Worst Cheating Incident you've ever witnessed

I could go on with a good 10 or 12 stories but ...

My favorite is the guy that manages to toss his mark 12" to 24" in front of his ball on the green. I call it the David Copperfield move because even when you watch for it to happen .. it is hard to catch. He was DQ'd in a big event at our club

Good friend had this happen at his old club ... had a member DQ'd also. He was caught "hand grenading" a ball out of a steep greenside bunker on the 18th. His partners couldn't see him do it but the green sits right under the clubhouse and at least 12 guys on the patio saw it happen. He claimed duress etc and stress at work (he was a lawyer)

Any other beauties out there?

hahahaha the second one is awesome

There was a guy at my club who had a bit of a reputation for being dishonest. He was playing a match against a friend of mine (I didn't actually see it) and what he would do apparently is when his ball was on the green, he'd reach down with a marker to mark the ball and then pick the ball and the marker up, then when it was time to putt, he'd reach down with ball and marker again and pick up the marker (significantly closer to the hole). My buddy had seen him do this, but hadn't managed to catch him. Then on the 16th, he did it again and my friend asked him where his marker was. He watched him drop his marker on the green (he was using one with a point on it) and it landed with the point facing up and said "there it is". My friend said he wished he'd just walked in off the course at that point, but he carried on. Won the match anyway and then complained about it afterwards.

The guy in question was subsequently sent to jail for fraud, so I guess a cheat at golf is a cheat at life. He got thrown out. That's about the worst instance I've personally heard of.

Absolutely love that second one! Hahaha!

Sitting in the clubhouse watching that would be wonderful.

What exactly does "hand grenading" mean?

[quote name='tbarlow11' timestamp='1340724857' post='5170216']
What exactly does "hand grenading" mean?
[/quote]
I'm guessing it meant grabbing a handful of sand and the ball and tossing them both onto the green.

[quote name='CARDY' timestamp='1340723647' post='5170098']
He was caught "hand grenading" a ball out of a steep greenside bunker on the 18th.
[/quote]

Probably would have gotten away with it had he not yelled "fire in the hole!"

In a tournament a few years back, one of the guys in our group, claimed he found his ball in the deep hay like rough. He played it out. A couple minutes later a guy from the same foursome found his ball about 20 yards ahead of where the guy claimed he found his. We knew it was his as it had his distinctive markings on it.

he claimed he played the course the night before and hit a ball over in that area, so it must have been that one. We didn't believe him but what coudl you do. A few days later he was telling someone else that we knew that he did pretty well in the tournament for having never seen the course before...LOL!!

I consider myself fortunate to have never witnessed cheating on the golf course. I have heard stories in our area of 1-guy in particular hitting balls basically O.B. in tournaments, speeding up in his cart and magically finding their ball right next to the stakes. Local golf assoc then implemented a rule in which those in golf carts cannot be out of sight of the others while locating their ball.

[quote name='tbarlow11' timestamp='1340724857' post='5170216'] What exactly does "hand grenading" mean? [/quote]

Most none of us will ever experience throwing a real grenade, but its not like tossing a baseball to a friend. Usually you are tucked in a trench or under some other cover and you basically "sky hook" it into the direction you want it. You can pretty much imagine the player "hiding" in the face of the bunker from view of his partners and tossing it as if he hit the shot with his wedge while staying out of view from his partners.

Scramble... From an elevated tee two holes ahead my foursome watched four people putt and nary a ball disappeared. After we were done we noticed they had posted a birdie on the hole. Which tied our skin. A MAJOR fist fight was narrowly avoided.

I have two atrocious father/son examples.

We had a family (dad and 2 sons) in our men's club. They regularly played on weekends when there were no tournaments, but never posted their scores even though there was some serious betting going on.

