Worst Cheating Incident you've ever witnessed

[Emjayh]

The majority of these stories are almost inbelievable and yet at the same everyones own personal experiences make them totally credible.

Most appear crudely blatant and almost laughable at what you are expected to believe from these cheaters............but also be aware of the subtle cheat.
You'll know the type of action I mean, you look at something and think did I just see him do 'xyz' or did I imagine it.. it all happens too quickly.

His ball is in 4" rough and to check it's his, slams his size 12 Footjoy right behind it and flattens out the rough or he lines it up with a driver first to flatten things out and then goes with his 7 iron.

The ones who when you're in the left rough and they're in the right rough suddenly tell you I'm just gonna mark and lift to check it's mine and replace it out of the divot. Yes, you should have the opportunity to observe the lifting but do we really want to run over 40 yards to check?

"I'll just take relief from this casual water" he's on the other fairway and relief just happens to take the trees out of his line of play. You've already done 14 holes without any casual water...do I really want to shoot over and check.

However, let's look at the positives........

I was playing match play my opponent is on the apron of a par 4 for 2 and I'm on the green 2' from the pin for 3 [and he's giving me a stoke]. His turn to go, he addresses the ball and then picks it up. I say what are you doing " the ball moved after I addressed it your hole" ....I saw nothing.

Another time [stroke play] a player scrambles down and plays his shot from the water hazard onto the green, [ I cannot see him] As we walk to the green he says that's an extra 2 for me. He said to get into hazard I had to step over this big branch so I tossed it to one side..wasn't till I was walking back out I realised it was actually partly in the hazard.

[golfdad907]

Can anyone beat this?

I got asked to fill in for someone who couldn't play in a scramble.

So I say sure, i'll play.

Meet the other 3 guys I'm playing with, who all know each other. The 'scorekeeper' literally wrote down scores before we played the hole, I wanted to leave and in retrospect should have, but it was a private course, so wanted to see it.

"This looks like an eagle hole" and before we tee off, 3 is on the card.

[Titleist 670]

[quote name='golfdad907' timestamp='1343527012' post='5371306']
Can anyone beat this?

I got asked to fill in for someone who couldn't play in a scramble.

So I say sure, i'll play.

Meet the other 3 guys I'm playing with, who all know each other. The 'scorekeeper' literally wrote down scores before we played the hole, I wanted to leave and in retrospect should have, but it was a private course, so wanted to see it.

"This looks like an eagle hole" and before we tee off, 3 is on the card.
[/quote]

I generally believe that quite a few teams are cheating in any scramble. You see teams with one decent player and three hacks post ridiculous scores, and it doesn't make any sense. Even if they all hit the fairway, only one of them has the ability to hit the green and yet they post something like -20 for 18.

[Emjayh]

[quote name='golfdad907' timestamp='1343527012' post='5371306']
Can anyone beat this?

I got asked to fill in for someone who couldn't play in a scramble.

So I say sure, i'll play.

Meet the other 3 guys I'm playing with, who all know each other. The 'scorekeeper' literally wrote down scores before we played the hole, I wanted to leave and in retrospect should have, but it was a private course, so wanted to see it.

"This looks like an eagle hole" and before we tee off, 3 is on the card.
[/quote]

Played in a scramble a couple of years back and the in group behind us none had an official handcap so the tournament committee allocated each of them a 24 h/cap. So you say to yourself, Ok it's just a social round and they're probably a bunch of hackers out for a good day,a good cause and a few beers.

We get to our first green and the group behind still haven't teed off ??? we're thinking they maybe they've not finished their beer and hotdog. As we walk off the green 3 of them drive the green Par4 - 290yards.

Posted a 20 under and also took nearly all the novelty prizes, longest drives, closest to the pin, closest to the pin on a Par5 after 3 stokes [yes, in the hole] Funny, they missed out on the ladies longest drive which must have really p***sed them off, surprised one didn't wear a skirt.

