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How do you handle cheaters/fluffers?

It depends on who does it and the situation.... There is a guy I play with that gripes about everyone and everything making it uncomfortable on occasions. Yes, he believes he is the keeper of the rules as well. I have seen him "improve" his lie on 2 occasions and let it go by. (yes, I believe he would call someone on it) Next time he gets called on it regardless if he is one of the "leaders" of the group.

It will be interesting for sure....
 
Kobey said:
Bosses always play by the rules no matter what you think you see. It is also perfectly acceptable and even preferred to hit one or two into the water on purpose just to make sure they win.
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I don't know if they are always right, I would just hope they have good enough ethics to take the beating and keep playing!!! I'd never lose on purpose.
 
I play with one guy who always cheats, dropping balls when he can't find his and saying he found it, not counting strokes etc... it does kind of annoy me but we laugh it off. Even with cheating he doesn't beat me but does make comments on how he is almost as good as me. It bugs me but we all know the truth. As far as fluffing goes we all do it depending on course conditions while we are just having a friendly round, if its any tourny or competition its all by the book.
 
robn311 said:
Find new playing partners...
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I actually agree with this statement. Find new playing partners if it really bothers you, or just don't let it bother you.

Personally, I'm more like you. I try to play by the rules, though admittedly there are so many rules that I may miss some. I don't improve lies, take gimmes or mulligans, don't cap my hole score, and will count my penalty strokes, etc.. I know at the end of the day whatever score I write down is what I shot.

When I play with people like that and they go brag that they've beaten me, I just feel sorry for them. They have so little to be proud of that they first have to cheat, and then have to brag to other people that they've beaten me (despite knowing that they've cheated). If that makes them feel better about themselves, then so be it, but it's not going to bother me at all. If they're so self delusional that they don't recognize the cheating, then it is even sadder.

If you think the new guy is worthwhile, then maybe take him aside and explain the rules. He can make his decision on how he wants to count things, but at least you'll know that he is doing it based on knowing the rules. It will tell you something about his character.
 
When your "friend" tells people he beat you with an 81, you can always say "Really? That's what you got? I counted your strokes according to the rules and came up with a 92. Maybe next round we can compare notes and figure out why the discrepancy."
 
I've actually taken a lot of the advice in here and want to thank you guys.

I confronted one of them by asking if we were going to play by the rules or not this time, and he said "yes", but the first bad lie he got, he went straight back to rolling the ball. Then when he ended up in a divot in the fairway, and I called him on moving it, his response was "I expect when I hit a good shot, I will not be punished with a bad lie, so I'm moving it"...... So I just played the rest of the day, and at the end added up my own card. Didn't ask what he shot, and we went and got a beer.

I joined up with a group of walkers a few weeks back, and while we don't play for any money, we all play the ball down and count everything. Since playing along with them, my aggravation level has went down quite a bit knowing that I can accurately judge how I'm playing and how they're playing. So now when I'm asked to play with the group from work, I tell them I have a handicap skins game that I play in twice a week, and I'd invite them to play, but non-members can't walk at my club on the weekend.

I invited the new guy out to play a round with me, and explained to him the way I play and keep score. He said he was interested, but hasn't shown up yet. I just told him not to expect to shoot under 100 on my home course playing by the rules 100%. It's just not that easy out there. I blamed the course difficulty instead of the bad habits he's learned from the others.
 
Canio said:
There is a LOT of great advise in this thread. Personally, when I pay with my best friend, it's usually just for fun. Sometimes, I'll want to play to turn in a score, and he doesn't want to turn in his card, we can still play and have a great time!

Now, if I'm playing for money, even if it's only for a few bucks, I'll insist on playing by the rules. I'm 6' 1" and 240lbs. so they either play by the rules or all bets are off. It's usually strangers that I don't know who want to play for money. I don't have any friends that I play with who 'brag' about beating me with foot wedges, fluff lies, etc. I would definitely stop that in it's tracks a New York second after they say it.

I have great friends who are genuine and honest when we play golf. I think that OG was correct that those people who are artificially deflating their handicaps are going to be shocked when they are bounced in the first round in tournaments that require handicaps.
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been paired with that Guy too often. sucks.