At one point, one of the sons joined the men's club and submitted five scorecards to establish a handicap index of 22. He shot 84 in his first event and won going away. He won his next two events by wide margins before his rapidly dropping I dex started to catch up with him. Being a former handicap chairman, I looked up his scoring history, and noticed the chronic failure to post scores on days I had seen him in casual play. I reported this to the handicap chairman who began watching., and eventually assessed penalty scores to the son, and then subsequently to the father and other son for failing to post even some club tournament rounds. Some time later, I was at the course and overheard the dad scoffing about the issue, the gist of his attitude was it was too bad they got caught. They were soon asked to leave the club.

Another family circus involved the former handicap chairman of our club (not Torrey) and his 3 sons. They always played as a foursome and too frequently were in the money. One day we were in the group behind and all witnessed one son 3 putt a short par 3. As Hcp chairman and event organizer, it was my duty to review the scorecards. The son had recorded a 3. When I approached him, all four of them denied it until I threatened to DQ the whole group. Late in that same round, another son (the worst player of the bunch), shanked one OB on a par 3, at least 20 feet I to the bushes. He reseed and shanked one 10 feet into the bushes. He reteed again and shanked one right to the edge of the OB marker. He then dropped two balls on the tee and deliberately hit both deliberately OB (I.e., illegal practice strokes). He then went up to the just about exact spot where we had seen his third tee shot, apparently found his ball in play, chipped onto the green and 3 putted. He recorded a 5, instead of what should have been a 9 plus two penalties for the practice strokes. He claimed he had found his first ball -completenBS because there were no big bush branches that would have deflected his ball 20 feet back into play. His family of course protested as well, but I persisted and gave him his rightful score. A year later, I entered one of our stroke play tournaments as a single and they asked me to join them! On the first hole I lagged to 2 feet and the dad conceded the putt! I stared at him incredulously and tapped it in. A few holes later his worst golfing sun was having a tough time, so the dad suggested he pick up and record a 7 (he was already up to 10). Like father, like son. I had a little chat with him afterwards. None of them was ever in the money again.

I played in a league match a few weeks back and watched my opponent push the ball forward out of the way with his marker and follow with the marker, then replace the ball a few inches forward of the marker before replacing his ball...on every hole. I should have called him out on it, but I figured beating him even when he was doing his best to cheat and tarnishing his perfect record was enough punishment.

The worst case of cheating I ever witnessed was at Stoke Poges Golf Club in 1964. A rather portly businessman had hit his ball in to the left rough, and his Korean, bowler hat wearing caddy rolled a ball down his trouser leg. The other player, a Scotsman knew he had cheated because he was standing on the original ball.

In the end the Scotsman won through. However, the Korean caddy was furious, and went on a statue decapitating and ball crushing rampage.

There's a guy in my league who seems to be pretty liberal with his ball marker placement - that is, he routinely (and very nonchalantly) tosses the marker in the 'vicinity' of his ball - like about 3-4 inches closer to the hole. Then when it's his turn to putt, he'll sort of toss the ball in the vicinity of the marker - again, 3-4 inches closer to the hole. So on any given, green, he is apt to gain about a foot or more....and if you golf, you know the difference between 5 and 6 feet can be huge.

Same guy - when I first started playing in this league - hit a ball into the greenside bunker (well, it was about 10 yds off the green). Anyway, I was on the green lining up my putt when I heard something, turned around, and caught him RAKING THE GREEN and replacing his ball. I questioned it, and he said "Oh, it's okay, that's how we do it in this group." I pressed it, and he absorbed a stroke and we played on. but I never forgot that.

[sub]I think the worst cheaters are those that are almost clandestine, meaning the cheating that occurs would take a CSI like investigation to figure out. In my case, we routinely have a guywho is a low handicappers that gets his scores up at the beginning of the season when entering certain tournaments, then magically his handicap drops 5-6 strokes when he need to enter the club championship. Happens just about every year without fail and very difficult to police.[/sub]

[quote name='MarkFromTheUK' timestamp='1340727106' post='5170456']
The worst case of cheating I ever witnessed was at Stoke Poges Golf Club in 1964. A rather portly businessman had hit his ball in to the left rough, and his Korean, bowler hat wearing caddy rolled a ball down his trouser leg. The other player, a Scotsman knew he had cheated because he was standing on the original ball.

