Cheating playing partners

[HickoryShaft]

I'll tend to say what I scored as I pick the ball out of the hole also. However we all have the odd howler and score big numbers and its usually on those holes when you are frustrated / flustered that it is unclear what the shots were to everyone, especially if there is a penalty involved. So to ensure its agreed before marked dowwn if I am at all unsure I will say 'just check mine with me' and state what score I think and where the excess shots came from (2 out of the sands etc). People then feel they can correct you if you are wrong (I have been a couple of times) or agree so you are happy that it is sorted before moving on.

This is comps only of course - if its a mates roll up I just tell em to shut their traps and score it and they add on whatever they want to anyway!! Afterall if its for beer they ain't gonna miss a single shot

 

[Gazboy]

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!!

In this situation I'd assume he is simply losing count - what was his gross - 115-125? It's a lot of shots to remember. It doesn't look deliberate/malicious.

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Being new to this whole competition malarky I just ask the person I'm playing with what they got after they've putted out. If I don't think it's right I'll just say "oh I thought it was ....?" if in doubt we just walk through the hole and recall the shots. I've had some nightmare holes so I just automatically run through the hole with my marker voluntarily to make sure we get it right, especially if it included any penalty strokes.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I know you have to get it right but one of the things that winds me up most is waiting in the fairway while someone from the group in front stands by the green pointing back down the fairway counting shots. It's counting, it isn't that hard to do it as you go along.

 

[scottac20]

I've played away in an open comp before with two players from the home club. At the end of the round one of them who's card I wasn't marking claimed that he'd scored 2 shots better than I thought he had so I challenged him on it (I kept count as I was doing pretty well and was in with a chance and he was as well so I was playing to beat him each hole). We counted all of the holes which I agreed with and got to one where the guy had hacked it up the wrong fairway, eventually into a bunker and while he got out 1st time he took two putts. According to him he had a par 4 for this hole and even when I recalled to him every single shot that he's hit he just didn't say anything and the guy marking his card (who was his regular playing partner) agreed that he got a par and they handed the cards in. I just walked away in disgust and didn't stay to have a drink with them but even more to my frustration I found out that he came 2nd in the competition! People might say that cheats only cheat themselves but I don't think the guys that just missed out on the prizes to this guy would have felt the same way

 

[richart]

When I was a junior at Reading, I was warned that the guy I was playing with tended to forget the odd shot. After every hole I told him what he had scored as I marked the card, and at least four or five times he reckoned it was one less. Fortunately my short term memory was still good then, and I would recount each shot to him until he agreed. My game was completely ruined by his behaviour, but I did feel good that he had not got away with cheating. For some reason he never put his name down to play with me again.

 

[Pongo]

I whole heartedly agree with the wierd looking bloke, Hendo or whatever his name is. I once called a chap a cheat and he doesn't talk to me now. A subtle approach wins every time which is why I take the diplomatic approach to everything these days.

 

[Hobbit]

I always ask, "was that a xx?" Asking a question first isn't confrontational. If the response is different I run through where the shots were played. And I always say "that's xx in the hole for me."