Someone's lyin' about their golf game when they....

[jtj74]

anyone that insists on keeping everyones score every time you play: that guy is always lying about his final score.

[Z1ggy16]

Nobody wants to admit they actually suck at something, just like almost everybody thinks they are normal, and thinks they are right about whatever their opinion is.

 

I never ask anybody what their HC is, etc before the first tee. I can generally tell by their first swing if we are in for a longer round or what. I never volunteer my skill or lack thereof, and if somebody asks, I just tell them that I'm not very good. That way if I hack it up, nbd and if I play well then they are pleasantly surprised.

[Detroit Shooter]

I don't seem to run into the people you fella's do on the course. Most of them are humble and genuinely nice people.

 

Golf is hard, scores fluctuate wildly as many have mentioned. A good friend of mine who is playing off a 6 lost it one day and shot a 50 for the twilight 9 we played. The more we played the worse he got.

I told him the beauty of golf is tomorrow a totally different guy will show up and you will be fine. He did not believe it, turns out the next day he was fine.

 

I can shoot in the low 80's or the mid high 90's. Usually the high 80's, I am playing off a 12 right now. Some days with the driver I have pinpoint accuracy, some days not so much.

 

Golf is so difficult we all need to remember the great the shots and dwell on the good rounds. Who shows up at the course thinking today is the day I am going to shoot 10 over my normal score!

We all start with visions of grandeur and accept what happens from there.

 

Golf, when you have confidence you never think you are going to lose it, when you lose it you never think you are going to get it back.

[pinestreetgolf]

I played in a 1-day tournament with skins (for birdies or better only), and one of the dudes in my group was a guy I'd played with once before.

 

During our previous round, dude hit a garbage tee shot left into the woods on a par 4 where...you don't wanna be left in the woods. His ball crossed into the hazard probably 180 yards away from the hole with absolutely no shot because of a large tree sitting at 130.

 

Instead of taking a proper drop at 180, homey goes up to 130 (clear of the tree, and maybe 5 yards short of where his ball would have landed...30 yards into the woods), hits a great shot, and eventually makes a 5.

 

It was raining; he wasn't going to win the tournament; and I didn't feel the need to correct this guy's sh*tty drop on the 17th hole of the day. I left it alone, but I classified the dude as a cheat from that point on.

 

Fast forward to our 1-day tourney + skins, and dude jacks his drive so far left on the difficult par 4 15th hole that it lands on a house roof—waaaay OB. He plays a provisional and does the same thing, only farther left. Then he plays a second provisional and takes a f*cking divot with a 3-wood and pops the ball out there maybe 215 with at least 225 left to the pin. No bueno.

 

Since he was only +2 at the time, Cheatin' Charlie was committed to his "get out of jail free" strategy the second we walked off the tee to go find our balls.

 

Somehow, dude "finds" his first ball 15 yards inside the OB fence, 30 yards away from the roof he hit, and just in front of a cactus with a lie decent enough to chop it back out into the fairway and advance it maybe 110 yards.

 

I had already told another player in our group the guy was a cheat, and we just laughed as he proclaimed that he found his first ball. Of course, he proceeded to chop out a nice recovery shot to 110, and then he jars his 3rd shot from there for a miraculous "birdie."

 

That shot won him $80 worth of skins, and then his eventual 3rd place finish won him another $60.

 

Son of a b*tch would have scored 100 on that hole alone if he hadn't cheated.

 

And cheaters never win? Don't be so sure. If you see a guy pulling this blatant sh*t on the course, I advise you to jump his Word not allowed right then and there.

 

I was practicing putting on a practice green at a course near my house (Audubon Park, for those from New Orleans) and the 18th green is within view. A unique feature of a bunker on the right is that it has a sharp slope into the bunker (its not a cliff like most) that is covered in heavy rough. The hole is a dog leg left par 5, but very short. Lake left, this bunker right. If you can carry the trouble you can make an easy birdie but there is virtually no way to get to the green on the bounce without losing strokes. You basically can't hit the ball from that downslope into the bunker over the bunker lip in front onto the green b/c the lip is huge and the rough is very deep. I was watching a college golf tournament come up the 18th fairway. A player hit a long shot onto that downslope (where the only play is to either go backwards, go into the bunker on purpose, or try the phil mickelson shot-from-behind-your-back shot over the bunker. Instead, the player looked around and then kicked his ball backwards onto the fairway, wedged on, and made some score. I watched the whole thing from the practice green, but nobody else saw.

