Cheating in Golf: Do you Cheat?

St. Marys, Ontario - If you have played more than one or two rounds of golf in your life, it is likely that you have cheated on the golf course. Each one of us would like to think that NONE of us have ever cheated and that we treat golf as a game of honour and a game of respect. However, anyone reading this article HAS at least cheated once on the golf course – whether or not they will admit it. Cheating is defined as ‘deceiving by trickery; deceit’ or ‘to mislead; fool’. There is not one golfer out there who would consider themselves as a deceitful person or someone that misleads or fool their best friends…yet, why do we cheat when we play golf?


Cheating happens in many different environments, whether it is on a test at school, on a spouse, on a work assignment, or in various sporting environments (ex. we all know what Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire have done to the world of baseball…). However, there are a select few out there that define their life through their reputation, self esteem, and most of all, pride in knowing that they lived a life of honour, by never cheating…at anything! Nevertheless, when it comes to getting out on the course and playing a casual game of golf, these same people that believe in all of the attributes listed above, somehow are able to cheat during a round of golf. Whether you are a golfer that hails from London, Stratford, St. Marys, Kitchener-Waterloo, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario, Canada, the United States, Ireland, England, or anywhere else in the world, you have at least once ‘twisted’ the rules of golf. So why is that with all the examples listed above of cheating, there are several people who can say they have never cheated at any of them, yet, not one of us can say, ‘I have never cheated at golf’?

Any golfer that has said this statement to their friends or a tournament official, can simply be termed, a LIAR! Growing up, playing local junior golf tournaments in London, Ontario and other Southwestern Ontario golf course locations, I have constantly witnessed, first hand, fellow participants, ‘forgetting’ to count a stroke (or two). This often led to a bigger trophy and more…self pride?! How can anyone, whether honourable or not, be proud of winning…when cheating is involved? It has got to the point where various golf publications have termed cheating a serious issue. ScoreGolf’s most recent magazine release focuses on this subject and how it affects our psyche on the golf course. Websites like abc-of-golf.com and badgolfer.com go as far as teaching readers a number of ways to cheat at golf. Greg Norman, the great Australian golfer, admits to have cheated while golfing. Most recently, PGA Tour golfer, Kevin Na, carded a 16 on one hole…how do you NOT cheat, in an instance like that?

Maybe there is a golfer out there that you know has never cheated, or who knows, maybe you have never missed a stroke (maybe even because you didn’t know the correct rule at the time…). All I ask is that you look down deep inside yourself, if I wouldn’t cheat on a test or on my spouse, why would I cheat on the golf course? I know I can’t say I haven’t let a shot go…

Write your comments below on your thoughts on golf cheating!  And be sure to check out our Facebook page and website for St. Marys Golf for more on golf.