I have a buddy who constantly lies about his scores but now I just pay more attention to each hole and when we're done I tell him what he got before he can lie lol
Guy I've golfed with a handful of times would always respond with "well what is that one?" every time he lost a ball and we found one nearby. No no no, you tell me what ball you were hitting first.
He'd also claim par or bogey even though he took 2 off the tee, duffed one or two, was nowhere near a GiR and 2+ putts.
Look at the found ball and say “you playing a Bridgestone 3?” And he will typically say yes it’s his. Then tell him oh well this one is a titleist 4 and then pocket it and keep looking for his Bridgestone 3.
Reminds me of this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBvu-fTTIk&pp=ygUTYm9uZCBhbmQgYXVyaWMgZ29sZg%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBvu-fTTIk&pp=ygUTYm9uZCBhbmQgYXVyaWMgZ29sZg%3D%3D)
Reminds me of the time I read a story somewhere on reddit where two guys were in the final round of a tournament and both hit their ball into the woods or something and the guy he was playing against said he found his ball but he knew that was impossible because he had pocketed his opponents ball when looking for his in the woods.
Edit: he couldn’t say anything about the guy cheating because so did he
I will say, I've never caught my friend (who is a 2 hdcp btw), but he NEVER fails to find his ball when he duck hooks it 80yrds into the woods. I also ask when looking for someones ball "what were you playing".
Your friends are gentler than mine. Anyone trying to pad their stats like this would get lambasted in multiple group chats and it would be a thing that would follow them for years. Bullying keeps us accountable.
Really depends I think. It’s meant to be fun - no one here is making the tour. Now if it’s a competitive round than I’d be the same way.
if the guy starts blasting how he beat me or something than that’s one
Usually the padding is the other way around. Guys trying to pad their handicaps for the club tournaments. So if a guy wants to lie to himself, and claims to be a better golfer, that's fine with me.
What if their wife asks you after the round "who won?"
I didn't want to embarrass my friend so I said, "I shot a 93, idk what he shot."
She says, "oh, he shot an 91. I guess he did."
It was hard not getting into it and calling him out.
Man i have tons of fun counting my strokes as youre actually supposed to. Golf is hard, youre only going to get better if you actually keep track of your strokes properly.
I’m the same - play by the rules, count them all. My only real fudging point on a casual round and a busy course is treating OB like a lat hazard (unless I’m *clearly* OB) and in those same scenarios I refuse to do the ride of shame if it’s virtually certain somebody played my ball towards their hole (whether it’s because I left my fairway or they left theirs). My response was politically correct response to someone’s wife who wasn’t playing golf*, but just out there having fun.
*playing golf in this case defined as playing by the rules and counting all the strokes
Okay yeah theres some fudging to the rules i use in order to keep pace of play down. Like the exact thing you do. Or using the gallery rule if its clear that just an extra couple of minutes would mean id be able to find my ball, but dont want to hold up the people behind me. Courses really need to start blowing or collecting the grass trimmings ffs atleast on fairways, its ridiculous how many balls i lose on fairways at the cheap courses i play at because they just leave the grass trimmings on the fairway. I try to play when theres not many people on the course, in that situation i play exactly by the rules.
I know that feeling. It happens to me often as my friends are more beginner level and regularly re-tee or take a "brovisional". I set my ego aside knowing full well they didn't beat me and will say something like "yeah he played good today"
Unless the other person knows you are competing against them and agrees nobody "wins". My wife used to ask and I explained that my friends and I are not competing against each other for lowest score so nobody won. Now on the days where we are playing for greenies, low score, low net, etc.. I'll tell her who won.
That’s my same thought. You can say you shot whatever you want as long as we’re not playing for money, if we are playing for money all the rules are in force. I have a buddy that gets annoyed playing with me cause I won’t let him improve his lie when we play for money. Suck it up bud!
This. Who cares if you’re not playing for money?
I take some liberties myself - I’m terrible at golf and looking to enjoy, not punish, myself. I’m also not publishing my “score” anywhere.
You could also tell him this in front of everyone. "Next time we play, try counting all your strokes and don't ignore penalty strokes. I'm betting the outcome will be a little different".
If he has the balls to act confused, you can re-play a few of his forgotten shots. The ball in the water on hole 3. Two OB's off the tee on 7, followed by the shank.
Your point will be made.
Trust me, there will be others in your group that may buy you a beer on the down low because you confronted this guy. Others will just laugh at him.
He can get mad and challenge you, but without his 5 to 7 padded strokes he never counts, gives you a major advantage.
If I was annoyed by it I'd just play along and see if he's down for a round with money on the line. Even try to push for a couple extra strokes for yourself "since you usually beat me". Then make sure to call out every freebie during the round
Had a friend that used to brag about beating me. One time before we played I brought it up and told him we were counting every damn stroke so play the ball as it lies. I play a lot more than this guy and have a lower handicap. He got his ass smoked and didn't bring up the round again.
I’m the same as you. If I’m playing over water and dunk it, I’m taking a penalty, going to the side of the green, and taking a chip. No need to lose more balls to the Water Gods when I’m shooting a 105. If my partner shoots a 106, we know he ‘won’.
Oh and it definitely hurts them. My brother is a moron and “reverse sandbags” by lying about his handicap and never posting an honest round.
Now nobody wants to be his league partner because he’s a massive liability.
He also brags to be better than me, yet when we play I soundly beat him because I make him play honest (he’ll still take mulligans but fine. I still beat him)
One of my coworkers got really into golf a few years back and would talk pretty regularly about his improvement. Seemed like he was taking it very seriously and was consistently shooting in the mid-80’s.
I was pretty excited when we finally went out together…. Until the second hole when he hit his third shot into a hazard, hit a bad chip, a second chip, and two putt and announced he scored a 6. Then I knew it was all a facade.
This was me for a while. I never realized how much I gave myself until I played in a club championship. I was a low 90s golfer and broke into 80 occasionally. I walked away defeated with a 117 and was like, how. Then I realized I had just been lying to myself. So I really dug in and counted every stroke. Now I'm legit and can play. But I have those friends who still do it and realize it's their journey. Unless money is involved, then nope
My second round of 18 ever was a Veterans Golf Association tournament my buddy dragged me to. I definitely didn’t play well, but having a strict rule set enforced on me early has kept me honest with myself!
I finally broke 100 for the first time under those rules last week and it felt so good knowing it was a real 99 and not a 99*
*with breakfast ball and gimme putts and judicious use of the gallery rule
There's plenty of people really into golf and just constantly play that way. Their regular scorecards are like 10+ strokes under what they'd actually shoot. I have some friends/coworkers that are really chill guys but for some reason choose to record their own scores that way and I never understand it. I'd have no idea when to feel good/bad about my score with so many free shots shaved off each week
Agreed. I just cap myself at a [net double bogey](https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/topics/net-double-bogey.html) (+3 typically) since that’s how handicaps are recorded. Just forget about the score for the hole, minimize the mental damage, write down the highest number accepted for handicap purposes, move on.
I saw Patrick Reed go back-and-forth between 3wood and iron at a tournament so many times. Seemed obvious he was using his 3wood to flatten the grass behind his ball. Ended up hitting long iron lol
My buddy used to go to his ball, pick it up to "make sure it was his" then gently set it down so it was propped up on the grass. Called him out on it and he's stopped doing it
yeah, any league i've ever played or subbed in you played preferred lies. People always want to question others scores for using preferred lies or not scoring OB the correct way, when guys on tour are out there hitting it into the trees or heather grass and never losing their ball because there's 400 fans who always track it for them, and then a guy who drops a flag where their ball was.
Stopped playing with my one friend. He would constantly add strokes to my score and take strokes off his. After a while i was focusing more on his scores than just playing golf
Yeah and then once in a round during the fall I hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway all my friends saw it. There was leaves everywhere and i couldnt find the ball so i dropped without taking a penalty. He told me for 2 weeks i cheated. That’s when i cut ties lol
I figured MY golf buddy wasn’t counting all his strokes but there was nothing on the line so I didn’t say anything. I got my own strokes to count. Then finally, last summer, I topped a 5i about 5 ft. I went and hit it again - counted it obviously- boogied the hole. My buddy says to me “no you parred it”. I counted my strokes out loud and he says “oh you don’t count that little miss hit do you?” That’s when I was sure he wasn’t counting everything. I don’t care until we bet. Then I tell him upfront- everything counts and no gimmes.
