My playing partner cheated

[srooch2]

So I played my first tournament and had a great time, played pretty good and look forward to more of them. But this was a shocking experience at the end of the round. When we finished, we’re totaling and signing score cards in the parking lot. We finished up and went our separate ways. The kid I was playing with unloaded his clubs from the cart and said goodbye. He was a young kid who played for a small college a few hours away. He was a good player although he didn’t have a great round. When I went to park the cart I noticed he left a golf ball in the cart, I went to look for him but I think he’s already left. I dropped my clubs in my car and went to put the ball in my bag and what did I discover…. The ball was caked in Vaseline! My jaw hit the floor. This kid didn’t need to cheat, he was a good player. I am a newbie to tournaments but I showed the cart barn guys and they knew exactly what it was when I showed them. Both agreed he was cheating and they seemed frustrated but not surprised. One said it is a common occurrence in amateur tournaments. Not what I wanted to find and it made me look at the kid in a completely different light. I never turned him in and I wasn’t gonna go down that road. If he is cheating regularly he will get caught someday. The weirdest thing is, earlier in the round we were talking golf and the topic of Patrick Reed came up. The kid was defending him which hindsight makes me laugh a little. 

[StrokerAce]

38 minutes ago, srooch2 said:

So I played my first tournament and had a great time, played pretty good and look forward to more of them. But this was a shocking experience at the end of the round. When we finished, we’re totaling and signing score cards in the parking lot. We finished up and went our separate ways. The kid I was playing with unloaded his clubs from the cart and said goodbye. He was a young kid who played for a small college a few hours away. He was a good player although he didn’t have a great round. When I went to park the cart I noticed he left a golf ball in the cart, I went to look for him but I think he’s already left. I dropped my clubs in my car and went to put the ball in my bag and what did I discover…. The ball was caked in Vaseline! My jaw hit the floor. This kid didn’t need to cheat, he was a good player. I am a newbie to tournaments but I showed the cart barn guys and they knew exactly what it was when I showed them. Both agreed he was cheating and they seemed frustrated but not surprised. One said it is a common occurrence in amateur tournaments. Not what I wanted to find and it made me look at the kid in a completely different light. I never turned him in and I wasn’t gonna go down that road. If he is cheating regularly he will get caught someday. The weirdest thing is, earlier in the round we were talking golf and the topic of Patrick Reed came up. The kid was defending him which hindsight makes me laugh a little. 

reminds me of the player in Canada who recently was caught cheating and admitted to it. Usually you don't just start cheating; you do it for a while and then someone catches you.
Hope the kid learns his lesson now rather than later. FWIW I think you did the right thing turning him in.

[srooch2]

38 minutes ago, StrokerAce said:

reminds me of the player in Canada who recently was caught cheating and admitted to it. Usually you don't just start cheating; you do it for a while and then someone catches you.
Hope the kid learns his lesson now rather than later. FWIW I think you did the right thing turning him in.

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I actually did not turn him in. I went back and forth on it but decided fate would catch up with him eventually without my help. I told the two gentleman in the cart barn but they weren’t involved in the tournament. At least in the scoring aspect.  

[StrokerAce]

3 minutes ago, srooch2 said:

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, I actually did not turn him in. I went back and forth on it but decided fate would catch up with him eventually without my help. I told the two gentleman in the cart barn but they weren’t involved in the tournament. At least in the scoring aspect.  

Gotcha. You're definitely right, eventually that will catch up with him and maybe next time his partner won't be as nice as you.

[Another Steve]

Ball found in cart after the fact…. Easy enough for him to deny it. If it was a ball you saw him play and physically place in the cart it’s a different story. Depending on which of these two scenarios is accurate would determine how i “mention it to the committee” - as in “i found this in the cart after the tournament and i think it was my partner’s ball but didn’t see him handling it” or “this IS my partner’s ball and i saw him playing it.” One case is just “hey this player may be cheating. I found this ball on his side of the cart, you may want to watch him closer” and the other is obviously “this player is cheating, i saw him playing THIS grease ball.”

 

either way i probably mention it. Yes it will catch up to him sometime. Better sooner than later. 

[Shinnman]

Did you count his clubs too?  Prob had 18 in the bag. 

[Mike10487]

That sucks, but it is becoming a common occurrence. I've never seen the Vaseline used in the course of play. My question would be. Unless it is a lift, clean and cheat tournament, would this not be detrimental on the second shot with all the crap stuck to the ball? Would it not hinder contact? I've seen it applied on the face of driver, but never on the ball itself. 

