• Thank you all very much for sharing your time with us in 2025. We hope you all have a safe and happy 2026!

Cheating playing partners

iku

iku

Head Pro
Joined
Apr 20, 2011
Messages
265
Visit site
During the last competitions I was in this fourball with a guy I know and two strangers. One of them was off 15 and the other one had just started playing and had been given a 28. I must say that for a beginner he was hitting the ball ok but seemed to choose the wrong shot every time.

Anyway, I was keeping his card and as he normally was ranging between +2 and +5 on each hole it was not immediate to remember the number of shots he had just played but in at least 3 occasions I'm sure he told me a different number at the end of the hole. In this specific case it doesn't matter much as the difference was between +4 and +6, +3 and +4 and +3 and +4 again.

But how do you deal with someone you don't know who steals some shots during a game? Considering that you are bonded to spend 3 hours together!!
 
Correct them at the earliest opportunity. Down ask them what they scored. Ask them was that a 7 there? If they respond with no it was a 6 - you have to go through the hole shot by shot.

They will learn!
 
After the first time it happened I'd have been sure to count every shot more closey then correct them if they tried it again. Then you wouldn't have got a 3rd time I no think.

Perhaps they were genuine mistakes ? I know its difficult where there are a lot of shots to count but certainly try and do it.
 
Had this happen to me a couple of years back when i first started. I was the high handicapper and I'd only played a few comps and it was a lower handicapper doing it so I felt a bit awkward challenging him being a newbie.

He claimed a 5 on our first when I'm pretty sure it was a 6. Then claimed a 5 again on the 2nd when I'm 100% sure it was a 6 again. So I just challenged him, "You sure, I might be wrong but I think it was a 6." Then recited his shots back to him. He appolgies and agreed to the 6.

Every hole after that I'd state what I thought his score was on that hole. I'd say 'Was that a 5 for you there ?" or something like that to let him know I was watching his shots.

The thing is there is no need to get confrontational about it unless you are sure there at it. We've all miss-counted our shots in the past so we all make genuine mistakes.

The thing I noticed was the extra pressure it put on me. Keeping track of his shots as well as mine.

I've got the know the guy over the past year and played with him quite a bit and we have a great laugh together. He's a really solid bloke, so I find it hard to beleive he'd deliberatly cheat. But you never know.
 
Hendo007 said:
After the first time it happened I'd have been sure to count every shot more closey then correct them if they tried it again. Then you wouldn't have got a 3rd time I no think.

.
Click to expand...
Hendo has it right i think , 1st time unless you are 100% sure you could always ask but you will have to accept the answer you get , keep a count then & if you get told the wrong score then go back through the shots , that should put a stop to it . as in the OP it could make for an aquward rest of round but sod them they caused the problem if they cheating , once can be genuine mistake , twice getin dodgy so double check , three or more , sod the cheating git
 
Mattyboy said:
Correct them at the earliest opportunity. Down ask them what they scored. Ask them was that a 7 there? If they respond with no it was a 6 - you have to go through the hole shot by shot.

They will learn!
Click to expand...

i think this is the way to go subtle but definately to the point.
 
I don't like being reminded of my score as we walk off every green (especially after a bad hole) and so, by the same token, don't like reminding other people of their scores. I also don't want to know what I have scored after 9.

As a marker for one of the others, it is my job to know what he scored and unless they have had a sneeky one amongst the trees somewhere I'll know what they had. If they have had a sneeky one that I didn't notice then shame on them.

If it ever gets to a cricket score where I am unsure, I'll let them tee off and then pose the question as we are leaving the tee. May sound like splitting hairs but I think it's better to let the tee shot get out of the way before opening fresh wounds regarding their score on the last.
 
As I am picking the ball out of the hole I tend to say what I have shot, doesn’t bother me.

As mentioned before I have had people give me wrong scores early on and just politely remind them of their shots and adjust it, doesn’t mean I have to count each one but they think you are and that’s what counts.

Sometimes though people really involved with their own games can misplace a shot, Jack Nicholas once said he never missed a putt within 6 foot on the final day of a comp, he did but had selective memory.
 