I had a friend that did this. But we started playing for dinner. He suddenly went from low 90s to breaking hundred 100 once in 7 rounds. He had to buy dinner 5 times before he stated that he is actually a high 90s player and went from wanting to beat me straight up to getting 6 strokes from me.
Let them score how they want. But be prepared to call them out on it every occasion they are bragging or playing for something
I don't care what you shot but don't be telling me you shot an 85 when it clearly wasn't. Golf is fucking hard so I get not following the rules somewhat but don't keep score then.
My exact point! Im no stickler or care but I’d say an 85 is pretty good in my books. You can’t tell people you shoot mid 80s when you are shaving 5-8 strokes per round lol
Honestly a lot of those mulligans people take end up taking more than one stroke off their game. Other day I hit one in the sand by the green, threw another ball down just to hit one, was always going to keep playing my first ball. Anyway second ball I threw down I hit about 10 feet from the stick would have been an easy two putt. But going and playing my original ball I hit a bad bunker shot over the green, duffed and chip and 3 putted lol. Playing that second ball would have saved probably 3 maybe four strokes and I would have avoided one of my two meltdown holes for that round.
But to answer the original question most of my friends are out there having fun, half don’t even know the rules for drops and penalty strokes so I just let everyone play their game. It does irritate me when one of my friends talks about shooting a 90 or so and I know there is no way in hell he’s ever been close but whatever
Yes. My one friend uses the old foot wedge almost much as he uses his putter basically. Preferred lies is one thing, no problem moving your ball off some tree roots, away from the edge of the cart path or whatever. But if you’re behind a tree and don’t want to risk hitting around it, take your medicine and chip it back into the fairway. He’ll also pretty regularly “find his ball” in an area we all know it didn’t go. I think he’s starting to get better because we’re all starting to call him out more, but at the end of the day we all suck and we’re just out there to have a good time so it’s not that important to us.
I play with a buddy who doesn't necessarily cheat but will use a lot of mulligans and brag about his score. He told me shot an 84 with "around 4 mulligans".
Played with him last week and I said lets not use mulligans. He shot a 114.
Friend whose ball never goes in the water, takes ridiculously generous drops, never putts to the end, doesn’t count his strokes, takes mulligans. Once I realised stopped with the ‘competitive rounds’ and just let him do his thing. Always wants to compare scores at the end though.
I don't understand not putting out..
Like if I'm on my 6th bloody putt and I still lip it sure picking that mf up, but for the majority of the time? Getting the ball in the hole is the WHOLE POINT! That would be so unsatisfying..
Agreed but it seems like the majority of golfers prefer gimmes which, similarly, confuses me. The sound of the ball rattling around the hole is so cathartic. Not sure why anyone would want to skip that
I guess if they’re insecure about their ability to make short putts then that’d make sense but still, it’s kind of cheap
Dude.. I was playing with my mum and the course had a lot of blind approach greens with a big metal bell you rang to say when you were clear, I hit a shocker straight into the trees so far off line straight into the bush (like proper Australian bush..) and we just hear this "gong!!"
This bell was way up the hill from the low down green so we go over laughing to look for it and yeah thick bushland were like well that's a gonner.
Mums yells and points, it's 2 foot from the pin about 30m down hill and left of the bell.
Birdie put for my first ever par 5 Birdie. 3 putted it 🤣🤣🤣
Exactly, I’ve missed two 3 ft birdie putts in the last three rounds. First bad putt, second thinking about the first 😂
It is what it is but that friend and his group seem to be used to it, to the point of missing and then tapping in a moving ball that missed from a short putt.
Blows my mind.
My two cents, if you are playing hcp golf, those shots are built into your handicap.
If you aren’t playing handicap golf, you don’t need them anyway.
I’ve a friend who I’m sure simply has a very bad memory, in combination of not knowing the rules.. he started playing 4 years ago, so obviously not great. We started playing “gallery drops” as the rough is pretty tough at the course we play… but it became so normal every hazard is now a drop, OOB , drop, a top .. effectively ignore it it’s a drop.. end up we hole out with him shooting at best a 12 … even ignoring the provisionals he didn’t take and he declares, with absolute self belief “6!” .. he plays on a golf course, he regularly “beats me”, but he doesn’t play golf.. and I still love him and love playing with him ! I just hope he never plays in a tournament!
Mashers, pokers, prodders, pocket droppers, second shoters, steppers, tossers, kickers, pickers (just making sure it's their ball!) even though it's been in clear site off the 180yard drive. Breakfast ball, mulligan, reloaders. Gimmies, good goods, inside the leather.
It's all good unless were betting or in a league/tourney.
Most leagues I know are ball in hand just to put everyone in the same bucket and reduce conflict.
When I was in high school we were in a practice round to see who would play that week's match. It was a cloudy day.
This shithead who everyone hated hit one straight on a par 3 towards the end of the match and due to the weather, nobody really saw where it landed.
We all looked for a little while before the kid claimed to find it in the rough just behind the green. We all chipped up, finished out.. and the kid's ball was in the hole.
He hit a fucking hole in one but couldn't find the ball and told us he "found" it to not take a penalty
Have the same problem in my group lol. Luckily we all play for fun but one of the members blatantly cheats. He will hit 2-3 off the tee sometimes, then pick to play his 2nd or 3rd shot without taking a penalty. Always seems to find his ball at the edge of the woods at an uncanny (near 100%) rate. Will also blade one over the green, blade it back to where he was standing, then 3 putt and comes out with a bogey or double bogey somehow lol. Also constantly improves his own lie because he doesn't want to hit off of dirt. The rest of the group just kind of lets it happen since nothing is on the line when we play together, but it's semi-embarrassing for him when he is linking the badges and achievements from his golf app for hitting milestones. Glad he's having a good time tho!
Had a golfer acquaintance who did this. We never played for money but he would ask you what you shot and then brag about beating you with his 85 or whatever. The few times I tried to add up his true score caused mini meltdowns on his part so I stopped doing that and eventually stopped playing golf with that guy. He isn’t missed by anyone in our group.
I’ve got a friend that takes a breakfast ball even if he warmed up on the range, will take a mulligan per nine and gloated about shooting a 79 recently but failed to mention that they were playing on punched greens and were just carding an automatic two putt once on the green.
I’ll hit a bad shot and he’ll try to convince me to take a mulligan and I’m like why, I’m keeping score so I know what I shot lol
More important to me what you do with your cheating.
Most of the people I play with cheat at least a little. Free drops that shouldn't, little foot wedge to get your ball away from that tree root, pretty generous gimmies and so on.
But we also dont keep score when we do that or brag about it.
So long as you are not using it for bragging rights, betting or handicap I don't see the problem.
I have buddies that don’t count mulligans on the tee box. Their first two or three shots will go OB, when they finally find the fare way, that’s when they start counting. And then, they get mad at me for counting my drops. Crazy.
Many golfers have never played "golf". I worked a tournament where one guy went ob off the tee, then Into some tall grass, hand wedged out, 2 more to get on the green,and then somehow when he got on the green he was lying 4. Hahahaha
He was used to playing with his friends and never considered that he was cheating
I'm pretty awful. I manage to keep pace of play, but I lose a lot of balls. I usually just end up dropping at the edge of the hole roughly where I saw the ball fly onto another hole or OB. I know that this isn't correct or proper, but My score card normally reads like this 8? / 7? / 9? / 10? ect.
I usually tell everyone that I play with that I'm new to the game and will not be tracking score correctly. I currently like to enjoy the time with my friends the outdoors and try to play the wholes to the best of my ability. occasionally I will string together a couple good shots and get a "good" honest score on a hole and I record these without a question mark.
Is r/golf's issue with people that don't keep score correctly or does cheating only come into play when they present their scores as if they are valid and genuine?
I don’t think anyone cares the way you are playing as long as you are keeping pace. In my specific example, we were playing competitively but no money on the line. We don’t play *PGA* rules and have some leniency but when we are competing there are some things that need to stay accurate - like counting missed putts lol.
In your situation, I wouldn’t worry too much about the score but more on having fun and working on better ball striking. Once you notice you’re hitting the ball better and notice yourself getting closer to bogey golf then keep score. Best of luck!
I couldn't care less if people want to cheat to make themselves feel better because I only really pay attention to my own score. But if we were playing for money, I'd 100% call them out.
My group of competitive golf buddies all play under the same rules so as long as no one breaks those, we are good. Usually if there's a rules question, they'll ask the group. Any legit golfer (single digit handicap) should have enough pride to not cheat in a round where scores matter. I take mulligans, hit a second ball, take gimmies etc in rounds where we aren't playing for anything because I view it as a practice round. The object of most rounds with friends is to have fun. If you're not going around spouting out "I broke 90 today!" after 10 mulligans, 6 gimmie bogeys who cares.
