I’m fortunate. I can honestly say that I’ve never encountered a player with a suspicious handicap at my club.
Perhaps it’s because I usually play with the same 12-16 players throughout the year, and we play competitions regularly.
We all know the level we’re playing at – there’s just no room for any questionable behavior.
Anyone can come in with 40 points on a good day, especially the mid to high handicapper. Nor does anyone raise their eyebrows if another player wins a couple of competitions on the bounce.
It’s just a good run of form. It happens, although not as often as most of us would like.
However, I received a message from a friend recently that I found rather dispiriting – and it just reminded me how rife cheating is in golf.
“I’m done with the Wednesday evening roll-ups,” he said, which was followed by several angry face emojis. Given how mild-mannered my friend is, I knew something serious must have happened.
I’ve seen these roll-ups. They’re a great idea, especially in the summer when you can play some competitive golf after work.
They’re also very well-attended, with lots of people entering and staying around afterwards for a drink and a bite to eat.
I believe the roll-ups form part of a nine-hole mini league. Lots of golf clubs run something similar, as they should.
It’s one of the perks of being a member of a club – a bit of fun, and perhaps not quite so serious and time-consuming as weekend competitions.
I thought my friend’s anger would be the pace of play. Lots of people turn up, which is good, but it can make for some pretty slow rounds.
I get the idea of a roll-up, but I think it’s always best to use a tee booking system.
Anyway, it soon became apparent that it wasn’t slow play that had irritated my friend, but what he described as “blatant cheating”.
I was quick to remind my friend that the use of the ‘C-word’ is a serious accusation and that everyone is capable of shooting a run of nine-hole scores in the 20s, especially on what is a fairly short course that is playing even shorter at the moment because of the firmer fairways.
“I’ve played with this guy. He gets three shots, and he doesn’t have those…
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