Good Friend Is a Golf Cheater

[tim1025]

I HAVE A FRIEND WHO CHEATS HIS WAY THROUGH ENTIRE ROUND. IMPROVES LIE ON ALMOST ALL SHOTS IF THINKS HE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. MOVES BALL SOMETIMES 4 FEET TO HIT AROUND OBSTICLES WITHOUT TAKING STROKE. SEEN HIM DROP BALL OUT OF POCKET AND SAY "HERE IS MY BALL". CASUALLY DROP BALL A FOOT IN FRONT OF BALL MARKER ON GREEN. IT GOES ON AND ON. ALSO BRAGS ABOUT SCORE AFTER ROUND. AT POINT WHERE I AVOID PLAYING WITH HIM IF POSSIBLE. ANY THOUGHTS.

[Kwcsports]

If you're playing for money, call him out for cheating. If not, I personally don't care what anyone does. I play by the rules and I care about my score. If a buddy wants to roll it over, let him. Just my opinion.

[Kwcsports]

After re-reading your post, if someone is cheating and then bragging afterwards, I will call him out 100%.

[mvmac]

Do you have other buddies you play with in the same group?

[sneddies]

It'll be uncomfortable, but call him out. The option would be to stop playing with him, don't play if it's not enjoyable.

(Also, don't use ALL CAPS, it looks like you're screaming!

[barbm12thtee]

I've encountered people like that too. And someone posted on another thread, about a dad that cheated, one of the suggestions which I have been using with a golfing friend is....First, you shouldn't ask for his score, cause that's an open invitation for him to say whatever score he wishes to believe. You should say "You had a seven" and write it down. If he disputes the score now you can say, " you hit your drive behind the tree, you took an unplayable lie and dropped, your third shot was to the 150 marker and you improved your lie when you moved the ball out of the rough onto the fairway. You hit your fifth shot onto the green and two putted. So you got a SEVEN! The only thing is...my friend could be five in a bunker, thin one over the green, muff the pitch shot..Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, pick up her ball and say, "just put me down for a double. Blah!

[tim1025]

Mv other buddies do play with him... we mostly role our eyes laugh and move on. Seems to bother me more than most. I think because I know his real personality.

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by tim1025

Mv other buddies do play with him... we mostly role our eyes laugh and move on. Seems to bother me more than most. I think because I know his real personality.

Do you consider this person a real friend out side of the golf course?  What I mean is, do you think this person is an honest person in life's endeavors that actually matter?

What I mean is, if this person is a true friend, and you trust him to babysit your child / dog / elderly parent, but he chooses to make himself feel better about the game of golf, he isn't hurting anybody but himself.  Let it go.

If, you don't associate with this person outside of the golf course, then he isn't a friend, and stop worrying about it.

A good friend of mine once told me.  "Everybody has their faults.  Your friends, are the people whose faults you can deal with."

[Pappy091]

I have a friend that does the exact same thing. It doesn't bug me at all. I just laugh about it with the rest of my buddies.

I also never play him for money or anything meaningful. We made a $5 dollar bet on one hole onetime and he didn't count three strokes that he duffed/hit into the water. He refused to admit that he cheated. I just let it go and haven't bet with him since then.

[kw purp]

If he is enjoyable to be around aside from the cheating then who really cares as long as you aren't betting? Otherwise just avoid him if you can.

[Lihu]

Originally Posted by clearwaterms

Do you consider this person a real friend out side of the golf course?  What I mean is, do you think this person is an honest person in life's endeavors that actually matter?

What I mean is, if this person is a true friend, and you trust him to babysit your child / dog / elderly parent, but he chooses to make himself feel better about the game of golf, he isn't hurting anybody but himself.  Let it go.

If, you don't associate with this person outside of the golf course, then he isn't a friend, and stop worrying about it.

A good friend of mine once told me.  "Everybody has their faults.  Your friends, are the people whose faults you can deal with."

I have a similar situation, but I just assumed that he thinks I cheat too

My friend takes care of my kids when we need to go somewhere and visa versa. We started playing golf together 3 years ago, and enjoy each others company.

Nothing would change our regular rounds together, I would rather play a round with him than to worry about his score.

[Meltdwhiskey]

I've got a buddy that cheats in about the same way.  I always let it go right up to the point he wanted to brag or find a way to fit it in conversation how he beat everyone.  Then I called him out.  Led to endless arguments.  Eventually we joined different courses.  I couldn't take it much longer.  Took the fun out of it.

[rehmwa]

Originally Posted by kw purp

If he is enjoyable to be around aside from the cheating then who really cares as long as you aren't betting? Otherwise just avoid him if you can.

Exactly.

and turn off the caps lock

[newtogolf]

I have one business associate / friend that belongs to a different private club.  He is generous with his use of mulligans, foot wedges, gimme's and at his club always take a caddie with him to read his putts.  He's always bragging about his low handicap and how we should get some lessons like he did.

When he played at my course we didn't have a caddie to read his putts and we busted his chops sufficiently to discourage him from using mulligans, foot wedges, etc.  We also agreed in advance to putt everything out.  He shot 19 above his handicap that day, which we hoped would make him realize that he had a vanity cap and that his game wasn't nearly as good as his handicap indicated.  Instead he ranted on and on about how horrible he played and that this was his worst performance all year.   The reality was that he played as well as he did any other time, he just didn't get to cheat or have a caddie read his putts which was the reason for the additional 19 strokes.

We realized he was never going to change and decided that he was a friend so we'd just deal with his distorted view of his golf game.

[ditchparrot19]

I wouldn't play with him. This is going to sound like a high-horse comment, but I can't deal with people who don't show the game any respect, and cheating such as described above is dissing the game.

[Infamous 273]

If a friend I played with blatantly cheated, then had the nerve to brag afterwards about his score, I'd torch him mercilessly. Probably to the point where he'd play by the rules the next time we went out, or he'd never brag about a fictitious score again, ever.

[Kieran123]

Next time do the exact same thing to him and at the end when you beat him, brag about it - and mention that improving your lie, and dropping a ball without penalty really helps and that you're glad he showed you how to do that

[PerthLefty]

It would be clear to any real golfer he does not have the true spirit of the game. You owe it to all the true golfers out there to call him on in. As posted earlier, don't ask him what score he got. Tell him. If he argues then say that is not including the penalties. That should peg him back a bit.