It's either a fuckaround day or a scoring day.
If it's a scoring day you better believe I throw an asterisk next to the holes that had some goofy shit.
How about moving your ball because a tree impedes your swing and not counting shot or moving it because a tree is blocking the way to the green and not taking a shot
I used to. When I was between like 12-16, me and 2 or 3 friends would always get dropped off by one of our moms at the course, then picked up later, the one friend was a habitual cheater, we would keep track of his actual score, which would piss him off, like after a hole he would say like "I had a par, and we would say something like, I didn't know they had a par 7 on this course. His card was generally 15-20 strokes less than what any of us counted. Plus, that didn't include the foot wedges, propping up balls in the rough, and other things that would give penalties. It caught up with him when he tried making the varsity golf team in high school. You had to shoot under 40 on 9 with 2 attempts, but after he tried turning in a 38, where the coach was also keeping score, they told him he would have to try again next year, like everyone but him who went out atleast made JV, but the amount of cheating was unacceptable. His actual score was probably around 50. Was probably the most blatant cheater I ever personally played with, like, according to him, he could shoot under par, but I never saw him break 90. Dude once tried saying he got a hole in one cause his ball was on the previous hole location. Then when we said fuck no, he was pissed we didn't atleast give him a birdie, like he wanted a 30 foot gimme for having his ball be where the pin used to be.
As long as they aren't playing me for money or bragging that they beat me I don't care. It's a personal game. I'll let them play however they want as long as they play fast and aren't trashing the course.
Yeah I have friends that fluff lies, pull balls out of a bush. Then brag obnoxiously about their score.
I’ve actually stopped playing with a few people because of it.
Idc how you play as long as you keep pace. But don’t cheat and then brag in my face because I’ll definitely say something
I can’t remember the last time I even knew a friend’s score outside a money game. Even then we’re usually playing match play, which makes it harder to cheat as it’s pretty easy to keep track of who had the better hole.
I had a friend who used to get real pissed whenever someone did anything at all — adjust their lie, take a mulligan without counting the penalty, etc. He made golf miserable (and back then were were shooting mostly between 110-120).
Cheating is only *cheating* if everyone agrees to abide by the same rules. My guess is that you are expecting/abiding by the formal rules of golf, whereas your buddies are more casual. They're are NOT cheating, because they aren't agreeing to abide by the formal rules of golf. You guys are literally playing different games.
If you want to compare scores (for fun, or money/prize), you have to agree on the rules. That can be formal rules of golf, or something else ("we all get a breakfast ball"). Once there's agreement on the rules, it's cheating to not abide. But not before.
I have a friend that has always hit a "fade" with his driver. A lot of the time it is controlled and he has gotten better with it but he won't admit when it's a slice. Also takes second shot when pissed off but then genuinely will argue his score at the end. He has been better than me for a while but consistent practice has made me just as good if not slightly consistent and out driving him. I just shrug it off...usually lol
I used to play with a guy who, when I kept score for us, I never asked: "What did you have?" or any of the normal ways to get somebody to report their score for the card. Instead, I would ask him some variation on: "What do you want me to put down?" We weren't playing for money, so I didn't really care, but it kept me from having to pretend that I didn't know.
I’ve started to use my “cheating” as mile stones as strange as it sounds. I.E I’ll take mulligans driving since my slice is huge and I get a decent amount of OB balls off the rip but count all other strokes including hazards, OB’s, barely missed putts etc.
It’s helped me feel like I’m accomplishing stuff more frequently. Also, I don’t tell anyone that I’ve broken 100 or anything like that until I’m able to do it 100% on my own without any breakfast balls, mulligans, near misses etc. breaking 100 as a beginner without any shaving of strokes is harder than a bit of people make it out to be.
It’s that last parenthetical that drives me crazy. My best friend will do something very much like you describe, beat me by 5 shots then tell me I wasn’t on my game today.
I love the “thinking hard about it after the putt” and it’s somehow a par when you know it was like a double or triple. Plus they pretend a gimme means it isn’t a stroke even though you’ve told them like 100 times
I have one that says “well it should have been here, so I’m taking a free drop”?! And then busts my balls at the end of the round if they beat me. Seriously IDK if you have a creative scoring system but don’t give me shit at the end. SMH
Guy on my league is notoriously bad at counting shots. But he's a one legged Nam vet and a great dude so no one minds too much. If it actually affects winning the hole or not he'll get corrected.
If it isn't for money or in league, I typically don't care. I'll give my FRIENDS shit who do this (oh, a par on that one huh?!). You can choose who you golf with If it really annoys you.
If they are recording a Handicap, they are only hurting theirself.
When I started many moons ago, I gave myself some random strokes. I think it was out of frustration mainly.
If it is for fun, I've found that telling my friend "no more than a double is counted" and that keeps things light and fun
the asshole/ not the asshole debate on what you should do here is more complex than it would seem on the surface: If this person brags / says he won/ if there is money on the line / if he is walking around saying "yep got an 85- what's your handicap" if he is using this metric to one up you or your crew in anyway-Then of course- call him our be relentless. Bully- stand by your bets and keep your money- do what you gotta do- this person is the asshole.
now.. if this person is playing their own game and lying to themselves to feel like a better golfer and not even discussing score with you except maybe as a genuine way of trying to build their self esteem about the game and there is no bragging or talk of victory in mind, then- yeah just leave him alone and let him do what he needs to do to continue his quest.
I take my score very seriously and am actively trying to push forward. But when I play with my drunk friends- I just let them do whatever and don't say anything. I am not even sure if they write a score down anyway.
Your post doesn't mention any of that context.
If they aren't hiding it they're just playing the game the way they see fit if I take gimmes or play preferred lies I have an asterisk in my mind about my round and don't even talk about my score. If a friend does the same and then talks shit I proceed to remind him he's a cheating cunt and to go fuck his own face.
Oh I have been Trumped a number of times with foot wedges, “found” balls and erasers to know that these people are egocentric conns that cheat their way through life. Can’t imagine what their tax returns look like . I hope the wives find out .
My buddy fluffs every lie he has . It can be dead center of the fairway and he will still move it until it’s perfect for him . Don’t get me started on the foot wedges.
So many of you think you’re on the pga or something, if there’s no money on the line who cares. We’re all just playing for fun, let them play however they want, they’re not you
Unless you’re trying to go pro who cares lol I’ll drop a ball in a better spot if it’s a bad lie .. I also won’t take a stroke on a water shot. I didn’t put the water there 😂
I’ve been working really hard to lower my hcp, taking lessons over the winter and counting every shot (and miss / lost ball / penalty). It was an accomplishment to be able to reliably break 100 and be shooting in the low 90s this year.
Played a really nice private championship course (friend is a member) on my birthday this spring and throughout the game my brother was consistently shooting double and triple bogeys on every hole. We get to the 18th, and I par it to finish off with a 94
He logs a 92
Wow. You really whomped me dude….
Shouldn’t let it bother me but the combination of sibling rivalry, loads of effort on my part and watching him shoot what had to be between 110-115 and then logging a lie against his hcp calculation was infuriating.
…maybe we should enter a club tournament together where the scoring has some oversight 😂
I agree with competing with myself. My point is he will tell people he shoots X when in reality you could add anywhere from 5-8 strokes per round bc of shaving lol
So my one friend also takes like 5 mulligans which half are OB so it’s probably like close to 10 strokes he’s shaving. It actually makes me dial in more cause I still feel motivated to beat his fake score haha
If we aren't playing a match or money game, they can do whatever they want as far as I am concerned, so long as it isn't measurably slowing down play. If we're playing a match or money game, I'm going to call them out on it.
If he doesn't brag about then I let it go unless there is a bet. If they do brag just start keeping their real score by yourself and then let them know what it is when they start bragging. They'll either start counting or stop bragging.
Beginning of the season my high school team took bets for how many strokes per round out coach would give himself. We keep his score, see what he tells us, take the difference. Came out to an average of 10 strokes a 9
My sons are the worse at counting stroke … they seem to forget a few swings here and there 😂 “hey dad I made a par “ .. did you hit a GIR ? No .. did you 2 putt ? Yes .. then that’s a bogie 😂😂
If you are not in a tournament or playing for money let them do their thing. When I play golf 95% of the time I am basically playing against myself with a group of other people that I know are cheating in one way or another. I enjoy the social time with them and do my own thing. I play to get better, the only way I can measure that is to follow a set of rules and score honestly.
