Why are people A-Holes when playing MATCHPLAY?

I've only had a couple of incidents worth telling about over the years the worst/best one was when I was handicap secretary at the club about 15years ago

Player A, a fellow committee member and renown exponent of the leather wedge, was due to play someone he worked with in the club knockout, so a couple of weeks prior the emails start, with most of the committee cc-ed in - claiming that Player B should be cut a couple of strokes because he was protecting his handicap he hadn't returned anything better than 36 points in two years because he was intentionally blobbing holes etc, finished up by saying he would hold me responsible if he lost the match, I told him to take it up with CONGU if he felt that strongly.

Another one, quite recently in a "friendly" Sunday morning betterball, playing the 12th I had a long putt for birdie which I'd drastically under hit, it was probably going to be about 4ft short but before it stopped one our opponents knocked it back, so I, as anyone would, picked up and pocketed the ball thinking I'd got away with one there.
Next thing the same opponent says what was that? a 4 I reply. I can't believe you're taking that he says. It's not so much me taking it as you fired it back at me before it had chance to come to rest let alone before I had chance to putt it.
He spent the rest of the round in a childish strop (50+year old man playing for a 10pln (about £2) Nassau) didn't take part in the rest of the match so it was 2 against 1 for the best part of the back nine - needless to say he didn't pay up!
 
Another one, quite recently in a "friendly" Sunday morning betterball, playing the 12th I had a long putt for birdie which I'd drastically under hit, it was probably going to be about 4ft short but before it stopped one our opponents knocked it back, so I, as anyone would, picked up and pocketed the ball thinking I'd got away with one there.
Next thing the same opponent says what was that? a 4 I reply. I can't believe you're taking that he says. It's not so much me taking it as you fired it back at me before it had chance to come to rest let alone before I had chance to putt it.
He spent the rest of the round in a childish strop (50+year old man playing for a 10pln (about £2) Nassau) didn't take part in the rest of the match so it was 2 against 1 for the best part of the back nine - needless to say he didn't pay up!
Didn't you let him off lightly if anything? Considering he hit a moving ball! What did he mean by 'I can't believe you're taking that' - what did he think he was doing if not giving you the next putt?
 
Didn't you let him off lightly if anything? Considering he hit a moving ball! What did he mean by 'I can't believe you're taking that' - what did he think he was doing if not giving you the next putt?
Exactly, what else could you read into that action? If it had come to rest on his line then I could understand he might move it a putter length either way but this came back 20 odd feet to where I was walking towards the hole. Was I suppose to guestimate where it would've finished and play from there?

As I say it was a Sunday morning friendly not the club championship final so it was hardly the time to start quoting chapter and verse about hitting a moving ball etc.

If the shoe was on the other foot I'd just accept I'd flipped up and conceded a putt I probably shouldn't have and move on.
 
Exactly, what else could you read into that action? If it had come to rest on his line then I could understand he might move it a putter length either way but this came back 20 odd feet to where I was walking towards the hole. Was I suppose to guestimate where it would've finished and play from there?

As I say it was a Sunday morning friendly not the club championship final so it was hardly the time to start quoting chapter and verse about hitting a moving ball etc.

If the shoe was on the other foot I'd just accept I'd flipped up and conceded a putt I probably shouldn't have and move on.
I think when people do odd things like that and then get the hump, they're really mad at themselves and taking it out on others. He must have thought that was your par putt you were hitting and that he'd given you for bogey or something, then was annoyed at his mistake. I suppose his head wasn't really in the game that day. 😄
 
I've only had a couple of incidents worth telling about over the years the worst/best one was when I was handicap secretary at the club about 15years ago

Player A, a fellow committee member and renown exponent of the leather wedge, was due to play someone he worked with in the club knockout, so a couple of weeks prior the emails start, with most of the committee cc-ed in - claiming that Player B should be cut a couple of strokes because he was protecting his handicap he hadn't returned anything better than 36 points in two years because he was intentionally blobbing holes etc, finished up by saying he would hold me responsible if he lost the match, I told him to take it up with CONGU if he felt that strongly.

Another one, quite recently in a "friendly" Sunday morning betterball, playing the 12th I had a long putt for birdie which I'd drastically under hit, it was probably going to be about 4ft short but before it stopped one our opponents knocked it back, so I, as anyone would, picked up and pocketed the ball thinking I'd got away with one there.
Next thing the same opponent says what was that? a 4 I reply. I can't believe you're taking that he says. It's not so much me taking it as you fired it back at me before it had chance to come to rest let alone before I had chance to putt it.
He spent the rest of the round in a childish strop (50+year old man playing for a 10pln (about £2) Nassau) didn't take part in the rest of the match so it was 2 against 1 for the best part of the back nine - needless to say he didn't pay up!
In a match play game we had last year, representing the Club in the Daily Mail foursomes, we were 2 down and our opponents had a shot on the 8th. They hit their drive middle of the fairway, my partner went OB. I hit 3 off the tee, into penalty area. He took a drop, and hit our 5th to within 10 feet of hole. They hit their second onto fringe. I went and put my bag at next tee (as I was driving that hole), took out my putter and joked with one of the opponents that I was being overly optimistic. Meanwhile, his partner had walked 80 yards further forward to chip their thrid on the green. Duffed it a bit, leave themselves a 20-30 foot putt for par, but considering they had at least 3 putts to win the hole, no issue for them.