[rorymcilroy59]

Earlier this summer I was in a tourney on this junior tour I play and everyone that I had ever played with was always honest, but this guy I played with this time was completely different. On the first hole he was 3 feet away for double on a par 5, he goes up to it and hits it with one hand...misses then picks it up without finishing, I ask him what he got and he tells me 7, I got pretty mad at him and told him that he had an 8 if he finished out, and then he didn't finish so I gave him a two stroke penalty, last time he tried to cheat...that day

[CCUgolfer23]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1340775276' post='5175620']
I had a friend on my high school golf team. The ABSOLUTE WORST PLAYER EVER! You have no idea.

I played a late evening round with him that was pushing dark, and we had a regional tournament the next day. After nine holes of him walking around in the trees (worst slice ever - you couldn't start it far enough left), I asked him what he was doing. "Oh, nothing...looking for balls" was the response. By the 12th hole I wander over to see what he was doing in the trees. Bear in mind, we are in Maine, so there are trees on almost every hole.

I see him laying twigs over his ball, leaving himself space to pitch out. I said, "WTF do you think you are doing?" He said, "I am leaving a ball in the places where I usually land for tomorrow." I just let him do it, because there was no way he would have ever placed in the tournament the next day. I was fifteen and stupid (or compassionate, take your pick). In a way it was genius, because no one would end up missing where he did. No one was that awful.

He went out the next day, finished dead last and didn't come within 17 strokes of the next highest score. I won't tell you what he shot because you would never believe it.
[/quote]

sounds like a guy from my high school team, worst player I have ever seen. We played double par in majority of our tournaments except region. In a nine hole douple par tourny he shot a 71. He double pard ever hole but one. Then in a region match he shot a 137

[RecreationalHacker]

I'm a relatively new golfer, just finishing my 3rd year. I don't play in a league, tournaments, or for money, but reading threads like this and other threads about fixing the handicap system (sandbaggers) is still really disturbing.

I often play as a single and end up joining other singles or doubles on the course. It took me a while to figure out what was going on when people were miraculously finding balls in reasonably playable locations despite terrible miss hits into deep rough. The "standard" explanation, "Must have hit a tree (or rock)," is certainly possible so how can you argue.

What's amazing to me is that nothing was "on the line" in most cases....except maybe bragging rights with their friends. Cheating is so rampant in casual golf that I cannot imagine what happens when playing for prize money...even small prizes.

I am amused while listening to all the "First Tee" commercials promoting the teaching of life values (honesty) to children. I wonder if there is a "First Tee for Adults" so that adult golfers can learn integrity so we can reduce the number who are cheating bastards. I take that back.....cheating (intentionally) is not about knowledge because cheaters know it's wrong but choose to cheat anyway. You can't teach integrity. It's part of your character or it's not. Golf is FULL of people who lack character....probably no different than other sports. Except other sports use referees or judges to keep them in check.

Nevertheless, I love this game. But if we're playing for money, expect me to look over your shoulder and call you out if you're a cheating bastxxx.

[Shipwreck]

Playing in a 4 man scramble with my friends and there was a long drive hole on #9, a dead straight super long par 5. My buddy crushes his drive about 330 and moves the marker up to his spot. On our 3rd shot from the fringe we look back and the group behind us (which was also the last group of the tournament) hit their tee shots, we see one guy drive up, pick up the marker and move it back about 20 yards to his spot. We all drove back and started asking WTF!! And the guy says "its a dogleg so mine was further". It almost got ugly but there was nothing we could do.

[Bmoneyman]

Played a course with 5 par fives today in a scramble with mulligans and string. We Birdie or Eagle every hole possible, shoot 48 on a par 71. Would you believe we are tied at 48, and then another group comes in with a 47? Claiming they drove the green on a par 4 and made the put...took second in the score card playoff. Those guys cheated no freaking way did they do that, and they turned in their score card late... I hate cheaters.

[TheGeekGolfer]

I was playing with a friend and a colleage of his (a lawyer). It was at his 'club' and we were his guests. We were playing skins for $5 a hole and he flat-out foot wedges (kicks) his ball out from behind a tree to give himself a clear shot. I call him on it and he denies it. Does it again several holes later. I lost it and went nuts on him. I lost my temper very easily back then, not I would just tell him to pay up and then play the rest of the round on my own.