 

In a club tournament, I was on 18 (which was our first hole). An older golfer hit his third shot to about 5 feet. He said "I always make these" put the ball in his pocket, instructed us to "give him a 4" and walked off. He was probably 70,75. When we got over to him he was all smiles and said "birdied the first, good start to the tournament".

 

Playing a casual round, but everyone was turning in their card. For those familiar with the course it was at La Tour golf club, #10. Guy missed drive right. We all played our shots and me and another guy *literally saw* the guy drop a ball from his hand like nobody could see it (like not a big drop from high just let it slip out). He made a big show of looking around the edge of the water, then proclaimed he had found it and proceeded to make a par. He turned in the card.

 

In an event, playing Grand Bear in Mississippi hole #2 (par five). Hit into standing water into the left greenside bunker for second shot. Picked up my ball and dropped from the standing water backwards into the bunker. This is apparently illegal (it was dropping from a hazard into a hazard). I got up and down for biridie. I turned in the scorecard and signed it (which was incorrect, I think? I missed the cut anyway) and a playing partner told me that I had done it wrong (I didn't know him, and he let me sign my card and everything and then told me in the parking lot.

 

What in the world should a player do in these situations? In all of them, I just kept quiet. I never know how to handle this type of thing.

[brkuck]

Saying they found a ball when it was nowhere near where the ball went in. Actually caught someone at a tournament trying to play someone elses ball. Dude hit it out of the fescue after declaring his ball was "found". Hits it onto the green and literally runs up there and switches it out with a ball he had in his pocket. Spectator saw him grab a ball out of his bag and switch it with the "found" ball.

[cardoustie]

I don't know how to not lie when talking about my scores. I only post tournament rounds on my handicap online and I have scores that range from a +1.2 to a 13. I usually just say I'm inconsistent because I know I can shoot 70 but I know I also can shoot 85 if I play bad.

 

If I say that I am a 2.1 handicap and then shoot 82, people think I'm lying so usually I go with, "i'm not really sure." lol

I don't know how to not lie when talking about my scores. I only post tournament rounds on my handicap online and I have scores that range from a +1.2 to a 13. I usually just say I'm inconsistent because I know I can shoot 70 but I know I also can shoot 85 if I play bad.

 

If I say that I am a 2.1 handicap and then shoot 82, people think I'm lying so usually I go with, "i'm not really sure." lol

 

Yeah people don't get that a lot of single digits have big scoring ranges because they're erratic. Lots of 80s shooters have really narrow scoring bands because they only hit it about 210 off the tee and it's kind of hard to hit it that far off line at that distance, so they don't lose a lot of balls of tee shots, dribble it around, and shoot 85. But if you just drew a straight line from their miss in the right rough at 210 and extended it out to 280 that tee shot all of a sudden is either in the next fairway or in some guy's pool.

 

I know lots of guys who have ranges of 70-85 depending on the day. Just yesterday I played with a 7 who is fairly long, was a little nervous, and fired a 98 (54-44). He played his round by the rules, finished it out, and posted a bad number, its fine, it's totally normal. Still though, the guy was very obviously a 7 who was having a rough day.

 

Great post from thrillhouse here. I never know how to deal with this. I've played in few events this year with pretty respectable scores and a big, fat 91 on a course I find insanely challenging because the greens are tiny. I was invited to play a scramble and had an off day and the other guys in the scramble seemed massively disappointed. I'm like "what do you want? doing the best i can". Its frustrating. All you can do is keep going through your routine and trying to hit your target. I get what both of y'all are saying in these two posts.

 

What bothers me the most isn't "lying" so much as constant self-talk. I played with a guy the other day and it was like Jim Nantz was walking next to me explaining to me why everything bad was happening and why everything good wasn't actually good. He made sure to tell me he flew the green on 2 into the back bunker because he took too much club but put a great swing on it. Then 3 is "hard for him" so he narrates the entire hole, including telling me he is going to three putt because he is never on the green anyways and then immediately three putting and then getting satisfied with himself that he successfully predicted his own three putt. It was nuts.

