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Just curious as to suggestions on how to handle score cheaters in a junior summer golf tourney series where points are awarded for first 5 positions and requires a certain amount of points to get into the end of summer champions tournament.

My son had indicated there is one individual he knows locally that 'cheats'. Gets in a bunker, flubs a wedge, 3 putts, then says he got a 'par' on a par 4.

Fortunately today in his junior tourney, he wasn't paired with this individual, but his friend was who was also weary of his habit. I understand, the friend caught the individual 7 times (in 18 holes) trying to 'fudge' his score (i.e., says he got par when he really shot a bogie or double). The kids have to keep each others scores, so his friend was keeping an eye on the other guys scoring....but usually they just ask the other kid what they got and write it down unless they catch it.

The question is, what can you do about this?...as you are writing down the other kids score...do you write down what he tells you he got and then after he hands it in you say "Mr. Rules official, he really didn't get that score on that hole?"...uhm, but you wrote that 4 down, how could he get a 6 if you wrote down 4?

Just curious how you could handle this situation.

Thanks in advance.

Please explain to your son that it is up to him to "protect the entire field." This one cheating kid should be called on his incorrect scores every time, and whoever is playing with him should watch him closely. Explain to him that there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with counting the cheaters strokes and calling him on it when he tries to cheat.

It can be a hard lesson to learn for a kid, but explain the difference between this and being a tattle-tale or snitch.

It is hard to offer input, for me, since I have never been in this situation.

But, one way is for your son to tell him he is actually going to count his strokes. The other kid will probably get mad, and probably accuse your son of cheating, and it turns into a big mess. If your son tells someone after the round, I imagine the kid would again accuse your son of doing the same thing.

I would think that the best option would be for you to talk to an official, before the match, and say "my son said this kid isn't counting all of his strokes". Don't know how that would be received by an official, but then maybe they could have someone watch from afar, during a few holes and see what he claims his score is.

Since they are supposed to actually be counting each others scores, not sure how the kids can mitigate that among themselves, since they are kids.

In junior tourneys, an adult (not the parent of a player in that group) should be paired with every group.

That adult should be knowledgable enough about the rules to assist when needed, as well as handle the scoring discrepancies.

Virgil,

Well, parents or other onlookers are not allowed to talk to players, offer suggestions, or even provide 'rules' solutions. I have often told my son who mentions some things to me after a tourny..."I'm not allowed to do or say anything....so it is up to you to make your move...if it is something we can think of beforehand, we can probably discuss the best way to approach it."

I've often suggest to him if he notices someone doint something unintentionally (i.e., fixing a divit in front of your ball, or flattening out an attached, but folded over divit inf front of your ball, in the line of play), he may just want to mention that he just did an infraction but don't worry he won't 'stroke him', but just don't do it again.

But this is getting to the point of ridiculousness.

I agree, since the other player would be keeping the 'cheaters' score, that should be all that is necessary.

Well, in the younger jr. tourney they've had an adult there, but this is the 14-15 age bracket. and your group of 3 just go out on their own (same back tees as the older 16-18 age bracket). They often tell you if you have a rules question, play 2 balls to hole out and when you get back, the rules official will tell you which one is the right ball to use for a score.

Well, if they are in a group of three, your son can suggest to the two other players in his group that they actually count each others strokes, since that is what they are supposed to be doing anyway. I thought maybe they were playing in twosomes. That way it won't seem like he is targeting one individual.

Although, I know it would be a little distracting to my game if I had to keep track of 2 other players' strokes, plus my own.

its not hard to count another player's strokes, especially when he is claiming to be shooting par. just tell the kid to keep an eye on the cheater and call him on it when he tries to fudge his score.

It's unfortunate that your son has to be put in the middle of this, but I too agree that he needs to call this kid out on his cheating if it happens. Matter of fact, I'd encourage your son to talk to his own coach about it, and see if maybe that might not help the issue. If both coaches are truly keeping their players and the integrity of the game in their best interests, they have an obligation to address the issue, or to at least say something to the kid.

Tell the kid to right down the score that the guy got. Its not that hard. You don't right down a 4 when he gets a 6. You get the kid to right down the score and if the cheater doesn't like it they don't have to sign their card.

This sounds evil, but to thine own self be true... If you know the per hole score is wriong, get him to sign it. Once he has signed an incorrect score, call him on it and get him disqualified.

Another thought is don't ask what he got, just write it down. He would need to prove the numbers on the card are not correct, and again, if he changes it, call him on it and get him DQ'd. Let's see him try to remember which shots he forgot to count in front of the scorer's table.

Olsons3,

I guess your comment is what I was thinking. This is not accidental or innocent mistake, but my gosh, 7 times in one round? I heard how one episode went on one Par4...drive to fairway, 2 duffed shots, next one lands on green and three putt and he says he got PAR!! My sons friend was waiting for him and said...uhm, I count 7, to which he replied, oh,yea, I forgot about the duffed shots....did this for 7 holes out of 18?

I can imagine having to keep tract of someone who is making that many purposeful mistakes is going to result in quite a few score disagreements during a round and that would affect your own round.

But my question would be, if you're keeping the other guys score, is it your responsibility to count his strokes correctly or is it simply to ask him what he got and write it down? If you are writing down what he tells you....and it's wrong by his fault (even though you know it to be wrong) ....and then at the end, he signs his score card you kept for him and submits it....then I can see one of his playing partners bringing up to the rules official that "he didn't get those scores he signed for".... DQ !! Yea, dastardly evil yet deserving, and as that Guinness commercial says, "BRILLIANT"!

I like what one poster mentioned, that he would be "protecting the field".

I have had the same problem in some of the junior tournaments I play in. A lot of times you just have to tell the person what he had- go over the shots with him. Also, once I had a kid in my group after a few attempts of cheating (either that or he was just bad at adding) by someone write down the entire groups score. It doesn't look too good when you are checking scores when two people have a higher score than what you wrote down.

CHeating is a really bad problem in junior tourneys. It is unbelievable how many cheat, and then how many parents will defend their kids when they obviously cheated.

I'd like to think that this is a result of the rather lax rules that many parents use when teaching their kids the game so as not to discourage them. That stuff needs to stop long before they're playing in competitive tournaments, though.