In the end the Scotsman won through. However, the Korean caddy was furious, and went on a statue decapitating and ball crushing rampage.
[/quote]

Caddying seems like an odd job for someone of that temperament.

[quote name='CARDY' timestamp='1340723647' post='5170098']
Good friend had this happen at his old club ... had a member DQ'd also. He was caught "hand grenading" a ball out of a steep greenside bunker on the 18th. His partners couldn't see him do it but the green sits right under the clubhouse and at least 12 guys on the patio saw it happen. He claimed duress etc and stress at work (he was a lawyer)
[/quote]

Ahh, the trusty hand wedge! Best club in the bag.

I've seen some of the most flagrant, remorseless cheating you could ever imagine. The kinds of things that allow you to peer into a person's soul and see just how despicable he is. Things that you have to be a real heartless b*****d to attempt.

I've cleaned up my act since those days, though.

We had a guy suspended 1 year in the SNGA (Souther Nevada Golf Association), because he "found" his ball he hit into the bushes. Problem was that both his playing competitors witnessed him drop another ball.

In FL....

I have seen a guy replace his ball a inch ahead of his maker on the green on every hole in a group money game.

In the same group money game, I witnessed the "best" player in the group kick his ball away from a tree.

Sad part is that when I reported the incidents, they organizers just shrugged it off, like it was no big deal. Needless to say, I no longer play in those money games.

[quote name='MarkFromTheUK' timestamp='1340727106' post='5170456']
The worst case of cheating I ever witnessed was at Stoke Poges Golf Club in 1964. A rather portly businessman had hit his ball in to the left rough, and his Korean, bowler hat wearing caddy rolled a ball down his trouser leg. The other player, a Scotsman knew he had cheated because he was standing on the original ball.

In the end the Scotsman won through. However, the Korean caddy was furious, and went on a statue decapitating and ball crushing rampage.
[/quote]

Whenever I find lost ball in the rough I turn to my partner, hold my hand up and shout "argh, argh".

Not many get it!

In matches against guys you don't know ... whilst looking for a ball in the elephant grass or shrubbery or wood or barancas etc

I've seen this work quite well before with shady characters

YOU "Here's a ball. You were playing a Titleist 4 right?"
OTHER GUY: "Yup, that's it"
YOU "Oh sorry it's a Taylor Made"

I used to play with a guy who was a decent player (7 handicap) but he had a volatile temper and often cheated. During casual play it was no big deal but in money games you had to keep your eye on him.

We had one round that was a $40 buy in. I rode with him in the cart but didn't participate in the money game because there were a few suspect characters in the group, and I only like playing for small, friendly wagers. Anyway, my riding partner hooked his approach shot on the 14th hole into the left rough. The green was partially obstructed from the other players view, and after the other players hit their approaches, my riding partner drove the cart to his ball (about 20' off the green in thick rough), chucked his ball to within 10' of the hole and sped around the perimeter of the green, almost tipping the cart over as we barely missed a steep bunker.

He said that he wasn't going to lose any money today. That was the last time I played with this jackass.

I haven't played in too many high stakes games or tournaments, but in my work league there is constant blatant stroke shaving, and rules violations. I've never caught anyone mismanaging ball marks, hand/foot wedging it, and the likes of the above yet.

What boggles my mind the most is stroke shaving for lower scores. I don't really mind the guy who gets a 10 with penalties and tells me 8 or 9. He's just delusional, but not really hurting anyone up there. It's the guy who ties my bogey even though he chipped onto a green and three putts. How can you listen to my score, know how I got there, and then tell me you got the same. It's crazy.