Next thing I see is the guy who hit the chip, walking onto the green with his bag, and picking up our ball (and presumably picking up theirs on the way). I turned to my partner and asked him if he conceded this hole, he hadn't (we were still about 40 yards away, so not even talked to this guy yet). I turned to his partner and asked him in surprise "did he just pick up both balls?". He looked shocked, and desperately shouted ahead "DID YOU PICK UP OUR BALL". He shouted back, yes. At which point his partner said that the hole hadn't been conceded and it meant they lost the hole.

My partner and I were a bit sheepish, but felt Xmas had come early that we were now 1 down instead of 3. Things were a bit quiet for the next hole or 2. No bad blood, but there was a mixture of guilt on our part for winning the hole, and frustration from them for being stupid. We ended up winning the match, and this was capped on the 16th when they hit their second shot, and then a group from the adjacent hole shouted to them that they had just played the wrong ball.
 
I have a very competitive friend.
Whenever we play any kind of "friendly" pairs match with him involved that goes to the 18th green, another friend and I take great pleasure in reenacting The Concession for a halved match and picking the balls up before he can do anything about it. Drives him nuts.
 
Another one, quite recently in a "friendly" Sunday morning betterball, playing the 12th I had a long putt for birdie which I'd drastically under hit, it was probably going to be about 4ft short but before it stopped one our opponents knocked it back, so I, as anyone would, picked up and pocketed the ball thinking I'd got away with one there.
Next thing the same opponent says what was that? a 4 I reply. I can't believe you're taking that he says. It's not so much me taking it as you fired it back at me before it had chance to come to rest let alone before I had chance to putt it.
The outcome of this situation depends entirely on whether or not there was a reasonable chance the ball in motion could be holed. I'll leave that to the judgement and debate of those who were there on the day.

A player gets the general penalty if they deliberately deflect or stop any ball in motion. This is true whether it is the player’s own ball or a ball played by an opponent or by another player in stroke play.

There is an exception for a ball deliberately deflected or stopped in match play when there is no reasonable chance it can be holed.

The player may concede the opponent's next stroke by deflecting or stopping the opponent's ball in motion only if that is done specifically to concede the next stroke and only when there is no reasonable chance the ball can be holed.
 
I have a very competitive friend.
Whenever we play any kind of "friendly" pairs match with him involved that goes to the 18th green, another friend and I take great pleasure in reenacting The Concession for a halved match and picking the balls up before he can do anything about it. Drives him nuts.
I'm afraid I must be missing something here. You can concede the opponent's next stroke, the hole or the match. What is it that you and your friend are doing?
 
I'm afraid I must be missing something here. You can concede the opponent's next stroke, the hole or the match. What is it that you and your friend are doing?
I assume he was referring to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Ryder_Cup

"During one of the fourballs on the second day, both captains had to come out and calm down the warring players. This led to Nicklaus conceding Jacklin's final putt with the knowledge that the overall competition would end in a draw. On the previous hole, Jacklin sank a long eagle putt while Nicklaus missed his from 15 feet (4.5 m) and the match was squared. Jacklin had won the Open Championship two months earlier at nearby Royal Lytham & St Annes to become the first British champion in eighteen years. After holing his final putt for par, Nicklaus picked up Jacklin's ball marker and told him, "I don't think you would have missed it, but I wasn't going to give you the chance, either."

Playing in his first Ryder Cup at age 29, Nicklaus' gesture became known as "the concession" and marked the beginning of a lasting friendship that has spanned nearly a half-century."


So conceding to halve the hole which in turn halves the match??
 
Many years ago a couple of my friends were drawn in a matchplay event against a father & son. On the first tee their opponents announced that they did not intend to look for their opponents' balls, if lost. The game was played in a tense atmosphere.

My reaction would have been to say "if you're that desperate to win, help yourselves", walked off & reported them for unsporting conduct. I can't remember who won.
 
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In this scenario, Nicklaus had holed out and sportingly conceded Jacklin's next stroke resulting in a tied match. (not the terminology used back then) I got the impression of a different scenario in #66 but maybe I am misunderstanding.
 
Many years ago a couple of my friends were drawn in a matchplay event against a father & son. On the first tee their opponents announce that they did not intend to look for their opponents' balls, if lost. The game was played in a tense atmosphere.

