Cheating/rule breaking

[guest100718]

Certainly rule breaking is rife, you see it all the time, whether its intentional cheating or not is a different matter i guess. What do you do? March over and pull them on it? Let it slide as lifes to short?

Do you feel a duty to the rest of the field to mention it?

It's a tricky subject thats for sure.

 

[hovis]

it's always difficult as some people take it so personally when you pull them. especially if you're playing against them. i tend to let it slide if it gives them no advantage but make them aware later on. i usually say "look, just so you know that you did x, y, z wrong here. in competitions there are people thag will rightly pull you on what you did. it would be a shame to get a penalty ''

i played against a colleague in a match and he took a drop from a rabit burrow. he dropped on the wrong side which gave him a clear shot to the green. i had to inform him of the correct npr procedure.

10 minutes later he marked his ball on the green. however, it wasn't the green it was the fringe that had been very closely mown. i said nothing. which i know is wrong but I'd don't want to be known as that jobs worth knob that people don't like to play with


on cheating, i was given the heads up that a lad in my group was a known cheater so i watched him like a hawk. on the 16th he placed a ball in the rough and said "I FOUND IT" i saw the hole thing. i told his partner who ripped up the score card and informed the sec. the remaining two hole where awkward 😀

 

[Orikoru]

I haven't seen anyone cheating at my club. If I did, I'd probably have a quiet word in their ear, just a subtle "are you sure you counted correctly?" or whatever. But if they stuck by it I doubt I'd report it to be honest. I'm not the type of person to confidently grass someone up I guess.

 

[Capella]

Actually, I never encounterd cheating (or did not notice it) til last Sunday. I have been in situations before where a co-competitor was about to breach a rule unknowingly (like taking a drop at a wrong place or teeing up too far forward without noticing or something like that), in which case I try to intervene before any damage is done. But last Sunday I was playing in the same group with two really experienced players, both have been playing in the gents club team for many years, and one of them very blatantly moved his ball foward on the green after marking it to the side and back. It was quite severe, I'd say he ended up almost half a foot closer to the hole by marking diagonally forward both times, when he moved the marker and when he put it "back" and then placed the ball almost an inch in front of that marker afterwards. I was pretty flabberghasted, to be honest. I had heard people talking about this kind of stuff, but never thought there were players who actually did that in a club comp. It seemed so pointless, the ball was still at least 10 foot from the hole (and he did not make the putt), so the advantage gained was quite minimal, I'd say.

I didn't say anything. It is my strong opinion that golf is a self-refereed game and if people want to cheat, they'll find a way to do it. It's a question of character (or as my pro put it: People who cheat in golf cheat in real life as well). I don't really care. What I care about is my own game and that I play to the best of my ability. I know now that this guy is someone I really don't care about getting to know any better. But I really don't want to mess up my day by getting in a discussion about something like this during a round. Because I know that it would totally break my flow (not that there was much flow going on for me at that point). So I just shake my head in quiet amazement and move on.

 

[Orikoru]

I didn't say anything. It is my strong opinion that golf is a self-refereed game and if people want to cheat, they'll find a way to do it. It's a question of character (or as my pro put it: People who cheat in golf cheat in real life as well). I don't really care. What I care about is my own game and that I play to the best of my ability. I know now that this guy is someone I really don't care about getting to know any better. But I really don't want to mess up my day by getting in a discussion about something like this during a round. Because I know that it would totally break my flow (not that there was much flow going on for me at that point). So I just shake my head in quiet amazement and move on.

That's true. I wouldn't want to have a full blown discussion with someone about them cheating and create a frosty atmosphere for the rest of the round which could put me off my own game, if my head isn't right as a result of it.

 

[Don Barzini]

A couple of years back, one of my friends used to cheat a lot - well the rest of us thought so anyway, but none of us ever directly proved it.

He'd hit his ball into thick trees/long grass etc and head over to look for it, even though it was highly unlikely to be found. Sure enough barely a few moments later he'd miraculously find it, usually in a place where it had an impossibly good lie and/or out-shot. It became a running joke between the rest of us about how good he was at finding balls and how lucky he got with where they'd landed.

The rest of us were convinced he was doing the old Oddjob-ball-down-the-touser-leg-a-ha thing, but none of us ever directly caught him at it.

I played him once in matchplay singles as part of a mini team tournament we were playing. One of his shots went astray while mine ended up near the green and he headed over to look for it. I was straight down there with him to help. He kept saying "Oh it's ok, you go on and play your next one". No chance, I stayed right with him. And do you know what? For once, he didn't find his ball!

He doesn't seem to do it as much these days though.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

In a competition yes and I have done twice, in practise, fun rounds, still mentioned or ask for my own education if unsure.

 

[Orikoru]

A couple of years back, one of my friends used to cheat a lot - well the rest of us thought so anyway, but none of us ever directly proved it.