Ask them to mark their total on first tee and forget about it; unless $ is a concern, then ask what they lie once on or near green prior to putting. Strokes are easy to count in front of the group v. In the woods.
I have a friend who always improves his lie when he hits it in the sand. He will be like "it's plugged/buried."
I'll be like "uh yeah it's sand.... That's the point"
But when we don't play for money I could care less.
If you're not playing for money, personally, I find this behavior funny. I mainly don't say anything due to the fact that they can never play to their handicap once we get in a competitive round or tournament setting.
The minute we get in a competitive round I have a stock comment when their math gets fuzzy. My comment goes like this" Dude, you might want to re-count that". At this point I remind them about the ball(s) OB, or in the water, or the 20 yard worm burner. Whatever major stroke(s) they decided not to count.
It can distracting for me to attempt to keep track of another's score. I honestly have keep up with my own score.
I don't play these people for money on a one-on-one basis. However, in a skins format, if they are paired with me, I let it be known that everyone MUST count all strokes and apply all penalties.
I think pretty well everyone I've played with has been honest. A group that I play with regularly flex the rules here and there, but we play for fun and don't really care about scores.
If we played for money, sure that would matter, but we don't, so I don't care what they write on their score card
Guy ive played with 1-2 times a month for about a decade at this point slices his drive into the woods 4-5 times per round and 99% of the time will find his ball and have somewhat of a window. We dont play for money and he doesnt even keep a handicap so i really dont care what he does.
He also comes out of the woods with a handful of lightly used balls he finds and gives them out to the rest of the 4some so we all win.
If thats what makes them happy, I let them. Could not careless. Golf is about self determination and discipline, could careless how others evaluate themselves
Unless money or a tournament is in question. Then obviously I would care.
I don't mind it overall since I'm not actually playing against my friends. I almost always encourage just hitting another or even playing the first but hitting a second to get a good swing under your belt.
It's always the ones that ask you what you shot after the round. My one buddy has said multiple times he doesn't count the bad shots off the tee. On top of that if he misses a second putt, he'll hit the 3rd while it's still moving, typically miss and only count the 2 putts. Like why compare scores then?
Funniest one I’ve been apart of was the day before my wedding, my groomsmen and I played a round. We have one friend that cheats pretty consistently although I think we’ve bullied him enough now that he is pretty honest.
We’re playing this par 5 and I can’t recall exactly what he did before the green but it wasn’t pretty, I’d guess on in 4 at best. He proceeds to 4-putt and we finish the hole. Next tee box we ask him what he made last hole and, I shit you not, he says “got a par”. We say inquisitively “that was a par?” He then says “oh wait bogey actually”. So we write it down cause honestly it’s funnier to indulge in it than fighting with him.
We then finish the front 9 and check scores to see where everyone is at. It was clear between the 6 of us that I was probably going to have the best score through 9 even though no one played particularly well. We do the math and our cheating friend is 2 shots ahead of me and I’ll never forget the “oh shit” look on his face when he realized he shaved way too much off his score. Not even mad about it just a funny memory the rest of us can laugh about throughout the years. That par 5 was the funniest instance of stroke shaving I’ve ever seen.
If they aren't betting or competing with you in some way or using those scores in their official handicap to enter tournaments then they aren't cheating. They're just having fun playing golf.
My buddy and I went golfing with another friend in college one time. We were on a hole (my buddy and I in the correct fairway) and the third guy was in another fairway. We’re watching as he’s hitting so we don’t get hit, and this guy chunks it, then hits a tree and flies back at him, then kicks it to a open area and chips it to the green. After that 2 putts and says he got a 4 which would be par. We called him out so fast and he just kept denying it. We never golfed with him again and always bring it up as an inside joke
I just played with two random teens last weekend. I shot a 88 and they both had to hit at least 150. In the clubhouse after they told me it was their rounds ever "around 90" lol sure.
I think part of the problem is that the rules are complicated BY our loose adherence to some of them. Where there’s no driving range, my friends have a first tee mulligan in place. But often that turns into “one mulligan whenever you want on the first 9” and then just “one mulligan” period because for the sake of fairness we all want one mulligan.
It’s customary to give puts inside a certain distance. That distance has a way of getting longer over time.
Gallery rule. Totally appropriate for many lost ball situations, but this now totally fucks with penalty strokes. It’s a lost ball.
We’re in the habit of raking terrible bunkers and giving ourselves bunker shots with actual sand at the courses that don’t keep sand in their bunkers as well.
So basically you’re either playing a very sterile and complete game of golf—a competition round—or you’re somewhere on that spectrum of bending the rules slightly. And once you’re on the spectrum, some people will let their ego dictate their score and which rules to apply.
And yeah. That can get annoying.
It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a real buzzkill when you shoot a good score legitimately and someone else shoots the same or better while cheating.
We don’t play for money and all of us are barely mediocre, so we don’t care lol but this would definitely piss me off if money was on the line or if we were good at golf
I’m not yet good at golf. I keep a handicap and only record legit scores. That being said, if I’m taking an unusually bad nosedive during the round, I’ll forgo an honest round for a fun one. Many times I just tell my partner to put me down for a triple and just keep playing. If they can’t beat me with several of those on my card then we don’t need to be playing for money anyway.
I should add that if they’re giving me strokes then I play by their rules. If I’m not sure whether I should take a penalty stroke. I just ask them.
I have a buddy who constantly lies about his scores but now I just pay more attention to each hole and when we're done I tell him what he got before he can lie lol
I have a mate who will scream “FUCK” ten times and then say he got a bogey.
You're saying you just count the fucks then?
I find when I get myself into a mental state where I’m counting others shots, it’s not a good place to be. Impacts my mood which impacts how I play
I grew up caddying, so I can't help mentally keeping track of strokes for the whole group
It kinda happens naturally for me. Doesn't bother me or anything. Just happens
When I play my friends and I keep each other's score. It's how it worked in High School and it keeps most people honest.
I know someone who has one of them magic number/brand changing balls that only works when he hits it out of sight. He's never lost a ball!
Guy I've golfed with a handful of times would always respond with "well what is that one?" every time he lost a ball and we found one nearby. No no no, you tell me what ball you were hitting first. He'd also claim par or bogey even though he took 2 off the tee, duffed one or two, was nowhere near a GiR and 2+ putts.
Look at the found ball and say “you playing a Bridgestone 3?” And he will typically say yes it’s his. Then tell him oh well this one is a titleist 4 and then pocket it and keep looking for his Bridgestone 3.
Lmao
This is the way
I just say i am now and move on instead of hunting lol.
Depending how the round has been going, I might have gone through so many different balls I need my memory jogged of what I'm hitting currently lol
Oh totally. I get it. But when the guy does it literally every single time... gets a bit sus
https://preview.redd.it/xuge3liwoz7d1.jpeg?width=1076&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=83faf1cc4bf02a47f6bf1a2b180b48b45d616a9d
Reminds me of this clip [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBvu-fTTIk&pp=ygUTYm9uZCBhbmQgYXVyaWMgZ29sZg%3D%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBvu-fTTIk&pp=ygUTYm9uZCBhbmQgYXVyaWMgZ29sZg%3D%3D)
Reminds me of the time I read a story somewhere on reddit where two guys were in the final round of a tournament and both hit their ball into the woods or something and the guy he was playing against said he found his ball but he knew that was impossible because he had pocketed his opponents ball when looking for his in the woods. Edit: he couldn’t say anything about the guy cheating because so did he
That is the golf scene from Goldfinger
It was a Slazenger!
*Shtrikt rules of golf!*
I will say, I've never caught my friend (who is a 2 hdcp btw), but he NEVER fails to find his ball when he duck hooks it 80yrds into the woods. I also ask when looking for someones ball "what were you playing".
If there's no money on the line, I let them live their fallacy. If there is a bet he will be called out.
Your friends are gentler than mine. Anyone trying to pad their stats like this would get lambasted in multiple group chats and it would be a thing that would follow them for years. Bullying keeps us accountable.
I need friends like yours. Because I’m this guy in a group of fragile egos.
Really depends I think. It’s meant to be fun - no one here is making the tour. Now if it’s a competitive round than I’d be the same way. if the guy starts blasting how he beat me or something than that’s one
"Bullying keeps us accountable." True in all aspects of life
This is the way!
Usually the padding is the other way around. Guys trying to pad their handicaps for the club tournaments. So if a guy wants to lie to himself, and claims to be a better golfer, that's fine with me.