One time I was playing in a skins game (For money). One of the guys hit his drive into the woods on the left.

He dropped his partner off at his ball in the fairway and then headed toward the woods to "Find his first ball".

He was crouched forward in the cart with a ball in his right hand ready to be tossed near the edge of the woods. He turned and looked before the toss and saw that I was watching him. No toss. Played his provisional and took the penalty.

I played with a kid in a tournament that hit his tee shot somewhat towards on on a unfamiliar course for both of us . Here teed off with a yellow ball and ended up finding his ball that was white haha

Worst I have ever personally witnessed....In a Provincial Championship.... BC Public Links. On the 18th hole...a par 5 about 550 yds. So a guy in my group plays it like this....
-Drive goes right and ends up in a water hazard
-Drops a ball and hits into a fairway bunker on the left side
-Hits out of the bunker into another fairway bunker about 50 yds from the green
-Chunks it out short of the green
-Chips onto the green about 15 ft past the hole
-Putts past the hole to about 8 ft
-Lines up putt and strokes it....but as it starts to roll he reached forward with his putter and "rakes" it back to the original spot
-Lines it up again and 2 putts it into the hole

He then tells his marker he made[i][b] "7"[/b][/i]....although I didn't hear him do that.
Signs his card showing 7 on the 18th and hands it in.

It was only after the scores were posted that myself and one other fellow from the group realized that he had claimed a "7"
We went to the officials and spelled out the scenario, the committee head said.....[i][b]"oh well...nothing we can now"[/b][/i] and let it stand.

The next day the guys slated to play with him refused to play with him so the committee let him play alone with no marker....this time he posted an even par 72... (10 h'cap) and won his flight.
Just the most blatant cheating I have ever witnessed.

Who says crime doesn't pay???

A couple of years ago I was playing the 9th hole at my cc and missed the green left which runs off into some thick rough. While looking for my ball, I found a brand new pro-v that was personalized with a full name on it. I finished the hole and went into the halfway house and the owner of the ball was sitting with his group having a hotdog. Not even thinking, I tossed him his ball and said I found it next to 9 green in the rough. His face froze and his playing partners looked at him like "you dirty mother...." I then realized he had won a little front nine bet by dropping a ball from his pocket. It must have been a small bet because his opponents laughed and put my lunch and beers on his tab as punishment.

[quote name='esketores' timestamp='1340726082' post='5170348']
Scramble... From an elevated tee two holes ahead my foursome watched four people putt and nary a ball disappeared. After we were done we noticed they had posted a birdie on the hole. Which tied our skin. A MAJOR fist fight was narrowly avoided.
[/quote]

This reminds of playing in a charity tournament last year. The group ahead of us played 50 mulligans if they played one. My team has won the tournament the three years past and we got beat by the group ahead of us by 5 shots. We were 16 under and they were 21 under after 18 holes. Never seen anything like it.

[quote name='fccplayer' timestamp='1340736451' post='5171664']
A couple of years ago I was playing the 9th hole at my cc and missed the green left which runs off into some thick rough. While looking for my ball, I found a brand new pro-v that was personalized with a full name on it. I finished the hole and went into the halfway house and the owner of the ball was sitting with his group having a hotdog. Not even thinking, I tossed him his ball and said I found it next to 9 green in the rough. His face froze and his playing partners looked at him like "you dirty mother...." I then realized he had won a little front nine bet by dropping a ball from his pocket. It must have been a small bet because his opponents laughed and put my lunch and beers on his tab as punishment.
[/quote]THIS is the best way for someone to get caught cheating because there is no "out".

I was lining up a lenghty birdie putt and watched a buddy chip his ball to about 2 feet from cup. He then walked up to putt it out and missed, then raked the ball back and give it another go, missed it again, then rake it back for the 2nd time and mark it. I ended up 3 putting, he made par! Not sure how anyone could just be so blatant about that after we witness him do it.