Cheaters you have see on the golf course, tournaments or otherwise

[golf nut]

A friend I used to play with ignored the rules all the time, I once found his drive close to a tree, he tells me he is looking for a Titleist 2 so I pick up the Titleist 6 from near the tree, after looking for 4 minutes he finally says that he may have been hitting a Titleist 6 so I replaced his ball and then charged him with a penalty for failure to identify his ball.

[JWL1957]

I was stationed in Puerto Rice for a couple years and got to play the in the Island Amateur twice. The cheating that went on was unbelievable. Guys would bump thier ball and look right at you daring you to say something. I watched one guy in my foursome keep moving his ball mark to the right. He did it 3-4 times before I called him on it. His reply was that..... he didnt want to putt through all the spike marks. Another guy who I was paired with kept adjusting the layers of tape he had on his putter grip all day. Another guy kept scribbling out his scores on the scorecard and putting in different numbers, he ended up with a mid 70's score and we all knew he didnt break 85. I gave up playing any of the island tourneys....it was crazy.

[sean_miller]

When I first started playing I got paired up with a few cheaters. They always kept the scorecard and ended up with ~ 5 strokes per hole. No matter how many balls they lost or wiffs they had, they'd consistently shoot between 43 and 46.

Par 3? On in 3 and 3 putts for a 5
Par 4? On in 4 and 3 putts for a 5
Par 5? 6 on and 2 putts for a 5

Throw in a couple "up and downs" for pars and le voila, 43.

[tulefog]

"Yes. Yes. Winter rules." - Judge Smails.

[dv7834]

A couple of years ago during regular match play competition at our club, my opponent (who has been playing golf ~ 4x as long as I have) hit his drive which flew down the left side and hit his bag, which he'd left there. That, of course, is automatic loss of hole. I asked him, "Did that hit your bag?" He answered, "Yes," and said nothing more. He continued playing as if nothing were amiss. I didn't pursue it--we weren't playing for house keys or wives. But I do find myself smirking every time I see him, because I know that he knows the rules.

Another night, I hooked wildly to the left into trees beyond which there was a lateral water hazard. In my mind, the ball was lost since no one saw it actually go into the hazard. My opponent wanted me to play it as if it went into the hazard and said that I could go on a line from point of entry to where I had originally hit from. My jaw dropped; he clearly did not know the rules. We got into a debate over the options from a lateral water hazard. He could not be swayed, so I gave up arguing: I went back and hit from where I'd originally played my last shot. But I was struck by the fact that someone who played in a competitive environment on a regular basis was so unaware of the rules. Not really a case of cheating but certainly one of ignorance.

[Braivo]

I have played with this guy "John" at my local course on a few occasions. We always seem to play in the evenings and get paired together or as part of a group. On more than one occasion I have played with him and his buddies, they all work as groundskeepers at the course.

This guy claims to have played collegiate golf, and to his credit he can hit it a mile off the tee. Overall though, I'd say he is a mid to upper single digit handicap.

Here's the thing though, every time we play (usually 9 holes), he will announce his score at the end as a 37 or 38, but he took at least two mulligans and rarely putted anything closer than 3 feet.

I never cared, except I just saw his name announced as the winner of the 27-hole club championship this weekend with a scratch round of -3. Proudly displaying his trophy I couldn't help but wonder if he employed the same shady tactics during the tournament as he does in a casual round. This bothered me, and also made me wonder how many others there are out there like him that take a few liberties and gladly accept the attention. He likely played with his grounds crew buddies who play the same way, so there would be no real check on his honesty. It makes me wonder.

[StefanUrkel]

Most people have cheated some kind in their life.  I cheated a couple times in school. It is up to the competition in all sports and the top in academic/work to stop it.

[Lihu]

Most people have cheated some kind in their life.  I cheated a couple times in school. It is up to the competition in all sports and the top in academic/work to stop it.

Yes, but with golf it's really obvious and very funny.

[Dave2512]

Not sure I'd call what I see people doing on the course cheating. Just because they don't abide by the rules doesn't mean they are cheaters if they are golfing for fun. There are no victims considering most probably don't play competitive golf and don't keep an official handicap. If people want to play a variation of golf that makes it easier for them I am all for it. I'll take casual, do whatever I want golfer that moves a decent pace to the overly pedantic golfer that thinks he's Slugger White on the way to shooting 100.

I play with my Mom quite a bit. She's the type of golfer that rolls her ball around, might even push it into the fairway if it's just in the rough and will pick up her pink ball and toss another down if she fears hitting it into a hazard. I am glad she does it. At her age it's good she is out there at all and I want her to have fun.

[Lihu]

Not sure I'd call what I see people doing on the course cheating. Just because they don't abide by the rules doesn't mean they are cheaters if they are golfing for fun. There are no victims considering most probably don't play competitive golf and don't keep an official handicap. If people want to play a variation of golf that makes it easier for them I am all for it. I'll take casual, do whatever I want golfer that moves a decent pace to the overly pedantic golfer that thinks he's Slugger White on the way to shooting 100.

I play with my Mom quite a bit. She's the type of golfer that rolls her ball around, might even push it into the fairway if it's just in the rough and will pick up her pink ball and toss another down if she fears hitting it into a hazard. I am glad she does it. At her age it's good she is out there at all and I want her to have fun.

