Scoring Cheats Drive me Nuts!

[TarDawg]

is it really cheating if there is nothing at stake? Are you possibly taking someone else's game too seriously if it's just a round of non competitive golf?

I don't follow the rules to the tee everytime either. But i don't keep my handicap.

[crissmillputters]

back in a high school match(many years ago) i was in sectionals or something, big match anyway, we were a 4some teeing off on the 18th and one kid from another school hit his drive toward the out of bounds(white stakes) there was a small hill so we couldnt see if it went out, he choose not to hit another one and started walking at hi speed to his ball, i followed him with out him noticing how close i was......his ball was laying inbetween the two stakes, i was about 30 yards behind, looked questionable to me....he didnt see me and my eyes bugged out of my head when i saw him walk right up to his ball and kick it toward the fairway and the ball only moved about 2 feet...still in line of the out of bounds, ha...i continued walking toward him, he spotted me and he was looking to see if the ball he just kicked was in bounds and asked me"what do you think? is it in or not?(he said nervously), and i said "hum. well, i paused for a few seconds, well, when it was over there it was out of bounds.....but im not sure about right here" he looked at me with terror and said should i go back and hit another? i left it up to him and kept on moving, i could have disqualifid him, but i think that memory will stick with him as much as it stuck with me

[meenman]

How long does it take you and your wife to play 18 holes while shooting 115-120 and putting 6 inchers? Have you met anyone that enjoys playing with you?? I am all for playing by the rules, but part of learning the game is keeping the pace. If you can't break 100, you don't need to be concerned every detailed rule, but you should focus on the fundamentals and keeping pace.

with another twosome we get done in a time frame of 3:45-4:15 (and this is with waiting for the peeps in front of us on several holes) - well within the legal time limit. I've only played with one person that had a problem with it - and this is a guy that claimed to have a 5 handicap and shot a 105 that day.

[Shindig]

with another twosome we get done in a time frame of 3:45-4:15 (and this is with waiting for the peeps in front of us on several holes) - well within the legal time limit. I've only played with one person that had a problem with it - and this is a guy that claimed to have a 5 handicap and shot a 105 that day.

I'd like to semi-vouch for this. I haven't played with meenman, but most players of that level who are serious enough to want to play everything out will often be very conscious of the time they take to play a stroke and they don't Ben Crane it.

[klaymon]

On the topic of slow play:

When I was hitting 110-113 regularly, I had no trouble keeping pace with the guys that were hitting 78-80. Taking every shot does not mean taking your time. The biggest time wasters I've seen on a course are guys that get out there and try to read every putt like they're trying to birdie on the 18th green at the U.S. Open with a million dollars on the line. They're actually the better players (low handicap or scratch) but they think that makes them special when it comes to playing time.

One does not learn the game by picking up all the time as bcp seems to suggest. It takes a lot of strokes to learn this game.

[elementz]

Reminds me of one of my buddies who cheats or adjusts his score so to say. Easy solution, we count his strokes and don't let him keep track of score. He will really shoot a 6, tell you he shot a 5, and then mark down a 4. lol

I have only played 4 times so I am usually just concentrating on my score and my play. I know when my friends play, they aren't very good, they will agree beforehand on mulligans or (house) rules.

[connor35]

My problem with cheaters (or rule-rewriters) is they usually want to include everyone else in their nonsense. They stand there on the first tee and spout, “let’s take a mulligan a side, and anything within a putter’s grip is good”. Now you’re on the spot.

With such people I've said, "No thank you, I'd rather play by the rules of golf since I'll be using this round in my handicap." It (a) says what you believe, but (b) if you're worried about seeming uptight, which you shouldn't be, explains why you just want to play by the rules.

I don't care what a person writes down so long as I'm not betting him. I think the boasters (guys who improve their lies, take things inside the leather, etc) get exposed easily once they play with new guys. Golfers who know me know when I say 86 it means 86 just like when I say I shot 103, I really shot 103. If I'm betting him, I'll be quick to point out his indiscretions. Just this Sunday I mentioned to an opponent in my men's league that he was wrong to remove leaves from behind his ball in a sand trap. I've played with guys who always seem to shot in the 80s in rounds they don't play with me, but I've never seen them shot in the 80s. These people don't fool anyone.

[JerseyThursday]

Just this Sunday I mentioned to an opponent in my men's league that he was wrong to remove leaves from behind his ball in a sand trap.

Were the leaves touching the ball? If not, I thought you could remove a loose impediment. Either way, there’s a situation you never see on the tour, leaves in a sand trap!

[SteelDriver]

What do you get out of marking a lower score?? Golf is a personal game as much as anything. When you shoot in the 90s but mark in the 80s dont you know that its not legit??

Do you go home and say to yourself, "man, i just shot in the 80s today! WOW, what a good outing!" You know what you really shot...I dont care if you mark down that you shot an 18 while hole-in-1'ing every time... its no different to you.

