Golfing with Cheaters - What do you do?
Hi, I’m Mel Sole, Director of Instruction at the Mel Sole Golf School, headquartered at Pawleys Plantation Golf and Country Club in Pawleys Island, SC. We conduct 1, 2, and 3-day golf schools, hourly golf lessons, and senior golf schools—any golf instruction program your heart desires. Give us a call at 800-624-4653 or 843-237-4993. We will be happy to book a commuter school or a package that contains accommodations, golf, and golf school.
Unfortunately, at times, we may find ourselves golfing with cheaters. You can see that the ball he/she hits back out of the woods isn't the same one that went in. He/she subtly moves the ball out of a trouble spot with a foot, etc.
The score they give you to write down doesn't reflect the truth. But what can you say or do?
You have several choices. One is to convey that you're on to them with either raised eyebrows (mild skepticism) or with a loud declaration of their cheating (un-mild skepticism). Another option is to never play with them again. But what if the offender is your spouse or boss?
See more ways to handle this delicate situation at the NoDivot golf blog.
How do YOU deal with less scrupulous players? Let me know.
"Yeah," he says, sensing your mistrust, and feigning a mild indignation. "One off the tee, two in the woods, three out, four on, two putts: Six."
You say nothing. Your expression is as steel but your mind reels with doubt and aggrievement. By now you're certain the ball he has played wasn't the one that sliced into the conifers.
"Yeah," he adds, "I had a hell of a lie in the woods. Lucky to find my ball and even then could scarcely take a practice swing. Took three, in fact."
What was suspicion is now certainty. But what can you say or do?
Over time, the experienced golfer developes, through practice at the mirror, a range of expressions. Capable of conveying varying mixtures of doubt and disapproval, from mildish skepticism to the unspoken outrage felt on coming home to find that the family has been put to the sword by Mongol hordes.
Golfing with Cheaters? What do you do?
Without having been forced to say so in plain words, you want the cheater in your midst to head for the next tee thinking, "He knows. He knows!" I think you'll find that his ensuing play will more than compensate for any advantage gained through earlier defalcations.
Appropriately enough, in Scotland, the land which gave us the immortal pastime, there is a verdict that is handed down in trials where the evidence falls just short. It is called "Not Proven." What it means is: "Not Guilty-But Don't Do It Again." What you want to have in your psychological kit bag is the physiognomic equivalent of that verdict.
Do you cheat on the golf course? Without even knowing it!
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Know the Rules – Lower Your Scores – Rules & Etiquette Wednesday #82.