 

So, I'd say the narrators are the worst. Constant stream of commentary on his round, aimed at me, designed to excuse poor play, all nonsense and I'm like "dude, I could care less what you do. I'm worried about my shot. I dont care how good or bad you are."

 

Narrators are the worst

[cardoustie]

So I am having a better day now

 

Last 3 scores total better than MTLJEFF. What a Monday !!! :taunt:

 

(72-75-76) ... cap dropping like a stone .. money making days coming to a close at home club

[cardoustie]

I've learned in my 36 years of golf that there are a lot of compulsive liars out there (we can all go sideways)

 

Dude, I can tell you're not a deuce.

 

It's not your score, it's the compression

[Sanders74]

That's whats great about golf you make as many excuses or lies as you want the only one that gets fooled is yourself..

 

I can make that 3 footer 9 out of 10 so that was a birdie.

[dapadre]

I played in a 1-day tournament with skins (for birdies or better only), and one of the dudes in my group was a guy I'd played with once before.

 

During our previous round, dude hit a garbage tee shot left into the woods on a par 4 where...you don't wanna be left in the woods. His ball crossed into the hazard probably 180 yards away from the hole with absolutely no shot because of a large tree sitting at 130.

 

Instead of taking a proper drop at 180, homey goes up to 130 (clear of the tree, and maybe 5 yards short of where his ball would have landed...30 yards into the woods), hits a great shot, and eventually makes a 5.

 

It was raining; he wasn't going to win the tournament; and I didn't feel the need to correct this guy's sh*tty drop on the 17th hole of the day. I left it alone, but I classified the dude as a cheat from that point on.

 

Fast forward to our 1-day tourney + skins, and dude jacks his drive so far left on the difficult par 4 15th hole that it lands on a house roof—waaaay OB. He plays a provisional and does the same thing, only farther left. Then he plays a second provisional and takes a f*cking divot with a 3-wood and pops the ball out there maybe 215 with at least 225 left to the pin. No bueno.

 

Since he was only +2 at the time, Cheatin' Charlie was committed to his "get out of jail free" strategy the second we walked off the tee to go find our balls.

 

Somehow, dude "finds" his first ball 15 yards inside the OB fence, 30 yards away from the roof he hit, and just in front of a cactus with a lie decent enough to chop it back out into the fairway and advance it maybe 110 yards.

 

I had already told another player in our group the guy was a cheat, and we just laughed as he proclaimed that he found his first ball. Of course, he proceeded to chop out a nice recovery shot to 110, and then he jars his 3rd shot from there for a miraculous "birdie."

 

That shot won him $80 worth of skins, and then his eventual 3rd place finish won him another $60.

 

Son of a b*tch would have scored 100 on that hole alone if he hadn't cheated.

 

And cheaters never win? Don't be so sure. If you see a guy pulling this blatant sh*t on the course, I advise you to jump his Word not allowed right then and there.

 

I always walk with these types to look for their ball. Fool me once but not twice.

[rainkingjr]

I've found myself in the awkward position of having to drop some truth on a few people I've been paired up with over the years. It would usually go something like this,

 

Him"You hit the ball a long way. I usually hit it around 260 off the tee. You must be hitting it over 300 yards?"

 

Me" No, that one was about 280 (it's a solid 50 yards past his drive and I usually play from the tips)"

 

Him"Really?"

 

Me"Yes. I can hit it over 300 occasionally, but it's by no means every time."

 

I imagine he thought I was the liar at that point. The distance obsession is probably the biggest thing people lie about. It's funny how you hardly ever hear anyone brag about their putting.

[cutchemist42]

When I hear someone proclaiming low 80s/70s, and then play with them and realize they dont play provisional and only +1 for lost balls.