It never bothers me what another player marks down unless they use it to guage their game vs others.... to say "im a better golfer than you" or "im a so n' so handicap and you're higher". That kinda bugs me.

[SteelDriver]

Were the leaves touching the ball? If not, I thought you could remove a loose impediment. Either way, there’s a situation you never see on the tour, leaves in a sand trap!

I'd like to know this too. I move leaves all the time in the traps (unless touching the ball).

guess I can look it up...

[connor35]

Were the leaves touching the ball? If not, I thought you could remove a loose impediment. Either way, there’s a situation you never see on the tour, leaves in a sand trap!

A leaf is a loose impediment.

Rule 13-4 says you must not "Touch or move a loose impediment lying in or touching the hazard" where of course a sand trap is a hazard. Interestingly you can remove a beer can or cigarette butt (they are obstructions), but you can't remove a leaf (a loose impediment) from behind your ball (or anywhere else) in a sand trap.

[Borf]

Here are two stories about cheating that i think top them all!

this guy was in gym class, and he faked a hole in one, got his name in the paper and the whole school knew about it, i dont know how this guy can continue to live

i was playing with a good friend of mine, i knew he didnt exactly play by the rules all the time. one day he was playing fairly good, making lots of birdies. at the end of the round he claimed he shot 66, when i saw him drop a ball after hitting ob, drop another when he went into the hazard. This score was almost the course record! That just makes me shake my head

[In-com-plete]

I play in a golf league at work. It's a 9 hole match play format. We're allowed to roll our ball in the fairway but I rarely do. Only if it's on hardpan or in a divot. But a couple years ago I played this guy who hit his ball near (aka in) the water on the right side of #2. I walked about 10-12 feet up the pond from the cart when he called out he'd found it. I remember turning around and I could see it from where I was standing! It was propped up in the rough. Suuurrre you "found" it. Man did that tick me off. But little did he know about this little thing called karma. Beat him 4-1. And then beat him 5-1 again last summer.

I have this friend that I've never beat. We've probably played 40 rounds together but only a half-dozen in the last 7-8 years. Last year we played together for the first time in a couple years and once again he beat me. That's fine. And it's fine if you talk a little trash after doing so. Even/especially if it's by 1 or 2 strokes. But to take 2 mulligans, fluff your lie in the fairway, rough, and bunker (twice) and beat me by 2 strokes. Then talk trash. That's uncool man. But my day will come. Oh it will most definitely come. And when it does, that will be the last round of golf we ever play together.

[Guest]

So I regularly shoot in the 100's, and I recently started playing with a group of guys that claimed they shot in the 80's. Typically I don't pay too much attention to other's scoring methods, but after a game, I noticed that shot for shot, I may have been off a handful of stroke, but not 20 to 30.
We decided to play a couple of weekends ago, and I said let's count every stroke to see how I actually played. Sure enough, I won with a 111.
Nothing to brag about, but it makes me feel a bit better to know where I stand.
Counting every stroke is fine for me, but the other guys I can tell would not continue playing the game if they always counted every stroke. So in the future, I won't insist they count every stroke, but whatever they say they shot is BS, and we all know it.
Like most people are saying, you are only cheating yourself.


Bag: Ogio
Driver: Pinemeadow BLOC 455cc 12.0*
3 Wood: Pinemeadow Excel Strong 15*
Hybrid: Pinemeadow ZR1 2-5
Irons: Pinemeadow ZR1 6-SW
Wedges: Pinemeadow 64.0*
Putter: Pinemeadow Xeon 9

[larlev]

I don't play for money so I do bend the rules sometimes, although I never cut strokes off my card.

I look at it this way....I pay top dollar to enjoy the nice fairways, I will occasionally drop on the fairway instead of playing off the hardpan.

Really who cares if someone cheats..I'm not playing against them anyway, I'm playing against myself and the course. I always play MY game and don't try stuff that I can't do yet.

[ctmurrray]

A leaf is a loose impediment.

It also says after your shot, and if your ball is no longer in the hazard, you can "smooth sand or soil in the hazard without restriction". So I would remove leaves if there were just a few of them. At our course no one smooths the traps, and deer run through them as well. So if I get into a trap I try to repair enough to make the trap fair.

[Shindig]

So I regularly shoot in the 100's, and I recently started playing with a group of guys that claimed they shot in the 80's. Typically I don't pay too much attention to other's scoring methods, but after a game, I noticed that shot for shot, I may have been off a handful of stroke, but not 20 to 30.

Bravo, man. That took courage.

Now get your legit score down

[kiwigolfer72]

Hi,

Great Post!!

I agree exactly, there are alot of players who casually like to take a few shots off each round and I admit it does frustrate me. However these people do get shown up in tournaments etc and so it really doesn't pay.

However I just stay away from these players now, and play in groups who like to obide by the rules.