Happily Tapping
 
I'm very against the strict rules for bad players. Let's be honest, if you're doing good to shoot under 100 then by all means move the ball to your advantage. If you're sunk in the rough, behind a tree, etc, move it so you get a decent lie. A. Its not going to make much difference anyway since you're mostly not going to hit the green, and B. A bad amateur won't be able to hit the recovery shots most likely, which will lead to 4 or 5 more shots. Noone will play the game if they're shooting 150 or 160 every round due to drops and OB shots, so "cheat" a bit so you'll keep an interest. That being said, don't gloat about shooting 90 or w/e.
 
GolferMahn said:
I'm very against the strict rules for bad players. Let's be honest, if you're doing good to shoot under 100 then by all means move the ball to your advantage. If you're sunk in the rough, behind a tree, etc, move it so you get a decent lie. A. Its not going to make much difference anyway since you're mostly not going to hit the green, and B. A bad amateur won't be able to hit the recovery shots most likely, which will lead to 4 or 5 more shots. Noone will play the game if they're shooting 150 or 160 every round due to drops and OB shots, so "cheat" a bit so you'll keep an interest. That being said, don't gloat about shooting 90 or w/e.
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On the other hand, he's never going to learn if he never tries.
 
Bullitt5339 said:
It's not about them cheating, I could care less how they play their game if it's not a tournament or for money.

It's that they will brag to everyone that they "whooped me" on the course, when we weren't even playing the same game. I work in an office full of golfers and pride comes into play.
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I would just respond to all these people. "And yet, they refuse to play me for money."
 
Fourputt said:
On the other hand, he's never going to learn if he never tries.
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This is just it. I grew up playing "hackers rules" with foot wedges, mulligans and lie fluffing because that's how my old man and his buddies played and I found it really really hard to adapt to playing the rules properly. When you start to shoot in the 80's because you are cheating it's tough to start playing by the rules and shooting over 100 again.
 
Canio said:
I have great friends who are genuine and honest when we play golf. I think that OG was correct that those people who are artificially deflating their handicaps are going to be shocked when they are bounced in the first round in tournaments that require handicaps.
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Very few people who "reverse sandbag" ever play tournaments. They know that they have no chance, especially considering the number of actual sandbaggers that are in handicap based tournaments. They just do it so that they can say they have a low handicap.
 
RoundersRob said:
Very few people who "reverse sandbag" ever play tournaments. They know that they have no chance, especially considering the number of actual sandbaggers that are in handicap based tournaments. They just do it so that they can say they have a low handicap.
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Not true. I suppose someone who really overdid the shaving might do it just for looks, but the guys I've known who did it were typically only 2 or 3 strokes off where they should be. Most of them were actually pretty good players who just got it in their heads that they should be a 6 instead of a 8, and just didn't turn in the scores which would have made it right. That still gives them an outside shot at competing in a one or 2 day competition.

I had one friend who I think had honestly fooled himself into thinking that his 4 handicap was legit, even though most of the time I played with him, he was scoring closer to what would be a 6 or 7. He'd have one or 2 bad holes and then just call it a practice round so he didn't have to turn in the score. Since he was perfectly capable of shooting to the 4 handicap occasionally, he did just well enough in club tournaments that he was able to uphold the fib.
 
That's not as extreme as what I've witnessed. I play with a guy from time to time that says he is a 9 when he plays to about 16. Another guy I played with once said he was a 3 and it was pretty obvious he was at least a 15-18 or higher. I don't care how bad of a day you are having, a 3 handicap doesn't bogey every single hole.

Fourputt said:
Not true. I suppose someone who really overdid the shaving might do it just for looks, but the guys I've known who did it were typically only 2 or 3 strokes off where they should be. Most of them were actually pretty good players who just got it in their heads that they should be a 6 instead of a 8, and just didn't turn in the scores which would have made it right. That still gives them an outside shot at competing in a one or 2 day competition.

I had one friend who I think had honestly fooled himself into thinking that his 4 handicap was legit, even though most of the time I played with him, he was scoring closer to what would be a 6 or 7. He'd have one or 2 bad holes and then just call it a practice round so he didn't have to turn in the score. Since he was perfectly capable of shooting to the 4 handicap occasionally, he did just well enough in club tournaments that he was able to uphold the fib.
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