[dunz]

It's funny I found this. I never followed golf that much until this year. I never knew how the HCP system worked until this year as well. Again, I was always ignorant over the years regarding golf but I'd still ask my coworkers "how good are you at golf?" Only to have each of them claim a 10-12hcp and one claim a 8hcp. The proclaimed 8hcp'er said if his driver is on-point he's closer to scratch. Once again, I had no idea what they meant, but, I'd assume that was good and that they're right.

 

Well, fast forward to this year. I'm still a golf "padawan" but I have an idea how the HCP system works and can kind of call bluffs. Whenever the same coworkers discuss their golf outings in meetings or at the coffee machine, all I hear is "I shot 97 on Saturday" or "TJ shot a 105 and Morgan shot a 91" - these are the same guys who told me they were 10s 12s and 8s. You may be thinking "maybe they had a bad weekend?" Nope. When I view their posted score history at the clubs they play at, I see HCPs in the 20s+. Am I missing something?

[EKELLY]

When a guy says he plays "a little bit", then mysteriously drops a 68 on you........lol

[santasquatcha]

Self admitting hack here...

 

This thread actually has pointed out some of my behavior that must be obnoxious for others...

 

-narration

-exaggeration of game / scores

-etc

 

Now at least I am conscious of was better players think when we play together. And keep a positive attitude, ready golf, and works out better now.

 

Over the last year I have remade the swing a bit and took some lessons. Probably play 90-95 now, with most strokes around the green.

Even though I'm thinking about golf all the time, try not to discuss it as much.

[MeikoKaji]

What is it with very competitive friends (sorry, Koreans, but seriously, what is it?) who can't just accept that you are better? If they can't beat you they try to find someone who can.

 

Very Competitive 'Friend' (VCF): Meiko, this guy's really good like you. I think you'd have a great match. We should play together.

 

Small country, not a tournament player i recognize, but, who knows...

 

Me: oh, great, what club you play at?

VCF's Friend (gets all up in my craw): Club Swampwater (most expensive club in the country, 25 year wait)

Me (i had to step back he was so in my face): oh, we just had the Interclub championships there. But, I didn't see you.

VCF's Friend (face changed immediately, only top 4 from each club qualify, he's not good enough for the team): What club you play for?

Me: Club SmotherHook (we beat them at home in the championship). I halved Farty McFartFace, your club champion (and arguably best amateur in the country), in the finals.

VCF's Friend (steps back): oh....

Me: Yes, let's have a match.

 

Crickets. It's been 4 weeks now and they're just too busy at work, travel, kids got sick now everyone's sick, summer vacations coming, let's do it after that, blah, blah, blah....

 

Edit: if he really was a '3 or a 4' as he claimed, he'd be on the team. easily B team at worst. the club captain didn't choose him ever in the last 10 years that i've competed there so i know he's BS.

[pinestreetgolf]

What is it with very competitive friends (sorry, Koreans, but seriously, what is it?) who can't just accept that you are better? If they can't beat you they try to find someone who can.

 

Very Competitive 'Friend' (VCF): Meiko, this guy's really good like you. I think you'd have a great match. We should play together.

 

Small country, not a tournament player i recognize, but, who knows...

 

Me: oh, great, what club you play at?

VCF's Friend (gets all up in my craw): Club Swampwater (most expensive club in the country, 25 year wait)

Me (i had to step back he was so in my face): oh, we just had the Interclub championships there. But, I didn't see you.

VCF's Friend (face changed immediately, only top 4 from each club qualify, he's not good enough for the team): What club you play for?

Me: Club SmotherHook (we beat them at home in the championship). I halved Farty McFartFace, your club champion (and arguably best amateur in the country), in the finals.

VCF's Friend (steps back): oh....

Me: Yes, let's have a match.

 

Crickets. It's been 4 weeks now and they're just too busy at work, travel, kids got sick now everyone's sick, summer vacations coming, let's do it after that, blah, blah, blah....

 

Edit: if he really was a '3 or a 4' as he claimed, he'd be on the team. easily B team at worst. the club captain didn't choose him ever in the last 10 years that i've competed there so i know he's BS.

 

Hm. When someone avoids a friendly round with you because 10 seconds after introductions you are grilling them about why they werent good enough for some club team it might not be them....