[mark m]

[quote name='Bmoneyman' timestamp='1348524719' post='5687955']
Played a course with 5 par fives today in a scramble with mulligans and string. We Birdie or Eagle every hole possible, shoot 48 on a par 71. Would you believe we are tied at 48, and then another group comes in with a 47? Claiming they drove the green on a par 4 and made the put...took second in the score card playoff. Those guys cheated no freaking way did they do that, and they turned in their score card late... I hate cheaters.
[/quote]

Been there. We won a big fundraiser scramble for a Univ sports team the previous year and were leading the next yr until the last group came in. The leader of that team (and scorekeeper) was one of the organizers of the tournament. Anyway, they beat us by one. The last 2 holes they played (tough 400+ yd par 4's) - they said they eagled both of them. I looked at the scorecard and the previous scores had been erased and 2's were written in. Isn't that wonderful?

[kg92lefty]

I was out marshalling for our courses ironman, these two guys hit three would on a 450 yard uphill par 4. The first duck hooks it into the rocks to the left, the next guy hits a giant pull slice into the left rocks as well. So I goto help them, I saw both drop into the rocks in the middle of these mounds (250-275) out, however both are looking in the rocks about 350 out.
I went up and helped a guy look through the scattered bushes in this area then told him that his ball landed back about 80 yards, reminding him he hit 3 wood. The d-bag snapped at me and went off on how its up here. Well I go to help the other guy look for his and all the sudden the first guy finds it in the small (very small) bush where we both looked when I pulled up (it was not there when I looked), this bush is 370 out. I call BS and he snaps and I just say whatever.
The second guy cant find his in the 5 minutes and going by the local rules for the day elects to take a drop (playing the desert as a lateral hazard). So he would have to drop where it last entered the hazard, well that was back at the tee box because he hit such a nasty pull slice, instead this d-bag drops at 320 out in the grass. His argument was that he used to be a pga rules official and knows the rule.
Both tools scored "bogies" from there, but to add to it tool #1 writes down 4.

Whatever helps you sleep at night, these tools had to cheat and still did not play worth a damn. No wonder they have vanity handicaps of 0. I would love to play with them in the City Am later this year and kick their a$$.

[Bmoneyman]

[quote name='mark m' timestamp='1348528561' post='5688327']
[quote name='Bmoneyman' timestamp='1348524719' post='5687955']
Played a course with 5 par fives today in a scramble with mulligans and string. We Birdie or Eagle every hole possible, shoot 48 on a par 71. Would you believe we are tied at 48, and then another group comes in with a 47? Claiming they drove the green on a par 4 and made the put...took second in the score card playoff. Those guys cheated no freaking way did they do that, and they turned in their score card late... I hate cheaters.
[/quote]

Been there. We won a big fundraiser scramble for a Univ sports team the previous year and were leading the next yr until the last group came in. The leader of that team (and scorekeeper) was one of the organizers of the tournament. Anyway, they beat us by one. The last 2 holes they played (tough 400+ yd par 4's) - they said they eagled both of them. I looked at the scorecard and the previous scores had been erased and 2's were written in. Isn't that wonderful?
[/quote]

Unbelievable. They hole'd out for eagle on both the long par 4's that is special!!! I am working on an attitude adjustment for these events, just go play and have fun. Take the long drive or a closest to the hole and maybe win a raffle prize and go home.

B

[Veng]

[quote name='Bmoneyman' timestamp='1348529757' post='5688433']
Unbelievable. They hole'd out for eagle on both the long par 4's that is special!!! I am working on an attitude adjustment for these events, just go play and have fun. Take the long drive or a closest to the hole and maybe win a raffle prize and go home.

B
[/quote]
I've said it, and I'll say it again. The only way to win those things is to cheat more than everyone else.

[Shipwreck]

[quote name='Veng' timestamp='1348535993' post='5689157']
[quote name='Bmoneyman' timestamp='1348529757' post='5688433']
Unbelievable. They hole'd out for eagle on both the long par 4's that is special!!! I am working on an attitude adjustment for these events, just go play and have fun. Take the long drive or a closest to the hole and maybe win a raffle prize and go home.

B
[/quote]
I've said it, and I'll say it again. The only way to win those things is to cheat more than everyone else.
[/quote]

Yeah. You gotta love the groups of hacks where not a single one can post a legitimate score of sub 90 yet a group of them can muster a solid -13 in a scramble.

