Ever been accused of cheating?

[EarCat]

Im only asking because I was accused (wrongly may I add) on Saturday morning and the hollow feeling/anger has yet to leave me and I want to know how long the resentment lasts 😂😂😂

As for the incident itself, I was trucking around nicely at +2 after 6 holes. Then I hit a drive at 7 that was fading dangerously towards the water hazard on the right, one firm bounce right later and it looks like my balls in Davey Jones locker. So I pick up my tee, mutter a curse word and go find my ball. I get down to the point of entry to find there is no ball sitting in plain sight in the water but there is a ball caught up in thick rough on the bank, the ball was right at the base of the long grass with only the top of visible. I shouted to my playing partner that I had to identify it, he just said "work away" and started to play his shot. So I stuck down my marker, lifted my ball half an inch of the ground, saw my ball markings and replaced it. Then I hear from the 2nd fairway 50 yards away "i hope you didn't move that (Mod Edit) ball!!!" I told the accuser I was just identifying my ball, he replied "no wonder you keep putting in good scores" I just said "whatever you say man" and played my shot.

This completely ruined what was until that point a pleasant stroll with friends in the sun on a rare Saturday morning in which i was not working, its bugged me ever since. I would put in a letter to the club but the accuser is head of the comitee so there is no point.

 

[GeneralStore]

Committee members swear at other members? That's pretty rude. I have never been accused, but I can imagine it would bother anyone

 

[snell]

Not cheating as such.

I won a competition 2 years back and a member started a story in the bar that I used to play off low single figures when I was younger, and I'd joined the club and got a false handicap to win.....sad old man!

 

[EarCat]

Committee members swear at other members? That's pretty rude. I have never been accused, but I can imagine it would bother anyone

I'd have also assumed that the head of the committee would've followed golfing protocol and asked me quietly in a calm, gentlemanly fashion what had happenened. He's responsible for putting all the results of club competitions on the computer and is known to be rude to anyone who asks him the most basic of questions.

 

[harpo_72]

I was accused twice in one round by the same bloke. First one he said I was improving my lie, my ball was under a tree and I was practice swinging. I hit the leaves and knocked them off and that was when he called a penalty on me. Sadly for him my ball was under another tree twenty yards up..
The next one was testing the green, I put my hand on the green, by wiping something off my knuckle. I accepted the penalty as he was getting a little excited. Round was still low though.... Now I carry a rule book and just say what rule is it when I get the book out.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Im only asking because I was accused (wrongly may I add) on Saturday morning and the hollow feeling/anger has yet to leave me and I want to know how long the resentment lasts 

As for the incident itself, I was trucking around nicely at +2 after 6 holes. Then I hit a drive at 7 that was fading dangerously towards the water hazard on the right, one firm bounce right later and it looks like my balls in Davey Jones locker. So I pick up my tee, mutter a curse word and go find my ball. I get down to the point of entry to find there is no ball sitting in plain sight in the water but there is a ball caught up in thick rough on the bank, the ball was right at the base of the long grass with only the top of visible. I shouted to my playing partner that I had to identify it, he just said "work away" and started to play his shot. So I stuck down my marker, lifted my ball half an inch of the ground, saw my ball markings and replaced it. Then I hear from the 2nd fairway 50 yards away "i hope you didn't move that (mod Edit) ball!!!" I told the accuser I was just identifying my ball, he replied "no wonder you keep putting in good scores" I just said "whatever you say man" and played my shot.

This completely ruined what was until that point a pleasant stroll with friends in the sun on a rare Saturday morning in which i was not working, its bugged me ever since. I would put in a letter to the club but the accuser is head of the comitee so there is no point.

I do not in any way shape or form condone the behaviour of the Head Of Committee and in your position (and assuming it is a competition) I'd have wandered the fifty yards in his direction with a rule book and asked him to show me the issue in black and white and also discussed his attitude, but unfortunately he had something of a point and the bigger issue is your playing partner. If this involves marking a card and your playing partner, who I assuming would be marking your card, adopts the "Whatever" stance as he plays his own shot whilst you ferret around then he's not doing his job, and you should really get him to observe your actions to avoid any possibility of any suggestion of cheating being made.

 

[EarCat]

I do not in any way shape or form condone the behaviour of the Head Of Committee and in your position (and assuming it is a competition) I'd have wandered the fifty yards in his direction with a rule book and asked him to show me the issue in black and white and also discussed his attitude, but unfortunately he had something of a point and the bigger issue is your playing partner. If this involves marking a card and your playing partner, who I assuming would be marking your card, adopts the "Whatever" stance as he plays his own shot whilst you ferret around then he's not doing his job, and you should really get him to observe your actions to avoid any possibility of any suggestion of cheating being made.

As someone who takes playing to the rules of the game very seriously, I made a point of looking up the rules involving identifying a ball to make sure that I hadn't done something wrong as soon as I got home on Saturday. Here's what the USGA website says:- [h=2]Rule 12-2[/h][h=3]Lifting Ball for Identification[/h]Q.Am I permitted to lift a ball that I believe is mine to identify it?
A.Yes, under Rule 12-2, a ball may be lifted for identification. The player must announce his intention to lift the ball to an opponent, fellow-competitor or marker, and mark the position of the ball. He may then lift the ball and identify it, provided that he gives his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor an opportunity to observe the lifting and replacement.