That's true, I suppose not playing by the rules is not technically cheating especially under the conditions that you mention.

BTW, it's really great that you get to play golf with your mom.

[Tee2Trees]

When I'm out on my own and no one is waiting behind me I hit extra tee shots.  Sometimes a lot of them.  If I hit OB I play "3 from the tee".  If I hit one in the fairway, I try to hit another one past it.  If I'm swinging well, I'll put up to three balls in the fairway all in the same spot.  That being said, I don't hit extra iron shots/approaches because of the wear factor on the course.  To me, that is real cheating (of the green fee).

[Dave2512]

That's true, I suppose not playing by the rules is not technically cheating especially under the conditions that you mention.

BTW, it's really great that you get to play golf with your mom.

Honestly there are times I break a rule here and there. If I chip it and the ball rolls up to a half inch from the cup and hangs on the lip I may putt it in may not. Not going to miss a putt hanging on the lip. If I do swipe it in from a half inch I may not pull the flag. If I hit one into a lateral playing alone I might not be a 100% certain where it crossed the margin, there are no TV cameras and spotters watching me. I have a general idea and short of putting on a wetsuit it's going to have to be sufficient that where I drop is close enough, a couple feet here and there isn't going to change the outcome.

Probably not going to grab my driver and a couple tees to measure exactly either. Why? Because pros do as much to get the best lie possible after mistakes in an attempt to recover as because they are required to, they use the rules to their advantage as often as possible. At that point it's a foregone conclusion I probably won't recover and given the condition of the courses I play it's probably not going to be a good lie anyway and I know about how far it should be and don't exceed that. None of those things are going to keep me from posting my score because it has no impact.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

That's true, I suppose not playing by the rules is not technically cheating especially under the conditions that you mention.

BTW, it's really great that you get to play golf with your mom.

Honestly there are times I break a rule here and there. If I chip it and the ball rolls up to a half inch from the cup and hangs on the lip I may putt it in may not. Not going to miss a putt hanging on the lip. If I do swipe it in from a half inch I may not pull the flag. If I hit one into a lateral playing alone I might not be a 100% certain where it crossed the margin, there are no TV cameras and spotters watching me. I have a general idea and short of putting on a wetsuit it's going to have to be sufficient that where I drop is close enough, a couple feet here and there isn't going to change the outcome.

Probably not going to grab my driver and a couple tees to measure exactly either. Why? Because pros do as much to get the best lie possible after mistakes in an attempt to recover as because they are required to, they use the rules to their advantage as often as possible. At that point it's a foregone conclusion I probably won't recover and given the condition of the courses I play it's probably not going to be a good lie anyway and I know about how far it should be and don't exceed that. None of those things are going to keep me from posting my score because it has no impact.

A playing partner was getting visibly annoyed when I asked him if the ball he was picking out of the water was his and he muttered "No." Muttered is the keyword. . .after that I was even willing to let him throw it back onto the fairway.

[flopster]

I have a few friends who don't know the rules very well and they will take free drops at point of entry at OB stakes, I have repeatedly told them not to do this but then they say I'll be hitting 4 instead of 3 and I have tried to tell them they are potentially screwing themselves also since that provisional ball could be a bomb down the middle and not a weak slice at the edge of OB marks.

[Fairway_CY]

Cheating has always been something that's bothered me.  I'm not 100% sure on every single rule, but I do my best to abide by them.  If I get it wrong, I'll admit it.  What I can't stand are the guys that outright cheat and/or lie about things... and then that makes others feel like they have to police things.

I played a tournament round about a month and a half ago where I had several good breaks early on (a ball we all thought went OB stayed in... another ball we thought went in a hazard had kicked out and was in play) and I kept finding myself apologizing to guys because it LOOKED shady.  I then felt guilty about my good breaks, which should never be the case.  I get more than my fair share of bad breaks and nobody feels bad for me about those.  But, anyway... it got in my head and later in the round, I hit a couple bad shots that I was almost HOPING went OB or missing so that my 'luck' evened out and there were no complaints.

Meanwhile... I've watched guys hit tee shots that CLEARLY went OB... and then they hit a provisional in the same direction without calling what the ball was marked, and when they get up to where their provisional seemingly landed, miraculously, it's the 'first ball' and the provisional can't be found.  In one tournament, we called the guy out for it and he lost it on us and eventually quit the club we were playing with.

I just don't have the patience to play with people like that.  It gets old very quickly.

CY

[bernie]

My friend thinks a gimme is if he is putting to make a four and it's two feet away he picks it up and takes a three

[Grumpter]

That being said, I don't hit extra iron shots/approaches because of the wear factor on the course.  To me, that is real cheating (of the green fee).

I don't get that at all. It would be one thing if most every time you go out you try to play 2 or 3 balls on every hole but the occasional extra approach? Yesterday I played a public course that I have played 20 plus times this year. Of those 20 plus rounds here have been only 2 where I elected to go out as a single to practice. I have no qualms about taking some extra shots along the way. I replace/fix divots (not only my own), rake sand traps (not only in the area I affected) and fix extra ball marks. Yesterday there was one short par 4 green alone where I fixed 15 ball marks (yes, I counted) on the green before fixing my own mark. Long story short the course is left in as good of or better shape than when I started.

[DrvFrShow]

How many of you have cheated on the golf course? Fess up.