[woody1351]

in high school at our regional tourney the kid whose score i kept offered me $5 to drop his score to a 84 because his dad would give him $20 everytime he broke 85. he didnt shoot under 85 that day.

[Augster]

Please, no more complaining about cheating in scrambles. It is not a recognized form of competition according to the RoG. Each individual scramble committee would have to rewrite the rulebook every time out.

You can't have cheating without rules to break.

[poprocksncoke]

Played in two scrambles this year, first one they were giving away a brand new r11s driver for the long drive. I was the 4th to last group and out drove the long drive marker by about 5 yards, the guy ahead of me must have had it cause he drove back to see if I passed him. A golfer in the last group that played the hole eventually won the long drive. Have no proof any cheating was going on here but then........ Both scrambles were work related so alot of the same people played in both tournaments. This time I was the second group to go through the long drive hole and again I had the long drive, later when we passed the hole my drive was still standing. After we finished the rouund we had to drive back by the long drive hole and I noticed something fishy, the long drive marker was placed 10 yards behind where my drive was! I know this because I know what tree my drive was across from and even found where we had made diviots in the fairway on our approach shots (sand filled of course). So I look at the marker and it was the same guy who beat me on the long drive at the other tournament. The prize for this long drive wasnt anything like a brand new driver but still pissed me off and gave me more of a feeling that he cheated at the other tournament as well.

[lander215]

[quote name='Augster' timestamp='1349223458' post='5740743']
Please, no more complaining about cheating in scrambles. It is not a recognized form of competition according to the RoG. Each individual scramble committee would have to rewrite the rulebook every time out.

You can't have cheating without rules to break.
[/quote]

No they don't. They simply state the rules that apply to the scramble, and then end it with "All other RoG apply".

Simple, concise, and accurate and everyone with half a whit understands how it works.

The others sit on the side and BMW about how "it's not real golf".

[BlackDiamondPar5]

[quote name='Augster' timestamp='1349223458' post='5740743']
Please, no more complaining about cheating in scrambles. It is not a recognized form of competition according to the RoG. Each individual scramble committee would have to rewrite the rulebook every time out.

You can't have cheating without rules to break.
[/quote]

Hogwash! I hope your kidding.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

[quote name='CARDY' timestamp='1340723647' post='5170098']

snip-------------

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]

That is quite possibly the best ever. The visual in my mind makes me chuckle.

[gambit]

[quote name='jahopki' timestamp='1340743450' post='5172592']
[quote name='WildDog06' timestamp='1340728089' post='5170582']
[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 [color=#ffa500]odd job[/color] for someone of that temperament.
[/quote]

Ooooo! I see what you did! Brav-O! Very well done, sir!
[/quote]

Well played, well played.

I played with this guy once. He was a single joining with us. I was keeping score and noticed after a few holes that the scores he was giving seems kinda low from my recollection. On a par 4 I counted. OB twice, 2 shots to get out of a bunker, missed putts. I think all in all he should've carded an 11 on the hole. When he said bogey I had to check him. He was kind of speechless about it at first but then said he doesn't count his bad shots.

In a scramble I played, you can buy up to three mulligans. I never buy cause I don't care about winning that bad. The group behind us must've used about 20 mulligans between them over three holes. They didn't win.

[Augster]

[quote name='lander215' timestamp='1349289493' post='5745531']
No they don't. They simply state the rules that apply to the scramble, and then end it with "All other RoG apply".

[/quote]

Okay, I'll bite. Which Rules apply and which Rules don't? In each scramble they can't just say, "All other RoG apply". Which Rules apply?

So when some Rule, that has already been agreed to waive by the committee, which is against the Rules btw, is breached during play, who gets the penalty? Is it the entire team? Is it the individual on the team?

Case in point, all scrambles are LCP obviously. 2nd player has LC'd and placed his ball. He then addresses it and it moves. Does he take a penalty? Is the team assessed the penalty? Is he allowed to replace it without penalty? Since 3 other teammates are playing from the same spot, does the player who's ball was moved just not get to play a shot?

Where do I find the answers to these questions? It certainly is beyond the scope of the RoG as a scramble is not a governed form of play.

