has to re-tee. Goes back to the teebox and almost gets into it with some guys on a green that are making noise over a birdie putt. Once he gets his fourth shot close to the green, he lifts and cleans his ball on the collar (obvious breach of the rules) - one of my friends says something to me about it, but I told him not to worry about it (he ended up making triple and being +8 thru 7 holes, I was +1 thru 7, and didn't want to piss him off and give him an excuse to welsh on the bet). Anyway, a couple holes later, he does the same thing. Since I rolled over everyone that day and swept the Nassau ($45 in my pocket), I didn't say anything to him about it. I really feel bad for the guy, he kind of reminds me of the role Robert De Niro played in 'The Fan (1996)', although I don't think he has it in him to kill or kidnap anyone.

What would you guys have done had you spotted him cheating, assuming he was so far out of the match it was inconsequential?

[Iowa Hawkeye]

Get on him, but still make sure he paid up.

[David in FL]

Guys like that are fun. I'd stroke the heck out of him and pump up his already over-inflated ego and try to convince him to press.....again, and again, and again.......

[cougar978]

Guys like that are fun. I'd stroke the heck out of him and pump up his already over-inflated ego and try to convince him to press.....again, and again, and again.......

He was thinking about it on 17, but I don't know if he has a job, so the prospect of him losing $30 instead of $15 was too tough to handle.

[saltman]

How are the course conditions? This early in the season, I play pick, clean and place which basically morphs into bumping the ball almost all the time in the midwest. Its just too wet. Where I come from we play the ball up until May then its 100% down. Now that should be agreed upon beforehand if you are playing for money.

Next time, just be clear you are playing the ball down at the start.

[cougar978]

How are the course conditions? This early in the season, I play pick, clean and place which basically morphs into bumping the ball almost all the time in the midwest. Its just too wet. Where I come from we play the ball up until May then its 100% down. Now that should be agreed upon beforehand if you are playing for money.

Conditions were pristine - fairways were dry and greens were rolled. We have a city amateur coming up this Saturday, so we played it down and putted everything out as preparation for the tournament, if anything else. I don't know if the guy just had a brain cramp, or was trying to improve his position. If he did something like that in a tournament he'd be DQ'd, but I'm not sure he was in the right frame of mind, considering he just had to re-tee and was getting spanked by someone who he thought was 'inferior' (me).

[billysandy]

At the course i am a member of, we have 'Winter Rules' which means you may pick up your ball if on the fairway (so fringe counts) clean it, and place it down at any point no more than 6 inches from original position and no closer to the hole. I guess they have something like this in the US right?

[Iowa Hawkeye]

At the course i am a member of, we have 'Winter Rules' which means you may pick up your ball if on the fairway (so fringe counts) clean it, and place it down at any point no more than 6 inches from original position and no closer to the hole. I guess they have something like this in the US right?

Yeah, we used that during the whole HS golf season last year. Usually guys have a very small perception of 6 inches, but on the golf course...

[tjy355]

It's not against the rules to lie about your skill level. The only cheat you mention is lifting the ball on the collar. As he did it several times in plain sight, I would assume he doesn't know the rule. It would be good to mention it to him prior to any future money match. Or wait till he does it and assess him the penalty to really make the point.

[TN94z]

I have played with two guys in the past quite a bit that cheated ALOT!!! I never said anything to them because I got too much satisfaction in them cheating and me still beating them in the process. One guy hit the ball a ton...but mostly in the woods. He would drop his ball 50 yards down the fairway from where it went it....EVERY TIME! The other guy would "FIND" his ball no matter where it went. He wouldn't even be looking in the general area where it went. I later found out that he had a hole in his pocket and would drop a ball down his pants leg and say he found it...saw him do it multiple times. This same guy would also have a rooster tail of sand on his backswing during a bunker shot but try to tell us that he didn't ground his club! I have also played with guys that break branches and clear sticks and bushes when hitting from a hazard. I just keep my mouth shut and beat them. Now if we are playing for money like mentioned and the guy expects me to pay him if he wins, then I will call him every time! I am not paying you any money if you aren't playing the same game I am.

My thing is this...if you want to cheat, cheat. But if you cheat like this, you will never get any better and you will never have any respect from me on the golf course.

[trumps4]

I think I would ignore it assuming he is out of contention. However, if there is even a remote chance of him taking somebody's $ I would certainly call him on it.

[bogeyhitter25]

Me and my friend were playing together in a high school match against a "ghetto" school. The two kids we played against had numerous tattoos and looked like they were about 25. One 5-putted the first hole, the other 6-putted. And they both said that they made bogey. We didn't say anything since we didn't want to get brutally murdered.

[JonnyGolf]

I'd have cut him a break, he doesn't sound like the sharpest tool. But, I would decline to play with him again. Not because of him cheating, just because it didn't sound like he was much fun to play with and since he doesn't have much money, it isn't enjoyable to take his cash.

[Range King]

What would you guys have done had you spotted him cheating, assuming he was so far out of the match it was inconsequential?

If the atmosphere is good, after he paid me, I would've asked him, if he let me caddy for him on the tour.

I'd have cut him a break, he doesn't sound like the sharpest tool. But, I would decline to play with him again. Not because of him cheating, just because it didn't sound like he was much fun to play with and since he doesn't have much money, it isn't enjoyable to take his cash.

Agree, this is the right thing to do.