[8thehardway]

I played with someone who marked his putts closer to the hole and was very obvious about it. He was having a terrible round and needed to drain a 6-footer to break 100. After he marked it he had 5 feet left but I guess t h at wasn't good enough because he mumbled something and remarked it to just under four feet and his buddy said it was 'good.'

[propman]

I played with someone who marked his putts closer to the hole and was very obvious about it. He was having a terrible round and needed to drain a 6-footer to break 100. After he marked it he had 5 feet left but I guess t h at wasn't good enough because he mumbled something and remarked it to just under four feet and his buddy said it was 'good.'

 

That's what buddies are for :taunt:

[MeikoKaji]

What is it with very competitive friends (sorry, Koreans, but seriously, what is it?) who can't just accept that you are better? If they can't beat you they try to find someone who can.

 

Very Competitive 'Friend' (VCF): Meiko, this guy's really good like you. I think you'd have a great match. We should play together.

 

Small country, not a tournament player i recognize, but, who knows...

 

Me: oh, great, what club you play at?

VCF's Friend (gets all up in my craw): Club Swampwater (most expensive club in the country, 25 year wait)

Me (i had to step back he was so in my face): oh, we just had the Interclub championships there. But, I didn't see you.

VCF's Friend (face changed immediately, only top 4 from each club qualify, he's not good enough for the team): What club you play for?

Me: Club SmotherHook (we beat them at home in the championship). I halved Farty McFartFace, your club champion (and arguably best amateur in the country), in the finals.

VCF's Friend (steps back): oh....

Me: Yes, let's have a match.

 

Crickets. It's been 4 weeks now and they're just too busy at work, travel, kids got sick now everyone's sick, summer vacations coming, let's do it after that, blah, blah, blah....

 

Edit: if he really was a '3 or a 4' as he claimed, he'd be on the team. easily B team at worst. the club captain didn't choose him ever in the last 10 years that i've competed there so i know he's BS.

 

Hm. When someone avoids a friendly round with you because 10 seconds after introductions you are grilling them about why they werent good enough for some club team it might not be them....

that's a good outcome though. let me type slowly so you can understand. the thread is "Someone's lyin' "...

 

Clearly dude 1 was misrepresenting himself or me to dude 2. That prompted dude 2 to over estimate himself to me.

 

The first dude is really competitive but never breaks 90, throws clubs, etc...but always wants a match. Goes to golftec for a few weeks, comes back, challenges me again. It's no longer fun. Nice guy outside of golf, though.

 

Anyway, i don't want to play with them. So, i'll stick with people who know themselves.

[ratdg1]

I don't play for money if I don't know the person and haven't played with them at least 4 or 5 times before, so I don't really care whether they lie or not.

[Jwin323]

I played with someone who marked his putts closer to the hole and was very obvious about it. He was having a terrible round and needed to drain a 6-footer to break 100. After he marked it he had 5 feet left but I guess t h at wasn't good enough because he mumbled something and remarked it to just under four feet and his buddy said it was 'good.'

 

used to play against this guy in our TeamPlay matches who would always race out of his cart to the green and toss his marker out in front of his ball (sometimes a foot or more) and pick his ball up before the rest of us got to the green. Someone else actually clued me in on this and I was able to catch him doing it once. I asked him if he was sure he was marking correctly he replied "Are you callin' me a cheater?" I said no, then proceeded to inflict some pretty nasty spike marks on his line and remind him it was against the rules to fix them. Problem solved.

[uitar9]

Going out this morning with a client and a couple others from work. Scanning through the excuses. Gonna add a few to the repertoire. Actually thought one of the things us golfers have to learn is to build up a good list of feeble excuses for shooting a score which actually represents our HCP.

[ucfdad]

How about the guy who is a self-proclaimed, single-digit handicaper, who rolls it everywhere and gives himself 3' gimmies?

There is a guy at my club who takes at least 1 mulligan each round and has never putted it from 3 feet or less. He does post his scores using equitable stroke control and his index is a 16. He will shoot a 9 on a hole, and because of ESC, he writes down a 7. So at the end of a round, instead of a 95, his card adds up to an 87. Ask him what he shot and he says 87. I say I didn't ask what you posted, I asked what you shot. He doesn't see the difference. We are a similar index, but he always scores better than me because he only counts to 7, drives me nuts.