This may be done anywhere on the course, including when the ball lies in a hazard (Rule 12-2).

I feel I done enough by saying to my playing partner that I was identifying my ball to qualify as giving him an opportunity like the rule states. I also think it's bad form for the accuser to loudly brand me a cheat, had I been in the wrong there is still a world of difference between cheating and getting a rule wrong. I even got all my playing partners to come over after the incident to show them how poorly the ball was lying and how it hadn't been teed up to protect myself from allegations.

 

[Wayman]

Not cheating as such.

I won a competition 2 years back and a member started a story in the bar that I used to play off low single figures when I was younger, and I'd joined the club and got a false handicap to win.....sad old man!

Mustn't of seen your swing!!!

 

[Blue in Munich]

As someone who takes playing to the rules of the game very seriously, I made a point of looking up the rules involving identifying a ball to make sure that I hadn't done something wrong as soon as I got home on Saturday. Here's what the USGA website says:- Rule 12-2

Lifting Ball for Identification

Q.Am I permitted to lift a ball that I believe is mine to identify it?
A.Yes, under Rule 12-2, a ball may be lifted for identification. The player must announce his intention to lift the ball to an opponent, fellow-competitor or marker, and mark the position of the ball. He may then lift the ball and identify it, provided that he gives his opponent, marker or fellow-competitor an opportunity to observe the lifting and replacement.

This may be done anywhere on the course, including when the ball lies in a hazard (Rule 12-2).

I feel I done enough by saying to my playing partner that I was identifying my ball to qualify as giving him an opportunity like the rule states. I also think it's bad form for the accuser to loudly brand me a cheat, had I been in the wrong there is still a world of difference between cheating and getting a rule wrong. I even got all my playing partners to come over after the incident to show them how poorly the ball was lying and how it hadn't been teed up to protect myself from allegations.

No-one is suggesting that you don't take it seriously, and whilst the USGA doesn't say that your opponent, fellow competitor or marker must watch what you can do, how can your marker possibly know whether or not any rule has been broken, intentionally or otherwise, if they are halfway across the fairway engrossed in their own shot? The inference of the requirement to offer them the opportunity to observe should be fairly apparent to someone taking the rules seriously.

Put it another way; would the committee member be more likely to comment if he saw you moving the ball with a FC closely watching what you were doing or you choosing to do it whilst that FC is engrossed in playing his own shot…...?

 

[And29]

Ive never felt i had to cheat in my shorts

 

[delc]

I've been accused of cheating several times, always by golfers who didn't know or understand the rules. These include:
1) Testing the green because I marked my ball with a tee peg.
2) Placing rather than dropping the ball after finding a water hazard. I had in fact already dropped the ball twice and each time it had rolled back into the water hazard, so placing was in order.My accuser hadn't been watching when I made the drops.
3) Two occasions of playing a provisional ball, when I had in fact put another ball into play without declaring it to a provisional, as per rule 27-1.(3 off the tee).

In all cases the committee found in my favour.

 

[palindromicbob]

Was accused as a 4 ball of teeing from the wrong tee's during a society round after seeing us on one hole. They also inferred that we had probably used the wrong tees for the entire round. We were positive we hadn't but the person accusing us insisted we had. I had come second ( the other 3 didn't place) and told the society to DQ me if they were that bothered. Luckily my brother had some photos from throughout the round both before and after the alleged incident which showed us teeing from the correct places which removed the query that we'd tee'd from the wrong place throughout the round. The fact I blanked the hole this allegedly happened on also meant the point was moot.

 

[Hosel Fade]

Not necessarily accused of cheating but in a schools event another lad tried to tell me I couldn't hit my ball from in the ditch, told him I very well could and hit it and I think it upset him the rest of the way around.

 

[EarCat]

No-one is suggesting that you don't take it seriously, and whilst the USGA doesn't say that your opponent, fellow competitor or marker must watch what you can do, how can your marker possibly know whether or not any rule has been broken, intentionally or otherwise, if they are halfway across the fairway engrossed in their own shot? The inference of the requirement to offer them the opportunity to observe should be fairly apparent to someone taking the rules seriously.

Put it another way; would the committee member be more likely to comment if he saw you moving the ball with a FC closely watching what you were doing or you choosing to do it whilst that FC is engrossed in playing his own shot…...?

Yeah, I get what you're saying. But obviously I am not responsible for the actions of my playing partners, if he chose not to bother to walk over and watch me identify my ball after I told him I was doing so because he either has faith that I'd do it correctly or he didn't care, I can't take responsibility for that. Although if and when such a circumstance arises in the future, I will insist that I'm watched closely to avoid allegations.

 

[WillC]

Can't recall that I have been accused of cheating.

I don't play in any inter-club competitions, and the club comps I always play with friends, and they're aware there would never be a reason for them to be suspicious!

 

[snell]

Mustn't of seen your swing!!!

Pipe down lad! Haha I'm catching you now man