I tend to ask my partner what they got at each hole. I've got a good idea what they have scored and 99% of the time we agree. I think if we are being totally honest we have all mis-counted on a hole at least once in our golfing lifes and maybe even in a comp. It doesn't make us cheats or anything unsavoury but just someone caught up in the frustration of a bad round. However there are times when I kow the score is wrong and try and ask politely if they are sure. If they stick to their guns I'll explain what I think and see what they say. In a situation where a guy is adamant he has shot a lower score than I know arose in a comp I wouldn't sign the card and take it back to the committee to sort out.

In the OP I'm wondering if the beginner didn't know all the rules and so was perhaps not including any penalty shots
 
If you feel your correct but dont want confrontation say to the other member in your group. At the end of the round and the selective scores were still forthcoming just plain and simple refuse to sign his card. You will have the other person onside.

Saves any ill feeling until the end.
 
Jonny said:
People who cheat like that are the reason I like hunting the most dangerous quarry of all... golfer.
Click to expand...

It is wonderful to hear from someone who has never made a mistake with his recall and I assume he has played many rounds to be off 5.

I have sympathy for the poor chap who has been so annoyed at the ball misbehaving ( it could not possibly be his swing) that his memory misses out one of his many shots and no way would I call him a cheat.
 
znuffzz said:
well quite, if you're heading towards double figures for the hole then it's probably best just to head to the next tee ;) :)
Click to expand...

Something I absolutely agree with. I have played with chaps who ask if I had an 8 or a 9 there. They were lucky they didnt get my 8 or 9 up their............

Seriously though, I use to go the other way and simply write what I thought they had made. One day I played in an open competition with two chaps I didnt know (Robin and Richard). I took the card from Richard and marked his rather high score. Signed it on the last and gave it back to him. The catch was that they had swapped cards before hand (the card only had an initial on), so I had marked the wrong persons score all of the way round. Robin had played rather well and was in contention so I sat down with him before lunch and wrote out his card. We made a mistake on one hole and he was DQd. Bit embarassing as he had a good score.

I know its awkward but I think its best to agree there and then at the end of each hole.
 
Parmo said:
As I am picking the ball out of the hole I tend to say what I have shot
Click to expand...

Agreed - that avoids any confusion and your marker can query it there and then if he disagrees. If the guy whose card I'm marking doesn't volunteer his score when he putts out, I will suggest the score I think he had. Again, any disagreement is immediately settled.

I do, however, use a different tone and volume level for large numbers scored (for both mine and the other guy's scores)!
 
Last edited:
Must admit I did it once. Many years ago when I first started. Think I hit a 7 on the first hole. But I was concentrating so hard on each shot I totally forgot how many I had taken on the hole. Explained it to the marker. He was ok with it and said he would keep an eye out. I thanked him and that was that.

On a slight change of tack. Played with one lad who had his dad with him caddying. On one hole he lost his ball in the rough. As we were looking for it, I saw his dad drop a ball in the fringe then call out found it. Pull the lad up and told him if he played that ball I would not sign his card and report it. He did talk to his dad and go back and hit from the tee again. But how many times had they done that type of thing before.

He played of 2 and was abit of a golden boy! I did have an off the record chat with the comp sec. But guess what he would not believe it. I went and found a new club soon after that along with a few more of the members.
 
19thagain said:
It is wonderful to hear from someone who has never made a mistake with his recall and I assume he has played many rounds to be off 5.

I have sympathy for the poor chap who has been so annoyed at the ball misbehaving ( it could not possibly be his swing) that his memory misses out one of his many shots and no way would I call him a cheat.
Click to expand...

Got to say on some holes I've completely forgotten how many strokes it's taken me, in fact I'm convinced I've over counted to ensure I kept my score honest.

Anyway I'd never say anybody is a cheat because of that, mistakes do happen especially with high scoring holes, anything over a 7.

Especially when you chuck in a few penalty strokes etc...

Cheers
Andy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
This surely encourages cheating (Pins placements)
Replies
11
Views
685
Doon frae Troon
D
R
chairman of our golf club accused of cheating
2 3 4
Replies
72
Views
7K
AussieKB
AussieKB
Tashyboy
Party holes at golf comps.
2
Replies
34
Views
941
Pin-seeker
Pin-seeker
P
So I got to meet and talk to Rory this evening
Replies
2
Views
411
kp17
kp17
upsidedown
2nd hole in One
Replies
8
Views
617
Brian 222
B
Top