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Tuesday, May 20. 2014

A Maggie's Springtime Scientific Survey: Cheating in Golf

The dirty secret about the "pure" golf game is the amount of cheating, not just in tournaments - amateur tournaments mainly - but also in everyday play.


So here are my questions:


1. Do you cheat? Do you play with people who cheat?


2. If so, how? Is a mulligan cheating?


3. How prevalent, or accepted, do you think it is?

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:44 | Comments (23) | Trackbacks (0)

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I don't play golf, but James Bond cheated in Goldfinger, and seemed to be okay with it.
#1 rhhardin (Link) on 2014-05-20 13:51 (Reply)
He did, yes, but only after he saw Goldfinger cheat. What's a double ought spy to do with an adversary who doesn't expect you to talk but rather to die?
#1.1 Mindsnax on 2014-05-20 14:04 (Reply)
I don't. In fact, the primary reason I've never broken 100 is because I simply resist the urge to cheat - to the point of not even taking 'gimmes'.
I will utilize that one item known as 'the mulligan' once a round. I don't consider that cheating, however, since we all agree ahead of time that mulligans are part of the game at our level.

Cheating is very prevalent and I've seen people at many levels do it. I don't say anything. It's just a game, and if you can't beat yourself, you shouldn't worry about what the other guy is doing.
#2 Bulldog on 2014-05-20 13:56 (Reply)
I tried golf once here in rural Nebraska at the local country club.

Over the first nine holes I killed two rattlesnakes and then a cow swallowed my ball.

I gave up.
#3 feeblemind on 2014-05-20 14:31 (Reply)
The closest I got to Golf was to spend time on the Gulf of Mexico. Wait a minute- I played a game or two of miniature golf when I was a kid.
#4 Gringo on 2014-05-20 14:39 (Reply)
It's only cheating if you are playing for something, money, drinks, hotdogs, etc. Otherwise, if you want to lie to yourself, so be it. Your playing partners know you didn't shoot an 85. That being said, my playing groups do not play by the official rules, any drop is just 1 stroke, no penalties or infractions for that matter. If you point out a problem, like my ball moved or I'm in a hole, either just play it or give yourself a lie. After all we are doing to have fun not read rule books. Have I have played with snigglers, once ...
#5 Buckman on 2014-05-20 14:43 (Reply)
In non-competitive recreational golf (i.e., not league play or anything that will be counted to calculate your handicap) mulligans are not cheating as long as they are agreed upon beforehand.
#6 RonF on 2014-05-20 15:44 (Reply)
Agree with the general consensus that a mulligan is Ok if pre-agreed. That said, the fellas I play with don't generally take them, and we are purists, for the most part. No cheating. The only exception to the rulebook is going OB or in a hazard off the tee....we generally take stroke + distance, mostly do this for speed's sake. Never saw the point of cheating...how would you know if you were getting better?
#7 Jim on 2014-05-20 16:02 (Reply)
Golf remains the only competitive game in which a player is required to call penalties against himself. Hard to find a sport that requires more integrity than that. Equally hard to find amateurs who will live up to the level of honesty required by the pros, or even know all the rules. There are numerous rules that are very helpful to the amateur.

We "cheat" only when the players all agree on the allowances we're granting (First tee mulligan, mulligan per nine and the isolated "Faldo" - kicking your opponent's ball out of a tight spot into a more favorable lie - named for a move we once saw, Nick Faldo benefit from a fan kicking his ball back into the fairway.

1) Not worth the price of getting caught; no one would play with a cheater.
2) I cheat by carrying an extra club once in a while, mostly because I'm retarded with a driver, and get all anxious beforehand, bringing one to try, but rarely employing it on the course. I always announce it on the first tee, no one seems to care.
3) I think Democrat presidents cheat at golf without exception.
#8 Pajak on 2014-05-20 16:04 (Reply)
I'd never cheat at cards.

Trapshooting rules permit gaming the system, but its looked down on, mostly. Don't know about skeet, not sure if skeeters have rules.

