GOTCHA!
CHEATING at GOLF

According to Bertolt Brecht, German playwright and poet, “If there are obstacles, the shortest line between two points may be the crooked one.”

As we all know, the game of golf is a game of honor played by honorable people.” This phrase is in the USGTF course material handed out during the week. It’s something that is taken as a given in the world of golf. Nevertheless, our sport still attracts its share of participants, who, can we use the word? – cheat. For the most part, golf enjoys a reputation that is above other sports. Remember Davis Love III dealing with a heckler at the Accenture Match Play Championship last February? As far as golf goes, that incident drew a great deal of press coverage and notoriety.

Now imagine the same thing happening at an NBA game. What would the collective reaction of the sports media be? You guessed it – yaawwn. No, in the NBA it takes bench-clearing brawls or Indiana Pacers going into the stands to fight with fans in order to drum up some reaction.

Yet, golf does have some negative characters associated with it, mainly on the cheating front. Why would someone cheat at golf? It might be helpful to understand the foundation for such actions.

According to Dr. Gregg Steinberg, USGTF Sport Psychology consultant, “People who believe scores are a reflection of their self-worth are more likely to cheat. People who look at golf as a challenge, something to do for fun or as a journey, are less likely to cheat.” Even highly accomplished golfers aren’t immune from the temptation. A poll of PGA Tour caddies, as reported by CNN, revealed that 26 percent had personally seen their players cheat during a tour event! In a well-reported incident, one of the game’s top players was banned from the Asian Tour in 1985 for supposedly altering his scorecard. And Mark Harman, USGTF National Course Director and frequent professional competitor, has seen a number of rules-breaking incidents in competition. “I would classify most of what I saw as ignorance of the rules rather than outright cheating,” said Harman. “Then again, off the top of my head I can recall two incidents where the player cheated, but I didn’t call them on it because they gained no real advantage. Calling someone on the rules is tough. Still, if I could do it over again, I would call them on it. My policy now is to call attention to any rules violation, intentional or not.”

USGTF National Coordinator Bob Wyatt also knows first-hand about professional competitors who cheat.

“Early in my career, while playing on the mini-tours, my two playing partners approached me prior to the round with the idea of ‘seeing to it that our scorecards represented scores that would be in the money,’ ” related Wyatt. “I reported this to the powers-that-be, resulting in their disqualification and eventual termination from subsequent events on that particular tour.”

The stories related by Wyatt and Harman, along with the Asian Tour incident, involved players who were still relatively young – meaning that their self-worth was probably more tied to their golf performance. As golfers get older, and hopefully more mature, they probably gain a perspective that their self-worth is not tied to their performance on the course, and thereby are less likely to cheat. Still, that doesn’t mean cheating or attempted cheating is exclusive to the younger set.

Individual, family, or cultural influences might push someone, regardless of age, to cheat. Even the playing ability tests at the USGTF certification courses are not immune from people trying to cut corners.

As an international organization, the USGTF sees participants from many different countries. Yet, most of the cheating or attempted cheating incidents during the playing ability tests are committed by those from one nation in particular.

In researching the matter, it was found that societal pressure in this country often dictates that trying your best isn’t good enough, and failure is simply considered unacceptable by many. The USGTF staff takes any allegations of cheating seriously.

“We hand out a sheet at our certification courses that states, in part, ‘our organization has absolutely no room for dishonest individuals,’ ” stated Wyatt. “If the allegation proves true, the perpetrator is immediately dismissed from the organization.”

Let’s face it. Cheating at golf is a difficult subject to address, and rarely is addressed at all by the golf media. But, as our game grows in popularity and as society takes the direction it takes, it’s likely that we haven’t seen the last of dishonest behavior in golf.

Our role as teaching professionals is to stress that golf is indeed a game of honor. While it may not be pleasant to address wrongdoers, it’s something that needs to be done.

“I’ll forever regret taking the easy way out by not calling rules violations, either intentional or not,” said Harman. “Players have an obligation to not only play by the rules, but to make sure the rules are enforced.”

And, as difficult as it may be, that applies to golf teachers, too.

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