Caught cheating...allegedly.

[Grant85]

At my club almost every main Saturday comp is balloted so that you don't have control over who you are playing with.

There are a few optional medals midweek and Sundays that are just turn up and obviously mates can go out with each other - but these aren't for main prizes at the club obviously.

Personally would tend to agree that at some places a lot of guys will go out with mates and mark each others cards and they can effectively put down what they want. Whether they are sharing the prizes, managing handicaps, making sure they each have a 2 every other round etc. Very difficult to police, especially at clubs where medals aren't balloted and members are used to choosing who they play with, so would all be against balloted medals.

But it's one thing not cheating - it's another standing up to someone who is clearly at it. This is not a comfortable place for a lot of people and many would rather say nothing rather than get into a dispute.

Only time I've witnessed someone clearly at it - basically trying to not add on a penalty for a ball OB - I was glad to say I stood up and made sure the correct score was recorded.

 

[Grant85]

Perhaps its just me, but I cant help but feel this might be a subject discussed after everything has been done and dusted.
Innocent until proven guilty, and relying on gossip and hearsay and all that......

Point I'd make on this is that a scenario might unfold.

Player A - cheats - drops a second ball, doesn't record a duff or whatever he does to gain an advantage.
Player B - is mates and marking player A card.
Player C - is on the other side of the fairway playing his shot.

Player C think he sees something afoot but isn't close enough to see what happens, however gets the impression that Player A is a bit dodgy and has just gotten a 5 when it should have been a 7 or an NR. There have been rumours about him before as well.
It's not his job to mark player A's card and what's the point in arguing with him - you can't prove anything and it just looks like bad sportsmanship.

Player C then has another game a few days later with his own mates and tells 3 others what he thought he saw. 1 or 2 of them say, yeh I've seen A & B out together, they are thick as thieves and get the impression they are at it.

A week later half the club have heard the rumour, but it's never gone as far as the committee and Player A has gotten away with it and had no chance to clear his name, even if he wanted to do.