My reaction would have been to say "if you're that desperate to win, help yourselves", walked off & reported them for unsporting conduct. I can't remember who won.
Even if that was their intention, I can't see any benefit in announcing it - unless they actually wanted to create a tense atmosphere as they thought that would benefit them somehow. Some people are just knobs I guess.

I think my reaction would have been to try and wind them up and get in their heads after that. Audibly chuckle when they hit bad shots, make them putt out from a foot, and so on. They made the bed after all.
 
In this scenario, Nicklaus had holed out and sportingly conceded Jacklin's next stroke resulting in a tied match. (not the terminology used back then) I got the impression of a different scenario in #66 but maybe I am misunderstanding.
If they're both on the green and say 'good good' for the half it's pretty similar really. Or perhaps he meant they've each conceded a putt like that at different times.
 
If they're both on the green and say 'good good' for the half it's pretty similar really. Or perhaps he meant they've each conceded a putt like that at different times.
Yeah. I didn't mean a literal reenactment. The two of us just ensure that the 18th hole is halved or conceded to ensure a friendly halved match.
It's done for a laugh. I wasn't intending to generate a subthread.
 
The outcome of this situation depends entirely on whether or not there was a reasonable chance the ball in motion could be holed. I'll leave that to the judgement and debate of those who were there on the day.

A player gets the general penalty if they deliberately deflect or stop any ball in motion. This is true whether it is the player’s own ball or a ball played by an opponent or by another player in stroke play.

There is an exception for a ball deliberately deflected or stopped in match play when there is no reasonable chance it can be holed.

The player may concede the opponent's next stroke by deflecting or stopping the opponent's ball in motion only if that is done specifically to concede the next stroke and only when there is no reasonable chance the ball can be holed.
I think, even in a friendly match like this, if it had any chance of going in my response would've been a little different to just pocketing it and accepting a par.

The rest of us all believed your last line to be the case and his team mate was quite accepting of the situation, although a very generous putt to concede.
 
my pet hate is people who have no clue on the rules yet insist on arguing the toss about them, even though they have n clue. i did play a guy at Nairn about 4 times in match play games, who was hard work. 1st time i played him, i was giving 10 shots and beat him quite easily, by the 13th. got drawn with him a couple of years later and his handicap was much higher, i was giving him 17 shots. i was getting over salmonella poisoning at the time and wasn't really fit to play, sweat was poring off me. but it was his i get a shot here on every hole but one started to grind on me after a while :ROFLMAO: he beat me that time, but i had the misfortune to get drawn twice more in matches
 
Even if that was their intention, I can't see any benefit in announcing it - unless they actually wanted to create a tense atmosphere as they thought that would benefit them somehow. Some people are just knobs I guess.

I think my reaction would have been to try and wind them up and get in their heads after that. Audibly chuckle when they hit bad shots, make them putt out from a foot, and so on. They made the bed after all.
Yeah, I was pondering the appropriate reaction to the ‘we won’t look for your ball’ statement. I think it may be to burst out laughing, continue with that for quite a while, and finally ask them do they think this is the Ryder Cup or are they that much of a tool even in some meaningless golf match 🤣.
 
Many years ago a couple of my friends were drawn in a matchplay event against a father & son. On the first tee their opponents announced that they did not intend to look for their opponents' balls, if lost. The game was played in a tense atmosphere.

My reaction would have been to say "if you're that desperate to win, help yourselves", walked off & reported them for unsporting conduct. I can't remember who won.
Perhaps they did that in the hope that their opponents would then decide not to look for their ball either. Thus, if the father and son ever hit their ball in the garbage and knew they would be the only ones looking for it, it would be a lot simpler for a ball to "accidentally" appear from a hole in their pocket and become their "original" ball in play.
 
Many years ago a couple of my friends were drawn in a matchplay event against a father & son. On the first tee their opponents announced that they did not intend to look for their opponents' balls, if lost. The game was played in a tense atmosphere.

My reaction would have been to say "if you're that desperate to win, help yourselves", walked off & reported them for unsporting conduct. I can't remember who won.
I think my reaction would been to laugh at them and tell them that I can't wait to relay the episode to everyone at the club, so everyone can have a good laugh at them.
 
Perhaps they did that in the hope that their opponents would then decide not to look for their ball either. Thus, if the father and son ever hit their ball in the garbage and knew they would be the only ones looking for it, it would be a lot simpler for a ball to "accidentally" appear from a hole in their pocket and become their "original" ball in play.
Serious question though......in a matchplay situation is there any obligation to help look for your opponents' ball?

I know someone who had a favourite piece of tongue in cheek advice for matchplay league matches - if your opponents are looking for their ball in the wrong place, help them look in that exact spot!
 
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