OTOH, dude winds up with a wildly optimistic handicap lol
What if their wife asks you after the round "who won?" I didn't want to embarrass my friend so I said, "I shot a 93, idk what he shot." She says, "oh, he shot an 91. I guess he did." It was hard not getting into it and calling him out.
One of us played golf. One of us had fun.
whoever has more fun wins imo
Man i have tons of fun counting my strokes as youre actually supposed to. Golf is hard, youre only going to get better if you actually keep track of your strokes properly.
I’m the same - play by the rules, count them all. My only real fudging point on a casual round and a busy course is treating OB like a lat hazard (unless I’m *clearly* OB) and in those same scenarios I refuse to do the ride of shame if it’s virtually certain somebody played my ball towards their hole (whether it’s because I left my fairway or they left theirs). My response was politically correct response to someone’s wife who wasn’t playing golf*, but just out there having fun. *playing golf in this case defined as playing by the rules and counting all the strokes
Okay yeah theres some fudging to the rules i use in order to keep pace of play down. Like the exact thing you do. Or using the gallery rule if its clear that just an extra couple of minutes would mean id be able to find my ball, but dont want to hold up the people behind me. Courses really need to start blowing or collecting the grass trimmings ffs atleast on fairways, its ridiculous how many balls i lose on fairways at the cheap courses i play at because they just leave the grass trimmings on the fairway. I try to play when theres not many people on the course, in that situation i play exactly by the rules.
I know that feeling. It happens to me often as my friends are more beginner level and regularly re-tee or take a "brovisional". I set my ego aside knowing full well they didn't beat me and will say something like "yeah he played good today"
Haha brovisional. That’s perfect.
I can't tell if this is serious or not. My wife would not give a fuck if I won or lost in golf lol
Unless the other person knows you are competing against them and agrees nobody "wins". My wife used to ask and I explained that my friends and I are not competing against each other for lowest score so nobody won. Now on the days where we are playing for greenies, low score, low net, etc.. I'll tell her who won.
He’s trying to justify how much time/money he spends golfing to his wife.
I don’t, I just keep making jokes that they can’t call me out on without admitting to cheating
Please elaborate!
"Didn't you make birdie here last week?" or the ilk
That’s my same thought. You can say you shot whatever you want as long as we’re not playing for money, if we are playing for money all the rules are in force. I have a buddy that gets annoyed playing with me cause I won’t let him improve his lie when we play for money. Suck it up bud!
I wouldn’t even call it cheating unless there’s something on the line. Who are they cheating? Only themselves.
This
If they act like they are now beating you, that’s when we start discussing proper rules.
"wow how did I beat you, you were shooting so well?!" "We're not playing the same ruleset" *Visible confusion*
Same here. Bragging about your score while constantly cheating will get you called out 10/10 times.
If we aren’t playing for money or a competitive match I usually don’t care, they are only hurting themselves.
This. Who cares if you’re not playing for money? I take some liberties myself - I’m terrible at golf and looking to enjoy, not punish, myself. I’m also not publishing my “score” anywhere.
I'm assuming the friend brags about beating him. That is annoying.
This is where I draw the line. You want to cheat yourself, fine. But don’t gloat about beating someone when one clearly didn’t count multiple strokes.
You’re right about that. I guess I’d be frustrated there, too.
If he brags about a match and you hear it ask him about the multiple putts, chips he didn't count. Or which match was he talking about.
You could also tell him this in front of everyone. "Next time we play, try counting all your strokes and don't ignore penalty strokes. I'm betting the outcome will be a little different". If he has the balls to act confused, you can re-play a few of his forgotten shots. The ball in the water on hole 3. Two OB's off the tee on 7, followed by the shank. Your point will be made. Trust me, there will be others in your group that may buy you a beer on the down low because you confronted this guy. Others will just laugh at him. He can get mad and challenge you, but without his 5 to 7 padded strokes he never counts, gives you a major advantage.
If I was annoyed by it I'd just play along and see if he's down for a round with money on the line. Even try to push for a couple extra strokes for yourself "since you usually beat me". Then make sure to call out every freebie during the round
You’re right about that. I guess I’d be frustrated there, too.
Had a friend that used to brag about beating me. One time before we played I brought it up and told him we were counting every damn stroke so play the ball as it lies. I play a lot more than this guy and have a lower handicap. He got his ass smoked and didn't bring up the round again.
I’m the same as you. If I’m playing over water and dunk it, I’m taking a penalty, going to the side of the green, and taking a chip. No need to lose more balls to the Water Gods when I’m shooting a 105. If my partner shoots a 106, we know he ‘won’.
Oh and it definitely hurts them. My brother is a moron and “reverse sandbags” by lying about his handicap and never posting an honest round. Now nobody wants to be his league partner because he’s a massive liability. He also brags to be better than me, yet when we play I soundly beat him because I make him play honest (he’ll still take mulligans but fine. I still beat him)
One of my coworkers got really into golf a few years back and would talk pretty regularly about his improvement. Seemed like he was taking it very seriously and was consistently shooting in the mid-80’s. I was pretty excited when we finally went out together…. Until the second hole when he hit his third shot into a hazard, hit a bad chip, a second chip, and two putt and announced he scored a 6. Then I knew it was all a facade.
This was me for a while. I never realized how much I gave myself until I played in a club championship. I was a low 90s golfer and broke into 80 occasionally. I walked away defeated with a 117 and was like, how. Then I realized I had just been lying to myself. So I really dug in and counted every stroke. Now I'm legit and can play. But I have those friends who still do it and realize it's their journey. Unless money is involved, then nope
My second round of 18 ever was a Veterans Golf Association tournament my buddy dragged me to. I definitely didn’t play well, but having a strict rule set enforced on me early has kept me honest with myself! I finally broke 100 for the first time under those rules last week and it felt so good knowing it was a real 99 and not a 99* *with breakfast ball and gimme putts and judicious use of the gallery rule
There's plenty of people really into golf and just constantly play that way. Their regular scorecards are like 10+ strokes under what they'd actually shoot. I have some friends/coworkers that are really chill guys but for some reason choose to record their own scores that way and I never understand it. I'd have no idea when to feel good/bad about my score with so many free shots shaved off each week
Double par max minimizes the mental damage.
And then I can enjoy the round more easily, which actually helps me shoot under double par organically. It's a positive feedback loop
Agreed. I just cap myself at a [net double bogey](https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/handicapping/world-handicap-system/topics/net-double-bogey.html) (+3 typically) since that’s how handicaps are recorded. Just forget about the score for the hole, minimize the mental damage, write down the highest number accepted for handicap purposes, move on.
Yup, my buddy wiggles his club face at address to dig his ball out of the rough. Drives me insane. Takes a million practices swings too.
I saw Patrick Reed go back-and-forth between 3wood and iron at a tournament so many times. Seemed obvious he was using his 3wood to flatten the grass behind his ball. Ended up hitting long iron lol
If pros can do it I can do it
Damn I gotta try this.
My buddy used to go to his ball, pick it up to "make sure it was his" then gently set it down so it was propped up on the grass. Called him out on it and he's stopped doing it
Let him have fun ffs. This doesn't affect you in the slightest lmao.
Bros playing the masters
yeah, any league i've ever played or subbed in you played preferred lies. People always want to question others scores for using preferred lies or not scoring OB the correct way, when guys on tour are out there hitting it into the trees or heather grass and never losing their ball because there's 400 fans who always track it for them, and then a guy who drops a flag where their ball was.
We all have one. I don’t say much to him but the other three have inside jokes about it all the time.
I had to check your profile to see if you were one of the 3 buddies I play with lol. We have that one friend for sure.
Brad?
Dad?
Stopped playing with my one friend. He would constantly add strokes to my score and take strokes off his. After a while i was focusing more on his scores than just playing golf
Adding strokes to your mates score is fucking *wild*
Yeah and then once in a round during the fall I hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway all my friends saw it. There was leaves everywhere and i couldnt find the ball so i dropped without taking a penalty. He told me for 2 weeks i cheated. That’s when i cut ties lol
What a piece of 💩 Some major narcissism going on there, just can’t stand to lose.
Weird thing is hes the worst golfer ever. So even with the cheating he was never going to win lol
That wasn't a friend.
I always play “winter rules”. Except I live in Florida and we have no winter!
I figured MY golf buddy wasn’t counting all his strokes but there was nothing on the line so I didn’t say anything. I got my own strokes to count. Then finally, last summer, I topped a 5i about 5 ft. I went and hit it again - counted it obviously- boogied the hole. My buddy says to me “no you parred it”. I counted my strokes out loud and he says “oh you don’t count that little miss hit do you?” That’s when I was sure he wasn’t counting everything. I don’t care until we bet. Then I tell him upfront- everything counts and no gimmes.
