In any walk of life, there are people who look to bend the rules and game the system, and golf is no different. Here’s how to spot people who look to do just that…
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Ask thousands of golfers to give one word associated with the sport and a number would use the word integrity. There are many faux pas that can be committed while playing the game, including etiquette mistakes and misunderstanding the rules, but cheating sits at the top of the pile.
The trouble is, it’s impossible to regulate and monitor everyone. As such, it falls on the individual to play the game in the right spirit, be honest with theirselves and treat their fellow playing partners with respect. Golf requires a level playing field on which to compete.
But In any walk of life, there are people who look to bend the rules and game the system, and golf is no different. Even though the vast majority of golfers do the right thing and wouldn’t dream of seeking an unfair advantage, suggestions of cheating abound.
There’s no doubt it’s more common than it should be at club level and GM’s Joe Ferguson, who played the mini professional tours for five years, believes cheating is rife at the lower professional level.
With anecdotal evidence at every level of the game, such broad scope for infractions and a reliance on self-policing that a minority choose to be a little lax on, cheating is, unfortunately, something that exists in golf.
With all that in mind, we reveal the ten most common ways that dishonest golfers look to ‘get away with it’ on the course…
1 – THE ‘LOST’ BALL
cheating
A version of the classic trouser leg
- Dropping a ball and playing it – the classic “trouser leg.”
- Playing a ball that isn’t theirs – “Yup, found it!”
- Searching for more than three minutes, finding it and playing on.
- Hitting same model and number of provisional “Yeah, this is definitely the first one.”
Every ball you hit should be uniquely identifiable. That means that if you have just hit a Titleist 1 with a blue dot on it into the deep rough, your provisional should either feature a different number or a different marking
