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Cheating in open competitions (North West area)

I think the problem highlighted last year was with a group who were entering 4 ball Opens and manipulating the scores to "just" win.. However, it's in highly unprovable (sp) and no one wants to reopen that little wound...

Played an am-am at my mate's place (in the North West) a couple of years back, there were rumours that the last group out were getting regular text updates on the scores from inside the clubhouse, needless to say, they won and apparently it wasn't the first time!

This was the theme of last years thread. Would be interesting to know if it was the same people involved.

Apparently the email does name names and was sent out by Mold Golf Club.
 
Allegedly, said group in question would phone the clubhouse from the 17th hole asking what score was winning, then remarkably come in one or 2 points better. This happened on several occasions and went as far as clubs being sued and having to pay out due to lack of evidence.... It's all water under the bridge now....
 
i remember some years back playing in a comp in north wales were the winner was a chap i knew from other comps in and around the north west,but they gave his club out as a different one i knew him from and his h/c 6 shots higher than his 7 he had used a few weeks earlier,when i pulled him up he openly told me he had joined a 9 hole course in the Cheshire region ( his other club was in LANCS) only cost £150 for a 5 day membership,put 3 crap cards in a got my h/c won a few comps with it,the sad part was he thought it was ok.
 
Played an am-am at my mate's place (in the North West) a couple of years back, there were rumours that the last group out were getting regular text updates on the scores from inside the clubhouse, needless to say, they won and apparently it wasn't the first time!

Rules Question......Obviously I realise that if you are receiving score updates and fiddling your score to make sure you win then you are cheating. But is there anything in the rules to stop you receiving updates on the leading scores during the course of your round if you are just using this info to find out what you need to shoot to win? Or if a friend was to follow you round with another friend in the clubhouse phoning him with the scores and then passing it on to you? And if you can't do this why is it different from having a live leaderboard app that some comps use or leaderboards around the course on a professional competition?
 
Rules Question......Obviously I realise that if you are receiving score updates and fiddling your score to make sure you win then you are cheating. But is there anything in the rules to stop you receiving updates on the leading scores during the course of your round if you are just using this info to find out what you need to shoot to win? Or if a friend was to follow you round with another friend in the clubhouse phoning him with the scores and then passing it on to you? And if you can't do this why is it different from having a live leaderboard app that some comps use or leaderboards around the course on a professional competition?

Nope, nothing in the rules against that. In fact decision 14-3/16 covers this.
 
The guys that were in question that we bumped into have won a shedload, I searched their history and it was a joke. Seen pictures of them playing matchplay finals in Dubai and all over the place as well since. Well known at a lot of clubs but in theory nobody can prove they broke rules.

Too many people cant be arsed to do anything as they are just happy to take the money as well. Any open competition I play now I always check for their names beforhand :D
 
The guys that were in question that we bumped into have won a shedload, I searched their history and it was a joke. Seen pictures of them playing matchplay finals in Dubai and all over the place as well since. Well known at a lot of clubs but in theory nobody can prove they broke rules.

Too many people cant be arsed to do anything as they are just happy to take the money as well. Any open competition I play now I always check for their names beforhand :D

when you say opens do you mean team comps or like we have up here single stroke play opens.
 
These are always pairs or teams etc. They don't seem to enter or win many singles competitions funnily enough!

thats what i thought, these would be non qualifying then so no handicap reductions? same as the trilby and all those other comps that attract dodgy handicaps.
 
I recently played an individual 36 hole comp back home (in the north west). After round one, the best score in was a nett 68 ... apart from the visitor off an 8 handicap that shot a gross 71 for 63 nett!

Lots of questioning it, especially as he beat most of the club's own scratch team gross. Blew up with a 74 nett in the second round though and lost the comp on countback ...

Difficult one to prove in any situation and apparently this bloke had won quite a few opens too, but he may have just had a good summer. It's just a shame though that there isn't a way of ensuring that everytime you shoot under your hcp in a tourny of any format, you get cut.
 
not cheating perse but I played in a 4BBB recently where the starting sheet handed out said 3/4 of combined handicap. This made no sense as I would be getting 18 shots in cat1. I questioned the starter who said he didnt know and no-one else had questioned it, and we were 7th last to go out!

We used common sense and took 3/4 of individual handicap against the course.

It explains the plethora of 61-64's on a very windy day.