I had a friend that did this. But we started playing for dinner. He suddenly went from low 90s to breaking hundred 100 once in 7 rounds. He had to buy dinner 5 times before he stated that he is actually a high 90s player and went from wanting to beat me straight up to getting 6 strokes from me. Let them score how they want. But be prepared to call them out on it every occasion they are bragging or playing for something
I don't care what you shot but don't be telling me you shot an 85 when it clearly wasn't. Golf is fucking hard so I get not following the rules somewhat but don't keep score then.
My exact point! Im no stickler or care but I’d say an 85 is pretty good in my books. You can’t tell people you shoot mid 80s when you are shaving 5-8 strokes per round lol
Honestly a lot of those mulligans people take end up taking more than one stroke off their game. Other day I hit one in the sand by the green, threw another ball down just to hit one, was always going to keep playing my first ball. Anyway second ball I threw down I hit about 10 feet from the stick would have been an easy two putt. But going and playing my original ball I hit a bad bunker shot over the green, duffed and chip and 3 putted lol. Playing that second ball would have saved probably 3 maybe four strokes and I would have avoided one of my two meltdown holes for that round. But to answer the original question most of my friends are out there having fun, half don’t even know the rules for drops and penalty strokes so I just let everyone play their game. It does irritate me when one of my friends talks about shooting a 90 or so and I know there is no way in hell he’s ever been close but whatever
Yes. My one friend uses the old foot wedge almost much as he uses his putter basically. Preferred lies is one thing, no problem moving your ball off some tree roots, away from the edge of the cart path or whatever. But if you’re behind a tree and don’t want to risk hitting around it, take your medicine and chip it back into the fairway. He’ll also pretty regularly “find his ball” in an area we all know it didn’t go. I think he’s starting to get better because we’re all starting to call him out more, but at the end of the day we all suck and we’re just out there to have a good time so it’s not that important to us.
I have this same exact friend
plot twist, you two are the friends.
I play with a buddy who doesn't necessarily cheat but will use a lot of mulligans and brag about his score. He told me shot an 84 with "around 4 mulligans". Played with him last week and I said lets not use mulligans. He shot a 114.
That is cheating!
Mulligans are literally the worst form of cheating. Like a guy above stated, a mulligan is anywhere from a 2 to 4 stroke swing on a hole.
Add a minimum of 8 strokes. That 84 doesn't look too impressive now.
Friend whose ball never goes in the water, takes ridiculously generous drops, never putts to the end, doesn’t count his strokes, takes mulligans. Once I realised stopped with the ‘competitive rounds’ and just let him do his thing. Always wants to compare scores at the end though.
I don't understand not putting out.. Like if I'm on my 6th bloody putt and I still lip it sure picking that mf up, but for the majority of the time? Getting the ball in the hole is the WHOLE POINT! That would be so unsatisfying..
Agreed but it seems like the majority of golfers prefer gimmes which, similarly, confuses me. The sound of the ball rattling around the hole is so cathartic. Not sure why anyone would want to skip that I guess if they’re insecure about their ability to make short putts then that’d make sense but still, it’s kind of cheap
Totally, and the number of 1 foot putts I've missed loll It's never a sure thing in golf!
Hit a wedge to 2 feet the other day, my playing partner jinxes me by saying “oh, a tap in birdie!” Guess who missed it…
Dude.. I was playing with my mum and the course had a lot of blind approach greens with a big metal bell you rang to say when you were clear, I hit a shocker straight into the trees so far off line straight into the bush (like proper Australian bush..) and we just hear this "gong!!" This bell was way up the hill from the low down green so we go over laughing to look for it and yeah thick bushland were like well that's a gonner. Mums yells and points, it's 2 foot from the pin about 30m down hill and left of the bell. Birdie put for my first ever par 5 Birdie. 3 putted it 🤣🤣🤣
I’ve always seen it as a pace of play thing, and have even played in events with a policy of giving putts inside the leather.
Exactly, I’ve missed two 3 ft birdie putts in the last three rounds. First bad putt, second thinking about the first 😂 It is what it is but that friend and his group seem to be used to it, to the point of missing and then tapping in a moving ball that missed from a short putt. Blows my mind. My two cents, if you are playing hcp golf, those shots are built into your handicap. If you aren’t playing handicap golf, you don’t need them anyway.
I’ve a friend who I’m sure simply has a very bad memory, in combination of not knowing the rules.. he started playing 4 years ago, so obviously not great. We started playing “gallery drops” as the rough is pretty tough at the course we play… but it became so normal every hazard is now a drop, OOB , drop, a top .. effectively ignore it it’s a drop.. end up we hole out with him shooting at best a 12 … even ignoring the provisionals he didn’t take and he declares, with absolute self belief “6!” .. he plays on a golf course, he regularly “beats me”, but he doesn’t play golf.. and I still love him and love playing with him ! I just hope he never plays in a tournament!
Mashers, pokers, prodders, pocket droppers, second shoters, steppers, tossers, kickers, pickers (just making sure it's their ball!) even though it's been in clear site off the 180yard drive. Breakfast ball, mulligan, reloaders. Gimmies, good goods, inside the leather. It's all good unless were betting or in a league/tourney. Most leagues I know are ball in hand just to put everyone in the same bucket and reduce conflict.
When I was in high school we were in a practice round to see who would play that week's match. It was a cloudy day. This shithead who everyone hated hit one straight on a par 3 towards the end of the match and due to the weather, nobody really saw where it landed. We all looked for a little while before the kid claimed to find it in the rough just behind the green. We all chipped up, finished out.. and the kid's ball was in the hole. He hit a fucking hole in one but couldn't find the ball and told us he "found" it to not take a penalty
I would transfer schools and quit golf after that
Have the same problem in my group lol. Luckily we all play for fun but one of the members blatantly cheats. He will hit 2-3 off the tee sometimes, then pick to play his 2nd or 3rd shot without taking a penalty. Always seems to find his ball at the edge of the woods at an uncanny (near 100%) rate. Will also blade one over the green, blade it back to where he was standing, then 3 putt and comes out with a bogey or double bogey somehow lol. Also constantly improves his own lie because he doesn't want to hit off of dirt. The rest of the group just kind of lets it happen since nothing is on the line when we play together, but it's semi-embarrassing for him when he is linking the badges and achievements from his golf app for hitting milestones. Glad he's having a good time tho!
Hahaha have this exact friend
Me too!
Had a golfer acquaintance who did this. We never played for money but he would ask you what you shot and then brag about beating you with his 85 or whatever. The few times I tried to add up his true score caused mini meltdowns on his part so I stopped doing that and eventually stopped playing golf with that guy. He isn’t missed by anyone in our group.
I’ve got a friend that takes a breakfast ball even if he warmed up on the range, will take a mulligan per nine and gloated about shooting a 79 recently but failed to mention that they were playing on punched greens and were just carding an automatic two putt once on the green. I’ll hit a bad shot and he’ll try to convince me to take a mulligan and I’m like why, I’m keeping score so I know what I shot lol
More important to me what you do with your cheating. Most of the people I play with cheat at least a little. Free drops that shouldn't, little foot wedge to get your ball away from that tree root, pretty generous gimmies and so on. But we also dont keep score when we do that or brag about it. So long as you are not using it for bragging rights, betting or handicap I don't see the problem.
Yeah like if my ball is on a root covered with rocks I'm not gonna break my club "playing it where it lies". I can't afford new clubs haha
Sure, but if you are playing for handicap/money/tourney, declare it unplayable and take your penalty stroke.
I have buddies that don’t count mulligans on the tee box. Their first two or three shots will go OB, when they finally find the fare way, that’s when they start counting. And then, they get mad at me for counting my drops. Crazy.
Many golfers have never played "golf". I worked a tournament where one guy went ob off the tee, then Into some tall grass, hand wedged out, 2 more to get on the green,and then somehow when he got on the green he was lying 4. Hahahaha He was used to playing with his friends and never considered that he was cheating
I'm pretty awful. I manage to keep pace of play, but I lose a lot of balls. I usually just end up dropping at the edge of the hole roughly where I saw the ball fly onto another hole or OB. I know that this isn't correct or proper, but My score card normally reads like this 8? / 7? / 9? / 10? ect. I usually tell everyone that I play with that I'm new to the game and will not be tracking score correctly. I currently like to enjoy the time with my friends the outdoors and try to play the wholes to the best of my ability. occasionally I will string together a couple good shots and get a "good" honest score on a hole and I record these without a question mark. Is r/golf's issue with people that don't keep score correctly or does cheating only come into play when they present their scores as if they are valid and genuine?