Scrambles are a farce when it comes to the Rules. There is already an agreement beforehand to waive almost all the Rules of Golf, which is against Rule 1-3 and 33-1. 33-1 states the Committee has no power to waive a Rule of Golf. Since one is not playing GOLF when they are in a scramble, griping about people breaking the Rules of Golf while not playing golf is nonsensicle.

I can see complaining about long drive, nearest to pin, etc. as those prizes are outside the Rules and not based on score. Those folks are simply cheats that know right from wrong and cheat on the proximity prizes anyway.

Maybe someone out there on the internet has gone through the RoG and re-written every Rule to use for scramble competitions. I haven't looked, but it would make sense to have someone do it once. That way every committee could just refer players to the universal "scramble rules" instead of trying to use RoG.

[lander215]

Lol you're talking to yourself because you refuse to use common sense.

At your next scramble state the scramble rules and then say "all other rules of ping pong apply".

Have fun with that. ;-)

[Sixcat]

Man, am I about to get on my soap box!

A few years ago, I played in a state golf association match play event. On the 12th hole of my second match, a short (304 yards I think), downhill, OB all along the right side, par 4, I hit an iron to the middle of the fairway, about 90 yards out. My playing competitor hit an identical shot and our balls were side by side, no more than two feet apart. He was playing a Callaway and I was playing a Titleist. As fate/luck/chance (whatever you want to call it) would have it, I stopped at the bathroom that sits between the 11th and 12th fairway on my way to the my ball.

When I got there, dude had already played his second into the green. I started my pre-shot routine when I noticed the ball looked funny (HEX dimples). I asked the rules official who was supposed to be staggered between the match ahead of us and our match to come over. I notified my playing competitor that I believe he hit my ball by mistake, knowing this should be automatic loss of hole.

The rules official drove to the green, picked my ball out of a greenside bunker, handed it to me and said "drop it as near where you think it was, no closer to the hole and proceed". I complained more that this was the wrong ruling and the official said, "play out the remainder of the hole and write down both results (me winning hole by him playing wrong ball and replaying the hole as if nothing happened) and they would let the tournament director decide which score would stand when we were finished".

At the time, I was 2 holes up (should be 3 holes counting 12) with 6 to play. He wins #12 outright on the "re-play" when he holed his "second" "second" shot from 90 yards. Brings the match to me being 1 up.

We finish 18 all square and I think I have won the match because I will get #12 when the tournament director makes his ruling. We shake hands and go find the tournament director. When presented with all of the facts by the rules official, the director informs me we will have a sudden death playoff to see who wins the match [b]based on the fact that I waited until after the match to seek ruling from him as match play rules clearly state that once a new hole has begun, prior rules infractions are null and void. [/b]I lost on the first extra hole when I snap hooked my drive OB.

A couple of years later, I got paired with the same guy at another tournament, a 2-man best ball tournament, where his playing partner that day was his father, the rules official who screwed me a few years earlier.

[shotmaker86]

Pretty much anything I see Chris Berman do on TV each year at Pebble.

[shotmaker86]

Pretty much anything I see Chris Berman do on TV each year at Pebble.

[inthefairway]

The worst cheating I ever saw was during a company tournament. I was golfing with this guy that was at the time leading the tournament and he hit one into the woods. After I hit my 2nd shot in the fairway I went into the woods figuring I would help find his ball if he was still looking for it. I saw him as I was walking and looked down at his ball in the woods and he had it perfectly teed up on some dirt. You can imagine the look on his face!!!!! Busted!!!!!

[gambit]

So here's a question, and maybe it's stupid. What's the point of cheating? Is it just bragging rights and maybe a few gifts when cheaters know that they really didn't win? Has a cheater ever explained this to anyone here...I'm really really curious. I thought about cheating once when I was 14 because my legs were really tight on a mile race through a hillside trail and when I came to a turn off that would shorten my run I just ran past it. The closer I got to that turn off the sicker I got as I thought about cheating. I'd rather lose than win as a cheat, and I can't rob anyone who deserves to win. I just don't get it.

[Sixcat]

[quote name='Carolina Golfer 2' timestamp='1340746150' post='5172850']
I personally witnessed a guy on TV, once hit a ball over the roof of the clubhouse into the parking lot, and then take a drop behind the 18th green with no penalty stroke.
[/quote]

Well played, sir!