Cheating kills spirit of golf

Footballers and rugby players would find this principle laughable. You see, in rugby and football, if the referee does not see a foul, you carry on with a straight face, and your fans applaud you.

Who can ever forget the shameful handball by Thierry Henry on their way to the 2010 Fifa World Cup or Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’? And although Henry later confessed to the handball, the Republic of Ireland were knocked out of the World Cup qualification and France progressed.

Similarly, Argentina, with the help of Maradona’s handball kicked England out of the 1986 World Cup.

Incidents of golfers calling penalties on themselves are a common occurrence; at the 1925 US Open, the great Bobby Jones called a penalty on himself after his ball moved in the rough.

No referee or official, his caddy or playing partner Walter Hagen witnessed the infringement. When a sportswriter sought to applaud Jones for his show of sportsmanship, Jones said: “You might as well praise me for not robbing banks.” Through his illustrious career, Jones called four penalties on himself in competitive tournaments (www.espn.go.com).

At the 2001 British Open, Ian Woosnam, who has played in Kenya, learnt that his bag contained an extra club, and that he was in violation of the 14-club limit. Woosnam called the violation on himself and received a two-stroke penalty.

Back home, many golfers play, to the best of their knowledge, according to the rules, however, a few elements have grown a reputation as golf cheats.

These players develop amnesia when their scores skyrocket, they move their golf balls to better their lies, they carry extra balls and drop the same in the rough when they lose their original balls.

They bend and break offensive branches that interfere with their golf swings, they ask for ‘free-drops’ quoting from a rule book only known to themselves and they claim every little undulation on the ground is an anthill.

But perhaps the worst cheats are those who manipulate their handicaps to ensure that they forever play off handicaps that don’t reflect their ability. These players are experts in keeping their handicaps high, they are wolves in a sheep’s clothing.

Heinous charge

They practice daily, they play nine holes on a regular basis, they ensure their short game is on fire and when they play 18-holes of golf, it is mainly friendlies.

They play off handicaps of 12 to 20, but are really single-figure golfers. They hide their claws in their paws, and only retract the claws when the ‘prize’ is right.

These are perhaps the worst cheats.

According to the great Gary Player: “Breaking the rules is, after all, the most heinous charge to be laid against any golfer.”