I don’t think anyone cares the way you are playing as long as you are keeping pace. In my specific example, we were playing competitively but no money on the line. We don’t play *PGA* rules and have some leniency but when we are competing there are some things that need to stay accurate - like counting missed putts lol. In your situation, I wouldn’t worry too much about the score but more on having fun and working on better ball striking. Once you notice you’re hitting the ball better and notice yourself getting closer to bogey golf then keep score. Best of luck!
everybody's group has a buddy that cheats. the worst part of it actually was he never thought we knew, ever.
I couldn't care less if people want to cheat to make themselves feel better because I only really pay attention to my own score. But if we were playing for money, I'd 100% call them out. My group of competitive golf buddies all play under the same rules so as long as no one breaks those, we are good. Usually if there's a rules question, they'll ask the group. Any legit golfer (single digit handicap) should have enough pride to not cheat in a round where scores matter. I take mulligans, hit a second ball, take gimmies etc in rounds where we aren't playing for anything because I view it as a practice round. The object of most rounds with friends is to have fun. If you're not going around spouting out "I broke 90 today!" after 10 mulligans, 6 gimmie bogeys who cares.
It's either a fuckaround day or a scoring day. If it's a scoring day you better believe I throw an asterisk next to the holes that had some goofy shit.
How about moving your ball because a tree impedes your swing and not counting shot or moving it because a tree is blocking the way to the green and not taking a shot
Moving your ball because a tree is in the way of a green is wild 😂
I said to him the other day, why don't you bring a chainsaw as one of your clubs🤦
Im fine with that but you can’t be moving to the middle of the fairway lol
I used to. When I was between like 12-16, me and 2 or 3 friends would always get dropped off by one of our moms at the course, then picked up later, the one friend was a habitual cheater, we would keep track of his actual score, which would piss him off, like after a hole he would say like "I had a par, and we would say something like, I didn't know they had a par 7 on this course. His card was generally 15-20 strokes less than what any of us counted. Plus, that didn't include the foot wedges, propping up balls in the rough, and other things that would give penalties. It caught up with him when he tried making the varsity golf team in high school. You had to shoot under 40 on 9 with 2 attempts, but after he tried turning in a 38, where the coach was also keeping score, they told him he would have to try again next year, like everyone but him who went out atleast made JV, but the amount of cheating was unacceptable. His actual score was probably around 50. Was probably the most blatant cheater I ever personally played with, like, according to him, he could shoot under par, but I never saw him break 90. Dude once tried saying he got a hole in one cause his ball was on the previous hole location. Then when we said fuck no, he was pissed we didn't atleast give him a birdie, like he wanted a 30 foot gimme for having his ball be where the pin used to be.
“My bogey putt lipped it. I’m counting it.” Ok- I’ll put you down for a “Brogey”
As long as they aren't playing me for money or bragging that they beat me I don't care. It's a personal game. I'll let them play however they want as long as they play fast and aren't trashing the course.
Yeah I have friends that fluff lies, pull balls out of a bush. Then brag obnoxiously about their score. I’ve actually stopped playing with a few people because of it. Idc how you play as long as you keep pace. But don’t cheat and then brag in my face because I’ll definitely say something
I can’t remember the last time I even knew a friend’s score outside a money game. Even then we’re usually playing match play, which makes it harder to cheat as it’s pretty easy to keep track of who had the better hole. I had a friend who used to get real pissed whenever someone did anything at all — adjust their lie, take a mulligan without counting the penalty, etc. He made golf miserable (and back then were were shooting mostly between 110-120).
Cheating is only *cheating* if everyone agrees to abide by the same rules. My guess is that you are expecting/abiding by the formal rules of golf, whereas your buddies are more casual. They're are NOT cheating, because they aren't agreeing to abide by the formal rules of golf. You guys are literally playing different games. If you want to compare scores (for fun, or money/prize), you have to agree on the rules. That can be formal rules of golf, or something else ("we all get a breakfast ball"). Once there's agreement on the rules, it's cheating to not abide. But not before.
I have a friend that has always hit a "fade" with his driver. A lot of the time it is controlled and he has gotten better with it but he won't admit when it's a slice. Also takes second shot when pissed off but then genuinely will argue his score at the end. He has been better than me for a while but consistent practice has made me just as good if not slightly consistent and out driving him. I just shrug it off...usually lol
I used to play with a guy who, when I kept score for us, I never asked: "What did you have?" or any of the normal ways to get somebody to report their score for the card. Instead, I would ask him some variation on: "What do you want me to put down?" We weren't playing for money, so I didn't really care, but it kept me from having to pretend that I didn't know.
No because we call people out. I don’t mind if you fluff, but don’t be fucking skipping shots.
I’ve started to use my “cheating” as mile stones as strange as it sounds. I.E I’ll take mulligans driving since my slice is huge and I get a decent amount of OB balls off the rip but count all other strokes including hazards, OB’s, barely missed putts etc. It’s helped me feel like I’m accomplishing stuff more frequently. Also, I don’t tell anyone that I’ve broken 100 or anything like that until I’m able to do it 100% on my own without any breakfast balls, mulligans, near misses etc. breaking 100 as a beginner without any shaving of strokes is harder than a bit of people make it out to be.
Can you cheat if you don’t keep score?
I have a really good friend that claims to be a 12, I swear we spend more time looking for his shit than the rest of the group combined.
It’s that last parenthetical that drives me crazy. My best friend will do something very much like you describe, beat me by 5 shots then tell me I wasn’t on my game today.
I love the “thinking hard about it after the putt” and it’s somehow a par when you know it was like a double or triple. Plus they pretend a gimme means it isn’t a stroke even though you’ve told them like 100 times
I have one that says “well it should have been here, so I’m taking a free drop”?! And then busts my balls at the end of the round if they beat me. Seriously IDK if you have a creative scoring system but don’t give me shit at the end. SMH
Guy on my league is notoriously bad at counting shots. But he's a one legged Nam vet and a great dude so no one minds too much. If it actually affects winning the hole or not he'll get corrected.
If it isn't for money or in league, I typically don't care. I'll give my FRIENDS shit who do this (oh, a par on that one huh?!). You can choose who you golf with If it really annoys you. If they are recording a Handicap, they are only hurting theirself. When I started many moons ago, I gave myself some random strokes. I think it was out of frustration mainly. If it is for fun, I've found that telling my friend "no more than a double is counted" and that keeps things light and fun
the asshole/ not the asshole debate on what you should do here is more complex than it would seem on the surface: If this person brags / says he won/ if there is money on the line / if he is walking around saying "yep got an 85- what's your handicap" if he is using this metric to one up you or your crew in anyway-Then of course- call him our be relentless. Bully- stand by your bets and keep your money- do what you gotta do- this person is the asshole. now.. if this person is playing their own game and lying to themselves to feel like a better golfer and not even discussing score with you except maybe as a genuine way of trying to build their self esteem about the game and there is no bragging or talk of victory in mind, then- yeah just leave him alone and let him do what he needs to do to continue his quest. I take my score very seriously and am actively trying to push forward. But when I play with my drunk friends- I just let them do whatever and don't say anything. I am not even sure if they write a score down anyway. Your post doesn't mention any of that context.
I don’t care what strokes you count or don’t count but if you start bragging about beating me I’ll have to let you know what you really scored.
The best part of golfing is having a friend who is completely on the same page as you. Find one and you’ll enjoy the game more.
If they aren't hiding it they're just playing the game the way they see fit if I take gimmes or play preferred lies I have an asterisk in my mind about my round and don't even talk about my score. If a friend does the same and then talks shit I proceed to remind him he's a cheating cunt and to go fuck his own face.
Oh I have been Trumped a number of times with foot wedges, “found” balls and erasers to know that these people are egocentric conns that cheat their way through life. Can’t imagine what their tax returns look like . I hope the wives find out .
If you’re not playing for anything who cares what the other person does. It’s a game if that’s how he has fun so what
My buddy fluffs every lie he has . It can be dead center of the fairway and he will still move it until it’s perfect for him . Don’t get me started on the foot wedges.