NASCAR -- cheating is expected, and getting caught is part of the game.
#9 Frigate on 2014-05-20 16:14 (Reply)
"Trapshooting rules permit gaming the system"

How so?
#9.1 Dave on 2014-05-20 21:30 (Reply)
in leagues that use spot points, dumping birds to lower an individual's average. I'm not saying it makes sense, but its done. abuse of the failure to fire rule, refusing a bird that's too difficult a presentation (hard right in a left to right wind); everyone on a team automatically calling "chip" when one person does; post shoot "discussions" with the scorer. outright cheating would be using illegal loads (too heavy, too fast).
#9.1.1 Frigate on 2014-05-21 00:47 (Reply)
my wife and i stayed at the fairmont hotel in kauai not too long ago. our room overlooked one of the holes on the course adjacent to the hotel. we would watch with amusement, drinks in hand, at how many people would cheat, not finish putting the ball INTO the cup. it was at least 75% never finished that particular act. and this was for 2 full days before we moved to an ocean front view room. but it was nonetheless, a beautiful venue.
#10 ralph k on 2014-05-20 16:50 (Reply)
My dad was one of eleven children born to share croppers in Hobart Oklahoma. With his parents permission, he left high school early and came to California with a golf pro to pursue professional golf. This was in the early 30's during the depression. His agreement with his parents was that he would send money home to help the family. And this he did. After some time had past, the pro golfer was killed in an auto accident and my dad was left to find his own way. He ended up worked in logging camps and in the ship yards during WW2, and in his later years he operated heavy equipment for R. G. LeTourneau. He played golf until he was in his 80's and he was very good at. As far as cheating, he would slap you up side the head if you suggested it. He was an honest man and my role model and I miss him.
#11 Cimarron Kid on 2014-05-20 17:11 (Reply)
I play "winter rules" all year around. That's "cheating," but I suck at golf and repositioning the ball gives me a better chance for a successful shot. I play for fun, and it's more fun that way.
#12 Mystery Meat on 2014-05-20 20:11 (Reply)
My golf buds and I use this rule about mulligans: You can take one on tee shots from hole 1 and hole 10, but you have to use the "pink ball of shame" for that hole. It's a pink golf ball I found on the course once.
#13 model_1066 on 2014-05-20 20:53 (Reply)
The guys I play with play by the rules .... mostly. Golf has some arcane, obscure rules that seem to make no sense, and we have one guy that knows them all too well and loves to invoke them.

Golf is the only sport where a thorough knowledge of the rules makes you a complete a-hole.
#14 Galway Boy on 2014-05-21 05:37 (Reply)
I have never cheated when I play golf. As an aside, the only people I ever lied to were girls but after I got married I never did that again. Mulligans are not cheating if everyone who's playing agrees to them. If you are playing with one person then you can agree to mulligans. If you are playing in a tournament then all the other players (all of them) have to agree. It would be cheating if you are going to file the score for a handicap but I don't know who would do that. I don't know how prevalent cheating is in golf or anything else except maybe politics. Oops, I almost forgot, I carry a ball retriever for when I hit it in the water. Does that put me over the club limit?
#15 olio on 2014-05-21 10:42 (Reply)
I only golf with friends.
Not even pros are familiar with the arcane rules.
You count every stroke of your own.
You have a good day when you break a 100 and a
Glorious day when you break 90.

You're also less prone to wrap your club around a tree.
You really should not take the game seriously.
It's not life and death.
It's relaxing.

I may have screwed up early by reading P.G. Wodehouse and his Golf Omnibus before I started to be good at golf. It's funny. I found that one at the base library at Selfridge ANGB and have never seen it again.
#16 Curtis on 2014-05-21 11:08 (Reply)
I scored a par three once. Well, I've done that a few times but this one time was special. At the time I thought it was a par four hole and I was so excited I drove back to the clubhouse for a drink to celebrate what I believed was a birdie. My third shot was maybe 40 yards away from the hole and went way left, hit a rock and bounced the ball across the green and into the hole. It was awesome. I love golf, play very seldom and suck. Too damn busy to play consistently. I have my priorities all screwed up. Fun, crazy and stupid game. I don't even care about cheating cept to say that people who cheat at golf are assholes I would not associate with. I know another thing about golf that is true. Lots of business is conducted on the golf course. LOTS. So, if you want to do some networking and get something going - play golf. Just don't do business with anyone who cheats at golf.
#17 W. C. Taqiyya on 2014-05-21 14:41 (Reply)
can't cheat if you dont play. and i dont
#18 bill johnson on 2014-05-21 21:21 (Reply)
My best hole was on a long par 5 a few years ago; crushed the drive about 320 yards, used my hybrid 3 to lay up to the green, then chipped it in for an eagle. The rest of the round didn't go as well.
#19 model_1066 on 2014-05-22 00:18 (Reply)
1) No, and yes (infrequently)
2) n/a, and no a mulligan is not cheating, but another reminder that a man's gotta know his limitations. Don't play from the back tees all the time, and club back at the start.
3) If it's not a competition, you're only cheating yourself.
4) Too bad the girl's a Wildcat.
#20 jb on 2014-06-03 23:10 (Reply)

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