Played another where even the organisers team took the wrong h/cap and came second:eek:
 
I recently played an individual 36 hole comp back home (in the north west). After round one, the best score in was a nett 68 ... apart from the visitor off an 8 handicap that shot a gross 71 for 63 nett!

Lots of questioning it, especially as he beat most of the club's own scratch team gross. Blew up with a 74 nett in the second round though and lost the comp on countback ...

Difficult one to prove in any situation and apparently this bloke had won quite a few opens too, but he may have just had a good summer. It's just a shame though that there isn't a way of ensuring that everytime you shoot under your hcp in a tourny of any format, you get cut.

did he not get cut after the first round?
 
I recently played an individual 36 hole comp back home (in the north west). After round one, the best score in was a nett 68 ... apart from the visitor off an 8 handicap that shot a gross 71 for 63 nett!

Lots of questioning it, especially as he beat most of the club's own scratch team gross. Blew up with a 74 nett in the second round though and lost the comp on countback ...

Difficult one to prove in any situation and apparently this bloke had won quite a few opens too, but he may have just had a good summer. It's just a shame though that there isn't a way of ensuring that everytime you shoot under your hcp in a tourny of any format, you get cut.

there is a way make all comps qualifying! but many are not.
 
What I find interesting, is that habitual cheats must / should have a home club if they are claiming a hcp.
Don't these clubs think it's odd that they have just received info that Mike and Mick have just won their 4th team open this year, when they never seem to play in their buffer at home?
Yes, most clubs would be proud of one of their members won a big comp ONCE, but to do it over and over again surely reflects badly on the club's ability to ensure that members' hcps are accurate?
 
What I find interesting, is that habitual cheats must / should have a home club if they are claiming a hcp.
Don't these clubs think it's odd that they have just received info that Mike and Mick have just won their 4th team open this year, when they never seem to play in their buffer at home?
Yes, most clubs would be proud of one of their members won a big comp ONCE, but to do it over and over again surely reflects badly on the club's ability to ensure that members' hcps are accurate?

Ive noticed a few are at the resort type places where they don't really give a crap. I think a couple of the ones that we encountered had recently changed clubs as well.

These people don't play in club comps that often either so most people will see the result that a member of their club won x,y or z competition but they probably wont even know who they are.
 
I recently played an individual 36 hole comp back home (in the north west). After round one, the best score in was a nett 68 ... apart from the visitor off an 8 handicap that shot a gross 71 for 63 nett!

Lots of questioning it, especially as he beat most of the club's own scratch team gross. Blew up with a 74 nett in the second round though and lost the comp on countback ...

Difficult one to prove in any situation and apparently this bloke had won quite a few opens too, but he may have just had a good summer. It's just a shame though that there isn't a way of ensuring that everytime you shoot under your hcp in a tourny of any format, you get cut.

To be honest, I believe that one. I think players at that level have the potential to put a good round together, hole a few putts, and threaten par. I myself shot 67 (-2) playing off six earlier in the year.
 
I recently played an individual 36 hole comp back home (in the north west). After round one, the best score in was a nett 68 ... apart from the visitor off an 8 handicap that shot a gross 71 for 63 nett!

Lots of questioning it, especially as he beat most of the club's own scratch team gross. Blew up with a 74 nett in the second round though and lost the comp on countback ...

Doesn't seem too far fetched to me, especially with the nett 74 to follow, and 8 handicapper, is a more than capable golfer, just has a round where the chips stop close and the putts drop and hey presto!
 
To be honest, I believe that one. I think players at that level have the potential to put a good round together, hole a few putts, and threaten par. I myself shot 67 (-2) playing off six earlier in the year.

Doesn't seem too far fetched to me, especially with the nett 74 to follow, and 8 handicapper, is a more than capable golfer, just has a round where the chips stop close and the putts drop and hey presto!

Yup, agreed. I watched him come up the 18th and he certainly didn't hit the ball anything like a low single-figures guy. There was lots of murmurings and whispers after his first round with people saying all sorts of rubbish about checking with his home club. Then when he came in with the second round 11 shots worse, everybody just sort of shrugged and congratulated him on a good first round.

I had a similar round to FD playing with Duncan in a Surrey Tour event last year. Shot level off 8 hcp (comp was 3/4 so I was off 6), and won the comp. Plenty of raised eyebrows but in truth, just the best I'd played. Helped out by eagling the stroke one :)
 
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