[Sean2]

I will never understand why people would fabricate falsehoods about their golf games. They know what they are saying isn't true, so what do they get out of it? Do they do so looking for praise and accolades? The funny thing is most people don't care about about the self-aggrandizer's golf game. Being proud of one's accomplishments is one thing, lying about them is another.

 

I am very realistic about my golf game, be it my ability, how far I hit the ball, or what have you. As such I play tees that are appropriate to my ability, focus on course management, and don't attempt shots I haven't practiced.

 

For me the game is about scoring, not what clubs I play, or what tees I play from, or how far I hit the ball. And, in order to know my ability vis-a-vis a handicap it is incumbent on me to follow the rules, count every stroke, post every score (no matter how good, or how bad).

 

Lying about what I do on the golf course accomplishes nothing...gives me nothing.

 

A bit of a segue, but I don't cotton much to excuses either. You know, the guy on the first tee who says he hasn't played in a while, or his back hurts, or he's being audited by the IRS, or whatever.

[Big Oh!]

...when you see their driver and it has momentous crown marks, but yeah, you hear how they bomb it...in fifteen years, JP has never had a crown mark on any wood...

 

...they carry a ball in their pocket all the time during play...sorry, you are probably going to cheat at some point, which is, you know, something that happens...

 

Their neck skin is pasty. You can't play and be pasty, sorry. Not even an Irishman.

 

..When they say that their driver doesn't have crown marks. They ALL have them.

 

Also, I always carry a ball in my pocket because i am very liable to lose a ball and I'm not about to hold up play to go back to the cart to get a ball.

I was taught to carry an extra ball so I wont hold up play when I lose a ball.

[pinestreetgolf]

I will never understand why people would fabricate falsehoods about their golf games. They know what they are saying isn't true.

 

Thats your mistake. They think it's true. Every single one of them. Golf is maddening (and incredibly ripe for lying *to yourself* because (1) it is the repetition of the same thing over and over and (2) it doesn't require any outward physical obvious trait to claim prowess (unlike, for example, if some 5'11" 270 lbs guy claimed to be able to dunk, you have no idea if they are right or not).

 

Golf is also one of the only pursuits where sheer time gets you absolutely nothing. Unless your doing the right things you won't get better but since you've put in the time you feel like you should be, and therefore are, better.

 

When you ask a golfer how good he is he will you how good he thinks he should be given his time and money investment, because that's how he measures it in his own head. He isn't lying. Your just using score as a metric whereas he is using effort and practice time not realizing that, to quote snoop dog, deserve ain't got s*** to do with it.

 

They "get out of it" that they don't have to admit to themselves that their just as good as five years ago despite all the time and cash because they just beat balls at nothing when their "working" on their game. They don't have to admit that their either idiots or that they're too lazy/unhumble to admit what their feeling as correct is actually wrong. I had a guy actually tell me he never wanted to see himself on video "because he is a feel player". I would bet a whole lot of $$ that someone who doesn't "want" to see video of themselves lies constantly to themselves and others about their swing and their game.

 

There are a ton of golfers who put in a ton of time and absolutely stink bc they don't know how to get better but because of the time (and money, in some cases) they have an inflated view of themselves as being just one tip away. Like loosening a pickle jar before it finally opens. They're delusional but not liars. IMO of course.

[Striker Ace]

I've heard that golfers are worse than fisherman.

[JonPacNW]

You can lie to me all day. I don't really care. Usually I'm smirking behind your back at how much you care about what some stranger thinks about your game.

 

It's the guys that lie to themselves that disappoint me. They get their club distances from watching the PGA tour and pull wedge from 150 when you haven't seen them make clean contact the entire round. These guys need to be honest with themselves if they ever want to improve.

 

Also, I don't know if this counts as lying, but the guys who decide they're your coach when their swing has more problems than yours. Unless you're a certified pro willing to give a free lesson, don't pretend you know how to fix anybody else's swing during a round.

[EJohnB]

What IS a crown mark? (Asking for a friend.)

A mark on the top of the club from a ball hit at the very top of the face - normally a "sky ball"