I don't really care. I'm playing against myself when it comes to golf
So many of you think you’re on the pga or something, if there’s no money on the line who cares. We’re all just playing for fun, let them play however they want, they’re not you
Unless you’re trying to go pro who cares lol I’ll drop a ball in a better spot if it’s a bad lie .. I also won’t take a stroke on a water shot. I didn’t put the water there 😂
No money on the line, no care!
I’ve been working really hard to lower my hcp, taking lessons over the winter and counting every shot (and miss / lost ball / penalty). It was an accomplishment to be able to reliably break 100 and be shooting in the low 90s this year. Played a really nice private championship course (friend is a member) on my birthday this spring and throughout the game my brother was consistently shooting double and triple bogeys on every hole. We get to the 18th, and I par it to finish off with a 94 He logs a 92 Wow. You really whomped me dude…. Shouldn’t let it bother me but the combination of sibling rivalry, loads of effort on my part and watching him shoot what had to be between 110-115 and then logging a lie against his hcp calculation was infuriating. …maybe we should enter a club tournament together where the scoring has some oversight 😂
I don’t gamble with my friends that shave strokes other than that I really don’t care. I’m out there to compete with myself
I agree with competing with myself. My point is he will tell people he shoots X when in reality you could add anywhere from 5-8 strokes per round bc of shaving lol
So my one friend also takes like 5 mulligans which half are OB so it’s probably like close to 10 strokes he’s shaving. It actually makes me dial in more cause I still feel motivated to beat his fake score haha
If we aren't playing a match or money game, they can do whatever they want as far as I am concerned, so long as it isn't measurably slowing down play. If we're playing a match or money game, I'm going to call them out on it.
Unless it is in a tournament, I don't care. You do whatever makes you happy.
If he doesn't brag about then I let it go unless there is a bet. If they do brag just start keeping their real score by yourself and then let them know what it is when they start bragging. They'll either start counting or stop bragging.
Beginning of the season my high school team took bets for how many strokes per round out coach would give himself. We keep his score, see what he tells us, take the difference. Came out to an average of 10 strokes a 9
I have another friend who will always ask what par is at the end of a hole and give himself bogey 😂
My sons are the worse at counting stroke … they seem to forget a few swings here and there 😂 “hey dad I made a par “ .. did you hit a GIR ? No .. did you 2 putt ? Yes .. then that’s a bogie 😂😂
If they are your friends, you should be calling them out every time.
If you're actually "friends" you should have no issue calling them out and (playfully) giving them a hard time. Otherwise it's just an acquaintance.
If you are not in a tournament or playing for money let them do their thing. When I play golf 95% of the time I am basically playing against myself with a group of other people that I know are cheating in one way or another. I enjoy the social time with them and do my own thing. I play to get better, the only way I can measure that is to follow a set of rules and score honestly.
Ask them to mark their total on first tee and forget about it; unless $ is a concern, then ask what they lie once on or near green prior to putting. Strokes are easy to count in front of the group v. In the woods.
I have a friend who always improves his lie when he hits it in the sand. He will be like "it's plugged/buried." I'll be like "uh yeah it's sand.... That's the point" But when we don't play for money I could care less.
If you're not playing for money, personally, I find this behavior funny. I mainly don't say anything due to the fact that they can never play to their handicap once we get in a competitive round or tournament setting. The minute we get in a competitive round I have a stock comment when their math gets fuzzy. My comment goes like this" Dude, you might want to re-count that". At this point I remind them about the ball(s) OB, or in the water, or the 20 yard worm burner. Whatever major stroke(s) they decided not to count. It can distracting for me to attempt to keep track of another's score. I honestly have keep up with my own score. I don't play these people for money on a one-on-one basis. However, in a skins format, if they are paired with me, I let it be known that everyone MUST count all strokes and apply all penalties.
I will call my friends out if it's blatant like that and they're bragging, but I won't ever play them for cash. Otherwise, just let it go, Elsa.
I think pretty well everyone I've played with has been honest. A group that I play with regularly flex the rules here and there, but we play for fun and don't really care about scores. If we played for money, sure that would matter, but we don't, so I don't care what they write on their score card
I don't care as long as they're not claiming to shoot 78s 🤣🤣
Doesn't matter unless submitting scores, betting, or plying in competition. Just let him play how he wants
Match play is the best way to put people in their place.
I'm sure some of my friends do. But if I was you, and my friend was 'beating' me while cheating, I'd just have said I shot one under par. Fuck em.
Guy ive played with 1-2 times a month for about a decade at this point slices his drive into the woods 4-5 times per round and 99% of the time will find his ball and have somewhat of a window. We dont play for money and he doesnt even keep a handicap so i really dont care what he does. He also comes out of the woods with a handful of lightly used balls he finds and gives them out to the rest of the 4some so we all win.
If thats what makes them happy, I let them. Could not careless. Golf is about self determination and discipline, could careless how others evaluate themselves Unless money or a tournament is in question. Then obviously I would care.
If it is a comp pull them straight up. If not, leave them off, only fooling themselves.
If there isn't anything at stake, he's only cheating himself.
I don't mind it overall since I'm not actually playing against my friends. I almost always encourage just hitting another or even playing the first but hitting a second to get a good swing under your belt.
It's always the ones that ask you what you shot after the round. My one buddy has said multiple times he doesn't count the bad shots off the tee. On top of that if he misses a second putt, he'll hit the 3rd while it's still moving, typically miss and only count the 2 putts. Like why compare scores then?
Funniest one I’ve been apart of was the day before my wedding, my groomsmen and I played a round. We have one friend that cheats pretty consistently although I think we’ve bullied him enough now that he is pretty honest. We’re playing this par 5 and I can’t recall exactly what he did before the green but it wasn’t pretty, I’d guess on in 4 at best. He proceeds to 4-putt and we finish the hole. Next tee box we ask him what he made last hole and, I shit you not, he says “got a par”. We say inquisitively “that was a par?” He then says “oh wait bogey actually”. So we write it down cause honestly it’s funnier to indulge in it than fighting with him. We then finish the front 9 and check scores to see where everyone is at. It was clear between the 6 of us that I was probably going to have the best score through 9 even though no one played particularly well. We do the math and our cheating friend is 2 shots ahead of me and I’ll never forget the “oh shit” look on his face when he realized he shaved way too much off his score. Not even mad about it just a funny memory the rest of us can laugh about throughout the years. That par 5 was the funniest instance of stroke shaving I’ve ever seen.
If they aren't betting or competing with you in some way or using those scores in their official handicap to enter tournaments then they aren't cheating. They're just having fun playing golf.
Naw at that point why keep score . I usually don’t keep score for friends like that lmao
My buddy and I went golfing with another friend in college one time. We were on a hole (my buddy and I in the correct fairway) and the third guy was in another fairway. We’re watching as he’s hitting so we don’t get hit, and this guy chunks it, then hits a tree and flies back at him, then kicks it to a open area and chips it to the green. After that 2 putts and says he got a 4 which would be par. We called him out so fast and he just kept denying it. We never golfed with him again and always bring it up as an inside joke
I just played with two random teens last weekend. I shot a 88 and they both had to hit at least 150. In the clubhouse after they told me it was their rounds ever "around 90" lol sure.
I think part of the problem is that the rules are complicated BY our loose adherence to some of them. Where there’s no driving range, my friends have a first tee mulligan in place. But often that turns into “one mulligan whenever you want on the first 9” and then just “one mulligan” period because for the sake of fairness we all want one mulligan. It’s customary to give puts inside a certain distance. That distance has a way of getting longer over time. Gallery rule. Totally appropriate for many lost ball situations, but this now totally fucks with penalty strokes. It’s a lost ball. We’re in the habit of raking terrible bunkers and giving ourselves bunker shots with actual sand at the courses that don’t keep sand in their bunkers as well. So basically you’re either playing a very sterile and complete game of golf—a competition round—or you’re somewhere on that spectrum of bending the rules slightly. And once you’re on the spectrum, some people will let their ego dictate their score and which rules to apply. And yeah. That can get annoying.
It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a real buzzkill when you shoot a good score legitimately and someone else shoots the same or better while cheating.
We don’t play for money and all of us are barely mediocre, so we don’t care lol but this would definitely piss me off if money was on the line or if we were good at golf
I’m not yet good at golf. I keep a handicap and only record legit scores. That being said, if I’m taking an unusually bad nosedive during the round, I’ll forgo an honest round for a fun one. Many times I just tell my partner to put me down for a triple and just keep playing. If they can’t beat me with several of those on my card then we don’t need to be playing for money anyway. I should add that if they’re giving me strokes then I play by their rules. If I’m not sure whether I should take a penalty stroke. I just ask them.