{"id":229903,"date":"2025-10-21T12:17:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/229903\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:17:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:17:17","slug":"whats-the-most-blatant-cheating-youve-seen-on-the-golf-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/229903\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s The Most Blatant Cheating You\u2019ve Seen On The Golf Course?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Golf is, quite rightly, seen as a sport that has integrity and honesty at its core. There\u2019s a strict code of etiquette<\/a> and the rules of golf <\/a>require self-policing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually quite easy to cheat<\/a> if you so desire, but accusations are generally few and far between. Still, we\u2019d be naive to think it doesn\u2019t happen at all.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve probably all witnessed a bandit<\/a> in action, heard stories of someone employing the \u2018magic pencil\u2019 or suspected a playing partner of dropping a ball down their trouser leg when you could have sworn they sliced their drive out of bounds.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Some cheating isn\u2019t overt, but rather a product of not knowing the rule book or being fed incorrect information from someone else. For example, there are plenty of golfers who pick the nicest point of relief instead of the nearest point of relief<\/a>, or don\u2019t add on a shot for a penalty drop.<\/p>\n

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\"Handicap\n<\/p>\n

We’ve all played with a bandit, probably multiple times<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)<\/p>\n

On a separate note, I was curious as to how many amateur golfers would consider cheating if they were guaranteed to get away with it, so I put a poll out on X. Some 86% replied no, while 14% \u2013 props for their honesty \u2013 answered yes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not quite sure how to react to those numbers. I think it probably reflects fairly well on the sport, but my gut feeling is more people would probably go to the dark side if such a scenario actually materialised.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting discussion, because there\u2019s not really anything to be gained. If you cheat on the way to your best ever score, you\u2019ll always know that and it won\u2019t mean anything (although if you\u2019re someone who\u2019s prepared to cheat, you\u2019re probably also someone who can forget about it too!)<\/p>\n

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If you cheat to get your handicap<\/a> lower than it should be, you\u2019re only making things harder for yourself; conversely, if you cheat to increase your handicap, you have a better chance of winning competitions but you\u2019re getting worse on paper.<\/p>\n

What sort of person would take a higher handicap in order to have a better chance of winning some golf balls, a bar tab or some pro shop credit? Someone of questionable character, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n

Is it a problem?<\/p>\n

But cheating does happen, there\u2019s no doubt about that. It\u2019s a sport predicated on honesty and a pursuit that requires self-regulation, and whenever that\u2019s the case with anything, some people lose sight of what\u2019s right and what\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Last year, we posted a poll on X asking whether cheating was a problem in amateur golf. Even though disciplinary proceedings as a result of cheating are rare \u2013 as a simple Google search will corroborate \u2013 a worrying 57% of respondents said \u2018yes\u2019.<\/p>\n

We also asked: \u201cHave you ever witnessed cheating<\/a> at your golf club?\u201d and 85% replied \u2018yes\u2019. Concerningly, 39% also responded \u2018yes\u2019 to the question: \u201cHave you ever cheated?\u201d You\u2019d also imagine there are people out there who have but don\u2019t want to admit it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know how commonplace it is, but cheating also takes place in the professional game, although reported instances at the top level are very rare indeed.<\/p>\n

In 2023, PGA Tour Canada player Justin Doeden admitted to cheating. He changed his score on the final hole of the second round from a seven to a five in order to make the cut by one. His playing partners later noticed and reported Doeden, who subsequently withdrew.<\/p>\n

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\"A\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Kevin Murray)<\/p>\n

While rumours sometimes surface \u2013 as they have done historically, too \u2013 cases of concrete disciplinary action are extremely thin on the ground.<\/p>\n

That said, my colleague Joe Ferguson played the mini tours in England for five years and he says cheating was rife<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve witnessed multiple instances of cheating and heard so many more stories. There\u2019s a lot of it going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen scorecards being changed between the end of the round and the scorer\u2019s hut, people adamantly claiming they\u2019ve had something on a hole when they clearly haven\u2019t, people improving their lies, balls being dropped in the rough and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne player in a EuroPro Tour event told his playing partners he\u2019d hand the scorecards in, and when they handed them over, he got to work with his rubber and pencil and changed his score between the 18th green and the scorers\u2019 hut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen people cheat to save two shots when they\u2019re going to shoot 84 and miss the cut anyway. I think it\u2019s a pride and a shame thing as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

We want to know whether you\u2019ve witnessed cheating at your golf club (or anywhere else for that matter) and if you have any egregious examples. If so, leave a comment below. We\u2019ll be using the best stories about blatant cheating for a follow-up article.<\/p>\n

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