Played first tournament...

[Fireinthehole 670]

-Played in a tournament last weekend for the first time (Had only played in 2 charity scrambles). Hosted by the club I play at over two days and It was a best ball tourny.

 

-Played with my friend who is a 16hcp and I was a 8.9 after two 79's two weeks before, so we got strokes on a lot of holes for him-all but 1. Our playing partners were an 11 and 9 each.

 

- What occurred those two days was a classic example of choking! lol!

I went 18over on day 1  . Posted an 8 on Hole #1 Par4; two days in a row and a 9 on #9 par5; and a 9 on #18 Par5. Got an adrenaline spike at each tee box and went into the junk lol

My partner went 33 and 36 over both days, we used my score for a combined 29/36 holes.

 

BUTTTT.....

The biggest shock of the tournament:

ALL THE CHEATING       

- I saw balls moved out of the lips of bunkers, out of OB, out of Divots, Balls dropped improperly, putts incorrectly counted- incorrect scores.

- What was worse was even the twosome playing with us was guilty of this. Saw one of our partners 4 putt and declare a par...

-On the last day, finishing off Par-5 #18,

See a player from other twosome move his ball twice while taking a practice swing, technically 5 shots on one putt, records a birdie... I miss second shot slightly right, take a practice swing clip my ball a yard (OOPS), chip, 1 putt; 4 on 1 putt- Record par. Player remarks tough to come away from par after good drive- really glad he got birdie.

 

-Partner and I went 1 over combined for the first day after hcp and 3 over the next day: +4 total. The other twosome finished -9. Needless to say all the cheating really got our blood boiling...

 

- Had read some posts about tourneys and being aware of Sand-baggers (very fun to say) and Vanity Handicaps; and about cheating, but still shocked. Granted it is a local club tournament, but where is the integrity? The prizes were not even thousands of dollars.

 

Not how i wanted to be introduced into tournament golf....

- On a positive note- won long drive on the longest whole, Par 5 571yds; 338 power draw! Got a sweet Nexbelt for my troubles. Did get a good Forearm tan as well  !

[Undershooter 4,135]

I have gotten to the point where if someone tries to fudge a score after I see them 4 putt, or something of that nature, I just ask them if they are sure, because they just had 4 putts? LOL

I have gotten to where I don't take any scrambles seriously anymore because I know teams are going to cheat their butts off. Its downright pathetic. I will play singles events or four ball events and take them seriously but that is it. Don't be afraid to call someone out though if you notice they are cheating. Accusations in the form of a question generally catch them off guard more than anything because they know you are calling them out but its about as polite a way of doing it as possible.

 

Congrats on the long drive btw! That and closest to the pin are basically all I show up for and care about winning LOL

[Kenny B 32,540]

Yep!  Sounds like you saw all the reasons why I don't play in those anymore.  Our local saying is "He who has the fastest golf cart never has a bad lie."

 

Sorry to hear that.  I had hoped that it had gotten better over the years.  I only play in tournaments when it is for a good charity that I want to support and just want to have fun.  Nearly impossible to compete in those conditions.  

[revkev 25,208]

I've seen tons of cheating in my day, none of it here. The golf scene in St Pete, at least in the circles that I travel, is pretty clean. Scrambles are for fun, I'm not counting those as tournaments. I've yet to see any intentional cheating in any tournament that I've played in here. Basically all the better players know each other and you'd get black balled if you cheated.

[Fireinthehole 670]

Yeah it was tough, on top of getting a good dose of anxiety. Took me back to club soccer days- nice though. 

Forgot to mention on the 365yd #16 which dog legs left I nearly drove the green- had me freaking out i landed close to the group on the green- fast forward to Sunday...

On a par 3- look like I went OB. hit a provisional. A nice hosel rocket that goes about 90 degrees to the right and lands just behind the tee of the next hole- Same group as Sunday nearly got beamed. OUCH,

 

Well went out today in the morning and this afternoon for 18 shot 86, 82- same course. Got some confidence back ( and pride) from the blacks- tips w/e. Really like that the course pushes Teeing it forward, white- avg drive of 200+, Blue- avg drive 230+, Black 260+.

 

I typically try to play with the low cappers- I seem to shoot lower and focus more, but not a fan of playing 5 to  a group- which they do some times. Try to play before them for that reason- and they don't let you play through which ice's you down ASAP. 

[Baseballfrk8998 54]

I'd have called them out.. But I'm probably more blunt than most folks.

 

The fact that people do that is just utter nonsense. What's even worse about it is how blatant it is! You obviously can't police everyone, but you can do your due diligence to at least ensure that everyone in your group is honest (or as honest as you can hold them accountable for). Like I said, it wouldn't have flown in my group.. But I'm that guy...

[sp0rtsfan86 924]

Our charity tournaments out here come with a lot of cheaters and the like. My handicap fluctuates but going by what it was... I'm technically a 13. They put me down for a 15. 

 

Every other group does the same thing. Yes, I'd like to play clean and generally our group doesn't move out of bunkers or the like. That's a bit too far. 

 

A par after a 4 putt is where you have to question them IMO. That's not even close to a fudge, that's a full out being a name I won't use here.

[Fireinthehole 670]

No one may believe me, but I have never hit a fairway bunker. And as far as green side Bunkers about every 7 holes. Only shot I have is a flop shot haha. But I always play the bunker regardless of the lie.

Very happy my partner and I stuck it out though.

Give people the benefit Of the doubt and for people I meet during play I never care.

Looking forward to my next charity tournament where the booze will flow and everyone won't care for the score

[Kanoito 2,948]

Do they keep scores themselves?

To avoid that, in our club, you keep someone else's score and they do yours. No fucking way I'm going to write down a par after seeing you 4 putt. Same goes for scrambles and fun tournaments.

[Kor.A.Door 5,843]

Do they keep scores themselves?

To avoid that, in our club, you keep someone else's score and they do yours. No fucking way I'm going to write down a par after seeing you 4 putt. Same goes for scrambles and fun tournaments.

That's how we do our tournament scoring

[Fireinthehole 670]

Do they keep scores themselves?

To avoid that, in our club, you keep someone else's score and they do yours. No fucking way I'm going to write down a par after seeing you 4 putt. Same goes for scrambles and fun tournaments.

 

I suggested this to our club pro after reading your comment. Surprised that it wasn't set up like that.

Also having your playing partner/ opponent sign your score card would aid in keeping people honest.

[Kanoito 2,948]

I suggested this to our club pro after reading your comment. Surprised that it wasn't set up like that.

Also having your playing partner/ opponent sign your score card would aid in keeping people honest.

Yup, we need 2 signatures on each card. The player and the counter. I thought this was the standard world wide

[Fireinthehole 670]

Yup, we need 2 signatures on each card. The player and the counter. I thought this was the standard world wide

Ah if only 

 

Even the scores I post are verified by playing partners. As they say, Live and learn.