He'd hit his ball into thick trees/long grass etc and head over to look for it, even though it was highly unlikely to be found. Sure enough barely a few moments later he'd miraculously find it, usually in a place where it had an impossibly good lie and/or out-shot. It became a running joke between the rest of us about how good he was at finding balls and how lucky he got with where they'd landed.

The rest of us were convinced he was doing the old Oddjob-ball-down-the-touser-leg-a-ha thing, but none of us ever directly caught him at it.

I played him once in matchplay singles as part of a mini team tournament we were playing. One of his shots went astray while mine ended up near the green and he headed over to look for it. I was straight down there with him to help. He kept saying "Oh it's ok, you go on and play your next one". No chance, I stayed right with him. And do you know what? For once, he didn't find his ball!

He doesn't seem to do it as much these days though.

I have a mate like that. But since we only play friendly games we just let him crack on. In a friendly match you're only cheating yourself so I don't see the point? Personally I want a true reflection of what my score is at the end, no point lying to yourself.

 

[NorfolkShaun]

Had a few incidents I noticed, from a group playing off the wrong tees put down as a senior moment 'it's stableford we will blob this one' (they didn't)

Another was looking for someone's ball in the thick rough, then I found what I thought was their ball (same markings and about where I saw it go in the rough) as I was looking at it to see if it was their ball they shouted found theirs, I asked for a number of the ball and they did not know it so denied it was their ball.

The biggest difficulty I have always found is proving without doubt they are knowingly cheating and not making it an argument. So often when I have challenged people I have got the old 'well I never knew that was a rule'

 

[guest100718]

In a competition yes and I have done twice, in practise, fun rounds, still mentioned or ask for my own education if unsure.

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

Going on the fact you said "pp holed out" like you I'd of agreed he had.

None of us are perfect and know all the rules, but if I have any doubt with something I see in a comp I will question, I'd rather be wrong and improve my knowledge than tittle tattle behind peoples back.

 

[hovis]

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

let him have it

 

[Beezerk]

Seen plenty, seems to be rife at our club unfortunately, even one of the young "upstanding" members appears to be a serial user of the "loose" version of rules.

 

[guest100718]

Seen plenty, seems to be rife at our club unfortunately, even one of the young "upstanding" members appears to be a serial user of the "loose" version of rules.

there are certainly some very liberal interpretations of the rules out there......

 

[Marshy77]

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

be interesting to hear your view on this.

Would you brand him a cheat for not correctly following the rules of the game?

Maybe it's because I'm new to the game but for me this is an error or lack of knowledge of the rules or all the rules of the game. Sure if I was playing with a more knowledegable player than myself they may say what he should have done.

For me, I doubt I would say anything in this instance.

 

[Capella]

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

In this case I think, I'd tell him afterwards that I let him get away with this, but actually there was a ruling for this and that he normally would have received a one shot penalty for this and would have to replace the ball, so that he knows for the future should it ever happen to him again.

 

[cookelad]

Don't understand how cheats expect to get away with sometimes, "Oh look, I've found my ball, while all 3 of you were looking the other way, in a perfect lie with a great line to the green"

Wouldn't you try to be a bit smarter about it? I dunno, place a ball somewhere then walks away and let another member of the group find it? Just every now and then find one in a not so perfect position?

We have a guy in our swindle who regularly parks his trolley/bag between his ball and his group, amongst other things, I've noticed a few times him replacing his ball on the green a couple of centimetres ahead of his marker, but I've not made a note of how he marked it. I don't understand that cheat anyway - on a 20ft put your moving in 2cm closer it's not worth the penalty of getting caught!

 

[Yant]

In a competition yes and I have done twice, in practise, fun rounds, still mentioned or ask for my own education if unsure.

Agree with that. Nothing wrong with taking the opportunity to educate others on rules if you see them breaking them during friendly rounds. I've been playing the game a long time and play off of a lower handicap and i play with higher handicappers quite frequently. The higher handicappers are usually reasonably new to the game, so providing some direction when they do do something they shouldn't have is perfectly fine IMO.

Building a stance is one i always see people doing when they are trying to play out of the thick stuff.

 

[guest100718]

be interesting to hear your view on this.

Would you brand him a cheat for not correctly following the rules of the game?

Maybe it's because I'm new to the game but for me this is an error or lack of knowledge of the rules or all the rules of the game. Sure if I was playing with a more knowledegable player than myself they may say what he should have done.

For me, I doubt I would say anything in this instance.

ah masy77.. you seem keen to crack out the branding iron.

if you know the rules but deliberately break them then surely that's cheating.

in the case.of the hole out I can only bring the problem to his attention. what he does from there is up to him.

 

[Orikoru]

it's not easy though. a while back a pp holed out from the fairway and as we approached the green he walked on and picked up his ball which rather than drop fully in to the cup was just jammed between flag and the hole.

what would you have done?

Well what is the rule? If I saw my ball like that I probably would have nudged the flag so the ball can drop in and then picked it up (just instinctively speaking) - would I be right or wrong there??