[ryan.mzzz]

16 hours ago, Mike10487 said:

That sucks, but it is becoming a common occurrence. I've never seen the Vaseline used in the course of play. My question would be. Unless it is a lift, clean and cheat tournament, would this not be detrimental on the second shot with all the crap stuck to the ball? Would it not hinder contact? I've seen it applied on the face of driver, but never on the ball itself. 

yeah thats what i was thinking. it’s almost like he overheard people talking about how to cheat but misheard the important bit. unless the vasoline made the ball stick to/stop on the green, and every time he got to the green he replaced with a clean ball to putt with. idk. 

[Josh Parker]

Unfortunately it seems to happen quite often. It will catch up to him.  

[hckymeyer]

It's certainly plausible the guy was cheating, but I have so many questions that make me wonder if it was just something else?  I've never heard of vaseline on the golf ball, that just don't make sense.

It would only be beneficial for a maximum of 14 shots a round.  Plus as soon as the ball lands bits of grass and dirt will get stuck to it.  You'd think someone would notice if the guy was actually picking up his ball to wipe it off.  Then you'd never want vaseline on the ball for an iron or wedge shot.  Also no way you'd want to putt with that and again it's going to keep picking up dirt and debris, I would think it would be super obvious.

So like Mike10487 mentioned, unless it was lift, clean and place I just don't see a scenario where this is not noticed by everyone else in the group, or a scenario where it's actually beneficial.

If you ever run in to that kid again I'd be watching him like a hawk and I'd absolutely ask about it.

[srooch2]

On 11/18/2023 at 9:55 AM, hckymeyer said:

It's certainly plausible the guy was cheating, but I have so many questions that make me wonder if it was just something else?  I've never heard of vaseline on the golf ball, that just don't make sense.

It would only be beneficial for a maximum of 14 shots a round.  Plus as soon as the ball lands bits of grass and dirt will get stuck to it.  You'd think someone would notice if the guy was actually picking up his ball to wipe it off.  Then you'd never want vaseline on the ball for an iron or wedge shot.  Also no way you'd want to putt with that and again it's going to keep picking up dirt and debris, I would think it would be super obvious.

So like Mike10487 mentioned, unless it was lift, clean and place I just don't see a scenario where this is not noticed by everyone else in the group, or a scenario where it's actually beneficial.

If you ever run in to that kid again I'd be watching him like a hawk and I'd absolutely ask about it.

It is certainly confusing. it could have been something else besides vaseline. It was a gooey substance. I agree on everything but putting, I think he could easily mark his ball and have another one in his pocket for a quick change. When I thought back on the round, I could never remember if I or anyone was paying attention that closely when we got to our balls. It was my first tournament like this. I would for sure think I would notice if he or anyone swapped out balls in the rough or fairway but who knows, he might be really good at it by now. I do know that when I picked it up and showed the cart barn guys, who were older gentlemen, they seemed to immediately know what was going on. If I remember correctly, one even said that specific thing was common in the amatuer tournament circuit. I will never forget the kid, and yes, if I play with him again I'm gonna be quite the detective with him. Cheers 

[williamwill009]

It sounds like your first tournament experience was quite eye-opening, especially with the unexpected discovery of a golf ball coated in Vaseline. It's disappointing when such incidents of cheating occur, particularly in amateur sports where the spirit of fair play is so important. 

[Kaden_Marcell]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:03 AM, srooch2 said:

So I played my first tournament and had a great time, played pretty good and look forward to more of them. But this was a shocking experience at the end of the round. When we finished, we’re totaling and signing score cards in the parking lot. We finished up and went our separate ways. The kid I was playing with unloaded his clubs from the cart and said goodbye. He was a young kid who played for a small college a few hours away. He was a good player although he didn’t have a great round. When I went to park the cart I noticed he left a golf ball in the cart, I went to look for him but I think he’s already left. I dropped my clubs in my car and went to put the ball in my bag and what did I discover…. The ball was caked in Vaseline! My jaw hit the floor. This kid didn’t need to cheat, he was a good player. I am a newbie to tournaments but I showed the cart barn guys and they knew exactly what it was when I showed them. Both agreed he was cheating and they seemed frustrated but not surprised. One said it is a common occurrence in amateur tournaments. Not what I wanted to find and it made me look at the kid in a completely different light. I never turned him in and I wasn’t gonna go down that road. If he is cheating regularly he will get caught someday. The weirdest thing is, earlier in the round we were talking golf and the topic of Patrick Reed came up. The kid was defending him which hindsight makes me laugh a little. 

All it takes is a simple college search and a contact to his coach and he can get what he deserves! lol. I will admit I will mess around with chapstick on the face whenever I am just playing for fun, not sure how much of a difference it makes for a whole ball to be coated in vaseline