Golf is, quite rightly, seen as a sport that has integrity and honesty at its core. There’s a strict code of etiquette and the rules of golf require self-policing.
It’s actually quite easy to cheat if you so desire, but accusations are generally few and far between. Still, we’d be naive to think it doesn’t happen at all.
We’ve probably all witnessed a bandit in action, heard stories of someone employing the ‘magic pencil’ or suspected a playing partner of dropping a ball down their trouser leg when you could have sworn they sliced their drive out of bounds.
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Some cheating isn’t overt, but rather a product of not knowing the rule book or being fed incorrect information from someone else. For example, there are plenty of golfers who pick the nicest point of relief instead of the nearest point of relief, or don’t add on a shot for a penalty drop.
We’ve all played with a bandit, probably multiple times
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
On a separate note, I was curious as to how many amateur golfers would consider cheating if they were guaranteed to get away with it, so I put a poll out on X. Some 86% replied no, while 14% – props for their honesty – answered yes.
I’m not quite sure how to react to those numbers. I think it probably reflects fairly well on the sport, but my gut feeling is more people would probably go to the dark side if such a scenario actually materialised.
It’s an interesting discussion, because there’s not really anything to be gained. If you cheat on the way to your best ever score, you’ll always know that and it won’t mean anything (although if you’re someone who’s prepared to cheat, you’re probably also someone who can forget about it too!)
If you cheat to get your handicap lower than it should be, you’re only making things harder for yourself; conversely, if you cheat to increase your handicap, you have a better chance of winning competitions but you’re getting worse on paper.
What sort of person would take a higher handicap in order to have a better chance of winning some golf balls, a bar tab or some pro shop credit? Someone of questionable character, that’s for sure.
Is it a problem?
But cheating does happen, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a sport predicated on honesty and a pursuit that requires self-regulation, and whenever that’s the case with anything, some people lose sight of what’s right and what’s wrong.
Last year, we posted a poll on X asking whether cheating was a problem in amateur golf. Even though disciplinary proceedings as a result of cheating are rare – as a simple Google search will corroborate – a worrying 57% of respondents said ‘yes’.
We also asked: “Have you ever witnessed cheating at your golf club?” and 85% replied ‘yes’. Concerningly, 39% also responded ‘yes’ to the question: “Have you ever cheated?” You’d also imagine there are people out there who have but don’t want to admit it.
It’s hard to know how commonplace it is, but cheating also takes place in the professional game, although reported instances at the top level are very rare indeed.
In 2023, PGA Tour Canada player Justin Doeden admitted to cheating. He changed his score on the final hole of the second round from a seven to a five in order to make the cut by one. His playing partners later noticed and reported Doeden, who subsequently withdrew.
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
While rumours sometimes surface – as they have done historically, too – cases of concrete disciplinary action are extremely thin on the ground.
That said, my colleague Joe Ferguson played the mini tours in England for five years and he says cheating was rife.
“I’ve witnessed multiple instances of cheating and heard so many more stories. There’s a lot of it going on,” he said.
“I’ve seen scorecards being changed between the end of the round and the scorer’s hut, people adamantly claiming they’ve had something on a hole when they clearly haven’t, people improving their lies, balls being dropped in the rough and more.
“One player in a EuroPro Tour event told his playing partners he’d hand the scorecards in, and when they handed them over, he got to work with his rubber and pencil and changed his score between the 18th green and the scorers’ hut.
“I’ve seen people cheat to save two shots when they’re going to shoot 84 and miss the cut anyway. I think it’s a pride and a shame thing as well.”
We want to know whether you’ve witnessed cheating at your golf club (or anywhere else for that matter) and if you have any egregious examples. If so, leave a comment below. We’ll be using the best stories about blatant cheating for a follow-up article.
